Hey guys, welcome to What's the Call the podcast where sports
meets side eye. We're here to breakdown the
matches, the meltdowns and the moments that make us pause and
say, what was that call? I'm Theo.
I'm Andrea. And we're glad you're here.
Whether you're sports obsessed or just here for the drama,
there's a seat for you courtside, so let's dive in.
Hi guys. Welcome back to another episode.
We have an exciting 1 today. We have Tamara Pren back with
us. So yeah, welcome back.
Thank you so much, it's such an honour to be asked back.
I'm hoping this can be a regular thing.
Definitely. Of course.
So do we want to jump into the Australian Open and everything
that we've just witnessed over the last two weeks, but also
three days, if that makes sense. I feel like the tournament was
really boring up until then. Yeah, basically.
And I think that the final three days were so interesting that it
has just completely almost obliterated things that I found
somewhat interesting beforehand when it was like, I feel like I
had a lot of things to say about those things maybe on Thursday
night. But the moment I wake up on
Friday, all of those things began disintegrating and
disintegrating. And now I I can't even remember
who the other players at the tournament were.
Yeah, we feel the same way, right, Andrea?
Like we launched this podcast what, like 3 weeks ago now.
So I mean, we weren't grasping at straws.
We, we covered like some like all the like jokes around the
tournament, but there was nothing but like no results
results because there were no big upsets.
And but I guess that sometimes that makes for those really
interesting final rounds, right? If it's just like your routine
wins in the first few rounds. Totally.
I feel like that's something that I have been thinking over
the past few days because it's about what you're willing to
kind of sacrifice. I think when I think back to
when we last spoke after Wimbledon, that was like the
absolute bonfire of the seeds. And there were so many upsets.
And it brought out some really rich new storylines and allowed
us to think about players maybe in ways positive and negative
that we hadn't thought about them before in the build up to
what was, you know, ultimately compared to these men's and
women's finals. I mean, obviously it was hard
for Sinner Alcaraz to match the French Open just before.
And the less we say about Triantek and and Nessimova, the
better. But the concentration of the top
seeds all being exactly where the draw really wants them to be
in those final rounds did make really compelling match ups.
But it did come at the expense of several days of us thinking,
you know, look at this incredible upset or, you know,
we're seeing a new side of a player maybe in the top 30 doing
particularly well. At the start of the season,
there was there was such a scarcity of that.
And it's like, would I give up the final four days that we saw?
Maybe not. But I'm ready for a break and
some upsets at the French Open. 100%, yeah, I think.
But I think that's what makes tennis interesting.
Like it could go either way, right?
Do you think the last few days of the tournament, the semi
finals and the finals made-up for the first week and a half of
the tournament was more boring I would say.
I think definitely because on both men's and the women's
straws, it presented one or two enormous talking points that
almost well satisfy us for the rest of the season or even the
next few seasons. With the example of Sablanca,
such a consistent world #1 And you see that she you know, she
can be broken down and she can be outsmarted by a player who,
although they both share like in like the most bombastic hitting,
was able to be her exact opposite in terms of the game
plan and the coolness. And when she was able to take
advantage of of things that are normally positives for
Sabalenka, her energy, her emotions, her confidence,
Someone who reaches as many Grand Slam finals and wins as
many Masters as Sabalenka be really unpicked is, I think,
super interesting. I feel like like last year,
we're going to get multiple Grand Slam winners on the
winners women's side of the draw.
I think Sabalinka absolutely can win a Grand Slam this year, but
I think she will be one of four women who do.
So that's the interesting thing for the women and for the men's.
I feel like it would be really unfair to not talk about Alcaraz
making history, but you know, the Djokovic of it all was a
huge sort of re understanding for me.
And when I was watching his semi final against Sinner I was like,
this is the best. I feel like I've seen him play
since he was winning sets in the 2023 Wimbledon final against
Alka as that like incredible epic.
So to have both of those huge new considerations that I hadn't
really had at the front of mind before going into the semi
finals and finals is like it was worth it.
I'll take it. Totally 100%.
When I was watching the semi final match, my sort of take
from it was like, wow, this is really good for tennis.
It adds a really interesting story to the tournament.
I think it was amazing. You know, no one counts them
out, but I don't think people were really.
Predicting that, especially given his route to the final he
definitely has, is so impressive and has made his own luck in his
career. But like he did get quite lucky
on the road to the final with the retirement and the
withdrawal. I feel like such a fool, but I
was almost like afraid that we were going to see a really
dispiriting but perhaps totally predictable defeat to Sinner.
Or I thought he was going to retire in the final and we had
worst case scenario for that. And to have played the sets that
he did in both of those matches where he was at his height, it
becomes just the rudest thing to have thought in the Intel world.
Like the disrespect that I've shown.
I must scroll on my hands and knees it's so bad.
But it's insane. Well, I remember you texted me
because you were like after the Alka Zverev semi.
You're like, oh, did we just witness the most insane semi
final? It's going to be followed like
by the least interesting semi final.
And I felt the exact same way. I was like, oh, it's going to be
like a demolition. But no, it ended up being like,
from what I've sort of been reading, like one of, if not the
like most insane men's semis day ever.
Thank God we're also not that old.
We don't remember that many. It was super compelling and it
was also a huge credit to how exciting the Grand Slam 5 set
format is. And you have these like drag out
battles between Alcaraz and Zverev.
There is obviously quite a significant chasm in terms of a
ceiling. But in a Masters match, it's
like Alcaraz wipes the floor with him and they move on.
But the ability for Zverev to take advantage of his opponent's
physical weakness, drag himself back into the match and allow
for a really punchy decider and, you know, keeping perhaps in
vain hope alive just for a few more hours was super
exhilarating for the spectators. Because it feels like suddenly
the chance is anyone's it's the person who is kind of the most
courageous on the day. And you think the the
physicality of A5 set match really allows for that because
you are just seeing the energy, the muscle conditioning just
drain out of these players. And in that first match, you
know, by the first set, it's fair of who is completely
incapacitated because he's the only one who's been playing for
the last hour and a half. But that physical aspect also
made it more dramatic in both of the matches.
And that's something that I think Australia is always one of
the most likely slams to bring that because of the elements
coming into play and because of the the extreme heat.
I'm not saying I want these players to be tortured for my
own enjoyment, but I do think it adds another interesting wrinkle
into the match up. And, you know, potentially that
is a major factor, particularly if you're facing Yannick Sinner.
You know he is not someone who deals with difficult conditions
well. Which we saw earlier on in the
tournament. Exactly.
And if you're going up against, you know, tennis perfection and
that's actually something that you can wake up and you can
check the weather and be like, OK, this is it might kill me 35°
or whatever, but it's definitely going to be something that he's
going to hate as well. How can I take advantage of that
to use it as like a weapon for myself?
So that physical dimension I think also really added to the
semi finals drama. Andrea and Tamara, what are your
takes on medical timeouts for crap?
So I'm biased obviously, but apparently he threw up twice,
right? And so if they're worried about
a heat stroke, then he is allowed to take a medical
timeout. You mean Sinner?
No, sorry, I'm talking about Carlos in.
The semi final, Yeah, sorry. OK, yeah, for cramping.
OK, I didn't realize. Oh, it was.
It was post Puke Alcoraz, to quote our favorite tennis
podcast because we already give you credit where credit is due.
Yes. So obviously you're not allowed
to take a medical timeout for cramps, right?
And you know, he says he didn't know if they were, if, you know,
if what he had was a cramp or not.
Whether that's true, I don't know.
But Carlos doesn't really like deploy gamesmanship in matches.
That's not his thing. I don't think so.
I believe him like freak. Out.
Freaked out. He was shouting at in German,
hard, like the tournament referee or whoever that was.
I was like, jeez, relax. Like there there's the argument
that they favour Alkaraz and Sinner.
I don't know if you guys have thoughts on that.
I think that when someone is a sort of charismatic and likeable
a player on and off the court as Alcaraz, he is someone who is
less likely to chew out a referee or, you know, not fess
up to a double bounce. He he's a good sport.
That being said, I think the cramp occupies a really grey
area. Cramp has a as a symptom of a
heat illness is treated at the discretion of the physio.
So that is above board and if you've been yakking into your
towel then that's a incredible like example of someone who is
suffering from dehydration. But I think there was some
question over he wanted the specific massage on the thigh
and he said in his press conference after I didn't know
if it was maybe a more severe injury in that particular area.
Right. I was like, oh, that's it.
He has a tear in his like hamstring or something, or his
quad. But then clearly it wasn't that.
I do think he thought it was that.
I don't want to turn him into more devious character than he
might be, but I don't want to assume that he was being totally
above board because I think players generally will look to
see what they can get. I'm 90% sure it's cramp, but if
I get this particular massage and you know, it actually is a
worse injury and I'm being checked out and they can sign
off on it, then fine. If I can get away with it, I
will. I think he was quite angry
during the final about what was happening with the closing of
the roof, which felt like a bit of a halfway house for me
because the roof was open about a, you know, centimetre.
And it's like, are you in or are you out on this roof debacle and
maybe pushing there and being like an injustice has happened
against me. It needs to be clarified.
This isn't very good. Maybe that gets the blood
pumping in a way, maybe thinking I've got away with a little bit
of a massage here where it's not strictly speaking what I'm
supposed to be doing. All of those things are things
that players are going to try and aim for, rather than being
like I'm going to exactly follow the rules and maybe my opponent
isn't doing the same. I also just always have to crack
up at the massage situation. I know like it's very.
In there, it's like voyeuristic. I feel like I'm watching
something I shouldn't be watching and it's happening.
I'm like, look away. So that story did really well
for us on the website. That kind of oh, massage
cheating storm kind of way of of selling it did really well.
So it went as the the kind of biggest story on the site.
And when that happens, you get a little text kind of beneath it,
classic Daily Mail, sort of shouty capitals, usually some
kind of pun. And I loved the one my editor
put on it, which was, don't shoot the massager, like the
massager. And I was like, that is with a
picture of, like, Zverev screaming here and then the leg
being worked on there. And I was like, this is poetry.
This is news poetry. Yeah.
I mean, they always deliver. OK.
So just like back to Novak, do we think he's going to win 25
and what would it actually take now?
I feel like that was a pretty good chance and those kinds of
chances do not come around all the time.
I didn't necessarily think he was going to win 25 before and
then after. I also don't think he's going to
win it, but for a for a different reason.
I was on Sunday, I was like he could and that felt good to
feel. But I think that it's hard for
him because he is so clearly head and shoulders above
basically everyone else out there except for Alcaraz and
Sinner. In terms of his body, his
lifestyle, what he wants to do at 38 versus what a 24 year old
wants to do. He doesn't want to play loads of
tournaments. He will, I'm sure, consistently
turn up to Grand slams, the occasional Masters.
But I know he's such an outlier and, you know, with barely any
time on court compared to his opponents over the past two
weeks, he still managed to play incredible, you know, super
competitive tennis in the final was.
I was like, shocked. I was like, that's it, he's got
it, but he clearly can't sustain the level anymore, which.
Yeah, and I think it's going to be really hard turning up
because he didn't play warm up tournaments for the Australian
Open. And normally he does it's, it's
unusual to go straight in, you know, really, really cold with
very few warm up tournaments. So how many times can you do
that and reach the final? He's still going to want to play
the big tournaments. It's going to become harder and
harder to get through the 1st and second weeks of those
tournaments if you're not regularly playing, even if you
are the great Novak Djokovic. So it does put him in an awkward
position where he's going to want to keep pushing for that
elusive 25, but it becomes harder.
It just becomes harder for him every week, I think.
Yeah, I, I agree. I also, I, I do think that he
believed that he could do it this time and that it was the
opportunity. I mean, we've gotten some hate
for our stance on Djokovic on this podcast already, like from
week 1. But anyways, and we've also said
like, there's no doubt, like statistically he is the GOAT,
like whether you like it or not. And all respect to him.
And I loved his speech. I mean, he also said he had a
winning speech and a losing speech.
And he was like, let me just get the losing speech out.
So he clearly like, I mean, you obviously always go in thinking
you can do it and winning. But I, I do think that he
thought he could like, really bring this one home.
I was surprised he wasn't more upset when he lost.
I guess because I'm so used to seeing players be super, super
emotional. In my mind, I'm like, OK, this
is one of his last chances to win a Grand Slam.
He didn't seem that defeated. Or maybe it's because he doesn't
think of this as, you know, one of his last opportunities.
He probably now, because he beat Sinner in the semi finals,
thinks he can he can win. I don't I think that was his
first time beating Sinner in five sets.
I think so best of five. But yeah, I was like I was I was
shocked that he wasn't more upset.
But I guess I think that shows that he probably does believe,
you know, he can win another one.
He can win the 25th this year, I'm sure.
OK, so we make a call. Is he winning it or is he not?
My call is not, but with a bit of sadness attached to it.
Yeah, I do feel bad. It must be tough because like to
give up on that mission if that's what it comes to for him
it it's hard, but I also think not.
Yeah. I don't think he's given up.
No, but I don't think he's. Going to do it that.
Way, I think. I think Wimbledon.
Wimbledon is probably his best chance of doing it for sure.
OK, Should we talk about Carlos? Because ultimately he is the
winner here and we love Carlos, all three of us too.
He completed the career slam, which is really impressive and
he was the is now the youngest person to ever do it and he did
it with Rafa in the crowd. Who was the person who was
holding that record? It's completely amazing and I
was doing some very basic maths which I don't think is
necessarily the way to track Grand Slams.
But at this sort of current trajectory, in terms of the time
that he's actually spent playing top level tennis, he matches 24
Grand Slams. By the time he's like 33, if he
stays fit and firing and who knows how long a career if we
are seeing with Djokovic, could this 38 year old grizzled
veteran when #25 in 10 years, I think we're going to be talking
about careers lasting even longer.
And there are going to be more top players and even players in
the Top 40 who is still in the mix a little bit older just
because of how athletes are treating their bodies.
So this is someone who could really shatter all records.
And I think what? Is crazy about that youngest
career slam when is he's so much younger than Nadal and Nadal was
freakishly young when he won it. And for someone to have chopped
it even further, you just think how long is he going to have
that record? It's an insane record to have
made. I I think personally what it
comes down to, and I think this is applicable to any career, but
if you really, really love what you do, it doesn't feel like
work. And like, I feel like he's just
like the embodiment of that. He looks like he's just having
fun all the time. Like he can laugh off a missed
shot, a missed opportunity. And he doesn't like take
everything so seriously. And like, to me, I think that's
what it is. You have to like live, breathe
and just really love what you do.
Sort of like Roger as well. He never really looked like too
fatigued after all, like sweaty. I don't know.
I, I think there's definitely a part of that to it.
I mean, he obviously also has a crazy amount of talent and then
also dedication. But that's sort of what I think
it kind of comes down to. I don't know.
I think if anyone in any field has that kind of ability to keep
those energy levels and project even the illusion of enjoyment
and passion and be able to, you know, smile their way through
things, they are going to be able to draw upon that in more
challenging times. His five set record is 15151.
And it's and it's Mateo. It's Mateo, Yes, yes, the.
Hammer will return in 20. 26 the hammer.
Let's go with the clap. Come on, Matteo.
And so that I think is part of the reason there are a lot of
reasons why he's been able to absolutely make a long 5 setter
and something another thing that Cinna has not yet added to his
game. It's really these like
incredibly long drag out contest he is challenged by.
But if you are down and out back end of the fourth set really
struggling and you are able to still feel genuine enjoyment in
your shot making and you can draw upon the crowd and you can
smile your way through it. That has got to be helpful at
digging you out and getting you over the finish line.
So in terms of things that are good for tennis, he is really
good for tennis in a way that I think other players who would be
as consistent as him might be. But I don't think anyone is
upset to see him at another Grand Slam because he plays such
an inventive and varied game that is just super interesting
to watch. The absolute bag of tricks and
the drop shot and the forehand's incredible and the serving gets
better and better. And you think this is someone
who's so watchable? It's not just about results,
It's really charismatic, Dennis. So do we think that Carlos is
going to surpass Tchaikovich 25 slams?
For sure. I think barring like a major
injury, because Djokovic has had a comparatively injury free
career compared to top level athletes in any sport and
obviously that would be super disruptive, but I don't know.
I'm also I'm so bad when it comes to recency bias.
I might. He's never going to lose again.
I think we all are because he's just like what do you like Pull
has pulled off in like the last 2 1/2 years is crazy.
But as you say, I think barring any injury, any major.
He's there. He's there, but I think he can
get to 30. I Yeah.
I'm sorry I say really crazy shit, but like I.
We're we're jinxing him right now.
We need to. Knock on away manifesting for
him it's all like very positive. How many does Serena have?
Serena has 20. How many does Margaret Court?
I mean, 24. Count her 24.
OK. Oh, wow.
OK. Yeah, they're.
All on 24. I need to look into the
specifics of this, but my, I was talking to my boyfriend, he was
like, I think 24 and one set puts him ahead of Margaret
Court. And I was like, I'm not sure how
that really works. But I think Djokovic would be
thrilled to know that you have officially named him the GOAT
for that one set that. He PSA, Novak, PSA.
I'm dead. That is very good point.
And yeah, going back to Carlos, do we think he's going to
complete the Calendar Slam this year?
Calendar Slam is winning all four slams in one year, just for
those who don't know. I think it's really hard to
imagine and I don't doubt that. And defeat to Djokovic will have
given Sina serious food for thought and.
That's probably Sina's out here scheming like.
He's going to be taking that out on opponents from Dubai to Miami
to Rome. Is there going to be just shells
of players left crying on the courts as he works through being
beaten by a 98? Year old in his press
conference. I was like damn.
I mean, that was a big loss for him, yeah.
And I get it. Very big.
Loss. So do we think they're going to
split the Slams again? Well, maybe Djokovic wins
Wimbledon. I don't know.
I think they are going to split the Slams again unless Djokovic
wins Wimbledon, just because everyone else does look so far
away from being able to. The gap is.
Crazy. The gap is sort of making me sad
when I compare it to the top 10 on the women's side.
And I think it will be good in the long run that we have had
just one break from a final between Alcaraz and Sinner.
You'll just wanted a bit more. And This is why we're all crying
out for the third man. Who is he going to be?
It's the old third man has come back.
He's the he's tennis's perennial third man.
Is he going to be the third man in 10 years like he joked about?
But we do need a a proper third man to consistently take, you
know, one of them out so that we can have some kind of challenge.
And I think that without that the the ominous dud slam that we
experienced before the semi finals is going to be a more
regular thing because we are just going to be like when is it
time for Sinner and Akaras to play again?
Which? Like Andrea said, is not
necessarily good for the sport. Like it's a bit of variation.
No, we need more intrigue. Even when the big, you know, big
three were around, at least you know Vavrinka could beat them at
any point. I feel like there was way more
competition for sure, despite all of them for the most part
dominating Chilich. When a slam, you know it's this
level of domination is a bit boring.
Yeah, we're going to need everyone to step it up, please.
Rest of the field, Yeah, Here, us.
Maddie, this is who we're appealing to you directly,
please. I wrote something just before
the Australian Open being like, if we can't have a true like
challenger, can we have some sort of like holy fool pretender
who can just come and disrupt and give us something fun and
unexpected? And obviously I was like, that
needs to be Danielle and Bublik. They are the Oh my.
God, we love them. And I think both of them
obviously back end of the year and that's where Bublik has
built up a load of points at Wimbledon.
He has nothing to defend. There are still chances for him
to sort of go in and and disrupt, I feel, and I would
love for him and Medvedev to just be sprinkling discontent
amongst the top ten players because even though they are
both very talented, they're both in different ways surprise
packages. And I think Medvedev's 2025 was
very rough. I think he does deserve a little
bit of a comeback in 2020. 6 And he's just so entertaining.
You need like the clown sort of troll energy.
I briefly lost it with him after the US Open because I was like,
too far. You've taken it too far.
You've terrorized A Frenchman. All he did was be better than
you. You've terrorized an umpire.
You know, you've used Riley and Palka as a useful source.
I don't think that's helping. That's not good for tennis.
But since then I had a little pause and I I am unfortunately
back on the Med of a dev. Yeah, I mean, he is just too
humor, honestly. It's so good.
Should we discuss the women's final and just the result there
and that whole story? Because there's a lot there
which I don't know. We don't want to get too deep on
it because it's quite heavy and this is meant to be fun, but
also it's very, very important. Also, Congrats, first of all, to
Elena Rabackina. She is.
So talented and I think it was a bit of a an aberration that she
hadn't won a Slam since she won Wimbledon.
But it's something that I want to think a bit more about and
maybe write about is both of her experiences winning a Grand Slam
have kind of she's been victim to like off court stuff as well.
So for 2022, that was all of the Russian stuff and the
Belarusians and Russians not playing.
And was she going to be used as a political pawn as if someone
can control if they're used as a political pawn, they are
literally a pawn in that scenario.
And then with this win, it was a year on from her coach being
banned from the sport. It was the similar time of the
year and the Australian Open offers a prize for coaches.
So whereas he had been ostracized last year, this year
he is literally being applauded by the stadium and collecting a
plate. And that's just like almost a
comedic contrast between where he is in, I guess, kind of
public consciousness. It's a challenging thing for the
sport and fans to kind of grapple with because Rebecca has
made it really clear that she is a really unhappy with the WTA
investigation into claims that he was displaying abusive
behaviour towards her. And she's been really, really
angry about that. You know, she won the WTA
Finals, but there was a photo op and she shunned the possibility
of posing with the CEO. And, you know, it's not a happy
relationship that she has with her own tour at the moment.
And that is a bit of a challenge for the sport and for the fans
as well, because you you want to believe her that she's happy and
she's certainly playing, you know, the best tennis of her
career if she's won another Grand Slam.
But, you know, they were very serious allegations from a lot
of different sources. And you kind of think, well,
that's really hard to imagine too.
I feel like last time I was on the podcast, we talked about the
fan account that people think is her coach, Stefano Bukov, just
pretending to be a fan since her win.
Obviously there is a lot of congratulatory content geared
towards her, but there's a lot of like, can't believe people
said Bukov was a bad coach. And I'm like, it is very
interesting. He's so invested in a coach.
It's very rare that coaches do have such vocal fans, but not
just because I'm not a I'm not a master tactician.
So maybe This is why it doesn't spring to mind for me to lay all
of the praise at the feet of the coach.
But a? 100%.
Yeah, No, I think you're right to be a little suspicious of
that. Be like in tennis, the coaches
are not not a big thing at all, no.
It was a great final, I thought it was.
And she was, she was a. Genius with how she kind of
worked out. She was.
How she was going to play. I think also just like her
celebration or non. Yeah, her non celebration is
wild to me, but she's always been that way.
She has, Yeah, I don't think so. It's not just this tournament.
It's also an interesting contrast to Sabalenka because if
Sabalenka had won, it would have been the classic, you know,
dramatic moment, which I mean, we're here for Sabalenka.
We like her, but like I did, she cracks me up as well.
Like, I mean, obviously it was really sad for her not to win,
but I do think Rebecca, obviously she totally like what
you said, like so impressive that she went and just took it
after like losing the second set and then just like locking in in
the third. But Sabalenka at the end, like,
you know, they they had like the non celebration of Rebecca and
then they like cut to Sabalenka just like under her towel and I
just it cracked me up. But like sad for her, but it it
just cracked me up. She just looked like a ghost and
I was just like and like clearly like she just obviously players
do that a lot. They hide behind their towels,
but it's just the way the contrast I was.
Just like the contrast. Opposite players, opposite
personalities, Very, very different.
But then she cried in her press conference, so she does show
some emotion. Yeah, I think she's just doing a
big introvert. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And it's. Probably, you know, it takes a
while for the emotions to come out, but.
Totally. And I think if you're capable of
doing that on court and using it as like a real position of
strength to be like, I'm going to keep cool, I'm going to be
composed. You're right.
It must take actually quite a long time if you're doing it as
such a big moment in such an intense way for that to kind of
break down and the kind of shoulders to slump even a little
bit. I cannot imagine being able to
be so level and just like. Yeah, crazy.
OK, so another storyline that sort of came to light over the
weekend was that Craig Tiley, tournament director of the
Australian Open, who he is rumoured to be leaving the
Australian Open and maybe be going to USTA.
So maybe it was just a bit of a like mic drop moment.
Like he floated a few ideas for the future of the tournament
rather over the weekend and like 5 sets for women from
quarterfinals stage onwards was one of them.
What are you guys as thoughts on five sets for women?
OK, silence, silence, silence. OK, maybe that is the answer and
we don't even need to talk about it.
I do. I do love that he has left that
for Yeah, he's like, yeah, he's. Just like, bye, I'm going to
drop a bomb and you guys deal with it.
And it's like that is a very worthwhile idea to explore, but
the headache that is going through the player consultations
for that one, someone else can handle that.
That's that's absolutely fine by him.
I think if it's going to happen, and I wouldn't be against it
happening in later stages, but I think it becomes much more
valuable if that is the position and format taken up by all of
the Grand Slams. No, it has to be.
Denigration maybe if the other slams.
Something I was thinking about the other day was, you know, the
kind of transformation of the US Open mixed double S into much
more of a kind of, you know, star-studded match up, but maybe
slightly less prestigious, whatever that means for, you
know, mixed double S Journeyman, if they exist at Grand Slams.
And I was thinking even less of the Australian Open mixed double
s than I did before because I'm thinking about the US Open and
how it's kind of a bit, it's, you know, borderline exhibition.
And I think this is what happens if they're all kind of schisms
in how like Grand Slam, you know, main events rather than
like fan events or exhibitions before operate.
You're going to start thinking, OK, well, maybe this part
doesn't matter as much, or like what makes this a real Grand
Slam title because I work way harder for what I want in
Australia than what I'm doing in in France.
I agree. I think it would have to be like
a clean sweep across the board if they're all like they will
have to do it or none of them do it because otherwise it.
Yeah, like exactly what you just said.
Yeah. Andre, what do you think?
I, you know, obviously I'm not a player, a professional player by
any means, but I do think it would be kind of weird to play
best of three up until the quarterfinals.
I think momentum is everything. And yeah, I, I can imagine it
being a little bit jarring, like preparation would be different
suddenly, you know? Yeah, it's, it's a, it's a
different, it's a very different game to be playing best of five
versus best of three. So I don't know.
I'd be interested to hear what players think about that.
I don't know why I was when after she went out so early last
year at Wimbledon, I was in a the press conference for Jessica
Pegula and someone asked her about 5 sets for women.
She was so funny about it. She was like, I think the men
should play three sets. I don't know what you're talking
about. You know, they have too much
time over 5 sets. They can mess around.
There's far less jeopardy. Three sets is far more exciting
because you have to get it done quicker.
You don't have this time. And I feel like the reputation
of Alcaraz, you know, having his five set record and being able
to just kind of think about whatever, where am I going for
dinner in sets two and four and not having to deliver the hammer
blow. Is she she she made a very kind
of 21st century tech comment where she was like, we want to
try and get people into tennis. It's too long and too boring.
I don't really watch 5 set tennis.
And I was like, that's crazy. I think it's absolutely insane
as well. Like I love watching 5 setters.
A good a good five setter is incredible.
But the general public thinks it's too long.
But I don't know. Do you have to just be like a
die hard tennis fan to enjoy five sets?
Like like, I don't know. I think the men's semifinals
day, Alcora Sinner, Roan Garros, these are incredible because
they and they are not your average 5 setters.
Just the possibility that they can exist is maybe worth sitting
through five sets of Medford dev against Benjamin Bonzi, which
I'm sure you know, save for 6 minutes screaming at the umpire
is probably not the most scintillating clash of all time.
But I think there would be a lot of people who are like, I don't
think it is worth it waiting around for maybe 3 or 4 * a
year, an epic match when actually it's prolonging two
players who maybe should have just got it done a little
earlier. The Hilo.
I love a good WAG story. Did you see the story of Morgan
Riddle, Taylor Fritz's girlfriend, out earning him in
the Australian Open? She's an influencer.
It's just, yeah, it's wild. It's wild.
I thought that was so fascinating because I've always
been like, oh, it could really fuck up their money flow, like
the Wags money flow because they've planned, you know,
content for a tournament or maybe they want to do 2 weekly
vlogs of a Grand Slam rather than one.
Or maybe they have content opportunities later on in the
week. And it's so dependent on, you
know, how their partner progresses in the draw.
So I always thought that was a little unfair.
You know, Taylor, why aren't you thinking of content when you're
flopping in the third round or whatever?
But I think that clearly what it does with that added precarity
is Wags then have the ability to kind of front load their content
and be like, I know I'm going to Wimbledon, so I'm going to book,
you know, these brand deals that I can shoot before the
tournament even starts or I can attend these events or whatever.
So they can really hedge their bets rather than relying on the
tournament to help them kind of extend the content that that
they can get. But I think that generally the
precarity in how much you can make from a tennis tournament is
super interesting. Obviously for a top player like
Fritz, nobody is like, oh Boo Hoo, you missed out on an extra
100 grand by going out around earlier than you thought you
would. But something that made me think
about this recently was during the one point Slam, when the
final was for that $1,000,000 check, was between the ordinary
guy who had played a bit of college tennis who won it, and a
player just outside of the top 100 called Joanna Garland.
And she was like, this money is going to be life changing in
terms of what I can do on tour in a year.
And it's like, yeah, I think for a lot of the players who are
maybe in, I don't know, outside of the top 70 who are still
going to slams, but maybe going out in the first rounds or so,
you're grateful for the check. But it's kind of you're like,
OK, I've got to go somewhere else quickly because this really
makes a huge difference in my season that I haven't made the
second round. Yeah, it's, it's a very tough
sport if you're in the top 70, which is, you know, still an
amazing ranking to have, but it's just financially, right,
It's not really that sustainable.
It's super tough and you can see you can see why some of them are
like wanting to emulate Morgan Riddle, like they're wanting to
have a really great social media profile and expand their revenue
streams from beyond just kit sponsors and for sure make it a
tennis tournament. They're going to be, you know, I
saw that Zizu Bugs is now big on.
Tick tock is like always on my front page.
I'm like Zizu like he's he posts like 3 * a day.
I feel like I don't know. But honestly like people shit on
Morgan. I like respect.
I respect her so much. Like I'm a very big fan and when
you look at what she has to do or has to OK, has to do is maybe
a bit far. But the way she sets up going to
Wimbledon or you know, I she loves the Australian Open.
So going to the Australian Open and there are just tie insurance
and events and you know, these sponsored posts and whatever and
you're like, this is really big. And Wimbledon for a couple of
years doing the Wimbledon threads little fashion show that
she did the year before last when she was still doing
Wimbledon threads. She really outlasted Taylor in
her time. No, she did she in the complex.
She Yeah, because when she partners with the tournament,
like, they keep her there the whole time, which is crazy,
honestly. But like, you know, I was
thinking like, oh, would you want to shape your career around
your partner? To me, like that was always a
bit of a maybe not because it can end badly, but you know
what, credit to her. Like she's just done it.
She's like done it for herself. All the people in the past may
have missed a trick. But no, I mean, honestly, like
she's done so well. And what what I will say, like
her main mission and she says this is to bring more visibility
to tennis because especially in the US, like we've discussed
before, it's like not really one of the top sports unless it's
like the US Open, people don't really talk about tennis that
much. And I do think that she's like
brought more especially like younger audiences and female
audiences to the sport, which is also something that we're trying
to do. So you know, Morgan, call us.
And I think she's she's inspired other Wags to do the same.
So you know it has this knock on effect which is. 100% something
popped up on my explore page over the summer and it was this
girl being like when your boyfriend a tennis star,
whatever, and pictures of her in Monaco and he's like hitting
shots. I was like, not to be
derogatory, but which player is she talking about?
I remember this. I remember.
This I was like Click. I was like Valentine Vasharo,
like. Are you?
Like, oh, the guy who always gets into Monte Carlo Masters
just because he's like their only homegrown player, actually
born in Monaco, but you know, he's their homegrown player and
then boom, he is one of my favorite players now, now.
Yeah, the whole. Captivated by that whole story
is just absolute catnip to me. And I was so happy to see him.
I think he reached the third round and I was like what a
great suitable consistent result for you at your like first main
draw Grand Slam. So I was, I'm very proud of
that. But I was also like, you go,
Emily, you were hustling when your boyfriend was 210th in the
world. I'm sure she has another job,
something else to do. But like, why not be like, this
is my life. This is what's going on.
Cultivate a little brand. And then, Oh my God, suddenly
he's in the, you know, he's in the top 25 and you would there
in the trenches and now you are looking for a spot at the WAG
top table. Totally, and I think own it like
I think also a lot of the, you know, girlfriends wives feel
like they shouldn't over shadow their partner in a way, right.
The whole spotlight should be left for them.
And you know what? Nah, they should be right there
with them if they if they want to.
It's a team effort also I think for a player, right, your
relationship, your stability at home is really important, so
important to your game. So, you know, they're, they're
part of the team as well. Yeah, and they need something to
do while they're sitting courtside clapping.
Yeah. And just to be completely Craven
and capitalist, but like it's also valuable to the player in
terms of how they want to market themselves.
Like if you create an attractive little little power couple,
that's that's pretty interesting.
I, I mean, I, I do really like Fritz.
I would love to see Morgan Riddle, you know, kissing that
Wimbledon trophy. But you know, in terms of
watching his game, it is as consistent as his strong
results. There is.
I don't think there would be much putting him, you know, on
the cover of the New York Times style section if, you know
genius marketing morgues hadn't dragged him kicking and
screaming into a totally different.
Side of tennis OK, so we just have a couple more questions,
but we just wanted to understand like on a day like Friday, which
was insane, how do you manage like reporting and writing live
when everything is kicking off like that?
Like, and how do you manage like the emotional detachment of like
being a fan, but then also like, you know, having to write your
pieces? Yeah, there have been many times
when I've had to sort of tuck fandom in the back pocket.
I'm a very emotional person as well.
So there have been one or two live blogs when I'm like weeping
whilst typing and I'm like, you must keep going.
But in terms of like covering the Alka where I was Vera of
things unfolding on court is is really fun because you start
with one thing and then for online, you can just build it
out and add in these interesting little details where you see
moments elsewhere. And unfortunately I was not down
under. So I think the most important
thing when you are doing a story like that, so for example, you
know, you're writing about what someone was saying in German.
And so I had first seen the argument on a little clip on
Twitter. And you don't know if the person
who has captioned that is just taking the piss.
They hate Zverev and they want to make him look like he's being
a diva when actually he was saying, you know, can I go to
the bathroom now just in a really aggressive way or
something like that because I don't speak German.
So I think the important thing about working quickly in the
moment is making sure to like multi source things and really
make sure that the accuracy falling for something that
you're not able to verify. And so things like, you know,
working out had Alcaraz vomited or not the glamour of my life.
You're like, OK, let me see if I can find, you know, a commentary
clip rather than just a stale image or, you know, because it's
there are so many that are luckily not professionally, but
there are so many made-up things online that I've just fallen
for. I am so gullible.
So I think, I think all of us, yes.
Always check and double check and triple check your sources
and your quotes and make sure that you're, you know, you're
finding the, the German site that has taken the quotes, for
example, and then translating those rather than just being
like, Oh, whatever they say on Reddit is true.
And so I think it's the ability to be like, I know I have to do
different things at the same time, but I can't let that quest
for being the fastest and having the quotes first be at the
detriment of having the right quotes.
So my first real jobs in journalism were live blogging
and actually the Winter Olympics.
So I'm like, oh, it's my four year anniversary of getting a
job. I'm so happy.
I still quite like the thrill of doing live written coverage
because it's almost comforting how limited you are.
You're like ione, I'm a person with a pair of eyes and some
hands and I I, you know, if I miss something, I miss
something. But it's like looking for the
little detail that keeps people interested in live text coverage
that is like maybe a little bit of context that they missed or,
you know, at finding a video that's, I don't know, maybe only
going around tennis Twitter and not on the mainstream yet or
whatever. And so like, I quite like
working quite quickly and looking through things quite
quickly. So it means that hopefully I'm a
little better at putting my emotions on the back seat and
not being like, I can't believe Zvera was complaining.
He's what a what? A diva as opposed to?
That's what I would. Know Sarah being a diva, that's
a. That is a legitimate complaint.
You've got to. You've got to be like, OK, what
if Alcaraz was doing this? We can't just baby girl Alcaraz.
We have to apply fair. Yeah, objectivity.
Fair. Objectivity.
Well, respect, because I wouldn't be able to to maintain
that objectivity. No, no, me neither.
OK, so should we do our final call?
Let's do it. What is 1 storyline that we're
excited to follow this season? I think the storyline I am
looking forward to, but also a little nervous about is the
return of Jack Draper, who had the most amazing front end of
the year and, you know, won his first Masters.
And does to me still seem like one of the more realistic
candidates, the non public and Medvedev candidates to challenge
that top two set up that we have at the top of men's tennis.
And he has been out for a really, really long time.
And I think it's become more and more concerning with every
opportunity or planned comeback that he has had over the past
few months that he's just said, Nope, I'm not ready yet.
So he didn't make it to the Australian Open, but is, I
believe, still on track to make his return at the Davis Cup next
week. So it will be really exciting
having seen how well he did at his peak.
At his fittest, he has a lot of points to defend but he is super
exciting and very, very good for British tennis.
So his absence I think is really deeply felt and it will just be
interesting to see how he gets on after being out for such a
long time. For sure and I also just I think
it's worth saying like good for him for staying out and wanting
to like be 100% before he comes back because otherwise it could
set him back a whole lot more on my end.
Mine is going to be who he's going to fill that third man
spot. That's what I'm excited to see.
Whether it's going to be like, I don't know.
I would like it to be like a roster of different people and
make it fun rather than just one.
But who knows? We'll see.
What about you, Andrea? Mine is I want to see whether
Amanda and Esmova can can win a Slam final.
She made it to two last season, so let's see what happens this
this season. Obviously the women's game is
always a bit more interesting in that sense, right?
It's it's more up in the air. I hope for her she can.
Yeah, we'd love to see it. Also like the variation of
winners on the women's side, given all we just discussed.
Yeah. OK.
So that concludes this very exciting interview.
Thank you so much tomorrow for coming on.
We would love to have you back anytime.
It's such a pleasure. Thank you so much for having me.
I will come back anytime. And yeah, everybody listening,
don't forget to like, follow, subscribe wherever you get your
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we're there. Thanks to all our new listeners
for tuning in as well. And be sure to come back next
week because we have a very big episode dropping with a pretty
big name in tennis. So yeah, can't wait to see you
then. Thanks for listening.
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