Andy and Jon Wertheim get into grass court season with talking about Novak, Murray and Rafa and the stories behind each one of these grass-court legends. Andy and Jon go into our Racket Rundown presented by Wilson to talk our victors: Jannik Sinner, Tommy Paul, and Jessica Pegula. Then, Andy shares what makes Wimbledon so special, making it the best sports atmosphere in the world. Finally, Social Sophie joins the show to give us the Federer: Twelve Final Days documentary review! Enjoy the show!
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0:00 Welcome to Served
2:00 Novak Djokovic update
8:55 Andy Murray update
17:55 Rafael Nadal update
23:18 Racket Rundown presented by Wilson
39:57 What makes Wimbledon so special?
1:04:09 Twelve Final Days movie review
[Music] hey everybody welcome to another week of served grasscourt Edition uh after having watched uh the tournaments this week in Hol in Queens uh the women in Berlin uh Birmingham and elsewhere I’m going to say something really controversial guys straight off the top we are so stupid for not having a longer grcourt season we are absolute morons in our sport for not having a leadin uh a surfice that lends itself to playing different different styles not the same monotony uh where we just run side to side for hours upon hours upon hours um there’s Nuance to it there is uh many so we the fact that we don’t have a Masters 1000 in the leadin to wilon and we have three leading into Roland garos and we have an 8we clay Court Season you could literally play events on Clay before you get to rolings um and it’s just not the case and it puts a huge premium on um having to play well and get matches right like like let’s use and we’re going to get into the racket rundown brought to you by Wilson um right now obviously Center looked fantastic uh in Hol but let’s let’s put this scenario here right now we’re going to get to the part where we all agree with each other a nod around uh in in a circle to the room of Center best preparation e possibly have in wimon and now is probably co- favorite uh depending on what news we get from Novak jokovic uh this week right but CER also lost the first set of the tournament 76 that could go sideways and then we would be like oh the hip I don’t know like what so it is just there’s just such a premium on on grasscor tennis and we’ll take a deeper dive um but first I mentioned Novak I want to get into uh two icons of our sport um and time is is seemingly coming for for both of them uh Novak and Andy Murray um I was very concerned uh about Novak’s knee a couple weeks ago when you heard that he had surgery post uh Roland garos after his round a 16 match which was a long five Setter uh any operation at that age I was super concerned about uh I was uh I I didn’t think Wimbledon was was a possibility based on history of Earth in knee operations two weeks before Wimbledon um JW have you seen any of the the the videos that he’s been putting out as far as a recovery I’m stunned it’s just like it’s the most Novak thing I’ve ever seen where we’re doubting him it’s him against the world and all of a sudden he’s doing one-legged hops on a knee that he just had surgery on I mean am I am I I’m I’m like crazy impressed is that is that normal to you after having been around him forever or for a bunch of stories you uh underestimate this guy at your peril now I got a I got a text Sunday saying Novak’s going to use Monday as his day to see if he’s fit for wimon and I didn’t put it out there I didn’t retweet you know I didn’t it seems so Preposterous given what uh at least our dinosaur brains know about what knee injuries tended to be like and then all of a sudden you see him Monday and he’s on the grass and if you did not know that this person had surgery uh within the last three weeks you never would have known it from this video I mean I don’t know it it sounds crazy we sort of laid this out and game it out you say 37 years old at his last event he literally got surgery in the middle of the tournament on a knee we’re talking about him at Wimbledon are you crazy and I I don’t know I mean I I think at as we record this he probably plays and as long as he plays he’s a contender so we we’ve gone from uh we’ve gone from surgery in Paris um you know the first week of June to July 1 this guy will be a contender at the next major that’s um you know you know what just sidebar this is why it’s also silly to compare eras I mean this this would be a ridiculous conversation must less I mean we talk about strings we talk about rackets and Technology you know what uh Medical Science has also uh made it pretty silly to compare Andre and Pete to rod and Novak but uh anyway I’m agree with you let’s uh if he’s in the draw he’s a contender and if he wins this event I think you could very well make a credible case this is the greatest male Grass Court player of all time yeah um I think that’s spot on the point about surgery and comparing Generations is not something I have thought of and uh you’re absolutely right um you know when you used to have a knee operation you had a 6-in scar running down the front of your body and you might be cooked forever and you’re definitely cooked for six to nine months um and you’re losing range of motion everything else so uh this is this is fantastic and also showing up on Monday at I’m gonna say another crazy thing you ready you ready for this this is just gonna this is just going to make my life living hell uh showing up on a Monday and hopping around and maybe on Tuesday goes and hits some balls and maybe on Wednesday come Thursday the reality of five sets and sprinting if he hasn’t like hopping is different than sprinting side to side and having a 22 ball rally on a slippery surface so hopping and showing up is not the same as playing the highest level tennis you know in the hardest sport in the world in its biggest venue crazy right isn’t that nuts isn’t that nuts isn’t that just wow crazy I’m really I’m really I’m firing on all cylinders uh today um I hope Novak plays I am amazed that we’re seeing what he what we’re seeing and I also got in trouble for saying um basically saying it’s his choice to put out videos which obviously brings attention brings speculation we talk about it more based on the information we have he is providing a lot of information right now is that is that crazy there is a world where he would have wanted to be secretive about it he is showing us he’s wanting to present uh an image of strength and health going into this off week that is a choice we could if there are no videos and no commentary we don’t know anything maybe our conversations are the same as they were two weeks ago right he is inviting us in for a look into his recovery through putting out content isn’t that crazy for me to say one minor push back okay great he’s practicing at Wimbledon so in theory anyone with a media credential anyone could in theory have still photos the video the videos were coming out five days before he arrived at Wimbledon right um no I mean one thing that’s weird about this whole story is that I was I mean he said this to my face I mean this this is this is not just gossip uh the the Olympics were the priority this year he hasn’t won that gold medal that he wanted to this was to be I don’t think it was at all a given that he was going to play Wimbledon even at Peak Health oh I disagree play roll and garos I you know he’s he’s going I mean I know they’re they’re financial reasons they Legacy reasons but if you are hellbent on winning an Olympic gold and it’s a clay tournament um anyway I I think uh it’s extraordinary that he’s back I I think you you rais a good point too though I mean best of five tennis going backwards and forwards we saw all week players slipping around on the grass as one tends to do those videos were a great source of encouragement and I think not that anyone doubted Novak and his resilience uh you know five years ago much less uh two weeks ago I mean it’s not surprising at all but but I do I do think that um you know when he takes that first slip going side to side on on wet grass um it makes you a little it’s it’s a cringe moment yeah I think so too um listen I I I would and I mean this absolutely 100% there’s not even a like all I want is to be wrong with my concern about his knee I would love that I would honestly love that because the tournament is better when our greatest champion is participating in it in any tournament I want to see his Brilliance on grass I think he is so uh so much further along IQ wise on grass than all but three people in the entire tournament and he has the skill set to turn that IQ into results right I I want to see that 1,000% I cheer for health with every single player on tour especially people that move the needle and make the interest in tennis greater end of story uh a weird story uh around one of my favorite uh players to watch um my respect for this player is endless uh Andy Murray um played a great first round match and then he came out um against uh Jordan Thompson and Queens and it just didn’t look right like his body looked like it looked like he had just discovered feet like it just didn’t it didn’t look normal um he came off and said like I just didn’t really have control to me as I was digesting what he was saying the symptoms were I’m going oh that’s a it’s probably a nerve issue like shooting pains numbness like but that can be worked out um in a pretty short amount of time adjustments treatment everything else uh he ended up having a surgical procedure to remove a cyst from his back um so tread cautiously here uh after the last week of my life and um but I just that’s concerning and I all I wanted was all I want continue to want is for Murray to have the send off at Wimbledon because I don’t think people understand even casual tennis fans how Monumental him winning Wimbledon in that country was at the time that he won it and all I want is for this extended uh extended respect to have that moment to say goodbye on his turn terms and as of now it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen based on this procedure on his back that he had this week um the timeline I’ll say this SC the timeline seems very short uh for him to be able to participate uh in wimon and I know he’ll do everything he possibly can uh unlike Novak I don’t think he needs to be perfect to have a send off I don’t think it’s like I need to feel like I can win the tournament or I’m not participating I don’t think that would be his mindset this purely projection I don’t know um he’s earned the goodbye he’s earned every possible Advantage scheduling anything that they can do to accommodate him I think should should happen um Judy Murray sent out an interesting tweet and I I won’t read it for btim but the gist of it was um they didn’t want the news of Murray’s injury getting out that was not by Design um apparently the way she said it was it sucks when someone’s private medical information gets leaked by someone that we trust it I don’t know who that is I don’t know what that is uh I do know that you have to be pretty pissed off to and rightfully so by the way if that’s if that’s information that is inhouse on your team and all of a sudden it’s for consumption for and and also people listening you don’t understand the microscope he is under at that tournament as a Brit I remember I played him in the semis in ‘ 09 um the first six pages of the sports section were all about Murray what he ate he had a banana 37 minutes into his practice uh his Miss lippy’s car is green he likes to drink milk at any anyways there’s like four people out there that love Billy Madison that are laughing their asses off at that reference um yeah uh anyways so that’s that sucks and I hope whoever leaked that information gets called out in a very very public manner cuz that’s just frankly kind of [ __ ] up am I missing anything with on that JW did you hear anything differently no I I couldn’t tell if she was upset with the journalist um or somebody within the camp for betraying a confidence Judy Murray we should also point out is this this force of good in tennis this is not some hoad tennis parents this is someone who’s very informed very well regarded she clearly was upset to have written that I you know I mean I think you really have to be careful with injuries a it’s it’s it’s personal it’s personal autonomy um we have laws in this country about revealing information about uh about medical health the flip side is if you’re the journalist and Andy Murray’s body is preventing him from playing wimon that’s that’s newsworthy so I’m I’m not sure where the sort of breach of confidence came the whole thing is just really unfortunate I mean if if anyone deserves to go out and go out on his terms and it you know I I think this is one I think this is sort of one consequence of players playing older right that Roger beats Pete SAS at Wimbledon and it’s a passing of the torch moment and Andy rodic wins the US Open the same year that Pete sanus doesn’t play and sort of we have these natural sort of lineages and I think that when you play till your late 30s you don’t have these torch passing moments so much as you have players saying my body is preventing me from uh defending my title my body’s preventing me from entering the draw which is unfortunate I you know if Andy Murray deserves anything it’s a grand ceremony I think we’re all sort of working under the assumption this is his last Wimbledon so if in fact he’s not able to play it’s it’s quadruple unfortunate um but yeah I just I just think we all need sometimes to be a little more graceful a a with retirements which you and I have spoken about a lot and be with health and physical injuries it’s it’s deeply personal a lot of times the athlete themselves doesn’t know I I’m not sure why a member of his team would have sort of leaked something of this nature but um you know again like like you said about Novak I mean you you can have your favorite player you can root for player acts and against player y but I think we all ought to be in agreement that we should all root for Optimal Health and in this case um you you hope I mean it does seem like she left the door open that Andy might in fact play and that the the information wasn’t accurate so maybe that’s what we should uh hang on to this seems like there is still a chance he’ll be out there yeah she said she said FYI not ruled out yet at the end of the Tweet yeah they they they came out after this news broke and the way I read it was that he it was like it wasn’t going to happen um and they came out and released uh from you know her side his side um basically saying he has not pulled out of the event yet so he’s not officially out um but it seems as if um it’s uh it’s a tossup seemingly at best uh right now for that I hope Murray gets his moment um you know if you have any if we have some American sports fans and we’re talking about like the Sox finally winning the Cubs finally winning this is that times 20 as far as the way that the this country digested his win when he finally broke through for the first time since the 20s um and won that tournament we’re talking about treler Square full of people public viewing areas hide Park screens up hundreds of thousands or millions of fans showing up to watch huge screens around the country and this guy delivers against Novak jokovic and delivers the Wimbledon title that they’ve that that they haven’t had on the men’s side obviously Virginia Wade uh has won and is is is a great Champion um but the the the seismic moment when he won cannot be understated he deserves the farewell the thank you the respect and another thing that’s worth noting right is we think we we we always make up our minds very early about people based on their oncore person on us um early on in Andy Murray’s career kudin argue with the Umpire yell at the box break stuff you know he would win and he was British and he would lose and he’s Scottish depending on you know the the tone and now I think we forget that there was like this polarizing you know five years for Andy Murray before he became the Statesman of Sanity in in in our sport you know whether you know whether it’s a social justice issue or he’s he doesn’t he’s not scared to give his opinion and whether or not you agree with it it’s an informed opinion and it’s based on you know some collection of facts and it’s not just emotion and you know [ __ ] um so the the fact that he has changed into this person who’s universally respected and we’ve gotten to know him past his petulant on court I want that moment for him too right because maybe we didn’t like him when we had to celebrate his winning Wimbledon you know especially in his own country and now he is adored and rightfully so knighted sir Andy Murray we hope that uh you have health um and that you get your moment I’m sure you’re very very appreciative because you’re 100% not listening to this right now but um we respect you and and and and anything else there John um that’s very well said some sometimes uh the the media and public perception get it right and sometimes they whiff and the Andy muray we all knew from the start was nothing like the perception do you do you want to um do you want to make it a trifecta if if Murray and jokovic do not post and of course we hope they do it will mean there will be one one former Wimbledon Men’s champion in the draw and it’s the guy who won it last year and uh is still quite young um but we even talked about Rafa who announced his uh he probably wasn’t playing Wimbledon that means he probably will never play again and yet he is playing a clay event in Sweden in lead up to the Olympics um are you uh what what what do we make of his absence especially if he now knows he wouldn’t have to go through Novak if he were going to win a third title yeah and and and as far as as far as Rafa goes um I mean I didn’t have boad on my bingo card you know you rewind to where we’re talking about him three months ago and I’m like okay he’s probably going to wrap it up at Roland gal the Olympics I guess bad because he needs some match play between first round of Roland garos and the Olympics so in a micro decision it makes a lot of sense where I I can’t say I’m frustrated but where I’m like oh man like opportunity missed for us like I’m super selfish as a fan right here because this is going to get clicks and it’s gonna and this his fluency and his IQ on grass we quickly forget that two years ago uh a lot of people had him penciled in the final he was supposed to play a semi-final against Nick curios he tore an AB muscle against Taylor Fritz uh still gutted through two sets to grind out that match against Taylor Fritz um curios gets the walk over and plays that final that we remember him playing against noack what’s often forgot is that he didn’t win a match in the semis and Rafa was rolling people that tournament he had won the first two slams of the year was in the semis of the third one going for like the calendar year slam there was conversations of that Wimbledon with the way that he knows how to play on it and with the lack of expertise because it is such a short timeline for surface and nobody grows up on it right no one has been playing on grass since they were five you don’t learn on grass because the ball doesn’t bounce so like I think Rafa’s like possibly his best shot to get to like semi or final or like have a day could be Wimbledon like his backand he can just rip he doesn’t play those extended points on grass he can control the middle of the Court more he forces himself to step in on returns all of the things that he has to do uh by virtue of his body not working as much anymore shortening points points and all that those are all the adjustments he already made on grass so I hate it that it looks like he’s not going to be a part of it he hasn’t officially pulled out he will um go ahead Mike well I was just going to say after you know rolling garos after his loss in Rolling garos he had talked about how it’ be hard you know given what’s been going on with his body to transition from clay to grass but then to make the transition back you know can you kind of give some insight into that especially going through what he’s going through physically that so here’s the thing with him his hip everything else confidence in moving people like Clay is softer on your body you know you’re going to get less injured for all of us Chuckers right for me that’s not the case because I don’t slide well I’m not a natural mover on clay maybe it’s softer but like I can predict what’s going to happen when I move on a hardc or a grasscourt I just it makes sense to me my body works the instincts are there so I don’t know if it’s just a matter of Rafa feeling completely confident with movement on a Surface versus obviously the the most unsure surface is is grass so maybe it’s just I’m not going to give up a look to play on my beloved surface which is totally understandable none of none of my opinion about Rafa still being great on grass mean that I disagree with his decision I I can’t speak to his body right I can’t do that I’m just saying I think he could win matches and make a run at Wimbledon if he chose to play but I I get it like switching surfaces sucks in the body right all of a sudden you go from building up uh reserves on on Clay uh grinding out matches your bodyw work and then all of a sudden you’re dealing with like lower back issues on bre cuz you’re bending and it’s twisting and that’s not native to him so listen he he he made the right decision but in my mind I’m going I have had the thought I don’t know if I fully believe it but like that might be his best bet to like win a slam or get to like a last four right now even including clay you know so it’s based on what his body’s capable of doing in the movement speed gets a little help on a serve all the adjustments that he has to make for his body now are kind of adjustments he has to make on grass anyway so we’ll see him in boot I’m just happy we’re going to get to see him again I’m going to enjoy that um that’ll be great I hope I hope we see Novak at Wimbledon I hope we see Murray I hope he gets to say goodbye um at this point nobody’s worried about saying goodbye to Novak we’re going to see him play more and and it looks like he’s on his way to health quicker than I could have ever anticipated and that is just that’s great um any more parting thoughts as far as those three JW uh no that was great uh let’s getting around racket rundown racket rundown brought to you by Wilson our friends uh at Wilson um listen it was it was an exciting week I love the grasscourt season um I request on Tennis Channel to cover Queens just because I love talking about grasscourt tennis I love the changes I love the adjustments you have to make um it’s fun watching people learn in real time which is what you feel like you watched yanic siner doe this week in in Hol uh three setters first three matches then uh rol the last two be Jang in the in the semis and then a very very capable probably like I don’t think it’s hyperbolic to say herot is top five or six grass quarters in the world um beats him in the final in straight sets uh as well how he is moving aggressively and Hol is the slipperiest Grass Court there is because it’s half indoors it’s a it’s like a it’s like a domed roof where they you you have to have direct sunlight for a Grass Court to be perfect Holly doesn’t have that benefit right it rains they have to protect they have to put an event on so the back of Hol is is is a slip and slide and how hard Center was moving in the corners sliding into shots and then turning on a dime like we all know he was a a former skier when he was young and I was actually uh playing golf with Kevin Anderson this morning and he goes that ski thing has to matter on grass when you’re kind of getting in and out of cuts he goes that’s just like a natural thing for him um he looked great he’s holding at an insane clip the serve wide like even if you know he’s serving wide on the Dee side what do you do you cover it you firm it up if you’re not going line which is like a low percentage shot he’s in the middle and he’s taking you the other way and he can square it up couldn’t have been more impressed with the run that Center put together in Hol uh Tommy Paul was fantastic in Queens welld deserved Us number one now um wi winning that final against Lorenzo MTI who everyone predicted was going to be in that final am I right John uh because that Italian tennis run we’re on um interesting I mean you know and Tommy Paul really earned that there were some interesting results he lost to Corda last week that he comes back and beat Corda that’s that’s a nice title for Tommy Paul I I think mouset is a I don’t think that’s a crazy uh I don’t think that’s a crazy finalist but um no I think you know just one other you know you think so on grass sort of slick slick uh not the worst U one handed backhand um no you know what you know what else some there’s some years where the number of tiebreak sets played on grass is 30% higher than other surfaces um cner and Tommy Paul as well to either win tiebreak sets or to lose a tiebreak set and then reset which is what uh CER especially did really well I I think some of these are about you know Tommy Paul great athlete not not not a big surprise that Tommy Paul’s performed well in Grass um but I also think uh I I think there’s more mentally that goes into winning grass core matches I mean you know this yourself I mean you you stand up there and it’s it’s six games all and the next four minutes is going to determine whether what we did for the previous 70 minutes was a positive or A negative um Tommy pauled some nice tennis I saw some nice you know I watched the uh you know I I saw Draper but what I also saw was a lot of uh some some nice mental toughness which we haven’t always seen from him at at Majors especially yeah and Tommy Paul deserves so much credit okay the book on Tommy five years ago frankly I’ll say it yeah was he was full of talent and didn’t treat this like a job you know was was was Tommy good time right like that that and then bradin Tommy knucklehead is they called him yeah yeah so but like let’s give credit work and that’s not the the only reason I would mention the negative is to point out the progress right he is such a pro now you never worry about him being tired in matches his body holds up your body doesn’t hold up when all of a sudden you’re winning more matches than you ever have because it’s unprepared your body holds up switching surfaces semi in Indian Wells semi in Rome winning Queens this is a well-round Ed player this is someone who can play defense this is someone who can transition forward this is someone who doesn’t he’s not Tyson from the late 80s he doesn’t just walk up and start throwing Haymakers he has learned this Nuance how to deal with his own game how to be the most effective version of himself and he is an absolute professional now not a lot of guys figure that out Midstream a lot of guys have regrets when they start out the way that Tommy did a lot of guys look back and say gosh you know what I should have done X Y and Z credit to him huge props to Brad Stein for not even just like saying it’s easy to tell someone work hard it’s harder to do it in a way that is communicative and to get Buy in and to get Buy in over an extended period of time right this wasn’t like they started Tommy was you I don’t know he’s around 180 I don’t know what it was um but certainly not someone you looked at and go yeah he has the discipline to be top 10 and now it looks like he is going to be top 10 because of that discipline JW yeah Brad Brad Stein’s track record speaks for itself uh you do the the correlation and causation but I I think that’s a really good point you raised which is credit to the player too um part of part of it the player is the one who’s got to execute but also credit Tommy Paul I’m sure there were a lot of Mings with Brad Stein that weren’t nearly as much fun as he had had six months 18 months prior I’m sure there were lot of things Brad Stein said that weren’t as nice to hear as as other people you could surround yourself with when there is a coaching relationship like that you credit the coach the you know Darren you sort of do do the math graph it out on uh you know Darren kah Hills and center you can sort of just look at the results but I also think the players ought to get a lot of credit especially young ones for sticking with coaches that are heart asses and don’t always tell them what they want to hear and this is uh yeah it’s really it’s this is really sort of an unsung run for Tommy Paul you know made made the 7s in Australia a year and a half ago but he hasn’t had that one crazy result hasn’t won Indian Wells the way Taylor Fritz has hasn’t had the Francis run at the open where he sort of hijacks the play for a few days he’s done this steadily he’s done this with really sort of versal tennis on a variety of surfaces he’s done this sometimes after really bad losses um this is really an underrated American tennis story and not to mention he busted his ankle in Miami he had a speed bump in the middle in the middle of his year right so to come back and it just I I’m I I’m going to be effusive with praise for Tommy Paul right now because there was definitely a time in his career where I would have gone this guy’s just never going to get it hashtag invoke uh Mike you’re the only one that got that um uh but there there was a time where definitely I was like this is going to be this is going to be you know a Funtime guy I I’ve always liked Tommy I’ve known him since he was a kid um great guy even when I was disagreeing with his decision making for being the best tennis player he could possibly be I’ve always liked Tommy he he’s the nice one of the nicest guys easiest guys you won’t hear anyone say like he oh he well he’s like kind of an you know an ass in the locker room he he’s just a great guy he’s just a nice laidback guy good sense of humor um but now he’s put the pieces together and I’m really happy for him I really am I’m really really happy uh for Tommy Paul I’m glad he got that American number one I hope he gets to the top 10 I hope that the next step is developing into someone where it’s not even a pleasant surprise when he’s in the semis of of a major event um and I think that’s a reality I I I love what they’ve done props to uh props to Brad Stein uh you mentioned Jack Draper he was a huge story obviously in London um before I mention him because I also want to get to alcaraz and how I don’t care that he lost in Queens that affects my my uh Wimbledon uh I guess predictive thing for him zero um so you mentioned like there going to be some listeners who like wait players don’t like it when their coaches are hard ass no one’s like that I literally had so my old coach was uh my last coach was Larry stefanki I had a a woman player who was at the time maybe had had like a run where there was a lot of successful majors and then I I want to say she was still top 10 or thereabouts but like a a big star and called and was like and texted and said hey I’d like to talk to you about about Larry and Larry ended up going for a day but did I want to talk to you about Larry and the question was I was like oh yeah Larry’s great and she go and the question was yeah but is he like is he like super hard because I don’t know that like that’s not really what I like and I’m going what are your goals like what do you what do you want and they’re like oh know some like I don’t want to like if I if I if I don’t really want to practice for a couple days I don’t want someone who’s like you know being a heart ass about it I’m like okay well I I think I think differently after this conversation he’s and I said like well he might I don’t know you give him a try but he might not be the guy for you because yeah he’s coached for former number one so he’s going to expect a certain level of give a [ __ ] there’s a t-shirt for you Mike um so moving off the god and we’ll get to the uh the women’s draw um Berlin was was strange um a lot of stops and starts in the matches um you know I uh sabalenka played one match against kazakina looked great and then was in the middle of a match and said nope I’m I’m done Racha um I don’t know if it was she said abdominal pain I don’t know if it was stomach issue uh 31 rip cord uh Jabor loses the first set to Coco says Nope um so all of a sudden the final we have uh Jess Pula beats Coco uh Pula obviously has had a rough start to the year um you know and she she told me um when we were T kind of chatting earlier in the year when she had a lot of uh things going on as far as switching coaches everything else did you know she uh you know was asking my opinion on things and basically what mistakes have you made um which I thought was a really great question um and I was happy to share but kind of has had a a bunch of stops and starts found some momentum and Charleston played pretty well uh but was still searching I think Jess Pula the fit for her game on grass is phenomenal and I said it five days ago on on Tennis Channel before she won Berlin I’m like she is going to be tough to deal with she can control the middle of the Court ball flight can distribute uh both ways props to her um for getting back winning this is a big title beating Koko um beating Colin skaya who was uh frankly on one this week like just crushing theall um saving four match points in that final this was the exact type of week that Jess paga needed to get through to feel like she was a part of the tour again right like I am in it there are rain delays I have to come out sleep on a 3-1 lead in a breaker or a 4-1 lead in a breaker against Koko come back finish that off start the final 25 minutes later like it was random lots of questions asked I thought I thought Jess Pulu was great I love the way her game fits on grass uh we conveniently forget that she was up 4-1 in the third set last year in the quarters against the person who ended up winning the tournament um I I love Jess I I hope that you know she feels great going into wi and I think she could be a real threat uh on the surface and uh on another another cool story Isa Tom yanovich has also been hurt a bunch um played a challenger uh last week um something that Sophie knows something about because she’s watched the movie Challengers so she’s an expert um in it but comes back uh makes final after a bunch of stops and starts uh she has battled injuries uh through her career but especially the last year great story makes the final can’t quite get over the hump was 0 and five in finals going in is probably the best player that hasn’t won a title on either tour um hopefully she gets it but props to Putin SAA who uh said before this week she didn’t really like grass I think she likes it a a little bit more now with that title in hand uh in Birmingham uh JW it’s interesting to me what sort of has predictive value and what doesn’t right so I’m with you like Carlos alarz loses to Draper talented Lefty new don’t care right nope but there other grass events where you look at context and you look at where a player’s been or what this has done or what they’ve shown you at a match uh you know Jesse bagula beating actually she beat the both the doubles team right didn’t she beat uh she beat sakova too sakova and then she beats Koko um that has more predictive value I think it’s interesting there that some of these results and tuneups and also I mean I think as these Majors get more and more important it means that the tuneups have much you know there there’s a variety of meetings for different players some players just want matches some players don’t want to get dinged up before the Big Show um but it’s interesting to me what you just said because what you’re saying and I think it’s I think it’s really valued but it’s really nuanced is that different results have different significance for different players so car alcarez you’re not going to rip up your draw because he lost to Jack Dr but Jesse pagul all of a sudden someone in need of wins and got a bunch of good ones hey maybe we should look at her as the top 10 seed she’s going to be yeah totally um alcarez is he learned how to he needed Queens last year he didn’t I watched his first round and then I watched his third round at Queens a year ago when I watched this first round I’m going this guy doesn’t he doesn’t know how to play on grass yet and this Phenom by Third I’m going oh okay well that was easyy for him to figure out right he needed that last year going into Wimbledon because there is this aha moment Pete sers talks about he’s like I thought I hated grass and then then it clicked and I got it I understood it I wasn’t frustrated by it bad bounces I knew how to play I knew what to do I knew how to move I knew when to press I knew when to not and it all clicked very quickly um Center made the semis last year so it’s not ASA as if he didn’t know how to do it but this week was different like I you saw him problem solving for grass uh in real time Carlos alcarez played a great first round against cerundolo looked amazing floating around the court doing all of the alcaraz things goes up against Draper who had won the week before Draper served him off the court right Carlos still finding his footing uh he like he should have he went to AA after after Roland garos and hopefully partied his ass off because don’t don’t worry about that that’s good because he deserved it because he deserved it and he didn’t need the grass preparation like he did last year he knows how to play on the surface he is the defending Wimbledon champion he needed to go get a couple matches I’m not say like if he wins Queen’s fantastic even better I’m just saying that tournament is not nearly to John’s point that tournament is not nearly as important to him as it is to Jess Pula who knows she can play well on the surface she knows the same things we do but you need to create that confidence confidence is King confidence is Queen she needed that tournament more than someone like alcarez needed Queens this time uh simple as that um so Props to our winners uh this has been uh racket rundown brought to you by Wilson uh we are going to take a quick break and on the other side of this we are going to get into Wimbledon I’m going to tell you why it is probably my favorite place on planet Earth and I still get sick to my stomach when I walk through the gates uh but we’re going to get to that afterwards we’re going to tell you all the greatest things which makes it uh which make it in my mind uh the greatest sporting venue uh on in the history of the world um I just love it that much uh JW will tell you what it’s like from his perspective I’ll tell you what it’s like uh from mine and uh we’ll get to that after the break thanks for listening to served and now we get to the part of the show where we discuss wimon and kind of I gu guess the best way to describe the way I’m thinking about this is why it gives us the feels that it that it gives us um it’s just it it’s so perfect everything about it in my mind is is perfect the courts when you walk in and they haven’t been played on they’re mowed a certain way they smell a certain way uh you see the same people working at the tournament because they’re members of the club you feel that and not in a stuffy way in like a Welcome to our home Welcome to our living room type of way and oh by the way we’re going to play the biggest tournament in tennis also um I I just fell in love with it um very very quickly um I I just I I I absolutely love it there I think my favorite day of the year would be the first day that you get to Wimbledon and I and I always kind of played pretty well at queens and so uh I would always consciously stay in central London for Queens because I wanted them to feel like separate events some most players when they get to Wimbledon they rent houses and you’re all around Wimbledon Village and I could do 30 minutes only on Wimbledon Village being the best place on Earth I wanted it to feel separate and I wanted to feel like moving day on that Monday where we’re going to Wimbledon that excitement that buzz I didn’t want to burn those feelings during Queens I wanted them to feel like a very very distinct change uh other people did it differently late huitt would also he also won Queens four times he would rent the house out at wimon and drive back and forth to to Queens so from Central London um with no traffic I don’t even want to know why people say that because there’s always traffic there uh about a half hour 45 minutes outside of London with traffic who knows it could be an hour and a half um just take the tube it’s easier um but it’s it’s just it it’s just it’s just magic um the Traditions the players the winners the rules they have but then someone telling you a rule in a very friendly tone like I got called in to the I used to call it the principal’s office it was Allan Mills uh God Rest of Soul one of my favorite people who was the tourament referee forever I Reebok had made me some shoes there was too much black on them and I was like I I got nothing like I can I can put white out on them and I can adjust it that probably won’t look as good and he goes he goes what did he say he always have the amazing way of putting stuff and he would call me in and like he kind of had this you know smirk that you know I think he knew that I could take a joke um and he goes well you know contrary to popular belief we’re not completely irrational just don’t do it next year I was like I love you so much you’re the best like it’s just it’s that type of thing and I think people view it as this like you know stuffy place it’s just they have these traditions and I never felt intimidated by them I it it felt like a warm hug to me I always thought it was cool uh how how do you how do you feel when you when you walk through their JW did did you just say this was the greatest sports venue in the world yeah I did said that very cavalierly um no said you said that and I’m like oh [ __ ] well what what could top that and I’m like you know what I don’t know if you uh I think that’s a defensible position yeah and maybe you like maybe you like the Masters or maybe you like Lambo field or maybe you like Wrigley Field or maybe you like you know a soccer stadium that I’ve never been to but there’s no way you can definitively think what I’m saying is nuts in a world where apparently everything I say can be considered nuts that that that can’t be considered nuts even if you don’t agree with me I I I fully believe it I’m tired of your Churchill Downs disparagement no I think you’re totally right and I think I have one of my hot takes on wimon is that I mean it’s it’s tremendous again nobody goes whbl and says eh people go to the n500 and they say okay I checked that off my list and now my ears are ringing and I smell like smoke and I don’t need to do that again nobody goes to Wi and says Nah didn’t live up to the hype but I always what can you name me another property that passes up more money in Revenue right so there’s no naming rights there’s no McLaren on Center Court there’s no crazy secondary ticketing Market where I mean they pass up so much revenue uh prioritizing tradition and I feel like that makes it more valuable so the fact that is not the you know Barclay’s Bank Center Court I’m sure they could get $25 million a year if Center Court were sponsored easy um I’m sure Courtside signage I’m sure letting you wear your black shoes um but I feel like it it’s almost more valuable because of the money they pass up and it’s also it also sort of weirdly you mentioned the Masters or we talk about some of these sort of elegant events and it’s weirdly populist like you can weit in line in a queue and spend you know 29 pounds which is what 40 bucks and sit two rows back of Roger feder I mean it’s not it’s it’s very elegant and tasteful but there’s also this kind of Rowdy open to the public um you know everyone that wants to watch Tennis should be able to they have a great program where you can leave your ticket on the way out so somebody that waits in line can then take it and take your spot it’s sort of it’s It’s weirdly not elitist it’s in the old version of populist the in pre2 2016 version of populist it’s weirdly a people’s event for all the Elegance I also love the three at one point I think there were three signs and it was uh it was the brand of the tennis ball it was um Rolex had some deal and they had the official clock and it was something called Robinson’s barley water I I don’t know what barley water quite is it’s we finally got to one of the parts of wimon that isn’t great Robinson sucks all right but uh so they’re not Mike I’m sorry I just they’re not going to sponsor like I would I would rather I I mean the fact that like if you gave me uh if you gave me like ollipop is obviously fantastic if you gave me an ollipop and you put it outside and filled half of it with lake water I would still drink it over Robinson’s it’s uh someone said it was like what you take before your have you had a colonoscopy you have you had a colonoscopy yet no I was hoping I was actually going to make that the next episode so um no but you go you look at the US Open right and you get these emails sometimes and say you know we have a special you know non-alcoholic craft beer sponsorship category it’s the official tequila of the US Open you know the players it’s hot and all of a sudden out come the Continental Airlines umbrellas and there are about 880,000 pieces of signage and Brands it’s just a different way to run an event but uh Wimbledon for all it’s sort of you know everyone thinks it’s it’s snoody and it’s elegant and it’s tradition it’s actually a really cool people’s event um it’s no I I I think the grass is part of it I think the fact that I think what you said is really interesting there are a lot of rules but they’re not obnoxious they’re just sort of you sort of go with a tradition but you’re not considered like a Philistine if you uh if you run a foul of something it’s um it’s sort of the perfect distance from London where it feels like you’re in the English Countryside but you say it’s it’s 25 minutes on the tube if you have to get to hide Park the fact that I mean I’m curious just talk talk more about your experience as a player because you’re not there as someone who’s made a bucket list trip you’re there to do work what what do you think differentiates it most from your run-of-the-mill event as someone who’s actually there to work and not there because they’re a fan for me it was like so some of this is based in Nostalgia and memory for me I remember you know for me it was a tradition watching Stateside it was breakfast at Wimbledon and it was always a massive deal in our house it was even seven years old I understood it I got the gravity of it I knew the Champions that had won it um you know I I completely bought in on the history of it um and it’s and it’s a weird thing because my relationship with Wimbledon ended up being a fantastic one like I I think I probably got along more with the fans there than I did in New York sometimes right like I you know um and it and on paper it shouldn’t have worked right you got the Brash American who breaks stuff and yells at people and you know wears his hat backwards sometimes and it was an unlikely uh you know unlikely relationship that ended up being so positive um and all I wanted you know was was was that um but for me you can I ask can I ask you a question before we go further and you can confirm or deny this or cut it out were sure Were you invited to Were you invited to be a member despite not having won the title did I hear that right yeah um yes I was um yeah shockingly um I so the rule is for those if you win Wimbledon you become a member of the all England Club so people think like you know Wimbledon is is is the tournament and that’s how it exists the all England law and Tennis Club is a yearr round club that people use like a like a sports club and it just happens to you know you play Wimbledon there um so like similar to the Masters is the tournament and Augusta National is the club Wimbledon is the tournament and uh all England Club is the is the is the host they host Wimbledon um if you win you become a member um forever um and so that’s that’s kind of the way it works um you win you’re in you don’t you’re not um and so you know I I lifelong dream I would have loved to have have been a member there you know obviously you win the tournament you come close and it doesn’t quite happen and um so I got a a call in um I remember I was staying at fish’s House in La actually I don’t know why we were out there but um we were out there and I had a call uh I think Tim Henman texted me and said Phil Brooks would like to talk to you who was the chairman of of the Allan Club at the time um and said he’d like to talk to you you know just tournament and whatever and so in my mind I’m like oh okay this is cool because I’m now close enough to the game I think I’d been out of it uh a year and a half maybe I think it was about then it was early 2014 um and so I was like oh he’s you know he’s probably going to ask me um surfaces locker rooms player experience I’m not biased anymore I he knows knows that I absolutely love this tournament in this venue um I was I was certainly never shy about about you know telling that to anyone um and so I get on the phone I was like okay you know random phone call but I think I could probably add value I it wasn’t crazy to think that he would call and you know want some time and and he asked if I would like to be no he asked what was it would you be offend he was sensitive to the fact that I hadn’t won it OB L and he’s he basically in spite of tradition um would you consider being a member of the all England club and you know all La Tennis Club um and I was stunned one of the happiest moments of my life like I was absolutely stunned it’s not something I use enough it’s not it still hurts to go there sometimes um I’m going to go there casually just as a member to hit some balls um in late August which will be great um but yeah and and I I started learning that I I developed a really good friendship with uh so like the locker room the head locker room attendant during Wimbledon in the Champions locker room which the seated players can use um there a friend of mine named Doug and you know he was always he’s this English guy who was into baseball scores and so we’d come in I’d talk about my fantasy team we’d you know [ __ ] I’d hit putts rain delays uh you know for three weeks every year you know we would we would ham it up and I just really enjoyed him he became a good friend of mine um and I learned after the fact that he really pushed uh that for me um kind of from the inside and so you never know who’s watching you never think that you know Doug is is is going to be able to push you you know in that direction um and so I was pretty humbled I was even more humbled when I found out it was from not from him because I don’t think he had the decision-making power but uh apparently he had a you know voiced his support which was which was which was really nice for me um you know because he’s the one who’s looking at players when when uh they’re no cameras right and he kind of sees the balls and Strikes of it so I was I was pretty honored um you know I don’t know that my life would be much different if I wasn’t frankly but I sure as hell I’m happy and honored that that I am um you know and it’s it’s still weird to me that I could get jump on a plane and go there and and hit balls anytime um but it’s a you know it’s certainly a place that you know it’s it’s it’s pretty nice to walk through if you see any of your analysts when you’re watching with a you know a pin on their jacket like a Wimbledon pin that’s a members pin so they’ve they are members um you know so that’s uh it’s a pretty cool thing it’s a great story and just how cool is it but also how nicely does it speak of wimon that the fact that the locker room attendant lobbied for you clearly had some some heft and some weight um great story I hope you I hope you make more use of it yeah me too um and and also I got to say someone else who was like the old ultimate gentleman throughout that whole process was Tim Henman um obviously member has a big you know voice in the room there um you know however many times semi-finalist um he was great about walking me through you know the protocols and I knew it for a long time and then I played an event at Royal Albert Hall where all of a sudden it was made public uh later that year um in the fall while I was over there and so I got to take Brooke uh my wife um there to you know have a meal with the with the chairman and walk her so the walk that I had made a million times from the locker room to Center Court where you’re walking through a club it’s not like an arena like the US Open where you’re underneath kind of you know the under the underbelly of the stadium in concrete and this and that and she got to see like I got to walk that like the walk that you do when you you play in a final where you know the famous quote the doors open we got to make that walk together which was which was which was really cool and I think it was cool experience for her uh to see as well I love that day uh I hope to you know to do it more I think as hopefully as as my kids start understanding it a little bit more um you know they’ll think it’s as cool as as I do do do you pay dues I don’t know all right so so the reason I don’t want to no but in keeping with our theme about how cool this place is the dudes are like less than my YMCA I mean the the dud yeah I mean the fact that I don’t know means that if I am paying in that it’s not really causing me much stress um I and I love I think people don’t realize that that you’re right they use this as a club year round so the interview room which is quite nice you know in November that’s where they’re going to show whatever Billy Madison you know that’s that’s like the movie night for the club um you sort of forget that like Mrs nbound plays doubles on court 18 a few days after the tournament’s over um it’s a really that’s a great story I’d never heard that uh yeah yeah it was uh I listen I feel I think there’s two other two other if I in gosh I hope I don’t get this wrong but I’m 99% sure I’m right and we can edit it if not so you’ll never hear it if I’m wrong um two other players Ken Roswell and uh lendel were were invited to uh to join the club um even though they didn’t win the singles I think that’s right um anyways so that’s that’s wimbl and I think uh I kind of flirted with it and then didn’t do it my single favorite uh day of the year is the first practice day so as the tournament’s going on the grounds are heaving there’s Henman Hill you walk through the outer courts you can just walk up to most of them like there’s a there’s a side with stands and then there’s like between courts you can walk between them and just kind of hang out between and check out the matches it is it’s it’s like it’s like equal parts the most perfect place you’ve ever seen and then it’s like a tennis Festival in in some parts where you can hang out on the hill and watch the big screen and they just the the way that they are able to balance tradition with I don’t know no experience where you don’t feel uptight when you’re there um and maybe my experience isn’t everyone’s experience but that’s always the way I felt like you can buy a grounds pass go to Henman Hill have a day at Wimbledon see the entire venue like you’re watching the screen outside of Court 1 you look you know 45 degrees to your right and you see the the the the shape of Center Court it’s just so cool um and so the first day you get there for practice uh you normally get an hour if you’re a seated player to hit on and then over at orangi Park which by the way another nice touch to hit at orangi Park you don’t have to wear all whites so all of your warmups all your practice sessions it’s not as if you’re you know taking your starchy whites out to you know to to go warm up for a match um so again a touch that they get perfectly right um orangi Park is you know basically a big row of grass and they’re all together there’s no space between them and that’s where the players warm up practice everything else but during the tournament to get from our locker rooms are kind of in Center Court right so like second level Center Court um you walk down this long staircase a couple of flights and all of a sudden you walk underneath all of Wimbledon so there’s 30,000 people up above you uh a floor above you you’re walking underneath them to a rangi park through you know the kitchen doors open up when you’re walking like it’s where all the the you know deliveries are the infrastructure 18 wheelers parked down there that’s how they get the whole thing and there’s you know the players can walk down below there and then you walk up the stairs and there’s tons of fans hanging over the entrance to orangi park when you’re coming from underground and it’s so much fun because you’ll be practicing on like Court one right there one of the first couple courts where the public can can watch practice it’s so cool but then you’ll hear the fans just start going nuts like it’s like the Beatles and he’ll be like Serena and that first fan who sees the person who’s walking up and then all the fans just start going crazy it’s like this tell cuz all of a sudden you’re underground and you peek up and all of a sudden your face is showing and you just see you look up and you just see the sea of people kind of leaning over the railings just going crazy uh so it’s weird because you have this like the traditional space of Center Court where there’s theorum tradition then you go to orangi park and it’s the Beatles right it is the the the seeing your favorite players up close you have to walk directly in between all of the fans like you’re on a staircase and they’re on both sides and you’re walking right through high-fiving doing the whole thing um so that’s during the tournament before the tournament I took the I’m a pretty quick Walker I’m a fidgety person uh I can focus on something for about 4 seconds the walk from outside of Center Court where you walk down where the public will be five or six days from then the slowest walk through Wimbledon when there’s not anyone on site there’s not a person there besides the players and players alone can’t fill that place it can’t make it feel full that slow walk through Wimbledon past Henman hill past the video board over to orangi park just casually walking into orangi park and you know that that feeling is going to go away and be replaced by something that’s magic also uh you know five or six days later is just maybe the best walk in all of tennis and I say that with respect to walking out through the clubhouse for the finals which is also I could talk for a half hour about how special that is um but it’s just amazing they get so many of the notes right um it’s the the place of my biggest heartbreak in this Sport and it simultaneously makes my heart full every time I think about it it’s uh I think I think we got to do a special episode on more behind the scenes this is great I’ve been there a million times I haven’t heard half this it’s like half you’re describing like half half Opera half minor league baseball game I guess that’s right producer Mike I was just going to ask about the dress code do you do you can you talk about the history behind the uh kind of all whites like why always been that way huh I it never bothered me so never really thought to ask why like I just kind of liked it um I know there was some you know Andre didn’t like it at first and I’m sure he came around after he won in ’92 he literally wouldn’t go play there uh a couple of times cuz he was anti-d dress code and he was the rebel and they even want you know he won them over and you know Wimbledon won him over um I I know he speaks with reverence about it now I I just most of the time and I’ve I’ve said it on this podcast before doing something just because that’s the way it always been done I think is is is normally dumb and in Wimbledon it’s just perfect to me it’s just I don’t know why what did Allen Mill say to you though because I think there’s something there too they’re they’re not unreasonable so there was a ition of having that open Sunday and now there no longer is and they’ve made some concessions especially uh understandably to female players about all white theyve they bent a little bit on that and I think the players you know the players wear different shoes and the players give a little and I think the club gives a little too and it’s actually a very nice kind of meeting of reasonable people um I’ve got wait [ __ ] I’ve got to uh I got a bounce you know what this means it means I’m going to have to wait till next time to congratulate you on the serving upam award you’re going to get the first night of the US Open I got I got to jump on this other call sounds like a good time for you just sign off like are we do we run a do we run a show now Producer Mike where people just [ __ ] just just [ __ ] leave whenever they want see see you later guys yeah all right John cool big gulps huh well see you later and there he goes gez and then he’s gone like I mean this I’d question his work ethic if he didn’t work 16 hours a day you know to button up the white thing I I just Googled it real quick I a lot of people allude to the fact that in the 18 1980s when the rules were written you know it was a because it was so people didn’t sweat to death you know because it was unseemly to see the sweat stains but also I can’t they were probably playing in like wool you know it’s probably the cooler way to play horrible you know was all whites but I think it looks pretty good I like it too I think it’s awesome and over time to to John’s Point like it used to be all white white white and now then they were like allow a little stripe and then they would allow a so it’s it’s a it’s almost like a Ben don’t break defense on on everything anyways I love I I love Wimbledon um someone else who loved Wimbledon right in my face often times uh one Roger Federer um lost to him in three finals he woned a million times uh something that’s interesting about this podcast and I’ll say this and then we’ll go to break is that Producer Mike social Sophie before this podcast it it’s funny because we’re watching like tennis fandom expand in real time right to where like you know Mike now knows how to say labor cup which is cool maybe which is well he whether or not he does it he knows the right way to say it uh now uh but social Sophie on the other side of this break back with another movie review she did Challengers she watched the Roger feder documentary we have not talked about it we don’t actually we kind of have the the framework and SK of a show when we write it but we always want the first conversation to actually be when we’ve pressed record uh so 99% of the things you hear are the first time that we have talked about it with the group uh social Sophie back on the other side to review the Roger Federer documentary we’ll be right back all right welcome back to served uh it’s like she’s cisal and she’s eert dated reference for anyone under 30 but Mike understands I’m sure uh shots fired um I don’t even know the name of this documentary I just call it the Roger Federer documentary I know it’s the last 12 days leading into uh lav cup otherwise known as La cup uh and when he retired and my memories of that going in before uh social Sophie goes into it um one of the moments that uh caus me actual human tears um was just Rafa flying in for a double match to play with Roger to be a part of the goodbye them literally sitting on a bench the whole world watching it’s as if no one was there just crying out of respect for each other and out of respect for kind of their outsized presence in each other’s lives um that meant so much to me I had to go on air on TC live right after that and I almost didn’t make it through the show like it was it was it was very hard and uh I think they’re both gems of humans um as much as I kind of joke about uh Roger him kicking my ass lightharted um we we have a friendship that will live on um forever um we we still text we check in he has done many many things outside of the lens of the camera uh you know for me charity events you know different things here and there just always an extremely thoughtful present person um who I imagine it would be very easy to get lost in the tornado of being Federer right I’ve seen it I’ve had a first row seat to it I can imagine what his reality is like uh but social Sophie watched it and I’m curious because I know like all of our history Sophie doesn’t she’s heard I think she’s heard about our history but wasn’t there for it wasn’t a tennis fan during it uh is probably too young to have given a [ __ ] about it in in time uh but I’m curious social Sophie what did you think of it not having kind of knowing I guess feder’s reputation having seen him not having been a real-time fan of his uh when he was playing well they really set the scene when it opens with a shot of him like right in front of his trophies and you’re like okay he’s probably really good at this thing that this documentary is about it’s just him standing in front of them that’s the opening shot after the shot of him like destroying you at wimble did like they kind of open it with oh they open with that is that true oh great I didn’t even know that made an appearance great those two things you’re kind of like maybe he’s good at this thing um so so you get that right away and like you said it’s a lot less about his career and more about his retirement like they’re counting down those final 12 days until um the labor cup and it kind of just takes you through this like Agony that he’s going through of like I really don’t technically a to retire it’s a a a choice but I know it’s the best thing I really don’t want to do it but it’s like what’s best for me um and you really see him kind of like bear the weight of he he knows his role in tennis as this sort of like I don’t even know what the word is like he’s the biggest yeah he’s the biggest guy he knows it but he also carries it really humbly but he’s very aware and so he knows I need to make this statement um in a way that respect my fans respects the sport respects all the people that I played and he does that really really well and like his announcement that he makes and then every move that he makes until the labor cup and then beyond um and so watching anyone love something that much like it could have been about river dancing for all I care like watching someone love anything that much is so interesting and I feel I feel that feels like a reach I’m just saying maybe maybe a little reach like it big why river dancing best guy river dancing I’m going to watch like if it was someone who L it that much that’s that’s the [ __ ] that I know 100% true the lead River Dance guy the best River the feder of river dancing the Novak of river dancing is Michael flatly how do you know that I don’t know it gets it goes in and it doesn’t go out I’m so glad I said that look up confirm it’s Michael don’t I don’t have to because immediate believe you um anyway sorry but no if the guys that good at it and they love it that much like it’s just it was like addicting to watch I watched it twice you guys give like the best homework I was like I watched it Friday night and then I watched it last night again um and then it it takes you through what I thought was really interesting was that his kids were also touring with him through maybe like the last half of his career I guess um which which just all I really know about tennis is you and that wasn’t the case with you and so it was interesting to see like his kids really go through the process as well they were ball crying blubbering at the labor cup and it’s because they were so much a part of it and I thought that was really really nice to see and he honored his wife so well just kind of saying you know she she really could have stopped me and probably wanted to stop me years and years ago but she didn’t because I love this thing and we both love this thing and it’s been the center of our whole lives um and then obviously there’s the Rafa angle where they’re just again blubbering the entire time I really wanted them to show the shot where they’re like holding hands and crying but they never did that was that’s like my one qualm with the whole thing is that I never got the shot of them holding hands and crying um but beyond Rafa like he he also does the same thing with Novak and Andy Murray and even the players that are coming in behind them all like he really pays so much respect a lot of the times it like wasn’t about him the documentary that was about him um which is probably just a testament to who he is yeah I read I read a quote from the from the documentary and it’s probably something that we all are are guilty of in that generation he said something along the lines of I didn’t give Novak the respect he deserved when he was younger um I don’t think I did either um you know when when he came in he was the guy breaking up the Beatles right like he was he was this new guy who didn’t care that these guys were greats he wanted to take their lunch like he was there to steal titles from them and I like that Roger said it out loud you know I I I made the same mistake you know it’s just you know someone comes in I I probably early in my career presented badly to some people too like I just did like I probably pissing people off I probably got in the faces of veterans of tour during matches and did things that I wouldn’t have done or didn’t do six years later um I like that he showed the humility in even a documentary about him these are all the things that I got right they are very obvious but also we all flawed this is what I got wrong and I like that he said it out loud yeah he pretty much said exactly that and then they show him having kind of this moment with Novak at the end where you don’t know what he told him but Novak kind of breaks down crying um and it’s really it’s really sweety he he you know kind of Whispers In Andy Mary’s ear Whispers In Ra’s ear Whispers In Novak’s ear and then um sort of breaks down and I think he probably said exactly maybe exactly that like he kind of proved him wrong in the end yeah think that sorry go ahead sorry I I I just I’m thinking out loud here and I think just and I know I was bitter Betty earlier in this episode um just with there’s you know certain sex of of sects SC uh SEC C TS not not scx um there are certain SE of of fandom where the word fanatic exists for a reason and I hate it my number one thing that I hate online about tennis is that because you like someone better you feel the need to drag down others when the players don’t view it that way obviously there are Peaks and valleys the intensity involved I’ve had run-ins with people that have I’ve had run-ins on the court with Marty fish who’s like a brother to me like you need to understand as fans that there is a certain there’s a silo of people on Earth who fully understand what you do what you’re going through how you go about it and how hard it is to be elite at a worldwide Global sport so you cannot like someone’s Entourage you cannot like people in the orbit of these insane rivalries respect wins it always wins You can disagree with someone you can yell at someone you can say things that you mean in the moment that you get over later the fact that the the moment you’re describing of Roger saying something to Novak and Novak having the respect for Roger and they’ve had bumpy moments they’re well documented those get if if those two can push everything aside and say you were great you’re a reason why I was great why the [ __ ] can’t fans do it too if you want to support your guy support the things that your guy respects support the people that he respects you don’t have to like them respect needs to be a baseline you cannot say you know I like this person this so this person’s a piece of [ __ ] Loser Like that’s just not true it’s not true it’s not true I know these people it’s not true save the [ __ ] it’s not me against you it’s us and we are all better for it uh go ahead Sophie how does this end how do his kids go through it what are his takeaways post labor cup I’m sure they had like an exit interview um and then I’ll I’ll kind of just give a couple of my thoughts they say in the beginning or he says when he’s about to make this announcement that he wants to make it really clear that he’s not saying I’m retiring and I have no idea what’s next I’m retiring and maybe you’ll see me again maybe you won’t he wants to make it really clear that he wants his role in tennis whatever that means to continue on and he wants to stay so involved and so it they they do leave it pretty unknown to be fair other than than what I just said that like he wants to stay in the sport in whatever capacity he possibly can so but but I mean they did leave it kind of open-ended yeah I mean he he’s part of the ownership group he created labor cup um with his agency that was yeah so he’s there forever and props to like with Tony godzik who’s also a friend of mine who’s rogers’s agent uh life lifelong agent um you know they created a really special entity and like the fact that this documentary that’s almost the perfect venue for this documentary to follow because they started laor cup literally and I don’t this isn’t their opinion this isn’t their thesis this is my opinion of what I’ve seen from the event um it feels like they started with what will be the best possible TV product that doesn’t need to chew up three weeks of the season three days all the superstars played around the globe inside access listening to Rafa coach Novak on a switch over like it doesn’t get better than that and vice versa it just doesn’t get better than that um the game will forever need Roger they just will um he he’s the biggest crossover star that I’ve witnessed uh in in in tennis he’s he’s he’s like it’s impossible for your Q rating to be as gigantic as as his was and also not find anyone who dislikes him you can find someone who dislikes everybody and a lot of that’s based on team sports I like the Yankees therefore I hate any great Red Sox I like this so I hate that fine at a certain moment in time like my fans didn’t hate Roger and all he did was ruin my life for 10 years like on court like it’s just I and I I had this weird when when he was made that announcement I remember being on Tennis Channel and the one thing that I said and I still mean it to this day is I think the biggest compliment you can give someone after you’ve been a father is I hope my kids grow up and act like this person not famous not as successful just treat people with the level of respect that he does and I saw it I mean I I couple of examples like I I I watched him one year at Wimbledon before one of our finals and I’m like a nervous wreck and he’s like you know playing [ __ ] games on his phone like couldn’t be calmer which was annoying in its own way but you know you you have you know couple of players who aren’t as good maybe they’re like in a mixed doubles final or they’re not Federer at Wimbledon like they can go to Starbucks right they can go to Starbucks in Wimbledon Village and probably be left alone regrip the rackets in the training room which everyone seares the same training room when you’re stretching and doing all that a bunch of tables lined up um one entrance one exit uh regripping rackets and then they just drop their trash on the floor and walk out and I watch him having a conversation with someone see that and just casually go over and pick up you know three old grips and a bunch of plastic and just throw them away while maintaining his conversation not saying like you know I would have been like I would have done it but I would have been like these [ __ ] pricks like I would have had some commentary about it which was bitter casually did it he just did it put it away I’m Roger feder I’ve won this tournament seven times already six times already whatever it is and he consistently did stuff like that he knew the name of the person who was looking after the tournament in the locker room each week right he he just he just carried himself with a certain Grace and a certain that I always get asked you know are you jealous I I’m generally not really a jealous person like I don’t I’m I’m happy for people’s successes I wish I would have done things but I don’t look back and say I wish I would have won 10 grand slams and maybe that’s why I didn’t but I look back I’m like I would have loved one more right I just but and people said are you jealous of Roger no the only thing I’m jealous of in the history of our relationship and all the titles and the lopsidedness of our general being was his ease of operation and how he could do these things and be in a good mood and there’s no chance he was in a good mood every day but he faked it better than any person I’ve seen him and Rafa frankly um but Roger had to carry more of the burden he could give press conferences in like 18 languages right he was the first one he was the greatest before the other two came and became the greatest and then the greatest right and so I think he had a lot of that and he was the guy that was immediately the the Statesman after Pete and Andre like he had to carry that that burden and he had other personalities and then the youngsters and Rafa comes along and you know I play a lane of this Brash American but I’m nowhere near no one no one’s near him no one even for a moment in time um is is is near him um and I’ll tell you this sorry go ahead please no I I can tell anecdotal stories all day there’s just a funny moment in the locker room where it’s like team Europe at the labor cup and um it’s Roger Rafa bartini I think sits paes and they’re all just kind of like chatting in the locker room and they get on the subject of that Rafa Sono match where he calls them to the net about his kind of delayed grunting do you remember that surely um and bartini is saying oh no he doesn’t do it on purpose he doesn’t do it on purpose trust me like I played with him since I was a kid I know him really well he doesn’t do it on purpose and he’s sort of like arguing back and forth with RAF and RAF is like no no for me he did it on purpose like I promised for me and it was just a funny little glimpse into the locker room like they’re kind of going back forth out it but still being super respectful it was just like a nice little glimpse into into that and that that those are the conversations that go round and round where if there was a camera people would you know they’d create a beef between the two differing opinions like it’s just so stupid like you know I didn’t do it on purpose maybe it does a little on purpose yeah you know it’s a little bit a little on purpose you know maybe it’s a little on purpose uh we’ll do this and I could tell you know nice gesture Roger stories uh for an entire episode um I’m I I I can’t wait to watch it I wanted to you know let let you watch it and kind of just speak from my own personal experience I’ll tell you I got inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2017 and um with our good friend Kim kers um amongst others and the I’ll give you one guess when the first text message the day that I got inducted was waiting for me when I woke up and it was from Roger it was three paragraphs wasn’t a have a fun day it was three paragraphs our history I appreciate your friendship this is welld deserved you know yada y yada first one out of the shooter and like he shouldn’t know the day that someone’s getting inducted like he he knows that in the morning it’s not an accident you start early um enjoy the day like it was it was just it and there’s a lot of examples of that so I’ll forever uh you know I I can’t even be a little bit bitter about about Roger I I just can’t um he’s proven to me too many times uh the person that he is I’m happy that a lot of other people including new fans like social Sophie are getting a uh a look behind uh the curtain uh at at him and and in the way that he uh exists um anyways I can’t wait to watch it now uh uh social sopia do you have any closing thoughts about it what are your what’s your like biggest takeaway uh from this Docker if you have a couple uh shoot your shot I mean first of all it really I don’t know if this was their intention but it really made me want a documentary docu series on his career like it made you want more of him and so hopefully maybe they’ll do something like that in the future um takeaway is I mean he talks a lot about being a a ball kid and and bosel and um and it just it’s inspiring and you go like I mean I guess you really can do anything if you’re extremely good at the thing that you love um and also work extremely hard like he did and it’s I mean it sort of leaves you with that sort of inspirational taste in your mouth of like wow he really did just love this thing so much work extremely hard and now he’s the face of tennis so yeah how many how many stars how many little anotic faces do you give it out of five there’s no reason not to give it five like there’s nothing bad about there’s nothing bad about it like they they do that they call well maybe the only reason is is that you’re going to get fired no joking obviously 5.11 yeah yeah just like an earlobe yeah yeah yeah exactly we’ll put that on the screen the best moment truly is when they’re about to make the announcement and uh his agent first calls Anna wintor to warn her that the announcement is going to go out and I just loved that she’s uh it’s she’s you know rightfully so a massive Roger fan I got to see that whole Vortex too like the Roger hosted met G last year and then again a gracious thing um invited Brooklyn and I which like obviously we weren’t you know Brook’s been before but I’ve obviously never been invited um uh and and we sat like he’s hosting and we literally sat at the next table but like our chairs backed up to each other so inevitably we end up leaning back and talking about you know God knows what um it was but it’s just thought it’s just thoughtful um and and so I’ve always I’ve always certainly appreciated uh those gestures um and I can’t wait to can’t wait to watch it I love I love that there were those moments between uh our greats uh including Andy Murray by the way we even talk about him there’s so much great stuff he’s phenomenal I mean it’s it’s just it respect wins there are moments we don’t like each other there are moments where we disagree we play for some pretty big things um respect wins at the end of the day you look backwards respect wins uh I’m glad they caught those moments cuz maybe people will believe us when we say things like respect wins and we make mistakes we judge things the wrong way we also extend Grace to each other uh because we we realize we need each other and the you know the most important parts of our work lives involve those people and that should always uh remain special I was going to do a whole thing um about uh sleepers on the men’s side for Wimbledon uh I think the women’s draw is open and there’s 20 names that could potentially win where does igos fianc St Stack Up what we will do uh Producer Mike I think uh if you’ll approve this um is I think we start with that for a quick conversation before we do our live draw show which will be out on Saturday uh on T2 so I’m going to spend and we you’ve been so nice and I don’t I think it feels wedged in because we’ve we’ve kind of gotten this Wimbledon into Roger thing and there’s a certain tone to it to get back to balls and Strikes feels a little weird so I’m not going to do it but with your permission I think we start before I actually look at the draw I think I’m going to tell you these are the names I’m looking for I’m really interested where they’re going to fall and then we let it rip Tater chip what do you think Producer Mike I think it sounds like a great idea yeah and so the the t2 show will be 52 minutes you know but then the full extended draw special because we will go longer than 52 minutes uh that’ll that’ll be on YouTube and and where you get your podcast yeah so just for for those of that didn’t catch our Roland Garis preview show uh we do it a little bit differently most people digest the draw look at it have a day with it uh you’re getting our first raw reaction look so wortheim will look at it uh I’ll look at it then we start filling in our winners and all of a sudden we’re at the quarters and it’s like oh okay well all right so these are my eight quarter and then we walk it through so the first time that I’m looking at the draw uh you will have the ability to listen and then we will fill them out uh to the best of our knowledge I’ll give a sounds like I’ll do a quick little preview of these are the names I want to know where bartini is going to land in the draw I want to know uh you know X Y and Z uh sakova is goingon to end up in the draw Katy Bolter is going to end up in the draw who’s going to play so we’re go through all that stuff we’ll spend five or 10 minutes on it and then um we are going to get into the live draw show I will be doing it remotely I will be traveling uh with with uh with our family um so the background won’t quite look the same but uh the content will be just as average I assure you uh so thank you so much uh social Sophie uh great job thank you for watching I appreciate you breaking it down uh for us uh sounds like it’s a rave review everyone should go watch uh the Roger doc uh and we will catch you next time uh on surf thanks for listening [Applause]
45 Comments
A healthy Novak might skip Wimbledon: Wertheim's werthless comments
Fedal , two of the most selfish players who were in a such a powerful pisition to make a difference to other fellow players but never did. Both of them only cared about themselves only. Showed great sportsmanship and were humble when they were winning, but as soon as they were loosing they were like others.
1%-2% improvement per day is what he talked about – The whole UBERMAN gumby Djoker-esque possibility. Over & over they years – during AO & torn tissue/muscle wins the Tournament. Just even practicing @ Wimby IZ JUST CRAZZZZY! Novak is just a different mindset physical specimen kind of animal. Djoker is the master Captain/Crew maestro of his domain. Wimby-24 as a possibility is just beyond words. Andy, Roger & Rafa with surgeries versus Novak being back on the court 2 weeks post-surgery just beyond human no matter how advanced medical tech has come. Cheers JW & AR. IDEMO NOLE!!! – Best, Milan
Been an avid fan of this podcast from the beginning and it gets better with every episode
Novak needs to have all the atention on him so i realy think all about is crazy
Djokovic had an arthroscopy, which is not considered full knee surgery.
Wonder if Tiny is watching this episode
Murray played 11 GS FInals and winnig 3 at the time of the Big being at the top of their game + 2 Gold medals…
Wimbledon is the worst of the slams, 90% of people attending don't follow tennis the rest of the year, they only come to the tourbament to be seen, drink and eat strawberries. It is also the worst slam for supporting grassroot tennis in the country where it is held. Unlike AO, RG and US OPEN, Wimbledon IS NOT owned by the British Tennis Federation (LTA). They hardly support the development of young players. Yes they could do a lot more, it is estimated that they could generate around £75 millions more every year. And believe me infrastructure are much needed in the UK, as an example there are more cover court around Paris than in the entire UK….
I’ve listened to quite a few tennis podcasts and yours is by far the best. Keep the episodes coming!
The movie was good, but I miss having conversations and vulnerability. They should have asked the players about how they felt about Roger and vice versa, what kind of role he played in their career, etc. I really like how Andy is talking about the big 3. That is how I feel: only fans are making this unbearable. They are all great!
could listen to andy talk about wimbledon all day everyday. hell yea
AND IF STEROIDOVIC WASNT ON STEROIDS ID LIKE HIM!! JUST SEE HIS OLYMPIC YEAR RESULTS! LAST OLYMPIC YEAR HE COULDNT BEAT HIS MOTHER!!! ND AGAIN THIS YEAR!!! DO THE MATH! WE BOTH KNOW ATP DOESNT REALLY CHECK!!!!
Just speaking for myself, I find the emotionalism around sports heroes to be kind of maudlin. The last 12 days of Federer sounds like an afternoon tearjerker. Sorry. I know a lot of people feel differently.
IN WATCH YOUR MOUTH!!!!!! KEEP OT CLEAN. YOU'RE NOT COOL.
Great episode! with the new announcement of Muguruza as tournament director of the WTA finals, would be great to get an interview with her…
For Murray, I'm so happy I finally got to see him on Centre Court last year at Wimbledon. Loved seeing him play
I loved "Federer: The 12 Final Days". It's a work made for fans of Federer and tennis history in general. Esp. for the last 25+ years. Not sure why it was released to critics, who don't get it cuz it wasn't for them if they're not true fans of the sport. Fans have shown overwhelmingly how much they approve of and appreciate it.
Who’s this guy to just speak like that about Andy! Jon Wertheim talking about how Nole would be the greatest if he won this year??? Doesn’t the tennis journalist know it’s 19-8 fed to Nole grasscourt wins? This guy is shite!!
Wtf?? Torch passing moments!! On your interviewer
Next thing then you say is that shitty thing about Andy?? You don’t even play pro!!
You are just a journalist! 11:37
I absolutely agree that we should have a longer grass court season and a 1000 leading up to Wimbledon, but the problem is not the clay court season. There is too much hard courts and there should be a better balance between the 3 surfaces
Respect wins. 🙂
Listening to Andy talk about his love for Wimbledon gave me goosebumps. You're the man Andy!
My ex didn't like Roger. The relationship was doomed from the start lol
A LONGER GRASS SEASON!! ! YEAH BRAH!!
What does getting inducted mean? In Andy's context
I think winning Wimbledon doesn’t grantee membership. I think John McEnroe won and didn’t get membership. If you can’t get tickets to the tournament- I highly suggest taking a tour of the grounds. It’s still magical and they tell you a TON about the AELTC.
Side note. Love the Ms Lippy’s car is green 😂😂😂😂
Djokovic didn't have surgery it's just not possible at this speed!
Episodes keep getting even better!!! Best tennis podcast BY MILES! 👍
Murray can still have the goodby ceremony and not play.
Andy re Wimbledon. Lovely, lovely words! Heartfelt, respectful and clearly 100% sincere – as a Brit, thank you! Should add I was fortunate enough to see you in C1 a few years ago. You won I hasten to add.
Novak's speedy recovery sounds a lot like the Giannis Antetokounmpo knee injury recovery (6 days after hyper-extension) leading into the NBA finals highlighted in the Giannis documentary.
Get rid of Madrid and move on to grass one week earlier
Andy how easy would it be to fake the ATP tour w a perfect stringing job w n gut…. 👍
Guys. Novak can’t resist a good hang in Wimbledon pre tournament. But he is not playing and if he does he’s not going deep. Even if it was a very minor arthroscopic Debridement/ shave of a mild peripheral tear of the meniscus, I would highly doubt that the inflammation from the procedure alone would make him 5 set ready. 5 sets. No way.
How nervous must the surgeon be operating on Novak Djokovic's knee?
Please explain what a chucker is? (Google has no idea – it tries to link me up with ball chuckers for dogs)
You can get tickets for a stadium tour, which is great.
What an exceptional podcast. Love hearing you Andy. ❤️
I've had the same injury and surgery as Nole, and the recovery was quick. I'd guess it's one of the least serious knee injuries one can have. The guy's a world class athlete. I'm not surprised he's able to play at Wimbledon.
Very quickly became best tennis pod in the bizzzz… Also, Andy totally deserves to be a member – crushed me when he lost in 2009.
Always thought it was ridiculous that Newport Open is AFTER Wimbledon
3 time Wimbledon finalist! What passionate behind the scenes stories of Wimbledon and Aorangi Park!!! the Beatles! Needs a documentary on this!
Andy you were born to serve a tennis ball and to talk into a microphone – could listen to you all day, great podcast.
when Social Sophie says she rates it a 5.1 and the extra earlobe appears that is just too funny… props to Producer Mike!