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R/s serve take your tennis game from good to great with swing Vision hey everyone and welcome to another episode of served I am Andy rodic uh a lot to get to this week I you know one I I I’m I’m going to kind of beat the drum of we’re shooting this on a Monday you’ll hear it on on Tuesday uh
But Monday after the Super Bowl should be a national holiday in in in America like who wants to get up after that like nobody no nobody wants to get up like like kids are at our door at 5:45 I’m like didn’t you know I was up watching football and analyzing commercials last
Night like anyways I I’m saying like we don’t know what’s going to happen the election this year but if someone just came out and said my entire platform is just having the Monday after the Super Bowl be a national holiday and getting rid of daylight savings time forever I
Think we might actually have something I think that’s worth like three points with Independence uh right there but anyways it happen that yeah but that’s my that’s my tangent uh today uh we’re gonna have a great show today I have huge news guys do you want to hear it
Bring it no you gotta wait till John wortheim comes on because he’s part of our team too and he deserves to know uh what’s going on we have a saudy update obviously we talked about it in episode two at length ongoing story it feels like every week there is Major news uh
And they bought math everyone they bought math so we’re going to get to that we’re going to go through uh scheduling right this February after Azie open closes before Indian wells in Miami and those big events uh what happens how do you schedule why do you schedule what are the factors involved
Do sponsors play any factors we’re going to get into the Weeds on that with John wor and coaching changes also February not the best time to be making a coaching change right you want to do all that it’d be like rebuilding and then having to like tear your team apart
Again like two years later that’s what a coaching change in February is not ideal but hogar Runa Jess Pula have both done it why I think uh their processes while similar uh as far as content of coaching change I think they’re completely different uh for the various stages uh
Of their career um let’s do a little little homework uh on the winners and losers this week I guess there were no losers we’re all winners just for being here guys but luchano darder a qualifier breaking through in Cordoba will now be ranked 76 in the world uh but not
Someone who had played on the main tour a bunch says okay I like this tour thing I can win out here uh so congrats to Hig ug congrats to him easy for me to say Ugo Umber and Marseilles winning his fifth final uh in five attempts uh when
He’s gotten there so uh big win for him yesterday over grigor demitro I think it goes without saying that Ugo Umar if he was from like I don’t know Missouri his name would be Hugo Humbert but Umar uh sounds better I guess when you’re in Marseilles winning at home a big deal
Elena Racha winning in Abu Dhabi uh again so aie open aside where she lost that that breaker in the third set that was like four days long uh routes arena sabalenka in in the warm-up tournament in Australia 0 and3 in the final and then comes to to Abu Dhabi and routes
Kazakina in the final again her top level tennis I think the Delta between her really bad weeks and are really good weeks uh is probably more significant than like a coco or a saal Lanka but her Topline tennis her toeline tennis is the type where she beats sabalenka 0 and3 uh
In a final before sabalenka goes and wins the Aussie open so uh momentum building for her she needs it she had some big weeks in Indian wells in Miami so a lot of points to defend there Tommy Paul getting a win in Dallas uh steady at 14 in the world number number two
American behind Taylor Fritz again and also took his lumps with the rankings right made the semis uh a year ago in Australia those points came off important for him to reestablish himself in the top 15 make sure that he is seated uh at these uh grand slams and
These events coming in in in Miami and Indian well so good job of Tommy ball Tommy Paul and uh pkba coming back winning in Romania out of nowhere was down in the 70s will now be ranked top 60 again but anyone who has that artillery of power and serve uh you
Certainly have to take notice when she starts winning matches uh again as we look forward uh Doha and roddam the big events this week I think the uh the big things are sponch back in back in Action Coco uh back in action uh off that loss
In Australia in the semis and in reram Center going to make his debut how do we like playing first rounds uh after we become a grand slam Champion we will figure that out this week yanx Center is back uh and ready and guys I don’t wanna I don’t really want to
Brag too much but we’re rolling in the cash on this show I just got to say it money money I gotta say it Charlie P Charlie M and Justin are responsible for the $13 of Revenue that we made this month in the serve supporter club and before you think that I’m asking for
Tips I’m not the serve supporter Club is a good cause the anotic foundation I run a foundation for kids uh out of school time space or after school summer programs uh in my hometown of Austin Texas so Charlie P Charlie M and Justin thank you for the $13 guys I think it’s time
To just take a moment look around at each other and say look what we’ve built we did it we did it $13 surf supporter Club Charlie P Charlie M Justin Mon it’s compound you’re good people you donate to charity that’s amazing I don’t know like what do
You deduct on $13 like could they deduct like 50 cents like I think so yeah they could probably imch it anyways it seriousness thank you for supporting the Andy rodic foundation and this little uh podcast guys I also saw the most amazing athletic feat that I may have ever seen in my entire
Life last night and it had nothing to do with Patrick Mahomes you watched the Super Bowl right you saw the athleticism you saw stepping up in the biggest moments I’m not talking about momes I’m not talking about Andy Reid I’m not talking about the Chiefs who no not yet stay tuned to
Close I am going to be on one about the most amazing and clutch athletic feat that I have ever seen in my life also took place at the Super Bowl didn’t have anything to do with football uh with that we welcome my friend John woran John I’m
Not going to introduce you as as our guest because as as I sit here and just think about you often um I think it’s time and this is weird but I think we should possibly take this to the next level as I mean we’ve been dating for a
While on this podcast a couple weeks like should we just go steady should we do this all the time should we just will you will you be my co-host yeah I was I was hoping you were going to put your prom posal online and everyone could uh
Everyone could weigh in but uh yeah you think you think we need to go public with our relationship I just listen I I like to deal from a place of stability I don’t like unanswered questions in my relationships you know I I was I was pretty quick to the punch with with
Brooke you know I was I was maybe a little bit more overzealous early on than than she was um I I just don’t want to have too toen I need a commitment from you John if you like it you can put a ring on it um yeah I think we’re uh
All right let’s do this thing it’s old I love it um so also with that news and this is for the room this will be a fun little thing so for those listening could you guess what that sound is what does that sound like to close your eyes
Mike what does that sound like what does that sound like I thought you were going to say like taking out the trash um okay so in my hand uh I have the final copy of a uh contract proposal from our friends at at uh at Tennis Channel John
Wortheim so with what I am doing right now in signing and I got permission but that is a signature uh we are going to shoot for a March 3rd launch of this show on T2 on Sunday evening so it’ be March 3D I think is
The goal for our first show if if if okay by if you still want to stay married or work Mary if you still want to say work Mary there we go yes yes pure pressure you’re you’re making me blush this is like you ever see Streeter in Air’s proposal video at Yankee
Stadium look that up if you haven’t um yeah you’re putting me on uh on the spot but uh I can’t guarantee what time zone I’ll be in but let’s let’s do it all right well we’re we’re we are in this is awesome um I don’t know that anyone in
The history of podcast has you know figured this out early on but uh I think Tennis Channel I know we both have had a great relationship uh with with Tennis Channel over the years and uh I couldn’t think of a better home or a better TV
Home uh for for uh for this podcast I’m excited to kind of bring It to the TV screen and hope uh hope we don’t mess it all up John can I can I brag on you as we say in Indiana uh you you are back in
The top 10 sir this the top 10 sports if someone said you were among the top 10 tennis podcasts i”d be like all right that’s right you know ronic and I are just kind of [ __ ] around and we’ll see what we want to do here you’re this
Was a top 10 Spotify Sports Super Bowl week very little promotion right out of the gate um congrats all all seriousness uh that’s that’s great for you congrats man us John we’re we’re work married these PRS exactly yeah I’m gonna like we’re going to meet each other’s
Families it’s going to be amazing be beyon sounds so weird this is like uh yeah ring I have to get used to it yeah us that’s funny um yeah but it I mean listen the support has been amazing uh I think we were nine this morning or maybe
I don’t know it changes all the time but crazy seems to be working uh shout out to uh Mel Jenny I know I’m I I already did it in the open but Fernando meleny is a is apparently pumping Us in Brazil and saying like listen to this podcast
And we have the number one sports podcast in Brazil I never played a pro tournament in Brazil this is unreal I so happy I’m work married we have a contract Producer Mike rest of the team uh this is go time this is fun I’m having a blast do it great let’s uh but
Now let’s get down to uh now that we’re done kind of bragging about ourselves um let’s get into uh you tweet tweeted something about the Saudis buying the ATP ranking system and this is a follow-up if you haven’t listened to EP episode two of serve please go back uh
And listen to last last week’s episode a lot of the broader Strokes of that show uh continue to be extremely relevant uh this week we did a full kind of saudy breakdown what’s the future hold how do you take the money what are the trade-offs um yada yada Yad a lot of the
Sensitivities and we tried to be kind of sober to multiple points of view um on on that issue uh but sure enough as soon as we uh ended up recording it two hours later they announced King of the Court where they’re paying everyone a bajillion dollars to come in and
Basically play a gor glorified EXO and then you tweeted something about the ranking system yesterday what is what’s going on with that yeah I I have a you know have a good good sources telling me there’s going to be a forthcoming announcement where the pif that’s the
Saudi Sovereign wealth fund is going to be making this deal with with the ATP and then presumably soon thereafter the WTA a where it’s basically buying these levels of sponsorship and one of them includes essentially buying the rights I guess you could say buying the rankings
I mean you said last week and it’s a good point you know numbers uh what you say information’s free I mean I I well I’m trying to figure out like how you buy I said how do you buy math and I guess the Saudis have figured out how to
Even buy math I don’t I don’t understand it’s a set algori like it’s a set ranking system so so it’s basically just what every time we say the ATP rankings we say the ATP pif rankings like what how what do what what does this look
Like yeah I mean at some level yeah it’s a sponsorship deal it’s you know pepperstone I’m not sure pepperstone quite punched through I’m not entirely sure what it is they are the current sponsors of the ranking but you can’t have a tour without a ranking system so
I think this is more than just sponsorship um and you know I mean this is this is either sort of right this this is how businesses invest you do a little bit at a time and they’re upping their their shares or else this is sort of a clinic in sports watching you know
Doll comes on as an ambassador you hold an exhibition then you hold an nextg event then you hold a Big Boy event and this is all sort of incremental but yeah apparently there will be a forthcoming uh announcement maybe at Indian Welles where we learn that this Saudi
Investment this is going to be a real story in tennis men’s and women’s in 2024 but uh there is a big announcement coming and part of it involves essentially taking over the rankings in addition to other other sponsorship elements yeah I don’t I I still don’t really understand like the rankings have
No IP this is basically just to like get a friend it’s just like a nice little entry into into tennis where you’re all of a sudden partnering with the ATP you’re giving them some money and then that opens it up to larger conversations I mean is basically what the what the
Deal is right we’re buying access you you nailed it and there are events you know Miami and Madrid or the events you hear about that might just be for sale well instead of just going in and making an offer maybe you sort of worm your way in and you’ve got some signage and
You’ve got this this rankings deal and I think this is all a calculated strategy to get into tennis we can argue whether this is a good thing or bad thing but it’s clearly very calculated and I think again I think all this is in the shadow of live golf which was basically like
God damn it we’re starting a rival tour let’s try try to throw buckets of money and know roll up the uh the brink trucks to Phil Mickelson and tiger doesn’t want it fine Phil Mickelson does great that did not go well this seems much more calculated and strategic well they’re not they’re not
Trying to separate any current tour as of now that this to me the biggest sign is like okay we’re buying the rankings like you’re buying you’re buying math uh it to me the biggest show is that they want to work at least inside of the current structure you don’t go pay the
ATP a bunch of money for something that has no IP it’s literally just math uh unless you want to further that conversation towards another event I would assume it’s obviously the ATP has no ownership over the slams ASO uh outside of kind of being a resource tour managers so that they’re
Familiar faces so it’s not a completely foreign experience from the week to week uh of of the actual tour uh so this is basically just a this is a starter course yeah exactly I mean this is uh you know this is your your class A stock
And then maybe you up your Equity this is sort of this is very strategic and so and so they’re doing this and the difference is live they were going to blow up the golf universe and have succeeded in you know various times and way shapes are formed where it’s just
Basically we’re going to go with the confus and Conquer method and also we’re going to make the runway so so long with potential litigation that eventually we’re going to have to have a conversation together this seems like a more amicable way to to get that conversation uh at first than you know
Threatening uh litigation to where live we have the resources we can out we can pay off our litigation longer so therefore why don’t we just come to the table now as opposed to three or four years from now exactly I don’t I don’t want to make this the the the study
Tennis serve but just keep in mind big picture this is all about image perception branding I’m not sure Liv golf did wonders for saudi’s image so this is sort of a Kindler gentler way to embed in sports without having the the cluster [ __ ] we had in
Golf so I heard I talked to uh I had a friend of mine call me today he’s you know one of the more successful agents in the last 25 years uh likes the Pod um and he we kind of talked through uh a little bit of this and and he and he
Said he was happy with me talking about it uh today but a lot of the conflict and why Ty’s running around is because there is a lot of chatter and I’m curious if you’ve heard much about it um it’s rare that I actually get any news
To you first um but that the fight with Tyle and the thing that’s making him uneasy and understandably so is wanting to launch a Saudi event in that zero week of January or that first week of January which is is brutal if you’re if you’re Craig tyly he has built up the
Infrastructure of of United cup and uh you know a mixed team event coming in and replacing kind of working with the ATP to kind of you know take a dig at Davis Cup and you know value Novak showed up for United Cup this year all
That kind of goes away you know if if Saudi takes that first week then there’s no other players that are going to go play the first week that can sell a ticket in a Brisbane or you know a United cup kind of Goes Up in Flames and
So if you’re Craig tyly you’re obviously playing defense on on on that part of the schedule uh that throws kind of everything uh for a loop at the beginning of the year uh what are your thoughts on that and is that what you’re hearing that’s exactly what I’m hearing
And uh that’s sort of one of the reasons why he grudgingly held his nose and staged United cup which is not a money wi this is the Aussie tennis summer so you need some sort of run up right I mean the US Open has the North American hardcore circuit wimon has grass events
French Open has a number of clay events in Western Europe what does Australia have well if everyone spends the first two weeks of January making a ton of money at an event halfway across the world in RI that’s not great for the Australian Open in tennis Australia so
No Craig Ty’s playing defense Hey listen we’re going to play nice here you’re going to let me keep my January but I will be sure you get your event maybe we do it in February when there’s there’s Doan Dubai I mean one thing that’s interesting is if you’re Doan Dubai
You’re like look I didn’t know I could upgrade I’m I I’ll match I I have unless resources as well and I’ve been a loyal ATP member for all these years how come you’re giving the Saudis the big event I would have opened the suitcases myself so putting this Saudi event after the
Australian Open makes a lot of sense it makes sense if you’re Craig tyly I don’t think uh the folks in in Doha and Dubai would be particularly pleased by that man we’re we’re really getting uh this is this is very in the weeds but uh I do
Think this is a big a big story right it’s a it’s a huge Story I mean you’re you’re basically taking away uh a very valuable piece from someone who in tennis has generally been considered an innovator Peaks around the corners has been a pretty good partner
Uh you know it is has expanded the Australian Open has improved it Non-Stop and then all of a sudden you’re taking this and you know dangling this thing that would be devastating for the the Aussie summer leadin but the other part of this if I’m pitching the players and
I’m like this is a bad idea and let me tell you why okay because I could probably you know pitch it listen you know I could be on the other side of and Pitch it really well and just say hey money who who’s against it like you know
If it’s going to happen anyways let’s at least max out value while we have leverage but what’s the number one thing we heard we hear consistently complained about for the last 30 years from the top players on tour who are essenti your money makers right they’re the ones
Selling night sessions they’re the ones they they are the most important figures in your game what do we hear non-stop if they can make one change what would it be schedule schedule schedule schedule schedule schedule so let’s put this into uh a hypothetical right either January I
Don’t know what the day January 3rd whatever the first Monday of January is uh for 20125 I don’t know if it’s 10day event but leave it alone let’s just call it a onee event for now that’s scheduled and you can’t miss a master’s 1 so we on
The heels of siners win in in Australia we’re like oh man you know or medev playing in the final we’re like oh man I liked I was personally someone who liked getting a tournament in like at least getting some tournament matches in before going into Australia right I I
Didn’t like kind of going in Flying Blind so let’s take a peek at this Center plays through the first week of December for Davis Cup which follows World Tour finals which is also kind of gotten later and later and later when I played it it was early November now it’s
Late November so everyone’s kind of pinching it on all sides this deal would make scheduling for the offseason an absolute nightmare for the top players you’re gonna have to pull out of something you cannot play till December 7th and then turn around and leave your home to go to another event on December
25th which is the responsible date that you would have to leave there is no time for training there’s going to be an uptick in injuries you have to kind of set your body and I want to get into kind of a macro conversation uh about how someone goes about scheduling um but
This throws a schedule this is a nightmare for especially people the the the top players that end up playing another three weeks uh longer than the than the normal tour first you said December 25th which I think you’re you’re right and I think that actually
Is the date that I I know Nadal left for Australia on that date I mean how crazy is it not only is this sport Non-Stop and you’re playing till 3 in the morning and it’s an 11 and a half month season but you’re asking players to leave to
Start the next year on Christmas Day I mean just step back and uh we should Ponder how absurd that is and yeah I think you’re totally right I mean you could say well we’re going to Charter Jets and we’re going to have those those sweet you know those Emirate flights
With the apartments where you get a shower in your cabin you know what it’s still travel a shower in my cabin that doesn’t change the calendar exactly or my jet lag um yeah um does does it sound more appealing to you to put that big Saudi event in February between
Australia and Indian Wells does that sound more palatable to you n of none of it really sounds I mean then you’re automatically eating the lunch of reram Rio I mean you’re basically you don’t put a thousand in the middle of a jammed calendar where there’s consensus that
There are no weeks that are convenient for any growth right especially for the biggest events that are mandatory you can throw in a 250 here then it’s a choice like you mentioned Rafa leaving on the 25th of December but also that’s different listen he hadn’t played forever he hadn’t played Australia the
Year before like so he had been off the entire time not as Extreme as someone who kind of burned it to the end the the eight singles players at World Tour finals and then all of a sudden you’re going to turn him around three weeks later and have a master’s 1,000 to start
The year that’s impossible like you can’t that is so incredibly short-sighted so the my player hat says listen yeah we you you let’s at least be responsible and also if you are the ATP and they’ve obviously said Oh Hey listen we’re open for business because we’ve
Sold the ATB rankings like if your first foray into actual schedule making with this new entity that is you know controversial but more and more every week that passes feels inevitable and our first kind of uh handshake to the tour is listen we’re going to create a
Massive scheduling pain in the ass like I I think you’re gonna that I I don’t I think that’s counterproductive I know money is money but also I think February is better there’s a lot of action the women are are going there this week I know a lot have have already left now
You are getting into the you know well why isn’t it us then we’ve been Partners uh in this part of the world with both tours uh for many years and it sounds like you have a little bit of a bidding war and it’s it’s going to get interesting because I think that will
Create uh some some some fireworks I mean it’s a good position there’s certainly leverage but uh if I’m Craig T I completely understand the defense of of January leading into the Australia no I I don’t think this is because Craig Ty’s thrilled to start cutting
Deals with the Saudis I think this is a defensive maneuver I I keep thinking this is a great business school case study right it’s all about leverage and incentives and at what price and again what I heard from players is Craig tyy essentially said 14 events you’re going
To be playing these events anyway and you could double or triple your income and keep in mind you you these are I mean you you know you were in this role when when you’re 22 years old and you have an agent who’s compensated and some level based on a percentage of your
Income you know you’re you’re 22 years old and someone says listen same number of events you played last year and you’re going to make three x that might sound appealing and you can power through your jet lag but uh no I mean this is you know you you and I have
Gotone pretty granular here but I do think scheduling is a huge issue and I think this also kind of is a good window this is a good glimpse into sort of the the challenges that tennis has and uh some of the the challenges that institutionally the tours and the
Players themselves all have to confront yeah and just a quick example I won’t spend much time on this at all I I organized a meeting in 2017 in Australia uh there was some you know upheaval about the schedule and some players were publicly you know coming out against the
Scheduling and you know it it seemed to be kind of a big deal so I said listen I know this is a packed week it was the Monday before Australia the Wednesday before or something like that and so it wasn’t the top 20 players but it was the
The top 20 uh and it was just my opinion but you know some sure I messed some of it up but most important people in the game so rankings combined with markets right like I remember one of the people in that room then was Peron trishan which was he was massive in Thailand
Right in the first you know huge in the in the Asian market and so he needed to be in that room I forget whether his ranking was top 20 or not in that and then kind of all The Usual Suspects uh and I said okay listen we’re complaining about
Schedule this is X Y and Z what has to happen we don’t like this we don’t like this we don’t like this we don’t like this some sacrifice are going to be have to be made I’ll look at someone who uh you know has success at the French Open
I said are you willing to not play in the French Open and then all our problems are solved well I can’t do that next person would you be willing to all the while knowing that the obvious Place uh to cause a fuss would be the US Open because you need the four months
Afterwards to negotiate anything that you want to do you can’t do that between the French Open and wimon but to make the point uh you know you’re there’s been a bet in division with personal preferences for a while and also with conflicts of interest right so the two
Biggest players in that room uh at that time represented by the same agency who also negotiated or negotiate the the TV rights for Wimbledon so I’m going okay so they’re out on some level right so like you’re you’re you’re playing with kind of a fractured hand uh you feel
Like you’re playing a game of of Poker where you get to see one card um you know you know so but these are kind of the inter layings of it’s not just as simple with I’m going to make my first Twitter fingers reference for the week
Was saying well they should just put it there it doesn’t work like that there’s a million different different uh you know balls in the court no no uh no pun in tend tennis humor is the best um but it is it is a nightmare um and the other thing is like scheduling conversation
Producer Mike uh L us into this but he he said like listen it’s February there’s like this weird space between the Aussie open and where mainstream tennis fans kind of maybe reset uh for the tennis season with Indian Wells which goes into Miami and kind of takes
In that full month and kind of the process uh with with scheduling which the Saudi thing would make it even tougher to deal with February into the other parts of it uh but scheduling in tennis is is tough enough as it is if you could wave your magic wand what do
You do to actually like affect it in a positive way oh it’s it’s really tough and I’m I’m curious I mean that’s that’s the issue right there right there is no magic W and for Yanik Center plays you know seven matches in 20 whatever sets he’s exhausted guys that lose early in
Australia are like oh man I need to get matches Naomi Asaka oh I’m G to go to the Middle East why I need to get in matches so one of the issues is this isn’t the NBA this isn’t the NFL where Sunday we’re playing you know in Dallas
And the next Sunday we’re playing in Indianapolis different players have different needs and those even change during a season and I’m I’m curious how you approach matches because you know you you can get through a major and you could be exhausted you can also lose the
First Monday and you can’t wait to get back on the court I don’t know H how much sort of what were your guard rails how much flexibility did you build into your schedule because it strikes me it’s not just different player to player but it’s different circumstance to circumstance well it’s it’s also
Different when you’re looking at the macro view of an entire year which I’ll run through first and then I’ll tell you kind of the inner workings uh I’m writing as I go here so I don’t miss any part of this but um yeah so for me it’s it’s like listen
I I will land in Australia and I will be you know normally in my career as one of the top five you know favorites to to do well in that event right like I could I know I could make a move I made the semis you know four or five time
Somewhere around there a bunch right so I was always in it I knew I could compete in Brisbane and so uh I wanted to basically be in shape injuryf free whatever work I do in November December I want my body to hold up through at least the end of Miami right so that’s
Like the first bucket you know how do we do as much as we can to start off well and then have my body be able to take the punishment of of travel of other weeks uh through Miami and then I would schedule in another three-week training
Block to kind of get ready for the clay but in my mind more importantly making sure that I am locked and loaded to try to win Wimbledon right I had a seven foot ceiling at rol onos and knew that I had a chance to win Wimbledon most years
Uh that that I went in and so that dictated uh kind of working backwards simple enough uh simple enough in theory but I also had a sponsor uh sap who was a great partner of mine for a long time but they owned the event in San Jose so
I was going to play San Jose and then the next one is like okay there’s 500s in uh I forget where they was I think it was Rio uh roddam was there but ours used to be in me Memphis so I was like yeah obviously you know and also people
Don’t understand there’s like mandatory events that we had to play I’m not sure what the mandatory events are as we currently sit here but uh there was a decision made at one point that you could only play uh you could only count results we went from best 18 where it
Was like 13 with the super NS and the grand slams and then any other five that you wanted to count and they signed a TV deal for the 500 so therefore they had to strengthen those events so they said you could only count two 250s right and
I saw this I’m like well they just killed they just shot themselves in the foot it’s over like they’re not going to get I go ind’s gone like Indianapolis is gone all these other events are really really going to struggle La is going to struggle and I’ll tell you why so I go
Down to Brisbane I win the first 250 of the year uh I make the finals of San Jose so for the rest of the year in order for me to make a single point in a 250 event from the second week of February on I had to win the entire
Tournament now what does that do to the small Market tournaments that are trying to get me for the summer especially in an American Market it means they’re going to come with it I’m basically saying I’m G to spend a week of my life for no rankings benefit what is that
Worth to me and the number comes in a lot higher than it would as far as an appearance fee then if I could actually count that and negotiate that 250 into my other five okay so then they Memphis same with 500s I had to play four of
Them so MH was locked in like I wasn’t going to go travel you know off of Australia off of San Jose go to uh you know reram dub I went to Dubai one year after Memphis and that was that was enough but all of these little things whether it’s a sponsor engagement
Whether it’s surface I wasn’t going to go play on clay in February and then switch back to hard uh that was going to do me no favors on any level um but it is a huge huge issue and it actually doesn’t allow for a lot of flexibility
Especially for someone like an Osaka who has sponsors who has obligations who has to do these things where you think it’s a dead week or a dead month in February she’s obviously going to play but if she’s one in the world like she was she’s gonna have to schedule things at
Certain points and February looks like a good good month to do that because you can go train in LA and you can go knock out a bunch of things so this mat macro scheduling conversation is is is massive right even if you go to uh fast forward
Through the clay Court season of I’m like okay if I’m going to play you know if I’m going to try to win 60 or 70 matches this year how many of those are going to happen on clay and how do i max out uh you know for ranking for
Everything else it ain’t gonna be uh in Monte Carlo that’s not where I’m gonna you know get the most the most squeeze uh you know when I am doing it and so I took I played a lot less on clay and you know wanted to make sure I was ready to
Go my favorite day of the year I always say was the train ride uh from Paris where I was like for from where when I was 40th in the world on clay and then all of a sudden I go underwater under the come up in London and all of a
Sudden I’m two or three in the world again that’s a great line um yeah you know the flip side to all this is in the NBA you get fined for resting your starters right if you say you know what I’m on the Dallas Cowboys I don’t really
Like Jacksonville I think I’m gonna stay home and you know I got a new girlfriend I think I’m gonna write that out I mean at some level it’s empowering for the players that they can make these decisions these are contracts that can do what they want and if they want to
Take some time off they can take it off if they want to for for no reason they don’t have to explain they don’t need an excused absence um you know if if we’re making players play it makes things more streamlined but at some level that that
Comes at a price as well yeah I was about to say what’s the main difference between them yeah saying you have to have a mandatory amount of games I think it’s 65 to qualify for MVP lamelo lamelo ball here in uh Charlotte my son is a
Hornets fan um one of the few he’s the one he’s the one I I yeah I I am too and we don’t know who’s sitting out because there’s a trade deadline around the we lamelo came back and played six games he’s sitting again and you know I I
Appreciate you saying there’s like this freedom of choice for tennis players but there’s also the freedom of$ 252 million deal for Lamela ball and he’s sitting out so uh not quite the same I would get a lot of uh I would give up the choice
To go to Roder Dam or Rio for 250 million I I I I I can assure you in most of the tour uh would as well I don’t think that’s quite Apple to well don’t don’t even put a dollar amount on it just a guaranteed contract so if I if I
Twist my ankle I don’t have to worry about missing uh checks that week um anyway it’s uh these are all the the frustrations but also kind of the realities of an individual sport I guess is your tennis game stuck in the Stone Age are you still relying on intuition
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Tennis game from good to great with swing Vision I’m hearing a lot about people switching coaches like after Australia which is a really awkward time to to do it you want to actually be in the I to me it feels like um you never look at someone splitting right after Australia
And say oh this is this is going according to plan no one makes no one makes a uh a choice in the off season to only work with someone for one month and then switch everything up uh kind of after the first month of the Season uh
This is not something that is is working uh at that point someone wants out you feel like it should have been addressed in the offseason it’s a tough lesson learned uh if you are learning it and making that rash of a decision this early in the season uh after one Slim So
Let let’s let’s keep going with that we we can talk about the specific coaching changes in second but if we’re going to keep with this theme of uh team sports versus individual sports right I mean y Giannis may or may not like his coach but he doesn’t have to worry about uh
Breaking the news and saying you know I think uh you know time time for me to fly what is it what is it like I mean you’re you went through this a number of times what is it like as the player who is younger who traditionally is you hire
This person at some level as an authority figure yet you’re the one that’s ultimately the employer what’s it like being 21 22 23 years old and saying I I think we need to talk it’s not working out how how does that even work it’s it’s it’s horrible first off
It’s it’s it’s terrible um and I’ve had to do it at numerous times and some sometimes I wasn’t worried about the conversation um you know Dean goldfine who worked we worked together 15 months um I knew that was going to be a conversation where we were going to
Have a lifetime of friendship afterwards no matter what happened right I I I I knew that it was going to stink I knew that you’re breaking someone’s heart you know that they want to be in with you you know and also as players like and I
Said this in in my hall of fame speech as I kind of had some space from the game you realize people are with you but you don’t fully understand leaving a family until you have one right and so to kind of give months and months and
Months of an adult life away from your kids for this goal of some other person winning tennis matches is is a crazy thing that I certainly I appreciated while I was playing and always gave it um the the respect I thought it deserved all the while without fully
Understanding what what what all was in play so we’ll use that as like a base set different different the different times have have been different things um and I got dumped once too so uh but the the hardest conversation I think one of the hardest conversations I’ve ever had
In my life was uh with Tariq benhabiles who basically took me from um 17-year-old Junior who was uh you know 40 in the world losing first round at Junior US Open lived up the street a friend of mine started working with them he said you got in I decided I was going
To switch coaches Tariq came on and I was a kid I had no Pro I wasn’t a pro at the time had no Pro ranking and from October of 1999 you fast forward uh you know 2001 March in Miami I’ve I’m beating Pete and win two tour events so
We’re talking like a six you know an 18mon run where you become the nor one Junior in the world you turn pro uh you win a bunch of stuff win two Junior slams win a bunch of Challengers get your ranking up beat Pete SAS to make the quarterfinals of Miami and then win
Two tour events uh in April on the Trot on Clay right what a what what a run right and then you go through the next two years um but when once that relationship shifted a little bit from like he’s almost like a father figure
And I’m a kid to now we’re both Pros I’m six in the world lose first round of the French Open and I’m going okay do I need a different voice and one of the hardest conversations I’ve ever had was I was in London because uh an ex-girlfriend of
Mine was working there I left after Paris and I was just thinking for a couple days and I’m like I have to get back on a train to go have this conversation with with Tariq in uh in in person in Paris and so I go back I get
Off the train we meet right outside of the gates at Roland garos it’s like a week later I lost first round to S sesia sisian and uh it was it was horrible I I I I literally watched myself in real time I could see myself breaking his
Heart through his face like and it was it was it was just horrible um and at that point I didn’t know what was going to happen next it wasn’t as if I had calculated um you know a succession plan so after that I called Brad um and you
Know he comes over with a bunch of energy and it was it was it was such a great fit but that was a horrible conversation um you know making the decision with Brad after a lot of success was was was was a was a hard conversation um you know it gets easier
I think as you become a little bit more of an adult um maybe not having it be a surprise for someone like actually learning how to talk about the issues in real time to where it doesn’t just blow up uh at some point that’s probably a
Regret um of mine from kind of those early days is listen we it’s good it’s good it’s good it’s over as opposed to it’s good it’s good it’s good um maybe we should talk about some things let’s get it back on the upper trajectory and actually giving uh giving that Lifeline
To the relationship um but it’s horrible and it’s not something that people in other sports have to deal with you’re in control of your team your destiny you’re paying someone else to tell you what to do out of your own pocket it’s a it’s a
Weird dynamic no and you go uh you know managers go to the HR department they’re giving a list of talking points you’re you’re 21 years old and you’ve got to make this fairly significant decision you’re you don’t have the you know you don’t have the training in how to how to
Let someone down I’m I’m curious I mean let’s let’s be clear too t Tariq was your neighbor but this was not this was a proper player right this was a guy who’s played professional ten guy you know hitting balls so this is yeah that’s that’s but but I wonder that’s
That yeah that’s really important context he was 37 in the world in uh you know one Junior slams 37 of the world in singles top you know low 20s in doubles and he did that from about 5 foot eight right right like uber talented you know if he
Was 6’4 he would have been number one in the world with the the way that he was able to play um okay but wa wa unbelievable Talent unbelievable Talent player coach the whole okay but but so so let’s keep going with that because I think this is really interesting too so
You’re you’re a teenager this guy’s been a top 40 player he knows all he’s played the French Open but then eventually does it happen where you’re you know then you’re in the top 10 and you’re thinking yourself this this guy didn’t get to 10 this guy doesn’t know the pressure of
Playing a major quarterfinal you know when you start out it’s really impressive to have someone who’s been a proper Pro but do you ever get to a point where you’re thinking like this guy’s never been in my shoes so I I want to separate um two
Things um I don’t know that I ever thought that specifically about Tariq Tariq it was almost like I think he was only guilty of caring too much about me right I feel like instead of watching his pupil play a tennis match or his you know student play a tennis match he
Viewed me as like a family member playing a tennis match right like to where he was so emotionally invested that it had this this whole other set of of of of of of pressures right and I think he was you know he would he would be devastated for days afterwards you
Know if something bad happened which is a hard thing to do because like you got to kind of get back to work and so I I if I think he’s only guilty of given me all of the pieces I needed to to have physically to to be a professional
Tennis player and then at some point it was a stress point for me to lose not for myself but because I knew it would devastate him and I’m actually thinking about that on court in real time so he nothing wrong um you know only only the
Best just at a certain point I had to take that emotional Set uh out of it a little bit but as you go on I I like the the question you asked and it’s something I’ve kind of talked about the last couple weeks also um in in some
Some other conversations is you know all of a sudden when I’m looking for a coach uh in ‘ 06 when I bring on Jimmy or with Jimmy Connors or uh before I hired my last coach Larry in the offseason in ‘ 08 you know I’m looking at it and I’m
Going okay I can’t hire a 28y Old Coach like I can’t hire someone who has never seen this or done this before their tennis IQ might be higher than mine but it’s how I received the information Jimmy hadn’t been around the tour in in 15 years but to your point I knew that
When I was teeing off first round Arthur as Stadium Under The Lights US Open he knew exactly what I was feeling when I walked out there so you hire a coach for a year for those five matches where it’s like I get it you look up and he’s going
Come you know he feels it he knows it he’s giving you some advice on when to use the crowd and Ash you know when to stay silent don’t bring him in unless you need it you know all of these little bits of advice and you know that’s
Something that you need at that moment I don’t need someone to kind of uh tell me what I already know so at a certain point uh the the the audience for feedback becomes a lot smaller the better you get did you also uh I got to
Uh I got to double back here did did I miss here did you did you say you got dumped once I did uh by Jimmy um yeah but it was it was great I mean we had an unbelievable run it was no we’re we’re friends to day it was great but it was
Kind of like a you know I was my life uh existed in in in New York in the east coast at that time um and he was on the west coast and it was uh a little more difficult but Jimmy was the man I mean it literally went when it kind of passed
To where I couldn’t really hit a forehead anymore with shoulder issues he actually taught me how to move uh how to actually hit a backend for the first time in my life how to return off that side and so we were able to kind of uh retrofit uh a game that was largely
Imperfect and learned how to come forward and it was just uh it was you know some of the Fondest Memories I have are inside of that 18 months uh also just kind of it was just kind of fun because like the the age divide if you
Walked into a restaurant and most of the patrons at that moment were over 50 they looked at Jimmy like he was Justin Bieber walking into like a high school right um and then if it was a younger crowd they wouldn’t they would look right past them and it was it was like
Hilarious to me how how obvious it was but it was it was also fun because he had a not having a hip replacement is not fun but him having a middle hip was hilarious because every time he tried to walk through security it was like it’s it’s it’s it’s first laugh all over
Again and I was like we’ll see you at the gate that’s uh those are like two SNL skits in one one of them is like should we go to David Busters or should we go to like the early brid special and you’ll see who gets mobbed and who can
Like have their meal in peace and then uh I I um I I do think should we dwell or at least at least touch on uh the the two you know the two coaching changes already six weeks into the season I thought it was interesting we’re talking
About just Pula on the women’s side and and hogar Runa on the men side I what’s interesting to me is these are just two very different players very different stages of their career these are two players who run their careers very differently but both of them for
Whatever reason um you know in the case of Jess Pula this was a long-standing relationship with David wiid a former pro in the case of hogar Runa God knows what’s going on in that camp I said whatever Denmark’s sort of seasonal unemployment figures are he’s responsible for about 20% of the churn
In the job market um but I I thought it was interesting that you have two very very different players at different stages of their career and yet they both reach this conclusion really early in the season that it was time to uh you know like the Milwaukee Bucks that it
Was was it was time to uh hear some new voices and shake things up which which just goes to show that there’s you know this this is a delicate relationship isn’t it this this player coach and it may be early February but if it’s not working you you got to do something about
It yeah it’s it’s and especially like I mean Runa is the player he’s top 10 in the world he’s working with Becker and you want that expertise especially what I just talked about with Jimmy in that voice in the room but also it takes away the Yes man you know kind of mentality
Of that relationship right you’re not going to tell Becker hey we get out of here I’ll see you in two weeks and he goes no no no no no no so like you get a quick read on the way that things are going to go down when someone doesn’t
Need you as much or at least they don’t they know they’ve forgotten more than you you know um which is largely the case so with Runa it just feels like it’s up in in unorganized um and S luy too like we’re we’re talking about the
The the focus is going to be on on Boris obviously because a player but Sevon was Roger’s guy for forever even if Roger brought in someone like an edberg or an anacon SN was there day in day out training weeks all the time was able to witness greatness in motion and he goes
Right after Australia and then which hogar lost second round and then Becker goes a week later kind they kind of gave the same talking points as in their exit interview um I don’t know what he does from here I don’t know who he’s interviewing but also if you’re a great
Coach right now and you’re entertaining this that has to be factored in right the fact that he’s had you know three different coaches or four different coaches in four or five months um is it tells you like there’s something that’s difficult uh behind the scenes and maybe
We should give him the benefit of Doubt but optically uh on the front side of this it it seems like it seems like a bit of a mess yeah would would you like to date John Cougar melon Camp um the the track record uh kind of speaks for
Itself um I will tell you one thing I don’t know if you get the ATP the the letter the emails that go out to the players but they’ve started a section of available coaches so the emails that the players get now essentially have it’s like it’s like the old uh
It’s like Craigslist yeah smart it’s a good it’s a nice service but um you know the the tour seems to be taking a more active role in uh playing playing Matchmaker it’s it’s a weird I mean I just think this whole thing in tennis it’s a weird weird dynamic where the
20-year-old kid is the employer essentially but he’s also you know we think of a player coach as mentor mentee and yet in the case of tennis it’s the 20-year-old who’s ultimately uh got the purse strings and got the right to hire and Fire and it’s also just there’s so
Many factors um that go into it like geography and listen you might be great on Court and you might not be able to do 200 dinners a year with a person I mean you you lit like with Doug spren who is my trainer my PT my body guy when
I was traveling I got I we we estimated that we had dinner together 250 times a year for for a decade like you have to you get annoyed by people very quickly um and you could take a night off and it’s fine but you still have to see them
All the time so there there are layers to this it’s not like a pro sports team where you know bich wasn’t having dinner with his players five nights a week like it doesn’t it doesn’t work that way that’s not that’s not what happens and so the layering I actually like what you
Said about the ATP listing coaches because when you’re trying to think of them off the top like you know an idea creates another idea creates another idea so um I actually like that part of it I think the the Runa thing I can’t figure out the timing of it uh bringing
In both at the same time like it was I I I it just seems like a mess well I’ll tell you one thing real quick and then we can move on one thing that used to always hear sort of like well I I really like Andy but it’s what you said I’m I’m
Married I have kids I don’t want to miss birthdays I can only do 12 Weeks What I Hear now that goes into a lot of this decision making is can they get along with other members in the camp and you know it it is a rare player now that
Doesn’t have an Entourage so you may love the player but if you’re not so keen on the mental coach or the physio or there’s some weird Bal boundary issues I mean there’s um you know there’s a player on the women’s tour in particular where apparently everyone has
A really really rigid role and the coach is not allowed to talk about the mental side and I think there’s a whole sort of yeah but there’s a whole like workplace Dynamic now where it used to just kind of be Logistics and I don’t want to have
To I’ll go to all you know like Tony Nadal would never go to Indian Wells and so they’ bring in Fr I mean now I think it’s gotten a lot more complicated because you really have sort of a a workplace in you know I don’t want sit
By Dwight shre like you have a whole workplace environment that goes into the uh I like that one no but it’s it’s like these these teams really complicate Dynamics and I think that’s something that I hear when people are thinking about coaching jobs they may love the player but the whole sort of
Organizational setup may give them pause anyway just just in just in aide you said all of that and what I took out of it was a visual of Jim putting Dwight stapler and jell that’s that’s where that’s take that Jessie P yeah that that’s that’s where my head went now and
And also like at different yeah at different times you you need different things like I didn’t need the first two years on tour I needed Tariq at every practice you’re still learning the game you’re still learning how to practice you’re still learning the Cadence of off weeks you’re still learning you know a
Million things I needed a coach there every single day for those the first three years that we worked together whereas when I hired I to fky I didn’t need to be babysat I was going to do my track work I was going to be at the
Track at 7:15 every morning I was going to be there for 3 hours I was gonna have lunch I was gonna get in two on ones in the afternoon he could come in listen let’s let’s let’s get through what I need to work let’s make sure I
Understand the concepts but I needed him more at events uh for strategizing uh for a lot of stuff like that I didn’t need someone to babysit me to make sure that I was going to show up to practice whereas you know 10 years earlier I probably did um you know frankly I
Needed to make good decisions so it does it does change uh it does change over time um and and the the Runa thing feels it’s just like a I say that because it’s a very different yeah uh situation than in my view than than the Jess Pula uh
Situation coming off of an Uber successful run with with David wit being 29 30 years old um it just it doesn’t feel like the same thing as Runa where we have kind of repeated uh stops and starts as as far as this decision goes yeah exactly I mean I think that’s one
Thing that made it interesting to me that different different players have different motivations and there isn’t one sort of template for oh it’s time for a coaching change that you couldn’t find two more different players in every sense whether it’s parental involvement whether it’s age you know Jesse’s
Married I mean but they both reach the same conclusion very early in the season which uh which was interesting to me and they both have the goal right they’re both players that yeah Envision themselves as someone who could win uh a slam I think in in in J’s case it’s
Probably more of like Hey listen if I’m 29 or 30 and there’s information out there that I haven’t been privy to yet you know I might need to go explore that now because two years from now um that might not be the case I do want to give
Uh David wit and and Jesse some some props right she she wasn’t one that at 18 years old was 20 in the world right took her lumps in the in the in the the the lower tours that uh relationship even if it’s run its course right or it
Has run its course uh going from outside the top 100 to being a player who was three in the world and who routinely regularly wins wins tour events and all of a sudden we’re talking about Hey listen can she make the the finals of a
Slam um they I I assume they both would have taken this set of results when they started four years years ago so the rear view uh should be kind uh to that relationship I think let’s let’s talk uh I I agree 100% let’s let’s talk not rear
View let’s talk front view can I can I put you on the spot um there there is there is Chatter there’s chatter you maybe uh expanding your consultancy Beyond just Coco goof as we talked about last time I have no consultancy deal with with with Coco goof I’m a phone call
Away if uh if we need to pick a brain um about about anything uh and also I I need to premise everything or preface everything that that I’m gonna say right now with I’m never ever ever GNA be the one who talks first about any conversations that I have uh with a
Given player it was spoken about on Tennis Channel last week not by me um but i’ I’ve talked with Jess it’s I think I’m you know we talk about how when you get better um the amount of people that can give feedback and understand your situation becomes
Narrower um I know that she’s talked to Lindsay Lindsay Lindsay Davenport Lindsay he said hey maybe you should talk to Andy and so I’ve gone through this this we talked zero seconds about why uh her and wit broke up it’s not a concern of mine it’s not my business
Frankly so I don’t know um but just kind of talking through it and trying to put you know at least some words to what’s next what are you looking for how are you going to navigate the next you know month of your career when it is a little
Bit more up in the air what are you curious about improving um I think all I did with Jess and all I have done and hopefully will continue to do is just ask questions um that she knows the answers to already right I don’t think she needs anyone to dictate to her uh
What needs to happen right now she’s three in the world um or four in the world right now uh so I think she’s excited about being curious about different parts of her game um you know I think she’s taken advantage of of different voices while she’s been off
With specific parts of her game um you know but it’s it’s it’s been fun for me because I’m just a tennis nerd so learning what someone else is looking for at the top level and kind of just giving your two cents and I said listen just because it’s my opinion doesn’t
Mean it’s right but hopefully it gives some to think about and so we hit a couple times last week just to kind of get to know a little bit better and um you know I think all I am is is a reference and it’s it’s just incredibly
Fun for me to have a vested interest and uh to say what I know but more importantly I can tell people what I got wrong along the way and hopefully that’s a time saer wait this this is the journalist in me and not the the podcasting partner so she she came
To you again she she came to North Carolina and you guys hit some balls that’s interesting no no no I was I was in I I went down for the pickle ball deal and she lives down in South Florida so I arrived one night uh we had an
Evening hit snuck it in before the dark played a little bit the next morning um nothing intense it was there they weren’t like we were knock down drag out sessions I think it was just a more a bouncing back and forth of of of ideas but I just think she’s awesome you know
I just I I just you know I’ve I’ve talked to Koko and gotten to know her she’s amazing I talked to Jess I’ve gotten to know her she’s amazing it just it’s just it’s just really fun to kind of wrap tennis um on a high level and
Frankly I’m humbled that you know anyone would care uh to even have my opinion uh in the in the conversation but I see good things ahead for Jess I think it’s probably going to be a little bit weird um you know for the next couple weeks
But um I I think she’s doing a good job of of being honest about what she wants about being honest about what she needs and I also said listen don’t over don’t over go the other way completely from from from David I I don’t know that I
Don’t want to know what happened but obviously it was something to cause a break but that was a really successful relationship if you can kind of pull out the parts of that relationship that I’ve worked for the last four years and then find another voice that can maybe change
The the energy a little bit I go but don’t like over you know don’t over adjust off of that successful relationship I think that you know give given the amount of time and I think they’d probably even say it today that was that was an amazing uh batch of
Years and work for for David Wht and and Jess Pula yeah exactly and I don’t I don’t I mean like any relationship right I mean sometimes things just things go a little stale and you need to hear a new voice and it doesn’t mean there was any
Nefarious activity or any blow up or anything I mean I think you know it’s a professional relationship and like relationships personal and professional sometimes you just time time for something new that’s all no harm no fil yeah it’s been also it’s it’s like in the weird in the Fallout of some of the
Stuff you know being able to rrap with with Brad and be you know about what we’re going to do with Coco I’m like that’s really fun for me to hear his perspective on things and to kind of have that inside view again not hearing
It from him all the time but you know in bits and moments and hearing his take on things I get smarter because of those conversations uh same with Lindsay when we’re talking about you know you know Jess and you know her saying hey what do you think and I’m going oh that’s cool
Like what give me the rundown I I love it I love it it’s so much fun it’s you know it’s it’s great for me I love tennis now um as much as I have in the 12 years that you know I stopped playing it’s just so much fun for me right now
And now this and everything else it’s like uh I never fell out of love I just maybe broke up with someone and I I’ve I’m I’m fully back in love again um it’s just it’s just been so much fun and so so much happening and it’s uh it’s all
Really exciting joh that’s awesome I uh like hearing that like being a part of that and uh the sport you you figured it out too where you you can do this and you don’t have to uh you wake up in your own bed you know you’re you’re back in
The mix and you don’t have to worry about the Marriott uh you know checkout times yeah that was it was it’s it’s weird and I I want to say this the right way because I know it’s it could be like a lot of things we say could could be
Taken the wrong way nothing great came out of Co right let’s just let’s just leave that there there okay or nothing you have to acknowledge uh the pain points of Co before you go celebrating something that happened so uh during covid I’m allowed to get on Tennis Channel um without traveling and that
Was my my biggest thing right I can’t I I don’t want to travel I’m not giving up this time I traveled for my entire life everything was based around you know something that was happening in some City and I had to be present and I frankly just didn’t want to have to be
Present um doesn’t mean my interest in the game was any any less uh but then all of a sudden Co hits and there’s no live content and we basically have to read the phone book on on air on Tennis Channel and I remember my original I
Asked for a job on Twitter and they responded um and I so I had a job and the original contract was like oh well you know let’s do six weeks and then this thing will probably be over yeah um that go and so I you luckily the the
Positive selfishly for me they came out of it is it it set precedent from being able to have these conversations without uh having the background of whatever Stadium uh you’re at right there so I I am certainly thankful that this form of conversation uh has become more
Acceptable well put and uh no you’re right Ian we’re going to look back at this as a very strange interval but it’s really changed you know I mean how how many people go to an office five days a week like there’s there’s a lot of uh we showed ourselves to be a fairly
Adaptable species and certainly uh in in work as well uh producer Marik are you writing something for me or are we going to wrap here you got something give me your sticky oh this is interesting so empty NE yeah empty nester uh do you have Valentine’s planers there is there a
Stranger pressure on Valentine’s Day when when when you’re an empty nester do you have to bring out all the stops yeah I thought we were going to talk about like you we could talk about Dominic team we could talk more about uh what’s going on at the top of the game did you
Hear Yanik CER pulled out at an event and it didn’t go over so well Adrien manino the French Lefty is coming on strong um I’m I’m glad actually actually okay your your strategy worked uh I’m actually interested in that um because what are you GNA do on Valentine’s
Day um yeah the pressure gets ratcheted up um jeez I mean what What’s happen you’re like wilting under the pressure I’m glad that you’re not you weren on my side microphone for our entire career can’t even answer a simple question you that uh we we have we have a dinner
Reservation here in New York and uh fourth forthcoming trip to Europe I’m thinking you think think pickle ball lessons makes for a nice Valentine’s remember bul candles candles six um you think pickle ball lessons makes I don’t think so I’m open to suggestion I played
I gave broo a tennis lesson one time and it ended with her uh tomahawking the racket at the fence and saying what do you know anyways and so that was that so I would advise against it um but anyways John worth I’m glad that we uh wait we’re in a committed relationship now
That feels good I’ll sleep well even long distance that’s fine with me I’ll give it a try we’re each we’re we’re each other’s Valentine I didn’t ask you what you’re doing with two kids it’s a different different Arrangement that’s a different it’s a different kind of
Pressure too you got to make those hours uh you got to make that babysitter count it’s I will tell you like my wife might care less about Valentine’s day than I do there is no pressure my wife is the coolest she does not care she doesn’t
Want to have to make a plan either so um I’m not sure what we’re going to do we have kids get ready for school the next day so uh we we might just punt on it but on anyways she knows I appreciate her uh every day and not just
Valentine’s day uh I appreciate you every day not just Valentine’s Day exctly either either also John wor all right man I’ll see you next week we’ll do it again sounds good see you buddy we always feel lucky to have John wortheim on but I that was the most awkward response from
Him I like it wasn’t as if I asked a hard hitting question I was like what are you doing on Valentine’s Day and it was it was it was like a his reaction was one of if I asked him for a kidney and he just wasn’t quite sure you
Glitched him I glitched him I mean he went full glitch like it’s amazing when journalist he asks all these hard-hitting questions in 60 minutes and then it’s like hey man whatd you have for breakfast anyways that was we’re we’re thankful we’re thankful to have him but that
Was that was super weird John uh guys the most incredible athletic feat that I’ve ever seen wasn’t the football game what was it [ __ ] Usher on roller skates are you kidding me you get a no no you get a chance it’s like this is a culmination of your life’s work to this
Time you’re 45 and you look like you’re 23 like whatever his skinc care thing is like he’s obviously taking whatever Michael Sarah was selling in that in that that’s Sera commercial but Usher being like you know what I’d like to bring a lot of risk into this I’m gonna perform
A song on roller skates are you kidding me at the Super Bowl and everyone’s like well he did it during his residency there I’m like yeah but you also like practice the stages perfect you this is a makeshift he made a a roller skating rink in the middle of the Super Bowl
Came out and started singing songs and then went through someone’s legs like we’re not playing around this is the Super Bowl halftime show this the biggest perform most eyeballs you ever have on you in your entire life and you’re going you know what give me the [ __ ]
Skates like it’s it’s there just it’s a crazy it’s the craziest most insane ballsy thing that I’ve ever seen and if some guy somewhere in America is like I roller SK I used to roller skate twice a day no not while singing Confessions on the Super Bowl
Oh my gosh that was the top five top five top five if he would have just skated around and not sing any songs and just risk falling it would have been top five he did yeah he did he goes my boo like he brought Alicia Keys out and he’s
Like roller skate me are you out of your mind that isn’t that’s the most craziest ballsiest thing I’ve ever seen on a Super Bowl field in my life was Usher on roller skates and there was a game guys the S up was successful the Chiefs did it the scop
Full Taylor scop one crazy and I nailed I nailed my prop bets I won’t read them all here now but uh what was it five and a half times she was way over five and a half times reeba put in an official 90 seconds the previous was 124 from 20
Years ago uh she went back for uh you know kind of did a second round of lyricss there right at the end for the save uh on the over uh red lipstick that was always going to happen there there was no hokey pokei turn yourself around uh
With that one uh Pat Mahomes in all serious we’re joking at the beginning of this close beginning of this close is a weird thing to say um but Pat Mahomes it’s I thought they were overplaying the yeah these are all the reasons why San Fran is the most complete team we’ve
Seen and the only defense was yeah but Pat Mahomes like that’s all anyone said for two weeks was like the defense of anything like we pride ourselves on served on getting into the Weeds on things there were no weeds to be had it was like San Francisco run blocking uh
KD and block down field Christian mcaffry most versatile back that we’ve ever seen this side of Marshall FL you know Brock py Mr Irrelevant now he’s a great game manager is’s a game manager no he’s a game executive and then the defense of that was like yeah but Pat
Mahomes and that was it for two weeks and I it it angered me because I’m like no you got to give more that’s just lazy journalism but you know you know you know was the most accurate journalism going in the most accurate predictions uh yeah but uh like the full butt head defense
Uh momes unbelievable uh Andy Reid and Andy Reid like we quickly forget he was the the guy who was the best coach that hadn’t won the Super Bowl yet right the Eagles all that like he had one and now all of a sudden three Super Bowls later
One of the best offensive coaches of all time one of the best coaches of all time running a simple Andy re scre screen to win the Super Bowl that was the most Andy Reid finish uh that I’ve ever seen uh all around just props I feel bad for
The ners Kyle Shanahan has had Heartbreak Hotel uh in the Super Bowl uh KD py they they’re going to be back they’re locked and loaded uh it was a lot of fun to watch Usher was the Super Bowl MVP and I don’t have any time for anyone
Who has a differing opinion I’m sorry this is a we’re in a polarized time and if you think Usher wasn’t the most impressive part of that on roller skates on a temporary stage at the Super Bowl then you’re insane then you’re you’re you’re absolutely insane uh Tennis
Channel guys it’s going to pick up this podcast and we are GNA play it on T2 Tennis Channel all of their different platforms uh it’s going to be a Sunday night show uh we think and we’re pretty positive that our first uh first show our debut will be on March 4th crazy two
Episodes in and now all of a sudden we get to talk talk to uh a larger demo of tennis fans some that probably didn’t even know that we were starting this little operation hopefully uh they will and for early adopters all this time guys all this
Work that we’ve been putting in for two weeks it’s finally paid off we’re on TV uh Charlie we yeah yeah yeah thank you to uh where are they Charlie P Charlie M Justin Producer Mike before he is like we need to get you something other than
Sticky notes cuz this is the only thing that people hear guys when you’re pulling in $13 this is your produ this is what you get this is it you’re going to have to deal with the uh with the audio we couldn’t be happier John worth I’m officially on
Fulltime uh great tennis channel news hopefully uh we can continue to provide you with some differentiated content um you know something that I think was uh open for the taking in in in the tennis space hopefully it’ll be a little bit of different show but come along with us uh
Early listeners we appreciate you and hopefully we see a little bit more often uh with our deal to take this podcast and format it uh for TV and Tennis Channel uh check us out on all the the platforms right we we’re adding them all the time uh Apple Spotify has been
Generous to us you guys have uh continued to keep us this little tiny tennis podcast amongst the Giants in in the the regular Sports ether uh here in America in Brazil shout out Fernando Melo Jenny for for plugging us we got to get him on get yeah we’re get him on um
It’s been it’s been uh it’s been great we can’t wait to see you on Tennis Channel and that’s it anything else homies all right we got you next week thanks I’m Andy Ric
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