Amy Lundy on Djokovic’s Exit, Sinner’s Streak and More From Indian Wells | Inside- In Podcast

The 2024 Indian Wells event has been jaw-dropping, and Amy Lundy appears on the show to recap all the drama in the desert. Lundy dives into Novak Djokovic’s shocking upset loss to Lucky Loser Luca Nardi, Carlos Alcaraz & Jannik Sinner dismantling the opposition, and how Gael Monfils has been able to turn back the hands of time.

The journalist and podcast host also explains why Iga Swiatek is so successful when playing in these conditions, how Coco Gauff has turned a corner, and what impresses her the most about Caroline Wozniacki’s comeback. Lundy even gives her thoughts on Simona Halep’s return to the court and Rafael Nadal’s next move. Hosted by Mitch Michals.

You can listen to this episode on all of your favorite podcast platforms by clicking on this link: https://link.chtbl.com/4IBA2nJl?sid=YT

All right now joining us on Tennis Channel inside in back again you can find her on the three podcast with Joel drer and Gil gross on the tennis channel podcast Network you find her on a ton of Publications covering tennis including tennis connected very statistically and analytically driven U one of the best

Guests I have on the show not just saying that Amy returns program Amy welcome back to the podcast a lot to discuss for this Indian Wells tournament but I’m excited do so oh thanks for having me it’s always a pleasure to be on this show chat with you you’re so

Smooth with your delivery and your questions it’s always fun and yes Indian Welles is one of my favorite tournaments yeah it was great I got to spend a few days there um good to be back in the mix uh lot lot to dive into with this tournament and I know it’s a

Standalone part of the schedule so we’re going to get to the biggest upset that happened Amy but I just wanted to know from your perspective you know when you track tennis year round like I do but it is kind of hard to judge this and I wanted to ask your question ask the

Question of are you judging this kind of as its own little mini season because it is kind of funky right like we have two huge hardcore events a lot of money a lot of ranking points but you know in between some clay events in the South

Some tennis in the Middle East and now we’re going to be going to the clay in Europe so how do you judge or gauge what we’re seeing here in the sunshine double I love the sunshine double just because it’s two backtack amazing tournaments in my home country but I’ve always thought

Does it make sense to have these two back to back because they’re on opposite ends of the United States and the conditions are so different and it’s leading into clay so and and it can get really hot too especially in Miami so I’ve always thought like if I could redo

The calendar somehow I maybe would have Miami start the year before Australia but it is what it is and and the cool thing about it is if you get somebody who wins both like Shante did a couple years ago it is an impressive achievement yeah it it really is and it

Can also be star making especially Indian Wells looking back at who won Osaka andrescu on the women’s side uh you’ve seen the very best in the game everybody who’s everybody in men’s tennis the big four big three I should say won this tournament and propelled the Greater Heights uh one of those

Members the only active one right now on tour we’ll see what happens with Rafa but Novak jokovic loses to luuk andard in the third round it was a stunning upset to say the least a 20-year-old Italian lucky loser Amy wasn’t supposed to be in this main draw grew up

Idolizing a lot of tennis players including Novak jovic and he beats the number one player in the world in three sets first things first and we’ll get to Novak but for nardi’s perspective it was refreshing to see someone in this moment really rise up go for his shots hit

Blistering shot after blistering shot and show no fear in the third set when the tensions were getting high Mitch isn’t it interesting to look and see how different players will approach playing Novak will they attempt to redline will they slow ball him will they um mix and

Match will they serve in volley and this guy chose attempting to redline and it worked it really did work for him I loved hearing about his backstory on the tennis channel pod uh Tennis Channel uh telecast talking about he likes to ride his motorcycle and eat his mom’s pasta

He’s pretty chill dude uh he really brought it and you know being Italian that’s like one of Novak’s best languages so they had some Italian at the net after the match um it was it was a weird match in many ways because I think Novak won one more Point than

Nardy did um Novak was in and out with his Focus uh there was that one really odd point where um nardy thought the ball was out and because he’s a challenger level player typically um he’s not used to the automatic line calling so he just kind of popped it

Back and then they played the point and really entertaining unusual I will say that Novak has had these types of losses before so I’m not pulling the alarm just yet so yeah it was also great to see with nardy how you know they said oh you’re playing Tommy paulnack he had no

Idea he was just so in the moment he was like laughing like oh is that true like he you know and that’s it’s a great story to see for him I hope he keeps it going he’s into the top 100 at the end of this tournament he’ll have a chance

To keep his career going another Italian tennis moment for sure for Novak and I guess the first thing too you mentioned that weird point I wasn’t really a fan of you know how Novak handled it from start to finish including at the net but I understand that it’s tense moment and

I cut players more slack when they’re in the heat of battle it wasn’t totally egregious but it was the right decision and handled properly by the chair that said I agree with you in the sense that it’s not a alarming thing that you know he has a loss here we’ve seen him he’s

Said openly you know up to like five years ago that I’m prioritizing Majors that’s the real Focus I think it was after he lost to Cole shriber or uh Roberto Batista guten one of these same tournaments but it is a little strange Amy right to see him not have any titles

And not really have any momentum at mid-march of of the start of a tenis season so that’s the part that’s strange and anytime age gets brought into this which you have to acknowledge that he’s 36 going on 37 you can ask questions and wonder if you know we’re starting to see

A slow but inevitable decline oh I hate those questions but I just have really dedicated myself because I do a podcast on the big three to trying to listen to what the player is saying and stay in the present because if we spend all our time

Focusing on when these guys are going to retire or are we seeing a diminishment in skills then we’re missing some of the really great stuff and and the past five years with jovic there’s been some really great moments in there when some people had him retired yeah it’s it’s a fair point to

Say and obviously being a victim of his own success right the guy won three out of four was I know one set away from winning all four last year and if he’s slipping it might be slipping to top three or four versus number one but it’s

You know again where we where we put him up to I think the decision to me which kind of stands out in a wind your perspective he didn’t play du B didn’t play anything in the Middle East and that’s where you know after not winning Australia I was curious to that because

That has always been you know a momentum builder for him going into this year so he is being more selective with his scheduling at the very least for 2020 all players should be but particularly when you get over 30 I think you have to

Be super smart he had not been to the US in many years because of the pandemic and the restrictions blah blah blah Indian Wells is kind of The Unofficial tennis convention or confab where a lot of the sponsors come out there’s TV appearances there’s um business dealings

That you have have to do and as uh Milo Ric famously said once you have you’re your own CEO really of tennis players and I think jokovic um really wanted to go out there and and do his stuff that he had to do and make people happy but

The fact that he lost early in this tournament is not so much a big deal yeah I hadn’t won this event since 2016 I know he hasn’t been allowed to play the last couple years it’s not something he prioritizes we mentioned at the beginning that it’s a funkier part of

The Season I’m still saying well you know we’ll wait till post Olympics after French Open after wimble then after Olympics to see where his level is it is nice to see some of these younger guys and one we’re going to get to you know raise their level and really challenge

Him uh last note on jokovic Amy is there anything in the tennis and I know we’re we’re talking in the moment now anything in the tennis you think he needs to improve or work on when we’re going forward into this year some adjustments he can make I was looking at his serve

Speeds they’re pretty much this last match not withstanding they’re pretty much as good as they’ve ever been so I think the serve is fine there was a little bit of weirdness on the forehand um the the guys who were calling the match said that he was looping it a

Little bit more not sure what’s going on with that um I know he has a really good strategist so he’s scouting everybody I mean who am I to pick apart jovic’s game I honestly think this was a oneoff I really do yeah yeah no D we going to count him out it’s

Just interesting and uh peculiar to hear him say he’s confused with his level uh but again never going to count him out we’ll see what the Miami open and then going into the clay Court Season leads uh but right now the hottest player in tennis without question is yanic CER he

Beat Ben Shelton last night in straight sets as we record this on a Wednesday 15 and0 on the year uh Amy to start and yeah you’d have to go back there’s only been one other player under 23 to do that it was Stefan edberg in 198 seven

So wow Center is blistering fast beat Shelton in straight sets and that match was competitive in the first set I was so impressed with Center’s ability Amy to just find a way because if you talk about redlining maybe nobody can Redline in in short flashes better than Ben

Shell Center was up against it he had a Time violation call he had instances where he wasn’t quite feeling at his Apex but he gets through it and he keeps that clean record yanic Center’s development has been one to watch I know you’ve seen it from a tennis St point

The weapons that he’s added to his game and the overall consistency he played against Shelton an extremely disciplined match particularly in that first Set uh any Baseball fans out there the movie Bull Durham Ben Shelton kind of reminds me of nuk Louch in that movie because he’s raw he’s

Great you can see he’s a little bit wild uh highly entertaining but you can see the greatness that’s coming but cner is a few years ahead and he’s made the Right Moves one thing in that match that really impressed me and and really overall is his defense Center’s defense

His ability it’s very jokovic like his ability to if a ball is hit with a lot of depth for him to either neutralize or turn that into offense you think he’s going to be in trouble but he gets that ball back with depth and that is Trad

Mark Novak so maybe all those matches against jokovic he’s really learned a lot yeah Courier mentioned it on the broadcast how he’s really gotten stronger out of the corners and it talks about the weight training and it’s it’s everything right it’s the work with kahill on the team but it’s you know

These tennis matches are as you said with jokovic winning one more point in the match but losing it it comes down to just a precious few points under some really really stressful situations it’s all that practice it’s all that time he put in it’s the muscle memory that he

Trusts his game that under duress he is going to come up with the goods and he has and for Shelton it’s it’s going to get there there are you know there isn’t even really and I’ve been impressed with Ben in a lot of ways too how raw he is

Makes it makes the potential seem almost that much greater it’s not even strategy at this point it’s it’s executing a couple big points which we eventually trust will get there but his strategy has improved and you know he played a pretty good first set just wasn’t able

To execute as well as the hottest player in the world yes totally and it was you know a glimpse at the future and you do start to see or think maybe this is a a major uh Changing of the Guard and these are the players that are going to take

Us into the future including alcaraz and the players like seyas who lost maybe he was in that group that was sort of the bridge or the interim and then these are the the Future Stars well they certainly look like future stars alcarez who won this

Title last year is on the fast track to defend it he has a potential one match away Showdown with Center looming he beats morzan yesterday uh the guy that took him out in clay last year but it wasn’t much adversity for ALC really hasn’t been much other than the first

Set of this tournament and even that match he was able to turn around he just looks I know he hasn’t won a title since wimbl and Amy but he just looks so good especially here I was watching the match and watching his matches thinking this might be his best event like it’s weird

To say that given how good he looked on grass and Clay but everything the core conditions the Comfort how he’s able to create Magic his courts are playing faster but how he’s able to create ma magic on a slower hard I just am so in abern with alcr in

General but especially on the slow hard courts of Indian Wells yes these conditions are unique it’s slower hardcore but fast air so the ball can fly but you have longer to get there um so some players do really well with it including alarz some players do not do

Well with it including typically guys that have a one-handed backhand alcaraz everybody has a fix for him you know what let’s um I say let’s let him Coach himself and figure this out himself because he’s so young and spongy that I think um he’s gonna know the patterns to

Play and he’s gonna know what he needs to pick up and what he doesn’t because he’s so complete right now I’m a big glasses half full kind of guy and I understand that we live in you know especially Sports where everyone’s critical when you’re not when you’re on

Top and then you’re not on top what’s wrong I think a lot of it is just sinner raised his level and it’s also easier when you’re hunting versus being the hunted and I think now alcar has given a chance to reset some of the injury luck too has just been unfortunate rolling an

Ankle you can’t really prevent that it just it just happens um but I think it’s been good for him to kind of hit the reset button relatively to where he was ranked drop down out of the not being number one regroup work on some things there’s still so much left in his tennis

Career that I do think we’re going to see as you said spongy as a great word he’s able to adapt and learn on the Fly and I also think that he’s you know he’s somebody that understands who the top guys are who has beaten him before like

Z coming up that he’s licking his chops to much like jokovic much like feder and AD doll raise his level as these tournament matches go on and his serve is in my view of it or understanding of it it’s just getting slightly incrementally better and better

And better even though he hasn’t won a tournament since Wimbledon and um his return game Mitch is right right at the top of the tour so for a guy like Zev who has a really Elite first serve but uh just so so second serve um for a

Great returner I think alcaraz is is gonna know how to play that and take advantage where he can that was ver of yesterday right he beat stepen hour again three sets it was an interesting match but it was also one where Ste AR’s playing the tennis of his life and it is

One match and you know he has played a lot of tennis but that match up just favors ver so well cuz he can do what very few can and that push demon hour around make him play on his heels and his complete game we saw it in the alcra

Match and in the Mev match that he should have won frankly that ZB has weapons that very few do and when everything’s working in in lockstep and everything’s in sync ver clearly looks like one of the top five players in the world yeah I was thinking to myself

Watching that match I can’t believe he hasn’t won a grand slam yet because he is phenomenal um and and it you’re right like Alex demor cannot be playing any better right now I mean he’s playing his style to the nines and Zev really started to control

That match after the first set so yeah I I did not pick Z for the final four but I’m kind of regretting that because he could very well win this tournament we here with Amy Wy on Tennis Channel insight and we’re talking Indian Wells as we gear up for the final

Matches of the round of 16 we got quarterfinals some set some still to be decided a few more things on the men before we get to the women and uh I do want to give a shout out to yri leeka who was a 32 seed has just been

Dismantling top players in ruv and CPAs back to back straight s wins um remarkable stuff from him it was your co-host Gil gross that last year picked leeka to do well and I think he was just a year ahead of schedule but in all seriousness what leeka can do on a so

Hard court is another thing and it’s also Amy frustrates some top players and rubv and CPAs as you saw as well as I did very frustrated playing the Czech player everyone is saying that leko reminds them of Beric and his fellow countrymen and it may be even bdic plus

Because um Le heska hit some beautiful volleys and Tomas did not like to come to the four court all that much but Lees also had the right game plan against Cy POS because he just brutalized the backhand and um it was it was um a beat

Down yeah I just I’m glad we got some check players coming up and I like bdic but leka and mahot and menic like we have other comparisons now it’ll be nice if you want have to say oh B but come on even the way they look right they do

Those two do look the most similar but it’s like oh a guy has a backward hat on his check he’s verdict but no you’re right I mean and the sitb thing is is frustrating especially I think rubv the mental state with him obviously A lot’s been discussed there so um hopefully he

Can get back on track but sits upas his backand has unfortunately let him down in a lot of big matches which is very unfortunate because so much of his game is well and he looks healthy which is good too but wasn’t able to make a step

Up and you know out of the top 10 now we’ll see how Steph gets some momentum he’s been so close as you said but now you have to wonder with younger guys coming up is he being passed by a newer younger generation yeah you know when

Steph fell out of the top 10 fairly recently there were was just a plethora of articles about the one-handed backand now it’s really dying right so my editor at tennis connected.com wanted me to write a story about um no take the other view Amy the one-handed backhand it’s

Still alive come on and I spent two weeks researching this Mitch and I started researching the junior ranks and the truth is I never wrote the story because there are very very precious few Juniors especially boys there are actually a few girls but precious boys that have a few boys that have a

One-handed backhand so um Steph’s gonna have to figure this out I mean obviously he’s not going to change his his stroke but he may have to pick up the slice more and and use that more um and you know he already runs around and hits forehand better than anyone in the game

But um he’s gonna have to take it up a Lev level in regards to other men still alive in this tournament at the time of recording uh how cool has it been from your perspective to see what Gail M has done oh it’s so fun you know especially

Given everything that SPID Alina has been through the last couple of years and she’ll occasionally mention like if she goes deep in a tournament she’ll occasionally mention that guel is the one looking after the the little tot and um I just think so much about what this guy’s life

Must be like right now um so you can’t help but root for him and he’s so entertaining to watch Big Air um I always want to see him come in more and I I actually have seen him come in more and put away balls in the four court but

Uh it’s a great story 37 going on 38 and he goes three and a half hours with Cam Nory who’s no sludge physically after and look tennis just keeps moving on right there’s no there’s no easy going on the veteran he gets Casper rude today and that’s not an easy followup at so

Roode’s another guy uh Amy that’s been adjusting his game kind of had to hit the reset button after some struggles but on Hardcore especially he starting to show some of the best tennis of his life he could get back his momentum because the way he hits his back hand

With a lot of Top Spin I think that could be a little bit more favorable on a slower hard court and you know is forehand obviously but just to have that um extra little few milliseconds on his on his takebackspace got uh demitro taken on Mev Mev just being a mad scientist like

I was at that match Sunday night when or Saturday night when he complained about a light flickering that no one could see walked off the court to a Rain of showering of booze but he did not care at all and you know he loves being the villain uh and talking to himself but

Grigor is playing some of the best tennis of his life so I do think he’s Al live Underdog in this matchup but Mev is someone that no matter what he’s saying to himself or to others no matter how he acts you know he’s always in the fight

Always dangerous yes one of my favorite players to watch and that really is a tribute to him because he plays a style that I don’t really care for the the straight Baseline and the um you know the way back return position at times um but that being said he’s so

Entertaining um dimitrov I happen to be checking around his um career at Indian Wells I think he he made one semi but he’s just 13 and 10 overall he does have that one-handed backhand so if you know how to really get out of his Strike Zone

On that Wing you can um effectively play demitro but Medvedev hits a very flat ball doesn’t he so this should be a super interesting matchup tactically something is something weird is gonna happen like I can just see it now something’s gonna get under meev skin I don’t know if it’ll affect the

Match or help one player more than others but that’s just the meev match well you know the last thing I mention Fritz Runa but you also have Tommy Paul sitting there the beneficiary of jokovic losing could be a chance for these American men to have their moment Paul

Was great beating Yugo and bear who’s been sizzling himself and Fritz has won this event before so if he can get by the tricky matchup of of hogar we could see another American go deep and maybe even go to the final Weekend Paul is an interesting player um I picked him

Actually to finish as my top American at year end um and some people were like no no no what are you talking about about you know Ben Shelton yada yada um I just am an awe of people that can move like that on the court I mean and and Paul

Has some things that unlike uh deonar who’s also a great mover um he actually has power and and a very good serve very very serviceable he can um move in hit Vol he’s got touch he’s a pretty complete player he’s one of my favorite Americans yeah I think if you asked

Somebody that would agree with you would’ be Carlos alcarez you ask him which American he doesn’t want to play it’ be Tommy Paul so that’s the compliment there well the men’s tennis event going to be great let’s uh switch to the women I want to spend some time

On that uh there is it’s interesting right like raka didn’t play Amy you look at the odds from the beginning of the tournament even now there’s a clear top three that have emerged from that and we’ll see how it all shakes up it’s but EA sablan and Koko have separated

Themselves from the pack though the last two Saban and KOCO kind of playing a little bit with house money they could have easily lost their first matches but you know how these tennis tournaments work right survive advance and it’s a new day both have looked exceptional since nearly getting sent home

Early I wouldn’t think that these type conditions would be right for Sabal Lena because the ball can fly and she just freaking goes for it and that’s her her first couple of matches that’s kind of what um has been happening but this is really Arena to .0 where she’s unlocked

This discipline within her and uh she’s I’ve seen her dial it back um now you won’t hear it because she still grunts as loud you know but she’s more contained if you actually look at the rally lengths and um how she she can keep the ball in the

Court Arena that match against pton cerns I was lucky enough to be there it was 40 love on cerns the serf I don’t want to bash on Payton I’m a huge fan it was a tough one level was there I think it’s a huge sign going forward even

Though there’s no moral victories in tennis but every other year you’re right this is Arena 2.0 40 up she’s checking out she’s air mailing a return that’s going to hit the back stop she’s shaking hands and flying to Miami but she dug in she played safer in that game and really

Her development and her ability to weather the storm there’s always going to be the demons there they’re not going to go away but her ability to just stay there kind of gather herself regroup how hard she hits it cannot be understated seeing it in person she’s somebody that in every match is

Going to be a live live weapon and somebody that you should fear for egoa though I mean especially could talk about conditions fitting her game I mean this is just looking like it’s Taylor Made for her she added another bread stick to her collection and I was

Researching the stat she’s got you know as of I think two matches ago over 10% of her matches have featured sets that were 60 so her sets one she’s got about 10% just just bageling people um she finishes exceptionally well and everything about her the word I wrote

Down Amy is methodical ego is just a methodical tennis player that wears you down that finishes strong and it’s just brimming with confidence right now I think you really hit it especially these conditions being perfect for because her forehand is such that clay and a slower hard Court gives her that extra moment

To wind up and it’s it’s vicious it really is um and she’s got the mentality so yes um she’s Tailor Made for This are you surprised let’s not say because we’ve talked about it’s in much discussed working on her serve overhauling it are you surprised with

The timing of when she did it because we’re seeing that you know there’s no perfect time for a tennis player The Season’s long you have all this stuff but she finished the year so strong we’re seeing with Jessica Pula now how it could be tough to implement a new

Serve in big matches and whatever your point in the schedule is but are you surprised EA decided go into 2024 to upgrade and retool her surf um no I’m not surprised because she’s one of those competitors who’s not going to be satisfied um and she knew that she’d

Suffered a couple of losses and she wasn’t getting enough free points on her serve and uh I I actually Mitch I don’t think it’s there yet it’s still a little bit awkward but take heart IGA because Nadal tinkered and tinkered and tooled and retooled again um and and look at

What that did for him I’m just laughing because I agree it’s not there she’s still killing exactly that’s truly terrifying uh for Coco too Coco’s looked very well uh turning 20 now so was no longer a teenager it was the one of the longer teenage runs that we’ve seen uh fully

Fully cemented herself Amy as one of the top players in the game uh there’s one player in EGA that she just can’t quite seem to get a hold over other than the one match Saban I think she can match up pretty well on these courts but how have

You assessed Koco’s level going into and now halfway through Indian wellth there were a couple of scratchy matches but the good thing is even when she didn’t have her a game she figured out how to get through so this is also kind of Coco 2.0 because um she’s really improved her

Forehand and uh I think you know with the with the mental stronger mental game um she’s going to be a contender in any tournament I think with Coco you have a player that understands the stakes understands the moments and understands who you know where she is on the pecking

Order she’s very confident she’s also very humble she knows there’s work to do like she knows where EA is she knows what sa Lanka did in Australia I think that’s the part of her game there’s a process with her don’t want to name any names but there’s certain players to get

To a level and okay I’ve got it all figured out I’m just going to play a this my aame and I trust it and then they’re shocked but it doesn’t work so the different mentality that she has which I think is special in tennis is

Going to help her that is a great point I mean we could all use a little bit of that like I got my plan I got my my aame and and I’m gonna go down in flames if I can’t play my aame and then we go down

In flames a lot so um that mentality is something that the big three all have that you know a fight um a a Solutions looking for Solutions even when they’re not playing their best or when they’re injured I want to shout out some other players in the women’s draw that had

Runs maybe still have runs going on uh Caroline was was the AI beat Angelie Kerber in another matchup of moms which seems like everywhere you look now on the tour draw has mothers in it but again shout out to Angel Kerber at 36 making this run way ahead of schedule

But there’s what was the aaki a year ago was just sitting at home we’re doing some broadcast work and now the mother of two is into the quarterfinals of a Masters 1000 just a remarkable run from W the Aki who still after retiring felt like she had much much left to give on

The court and she was right I think that they were saying on the I think maybe uh Chanda was saying on the uh telecast the other day that she had heard either from Caroline herself or or Through the Grapevine that Caroline just wasn’t sure about this comeback I mean it is exhausting it

Really is um things that that maybe some people don’t even realize like you’ll be playing and suddenly a thought will creep into your head I wonder if my child is okay or hungry or being looked after and then you have to move that out and you may have to move it out dozens

Of times over the course of the match plus I know her wrist was swollen but fortunately it um it healed and and she’s looking great so I I hope that everything’s okay and that she can hang in there a little bit longer and that she’s actually even surprising herself with some of these

Results I would I would think she’s always been kind of known as a realist that she’s surprising herself with how she’s done and how she’s just attacked it every day not notching some great wins uh another example of someone that’s been I think ahead of schedule and I’ve been more than pleasantly

Surprised with but Naomi Osaka’s level is starting to get there like we know Rome’s not built in the day Amy but from where she was just just from where she was pre- Australian Open to now I’ve seen Leaps and Bounds with her game and her Fitness and her timing all the

Elements are getting incrementally better that I do think we’re on the verge of something happening it might not be you know in the next month or two but she’s she’s getting there I would say with Osaka yeah the power is certainly still there um now it’s you know containing that and remembering the

Patterns that got her to four grand slams I I said in the beginning that with Naomi’s comeback I thought it was going to be zigzag like we would see Great Moments and then you know maybe she’s adjusting and retooling and then Great Moments and kind of an up and down

Thing so I hope people have fans have patience with her and don’t expect like a straight line trajectory because she is still adjusting to being a mom and um working on getting those Fitness levels back it’ll be interesting to see when she plays one of those three or four

With robach one of those you know top of the game now what her level looks like in comparison to them I’m not expecting it to be at that I think it’s a little unfair to expect it to be right there but when you have measuring sticks in

Tennis it’s good to see where you are so that’s one for sure uh wrapping up here with Amy Lundy on Tennis Channel inside in couple other thoughts on the women’s game I had some names I just wanted to mention um you’ve got Maria Saker working with David Whit now and you know

Maybe finding her confidence socer is someone that I wanted to spend some time on because we all know what the issues have been it’s just the me the mental side of things have kind of gotten to at a point I like this partnership I like the announcement and I’m not totally

Shocked she’s still alive in this tournament he is an incredibly stabilizing coach if you’re just grasping and and you need to just go back to basics or or just kind of calm things down he’s your guy it doesn’t surprise me at all that she’s back to playing up to her

Potential we also have another player that’s been finding her potential to Marta costu if she has a run in Australia she’s going deep into Indian Wells it just seemed like with the game she has it was going to happen and I should also point out she’s got a tough

Match today playing you know saena but Emma novaro where she’s come in the last year and I don’t know if you saw the quote where she said she’s so Zen she has to actually psych herself up out there it’s pretty uh remarkable stuff I wish I could relate I really

Do uh Navaro is super exciting Cuke I actually have a good story a couple years ago I was out at Indian Welles kind of a couple of days before the tournament watching cuk practice I she was one of the only players out on the practice courts working with aposto

Seyos working on nothing except the plus one forehand like that was the drill that they drilled for almost a full hour it is so cool and exciting to see her hit that shot so effectively right after the serve just looking for the forehand um so yeah two great players

Very exciting players marketable um very cool players there’s no confidence lacking with cuk you can go back in the uh inside in archives I had chance to talked to her about two years ago I want to say and asked her what her goals were and she just matter of fact we said all

Four grand slams funny believe her there uh few things to to wrap up with Before I Let You Go it’s been a fun discussion here with Amy Wy on tnis channel inside in I know you want to talk about this uh Simona Hal getting reinstated we’ll play Miami

Already down there practicing uh don’t think it says a lot well for you know the policy and how punishments are enacted or dished out but on the Hal side great to see her back and hopefully she can bring her best effort in next week’s uh Masters 1000 in Miami the

Wheels of Justice are grind slowly but at least you know they do grind um just like she she’s a grinder um you know the right decision was made in that case because I I got in there in the weeds and started reading about the testimony from the various scientists and there

Were two main scientists that were just in total disagreement with each other so I thought well if this were in the United States and our legal standards were applied the benefit of the doubt would have to go to halop and fortunately that’s the way that it

Worked out um to her credit she’s not looking back she’s just looking forward and uh super excited to see her play again yeah seemed like she was working hard during her time off and you’re you’re hopeful that the age Factor hasn’t caught up to her that where she

Is and her life age isn’t an issue here but great to see her back uh want to end with this I mean what as somebody else that you cover on your podcast uh three what do you think Nadal’s next move will be and will look like it I mean he was

An announced for Monte Carlo we’d like to see him back it was unfortunate that he wasn’t able to play Indian Wells but uh Rafa rounding third I think metaphorically on his pro career what’s uh what’s the next expectation for him you know it’s so funny on our podcast

Probably toward the end of the year or and maybe in January I I said that it wouldn’t shock me if Rafa played the Las Vegas thing and then went out played golf with Larry Ellison I don’t know if I use those exact words met his sponsor obligations you know did his work that

He does and then pulled out of the tournament and that’s exactly what happened um so I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad sign that he’s not going to play here in the States because everybody knows he’s got to get ready for clay he rarely plays

Miami anyway um and I I read a report that um he was playing on Larry Ellison’s private court and just looked incredible was just smacking the ball so you know I I I’m I’m bullish on the spring and summer for him Ru is a very proud guy he’s also uh

Has an expectation for himself that I think very few could even comprehend and it shows you the difference between exhibition tennis and the pro game he knows what to expect from himself he steps on that Court there’s going to be no sympathy it’s win or lose and uh you

I don’t I don’t fault him at all if he’s not ready for not playing so hopefully Mony Carlo in the clay Court season is a good one for Rafa Amy Lundy this was always fun it always is anything coming up columns we should look at or anything

On your media agenda coming up I I always spend a lot of time on my previews so I’m going to be doing a big Miami preview and um if something really interesting happens in either the men’s or women’s final I’ll I’ll uh wrap that up okay well we’ll be on the lookout for

That Amy Lundy it’s always fun having you join us here on Tennis Channel inside in thanks for taking the time to talk tennis talk in Wells on the podcast so much fun thanks for having Mitch