Hey guys, welcome to What's the Call the podcast where sports
meets side eye. We're here to break down 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.
Today is a very special one. We just wrapped an interview
with one of the most decorated players in tennis.
He is a quad wheelchair player, the British #1A former world #1A
multiple Grand Slam champion, a four time Paralympic medallist
and has recently received an MBE here in the UK.
We really hope you guys enjoy listening.
It was such a fun one to record. And thank you to Andy for coming
on. Welcome to What's the Call, Andy
Lapthorne. Hi guys.
How you doing? Doing well?
Doing well. How are you?
I'm good. I'm good.
Thank you. Very good.
What's the latest? Just got back from the States
where we competed in 2 events. Little bit of time at home now
and then off to Asia for the for the next set of events that
we're playing. Crazy, crazy schedule must be
quite tiring, no? Yeah, we, we travel all over the
world. We essentially chase the sun, as
they say. And yeah, basically the same as
the ACP and WTA girls all over the world, playing tournaments,
trying to get ranking points and then leading into the Grand
Slams. Can you tell us a bit about your
journey and how you got into a wheelchair tennis?
Yeah. So I was born with cerebral
palsy, so I've had that since birth and then when I was
growing up was searching for different sports that I could
potentially play. And when you get to an age where
you realise that you're not going to be doing sort of able
bodied sports and playing for teams that I supported as a kid,
you sort of search for sports that maybe potentially could be
a job. And, and back then obviously
what would have been probably 25 years ago now, there wasn't many
disability sports out there that were massively visible.
We tried wheelchair basketball and then stumbled across
wheelchair tennis where at the time they were just starting to
get into some of the Grand Slams and it was a bit more visible
when then we're told that they were a wheelchair world tour
with prize money and stuff. And yeah, that was that was it.
Then I sort of could see a career path and even at sort of
1011 years old, that was the choice.
So you always knew you wanted to be a professional athlete,
sounds like? Yeah, that's that's what I
wanted to do. I'd always loved watching sport
on TV and stuff. I'm a massive West Ham football
fan and I loved boxing growing up and having been sitting with
my dad on, on many a big boxing night watching, watching those
fights, tennis was sort of the closest thing for me in terms of
one-on-one combat. I'd played a bit of wheelchair
basketball, but obviously with it being a team sport, it was,
it was difficult. And then when I, when I found
tennis and and started playing, sort of fell in love with it.
And then you're trying your best then at that age as a kid just
to play and enjoy it. But then when you get to sort of
15, 1415 and you're you're playing for the juniors and GB,
then you then you start to dream of maybe having a career.
And yeah, sort of when I got to 15 decided that's what I was
going to try and do. And yeah, we ended up here.
That's incredible when people hear wheelchair tennis, what do
you wish more people knew about it?
The fact that there's only one rule difference for a start, so
we get 2 bounces. The first bounce obviously has
to be within the court and then the second bounce can bounce
anywhere. Other than that, it's all
completely the same. I would say it's the best sport
in the world to play for a person with a disability to be
able to play with an able bodied person.
So that me and my brother, when we grew up, we'd play against
each other. He'd play on one bounce, I'd
play on 2 bounces. There's not many disability
sports where you can sort of link the two that easily.
And yeah, just the tour, the growing tour, the professional
players, the level of the matches now, some of the crowds
that we're getting now, for people to come out and see what
the guys, especially the the younger guys now coming through
are doing, it's an amazing spectacle.
And yeah, we're just trying to keep growing it.
What's been the most memorable atmosphere you've played in?
There's been a few like me and Dylan played on the first ever
wheelchair match on the Centre Court at Grand Slam on Rod Laver
in Australia. That was pretty special.
To go from playing in front of two men and a dog at one point
to then playing in a full rod Labour arena against an Aussie
in a Grand Slam final was pretty amazing experience and a
privilege to be part of the first one of those.
And then obviously home Paralympics in London was was
amazing to have the home crowd and the big crowds there.
And then recently in Paris for the Paralympics, to have full
stadiums at Roland Garros purely for Wiltshire tennis was was
incredible. And the atmosphere there,
especially from the South American guys, even though they
were booing me most of the time was, was pretty amazing.
And to go to be able to roll out onto courts like Susan Longman
for a singles match, the Paralympics and it to be totally
full was, yeah, an amazing experience and just shows how
far we've come as a sport. Do you thrive in those kinds of
environments, even if they're booing you?
Yeah, I mean, for me, like being a football or soccer fan, been
in a lot of interesting atmospheres and, and for me
being in those environments, it doesn't, it doesn't faze me.
And I'd rather be in the stadium of 20,000 people going against
me than playing in front of no one.
So yeah, when we turned up in Paris, there was lots of rumours
that for the Paralympics they weren't going to sell the
tickets, the tickets weren't going to go well and stuff like
that. So then to turn up on the first
day and to be in the locker room and see the court completely
full in the build up to our match and see all the South
American flags and stuff. I was playing a guy from Chile.
So I knew when I was looking on the screen at Ron and Garst that
it was going to be an interesting, an interesting
atmosphere. And luckily for me, like I'd
played three Paralympics before that, lots of experience.
And yeah, just just one of them where it was like, I think this
is going to be, this is going to be an experience because this
place is going to be full and like going to bed the night
before was thinking it was potentially going to be empty.
And then when you roll out and you can feel the energy and
stuff. And actually a funny story, like
I was speaking to my coach before we went on and it was
like the last thing we said was like, just settle the crowd down
early. Don't let the crowd get up for
it. Like this guy's going to come
out with a lot of passion. Don't let him get the crowd into
it. And he had break point on me in
the first game and hit a round the net post forehand down the
line for a winner. And the place went up absolutely
mental. And like I just looked over to
the player box and started laughing because literally the
it's like the worst case scenario.
He's hit one of the best shots I've ever seen.
And but the atmosphere was amazing.
And just this to be the biggest memory for me when he hit that
shot was just me thinking, OK, everyone's going against me, but
like, these people going absolutely crazy for a guy in a
wheelchair playing tennis, this is like all the years of hard
work could sort of paid off in a way to be in a position where
people were cheering against me because they actually cared
about who won in the world tennis match.
For me, that was almost like, OK, we've got to a good place
now. And I was so relaxed and just
really enjoyed the whole experience and ended up winning
the match. And yeah, just an incredible,
incredible experience. And 2025 marks the 50th year of
wheelchair tennis. And you've mentioned a few, but
we wanted to ask, looking back across the years, what has been
a really pivotal moment for the sport?
Yeah, I mean, Aussie Open with Dylan was obviously massive to
get that match on Rod Laver and show that not only could we play
on the Centre Court, but we could draw a crowd.
That was a huge moment for the sport of wheelchair tennis.
And there's been so many over the years getting into Wimbledon
and getting to play on the grass because initially they were
worried that the wheelchairs would damage the grass.
So that was a big moment. The same with the player Roland
Garros. And then I think just all the
tournaments along the way, the small tournaments with the
volunteers and stuff that had that had given us an opportunity
to play when there wasn't anywhere to play.
They've all played a pivotal role, especially in the UK, the
the crowds we get at Wimbledon and stuff are pretty special and
and just keeps driving it forward.
And looking to the future, how do you see the sport evolving?
What would you like to see? Yeah, I mean continuing to build
the tour at a lower level to make sure that the the players
that aren't able to play in the Grand Slams at the moment that
are trying to come through have a pathway to become a
professional wheelchair tennis player.
Because if you're not in the Grand Slams in Wiltshire tennis
at the moment, you're struggling to earning enough money to be a
professional wheelchair tennis player.
So to try and build the lower levels of the tour up enough to
make sure that the younger players have got a pathway into
the sport. And then I guess just bigger
draws at the Grand Slam and just push it as far as as far as what
it can be pushed. I think like Dylan was a great
one for that. He he pushed it all the way and
we've pushed together to try and get onto some of the biggest
courts in the world. And I think once you once you
put it out there, people do enjoy watching it.
So yeah, just pushing as much as we can really.
We saw that last year you were awarded an MBE.
Huge congratulations. That's so incredible.
We wanted to ask sort of what that moment meant to you
personally. No, I mean like obviously I come
from a working class background and I'm not your typical tennis
background of a, of a tennis player.
So to, to get to a point where we went from second hand
wheelchairs, second hand rackets, struggling to pay for,
to go to tournaments and stuff like that, to then achieving
what we achieved as a group, as a family, as a team, to then be
recognised with that was, was very special.
Not just for myself, but for for my mum, my dad, my brother, all
the people that had played a part in, in getting me to where
I've got to. Yeah, an incredible honour and,
and just hopefully prove to any, any kids out there that do come
from a similar background to me that tennis isn't unattainable.
Like it obviously it's tough because it's an expensive sport
and like historically certain backgrounds play tennis, certain
backgrounds don't play tennis. So to have your normal average
guy receive something like that, hopefully that inspires someone
along the way to to think that they can play tennis.
And obviously I'm a pretty normal guy.
I do things in my own way. I, I have fun with it.
I've enjoyed the nightlife when I was, when I was younger on
the, I wasn't always your textbook tennis player.
So to be, to be myself throughout and do it my way, it
was it was nice to still get the recognition in the end.
And yeah, it made it all worth it.
Yeah, we, we loved, we loved to hear that and see that you also,
you know, enjoy other things outside the court.
That's great to see. And also obviously, yeah, tennis
is a sport that does have certain barriers to entry.
So in order to breakthrough those, it's definitely so
inspiring and hopefully many people will follow.
I hope so, and I hope it just shows that like any sport you
want to get into, it's doable. Sometimes it's tough, sometimes
things happen like it wasn't easy for us at times.
We told a million times that it would never work.
It was like we were doing things in the wrong way and stuff like
that. I've heard that my whole career.
And I think just sometimes if you have enough self belief and
enough positive power around you from people that believe in you,
you can you can achieve anything.
So. Absolutely, 100%.
And you're you're proof of that. So yeah, again, congratulations
on that incredible sort of honour.
OK, So we have to talk about the Sir Alex Ferguson phone call.
How did that go down and what did that moment change for you?
Yeah, I mean, I was working with a guy called Paul Stewart, who
was a fellow wheelchair tennis player at the time, and he
stopped playing to help me before Rio and became a bit of a
mentor. And him and his dad owned a lot
of race horses at the time now and a famous racehorse called
Big Bucks who won a lot of races at Cheltenham.
I see he'd met some some interesting people along the
way. And I guess like, like I've
said, I didn't do things in a normal way that normal athletes
do. So he was trying to, before Rio,
just instill a little bit more belief in me and trying to to
approach things in a different way.
And I guess he knew that from following a football.
Someone like Sir Alex would be pretty inspiring for me.
She had one day I was sitting at home and just got a random phone
call and said, Sir Alex, can you call this number back, please?
Yeah. And I initially thought someone
was on the wind up. I was like, what you mean?
So then after about 10 minutes, I got a text from Paul saying
you need to call Sir Alex back. Called him back.
And yeah, it's an amazing sort of 20 minute phone call where he
just sort of said, look, I've, I've been following your
progress. Paul's told me all about you.
He told me you're a West Ham fan, which he didn't enjoy that
much because he. Stopped.
Stopped and winning the League One year.
And he reminded me of that. So we had an interesting
conversation and it was just really inspiring for him to sort
of tell me some of the stories of where they obviously had
their backs against the wall at times.
And I was going into Paralympics against the guy that I was
really struggling to beat and knew that I'd probably come up
against him, David Wagner, the American guy, to have that nod
from him. And just like the comparison to
different players, like he was talking about Eric Cantonar and
sort of saying how it's a similar thing with him.
And that just gave me confidence to to continue to be myself and
not doubt myself. And then won, won the semi final
in Rio, beat the American guy and actually received a e-mail
from Sir Alec before the final. Wish me luck telling me that
he'd be watching and stuff. And yeah, to to receive those
type of things from, from someone like that was obviously
incredible and very privileged to have to have been able to
tuck the brains of someone that's been at the top of their
sport for so long. Amazing.
And such a huge mentor. I mean, yeah, he like commands.
So much respect. And I mean, yeah, what a great
story. Yeah, it was, it was amazing.
And he he gave up a lot of his time for me and it really helped
me get to get to where I got to in that Paralympics.
And unfortunately he came up a little bit short in the end, but
definitely helped me get through that semi final match.
And just on that Paralympics, you think you said once that
winning silver is is a gold lost.
Looking back on that, do you do you still feel that way?
Yeah, I mean, I've got 3 silvers and the bronze, and the bronze
was the most enjoyable because you actually have to win the
match to get the bronze. The three silvers, especially
the singles in Rio where I was like you never expect as a kid.
Like your goal is to get to the Paralympics.
Your goal is to try and get there and do as well as you can.
But all of a sudden you end up in the Paralympic final.
And I remember going to sleep the night before thinking like
you're so close and then to lose.
It is, yeah, lives with you. Like London still lives with me.
Not all the time now, like I can sleep most of the time, but
there's still times where I think to myself now that's so
close like so it is tough and but you do look back and think
bloody hell, like 3 silver medals is it's a good effort
because the, the hardest thing about the silver is there's so
much that goes on after you lose normally, like even with the
grandstand final, you have speeches and stuff and then you
get off the court and you can go and do your thing.
With the Paralympics, there's so much more that goes on.
You've got the whole medal ceremony, you've got interviews,
you've got the media, there's, there's so much that goes on
where you have to sort of put a brave face on and like you've
put 40 years of working to try and get to a gold medal and it
can, it hurts a lot. So it never feels nice to lose
in the final of the Paralympics. But I'm lucky enough that I've
had, I've had three shots out there.
I've, I've never managed to get it done in the Paralympics, but
lucky enough that we play in a sport where the Grand slams come
around pretty often and they, they've made-up for it in a lot
of ways. So.
You've got your 4 Paralympic medals and on that you also have
18 slam titles. Incredible.
In amongst all of that, what has been your proudest moment and is
it one that people would expect? I guess like always stand true
to myself, like I still have the same mates that I had when I was
sort of 5-6 years old. It's still the same guys running
around with me. Like at Wimbledon, we're pretty
famous for being the the guys that are pretty loud and pretty
different. The rowdy bunch.
It's always been the same guys and I'm, I'm proud that like the
loyalty that they've shown me, I've shown them.
It's never changed. It'll always be the same guys no
matter what I do and what I achieve.
So I'm very proud of that. And then also like winning the
US Open in the singles growing up, like New York was always my
place. I'm a massive New York Knicks
fan. Us.
Too. Let's go, Knicks.
Yeah. You get it done twice was was
special and obviously to to beat Dylan when he was going for all
four and he'd absolutely whooped me in Wimbledon in front of all
my family and friends. To win that one and get one back
for everyone was it was a pretty sweet moment.
And then obviously just the Paralympics, getting to play for
your country and being part of the basically the movement
that's now seeing these kids that are coming in now being
outside and living, playing disability sport, being able to
go to these events and know that there's going to be a crowd.
And having been a part of that at the start, that's that's
probably the proudest. Part love it.
Amazing. You obviously reached that world
number one spot. You also mentioned that once you
got there, I didn't feel how you expected that it was more like
what now than this big moment. Do you think chasing the goal
was more fulfilling than achieving it?
Yeah, I mean, it was such a strange 1.
Like I remember being in Australia and being so close to
it. And like they always say, don't
look at the rankings, don't know about the rankings, all that
stuff. And I made every mistake that
you can make because I knew exactly how much I needed to do
in the last tournament before the Aussie Open and nearly lost
the match that I probably shouldn't have lost because I
was so tight. Like, my, my God, if I win or
win the last couple of points here, we're going to be #1 in
the world. But then obviously I achieved it
and it felt amazing. And I just remember waking up
the next day in the hotel room in Australia and being like,
what on earth do we do now? Because like from the age of
sort of, I'm going to say 1415, when you're, when you start to
back yourself to be a pro and and you're sort of like, OK, I'm
going to make it. And then the goal becomes you
want to be the best player in the world.
That was sort of like a 10 year, 11 year journey of every day I
woke up and was like. I want to get to #1 in the
world. And then when I woke up I was
actually world number one. It was like, OK, now I
completely lost. I have no idea what to do now.
Remember ringing up my mum and being like, it feels terrible
because now I don't feel like I've got anything to chase.
It was a strange one, obviously, like an amazing moment to to get
there and to achieve it. It was just a little bit lost
for a few months there afterwards in terms of like, OK,
what do we do now? What's the motivator?
What's going to get you up out of bed to go out and work hard
to, to make sure you stay there? And yeah, it's just one of them
things where it just felt different to what I thought it
would. And that's probably the biggest
achievement of all to actually get to #1 in the world, because
anyone can win, win a tournament on any week.
If you, if you played well that week and things go your way, you
can, you can win a tournament here or there.
But to actually get to #1 you've got to be good throughout a
whole year. And, and to do it in the time
when obviously Dylan was still playing and stuff like that,
it's, it's proof that the hard work definitely paid off.
And that's an amazing achievement.
Yeah, consistency all the way. What Eventually you said after a
couple of months you were able to find something that did get
you out of bed and that did motivate you, but what did that
for you? I think just you sort of say to
yourself like that, how many Slams can we win?
Now what? Where's the next Slam?
How are we going to win it? How are we going to try and
chase that down? Obviously Wimbledon's been a
massive goal and I've lost in the final there in singles, so
that was always a goal. Whether that will ever happen,
no I don't know. But like the other goals winning
U.S. Open, I went on to win U.S.
Open, which was amazing. I've done that twice in in
singles and this point I had as many as possible.
Now to to try and make it as difficult as possible for the
next British guy that comes along in in my category and
wants to try and put some records on the board.
Try and make it as hard as possible and almost try and be a
bit selfish and try and try and win as many as you can before
you stop. Yeah, I mean your entire
journey, but also, yeah, how you remotivate yourself.
I feel like there's always something more you can pursue, I
guess, which is I guess what you just kind of said.
But on British tennis, we know that your best friend's the Jack
Draper and close to Andy Murray as well.
What does it mean to you to represent British tennis?
Yeah, it's obviously amazing to get to play in our version of
Davis Cup, which is the World Team Cup, has been, it's been an
amazing honour to be around all these guys for all these years.
Create friendships with with all the guys that have been so good
to us as wheelchair players over the years, especially Andy in
the early days who always spoke up for us and has always been a
top guy. And then and then now getting to
know Jack of as well as I do and, and spending time with him.
He's a young guy on his way up and, and learning, learning his
way and learning the tennis tour and just getting to spend time
with him and spend moments with him and sitting and watching him
play. It's, it's really good fun and
something I really enjoy. And I think we will, we will
take great pride in trying to represent Great Britain as best
as we can on the on the tennis circuit, but also trying to
trying to have a laugh when we can.
And you're on the tour a lot and it's a lonely place.
So if you can, if you can find a couple of mates along the way to
to share it with it, it definitely helps.
Absolutely. It sounds like there's a lot of
camaraderie and like a good friendship amongst the tennis
players which or British tennis players, which is just great to.
See, I think I think definitely especially like the older groups
are like we Andy, Dan Evans, Damien Murray with Skopskis, all
those guys, that sort of group, like it was always the majority
of us would be training at the NTC and it was always a good
vibe and everyone was always pushing each other along.
And with Andy obviously getting to #1 in the world, everyone was
sort of pushing to try and to try and be as good as him.
And yeah, it was such a great environment to to grow up in
and, and training. I feel like the British guys
have always had a good system for good banter and stuff.
And we've always, never taken it too seriously with each other
and, and yeah, we always get behind each other.
And it's it's nice to have that on the tour.
Yeah, keep it light. Who has the best banter?
Best banter? Oh, that's a tough one.
They're all, they're all pretty bad, to be fair.
So I would say Andy can be quite funny.
He's got a dry sense of. Humour hilarious.
I I love, Yeah. It's so funny.
Yeah, he's got a dry sense of humour and Jamie, to be fair to
him, is is not bad. And Johnny, Omar, I think she's
very funny. Yeah, less said the better.
Not. That.
So what's your favorite slam slash tournament?
Oh, it's tough. I would probably have to stay
New York just purely because I've won my 2 singles there or
won my first singles slam there. The Knicks connection, just
being in New York and stuff has always, been always felt like
home away from home. Why do you like New York,
though? Really, Andy?
Yeah. New York nightlife's very good.
There was some in my younger years when I was first coming on
the tour and stuff, used to enjoy a night out with,
especially if I had some friends coming with me to some of the
slams, we would we would go out and experience the nightlife.
Not so much now because I'm older and wiser, but definitely
like back in 2014 when I won, we were out pretty much every night
in New York. So it's always been a place
that's been been kind to me and I, I've always enjoyed the vibe
and just being able to be like right in the mix in the centre
of New York. And yeah, you can get into
trouble, that's for sure. Also like such a fun place to
be, like the vibe for me there is is so much better than
everywhere else. So I've always loved New York,
but then obviously Australia in recent years has become a
phenomenal event and especially for the players, they look after
the players so well. It's yeah, it's been incredible.
Yeah, I feel like the New York energy is unmatched and Andre
and I have gotten into our into our fair share of trouble in New
York as well, that is for sure. But Australia, like you said, it
really is killing it in terms of the tournament and what they
offer to players and also to fans so.
Yeah, it's been, it's been an amazing turn around there from
from what it was when it first when I first went there to what
to what it is now. It's it's an amazing event and I
need to get bigger. It's an amazing place.
It takes you away from the dark and cold London winters.
Yeah, time in there is great as well because you're you're
missing, you're missing that time of the year when everyone
in the UK is a bit down in the dumps after Christmas and New
Year and you get to go and spend time in the sun.
So it's always, it's always good timing A. 100% So we're curious,
what are your pre match rituals if any?
I mean, over the years it's changed.
I'm quite chilled out. I think just being as relaxed as
I can, listening to some music depending on who's around and
what event we're at, having a bit of banter and just trying to
chill as much as I can before then obviously focusing in sort
of 1015 minutes before and going through the game plan and stuff.
And yeah, like, I'm not one of these guys that can be locked in
for for like an hour, hour and a half before.
And like, you know, like you see these people that just don't
talk to anyone. If someone says hello, they
won't talk and stuff like that's not me.
I'll be laughing and joking. Like especially if we're at
Wimbledon. I've got a few of my mates like
in the team for the week 'cause they they come along and one of
them will be the physio, one of them will be the.
Oh right, love it. Yes, exactly.
Sports. Cycle.
They've all got a different thing on the badge and they all
think they're part of the team. So we end up just usually in the
gym or something. Sometimes we end up playing
cricket and stuff like that in the gym and just, it's all very
relaxed and I just like to yeah. So no.
Superstitions. I'm not really the only ones
that I touch the sideline as I go onto the court.
If I don't, if I forget to do that, then that drives me nuts.
But that's the only one because like, I've seen how those sort
of things can drive people and science a lot too.
Many, yeah, I feel like tennis players are very superstitious,
so. And athletes in general.
And us too. Us, we're very superstitious.
I think we're both like Mediterranean.
I'm half Greek, Andreas Spanish. They play a big part in like the
Mediterranean sort of culture superstitions, so.
Who do you think has the best personality in tennis right now
and everything? I asked this.
But like who's the funniest has the best banter?
Savilanka seems to be quite a good fun whenever I've seen her,
she seems to be quite relaxed and quite chilled.
Kind of think in the men's locker room, who's got a good
banter? I mean, a few of the guys have
gone now, like the older guys, like Stan Varenko was always one
that liked a bit of banter and Roger was actually completely
different in the locker rooms to what he was like once he went
out to the court and stuff, he would always be like he was.
A joker is a joker. Yeah, he's he.
He used to like some banter and would be quite loud in the
locker room, but then obviously Nick Kyrios, he's like the life
and soul in the locker room when he's in there.
Like in Australia, he was absolutely loving it.
So he's always someone that brings brings the energy and and
yeah, it's always a more interesting locker room when
he's in there, that's for sure. Oh, I can imagine.
So I mean, you've been on on tour for around 20 years now.
Is it? So yeah, there Are there any
good locker room stories that you can share with us?
I mean, just like you end up sitting and watching matches
next to Federer and Djokovic and guys like that.
It's such an amazing experienced sort of if a match goes five
sets or whatever and it's a tie break and you've got ATV and
there's Vedra and Djokovic and the dowel huddled around the TV
and everyone's sort of shouting and stuff when when the points
going on. So that's always been
interesting. And then obviously being there
when these guys have have played each other and seeing like how
they prepare for the matches and how the different guys go about
it in different ways for some of the biggest matches that have
ever been played has been has been incredible.
Like Rafael is just exactly what you would think he would be
like. Lots of energy, jumping around,
running up and down. Novak's quite a chilled guy.
He's always been a nice guy to me and someone that I've got
along with really well and he loves a laugh and a joke and
it's always been fairly chilled up until when the match is about
to start. He's he's pretty, yeah.
And then we'll lock in, but he will always be out for a chat
and stuff. I feel like from the outside we
obviously see them as like these incredible athletes, which they
are, but ultimately you guys are all regular human beings at the
end of the day, just want to have a laugh as well, so.
I think like it's just different personalities.
Some people are extroverts, some people are introverts, and
people do it in different ways. Some people are really messy
around their lockers, some people keep everything.
Who's messy and who is not? I seem to remember one time
being quite shocked that Rafa's rackets were just everywhere.
Really. That's surprising.
Yeah, I'm thinking that that was completely different to when
I've seen him, like obviously on the courts, like he would just
put his rackets and they would sort of be everywhere.
But then most of the guys would be pretty keeping it pretty
normal. When Jack plays, obviously Jack
Draper, he goes so many tops and I, I say to him all the time,
there's no way you're doing your own washing mate, because if you
had done your own washing, mate, there's no way you're wearing
that many T-shirts every day in training because he goes through
so many. So yeah, these guys, the amount
of clothes that they get and the amount of clothes that they wear
is absolutely incredible. Obviously we're always playing
when it's boiling hot. So it's, yeah, you need as many
tops as you can get, really. What is the deal actually with
laundry on site? That the ground sounds, it's
great. You just put your stuff in a in
a bag and Chuck it in the laundry bin.
They bring it back the next day, which is always nice.
And then the main thing when you're on the tour by yourself
is just trying to not shrink your clothes or put weird
colours into white socks and stuff like that.
Because when you're on tour on your own and you're trying to
wash your clothes and stuff, the last thing you want to do is
shrink all your kit. And then the next day you got to
go out onto court with like an extra small T-shirt.
And this happened to me before. I was like, why are you wearing
such a small top? I'm like, let's not talk about
that, let's not talk about that. So but the slams and stuff are
amazing. Like you literally they give a
load of laundry bags and you just whack it in and then it
comes back the next day. Good, doesn't it?
Do you think Jack Dries just takes his top off so that
everyone can wolf us? I couldn't possibly comment, but
I don't think so because he does it at training every day as
well. So I think he just goes.
I think he just goes through so many tops.
How do you feel about his new look?
I know you. You were the source that told us
that he did not have a breakup because we spread that rumour.
Yeah, he's been all good. And like the haircut thing,
obviously he's in the group chat with me and my coach and we both
got not much hair. So I think maybe it was just a
little nod to us. But I was as shocked as everyone
else when he shaved his head. But yeah, I think he I think he
pulled it off. He.
I don't think he looks bad, I prefer the long hair but I don't
think he looks bad I mean. Yeah, he can.
Yeah, I think. That I think the long hair will
be, will be coming back. It's just he's in that stage at
the moment where it's the regrow stage, which is going to take a
few months and then he'll and then he'll be all good.
But he, yeah, he likes to change it up.
Yeah. So who knows what's next?
The sleeveless How do you feel about his sleeveless look?
For me, it just looks like Jack, but yeah, he's obviously got a
good look. The girls love it, so why not?
As long as he's playing good tennis and that, then yeah, all
good. If you've got the guns, get out
of it. Yeah, for.
Sure. For sure, love it.
True. So back to the big four, because
Theo and I are, and like many were both obsessed with them.
Who's who's sort of the most intimidating one out of all of.
Them most intimidating initially probably fed her up because you
build him up in your head and then when you actually see what
it's like in the locker room and stuff and how chilled he is,
like you're not really that intimidated by him.
He's such a nice guy. Yeah, but.
Like Rafa, like when he's in match mode.
You definitely. See.
Yeah, you can definitely see that he's switched on and when
he's sprinting up and down and stuff and you're like, don't go
near this guy for a while. And then Andy was always nice
and chilled, Novak the same. And I think just all those guys
around that era like Stan and stuff, they all just competed so
hard. And it was, it was such a
privilege to be around and to get to be behind the scenes
during that, during that time and, and see how all those guys
prepared and how they all did what they did.
It was, yeah. It was amazing.
Incredible. So we always end our episodes on
a final call. So, Andre, do you want to fire
away? Who in tennis, past or present,
would you most want to share a Double S partnership with?
For me, that's easier. It's hard to say.
John McEnroe. OK, interesting, interesting
new. York car very out there.
Bit of a maverick. Bit of a maverick, see a lot of
myself in him. He's someone that I like found
myself would be quite close to in similarities and the way we
went about the game and stuff. So yeah, he'd be the one that I
would probably say was was the closest.
Love that. What a legend.
Well Andy, thank you. This has been such an
interesting and inspiring conversation.
We've thoroughly enjoyed it. From your journey into the sport
and to where wheelchair tennis is heading, it's been seriously
eye opening. So thank you for coming on.
Thank. You for having me on guys do.
You want to tell our listeners where to find you on socials and
maybe what tournaments you have coming up so everyone can keep
an eye out. So Instagram is Andy Lapforn
under score and all the results and stuff I'll put on my
Instagram and we are heading towards Ron and Gareth.
So just about to head on to the clay and then we will see you
all at Ron and Gareth. Yeah, thanks so much for joining
us again, and we'll definitely be watching this season closely.
Thank you guys. Thank you.
Bye. Thanks for listening.
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