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It's time for let's let's ground
strokes baseline. 

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It's top spin. 
That's LGBT. 

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Have a listen. 
Make some noise with the ball 

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boys. 
Hey everybody, and welcome to 

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the latest episode of The Ball 
Boys. 

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We are the tennis podcast that 
puts the court in courtship. 

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I'm your host, Paul Monkle and 
bringing the insights, 

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outbursts, giggles and wiggles 
of the ATP and WTA tours. 

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I'm coming to you live on tape 
on Zoom from the new Ball Boys 

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headquarters. 
Yes, I've moved again. 

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Last year's prolapsed roof was 
replaced by this year's noise 

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violations that were literally a
hindrance to my sanity and to 

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recording any and all podcasts. 
So if you see some reels, you'll

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see a new background. 
Don't worry, it's the same old 

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snark. 
And if this doesn't work out, 

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I'm selling everything and just 
going to follow the tours full 

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time. 
Now. 

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We have a ton to cover on 
today's show. 

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As always, the tennis action 
never stops, and same goes for 

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the crazy world we're living in.
Overnight, the US and Israel 

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attacked Iran in several cities 
and Iran retaliated. 

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And things do not look great. 
And look, the Ball Blaze doesn't

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have a sophisticated or hot take
on what's happening. 

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But as always, I'm sending love 
to everyone out there and during

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these times, if we can give you 
a giggle, if we can give you a 

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breath of fresh air, that's all 
we're trying to do. 

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So everybody, just take care of 
yourselves. 

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Now back to the tennis. 
The tourists have been literally

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around the world and ay, ay, ay,
I can't find my bagel with a 

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slew of five hundreds across 
countries and surfaces. 

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I love this part of the tour. 
And this might just be spring 

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fever, but the tours have been 
hot and bothered. 

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Or maybe more accurately, 
they've been hot or bothered. 

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And now both tours are heading 
back to the desert for the first

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half of the Sunshine Double. 
Indian Wells. 

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Larry's version kicks off next 
week, and it's as wide open on 

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the women's side as it's maybe 
already sewn up on the men's. 

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And Speaking of Indian Wells 
listeners, are you coming to the

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first annual tennis and tea 
dance? 

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Look, this year there are no 
pride events at Indian Wells. 

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So we said screw that and we're 
throwing our own. 

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Yes, the Ball Boys is partnering
with Out Wide Podcast and taking

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the party to the courts. 
So we're having the first ever 

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and 1st annual tennis and tea 
dance at Mission Hills Country 

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Club. 
We have tennis theme cocktails. 

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We have live ball led by Coach 
B. 

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We've got drag Queens literally 
serving and DJ John, John 

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Battles keeping us moving all 
afternoon. 

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So if you're going to be out 
there or you know someone going,

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send them the link to the 
Eventbrite. 

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We've got to show up for the 
community, show up for some fun 

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and you can find the link to 
tickets on our Instagram and 

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that Instagram is at TBB Tennis.
Again, that Instagram is at TBB 

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Tennis and also I will be 
previewing some merch. 

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Finally, some long-awaited merch
and it's actually the shirt that

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I'm wearing right now. 
I'm going to stand up and model 

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the garment so you can see it's 
lobs, ground strokes, baseline 

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and top spin LGBT for tennis 
before we dive face first into a

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basket full of balls. 
I'm so excited to introduce our 

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very special guest Ball boy 
today. 

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He might single handedly be why 
I'm so hot and bothered and I 

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think he actually strings his 
racket with sexual attention. 

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He is the author of 30 Love, the
gay tennis novel. 

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It comes out next week. 
I was lucky enough to get my 

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paws on an advance copy and it 
is fantastic. 

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Tom Velner, welcome to the ball 
boys. 

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Hi, thank you so much for having
me and thank you for taking the 

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time to read the book. 
Oh my God, absolutely. 

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I, I read half of it in Mexico. 
So it's it's, it's a very 

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continental edition that. 
I have now. 

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I love that the book went abroad
its first trip. 

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Yeah, she has a passport. 
Yeah. 

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But thank you so much for being 
on the show. 

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Really excited to have you. 
It's such a great book and it's 

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an important book and I'm so 
happy that it exists. 

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It launches, it's or it comes 
out on March 10th. 

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March 10th comes out as as they 
say, How are you? 

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Feeling, I feel like I'm holding
onto my grip on reality as 

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tightly as possible because it 
all feels so wild. 

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I've, I've wanted to write a 
book basically my whole life. 

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So it's it's really, really 
surreal that it's like right 

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around the corner. 
And you're going on a on a, on a

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book tour. 
Yeah, yeah. 

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Doing a little East Coast tour 
this this March. 

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That is so cool. 
And we're going to get into the 

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book and we're going to talk 
about the story and just the 

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experience of it without giving 
not too much, not too much away,

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but. 
Talk about it because. 

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It is such a, you know, it's a 
great story. 

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I devoured it literally in just 
a few days. 

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And and listeners, if you want 
to get a a taste or, you know, a

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little bit of flavor, Tom 
seamlessly references Gilmore 

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Girls and Tyra Banks smizing in 
one page. 

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So if that tells you anything 
you can grab a copy. 

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Where can listeners buy this? 
You can pre-order it before 

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March 10th wherever you like to 
buy books, and then, yeah, once 

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it's out on March 10th, you can 
grab it also anywhere you buy 

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books, and the audiobook is 
available wherever you like to 

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get your audiobooks. 
Who did you get like Pedro 

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Pascal to read the audiobook? 
God, Can you imagine that? 

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No, but shout out to Mark 
Sanderlin who is the narrator of

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the audiobook and he is so 
incredible. 

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I it was wild listening to my 
writing out loud and I was like 

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laughing at my own jokes and I 
was like, this is this is too 

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meta for me. 
But but yeah, he's he's just 

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such a great performer. 
I love that and and legitimately

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I laughed at sections like it's 
not just a romance, it's really 

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funny. 
You are officially going to 

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become a ball Boy I. 
I am so excited. 

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I've been listening for a while 
now and I can't believe I'm 

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becoming a ball boy. 
Exactly. 

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And so as a rite of passage, 
before we dig into the book, as 

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we do with every new ball boy, 
we have to start with our 

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segment, Getting Ballsy, where 
we go deep. 

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We probe you on how gay you are 
for tennis. 

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So, Tom Vellner, Are you ready? 
Hey, I am so ready. 

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Amazing. 
OK so first question, are you 

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gay TP or WT gay? 
I am WT gay. 

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Interesting, have you always 
been WT gay? 

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I think I've been WT gay since 
birth. 

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Oh wow. 
I like, I'm off to a flame. 

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I am but a gay man drawn to a 
powerful woman. 

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I think like growing up I was 
just obviously like Tales all 

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the time, obsessed with the 
Williams sisters. 

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That really got me into it. 
And then the yeah, kind of just 

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stuck from there. 
Like I've always found the 

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women's side of the game so 
exciting. 

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I'm a huge fan of Naomi Osaka 
Coco Golf, and not just for like

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how exciting they are to watch, 
but I just find that on the 

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women's side, there's so much 
more outspoken about the issues 

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they care about in a way that I 
wish the men's side was. 

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Even though someone like Coco is
so much younger than me, I feel 

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like I look up to some of these 
players on the women's side. 

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Yeah. 
Well, I mean Coco in in 

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particular. 
I don't know if this is just 

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intensive media training or 
what, but she handles every 

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question, many of which can be 
inappropriate or offensive, with

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such grace. 
I know the way she carries 

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herself on and off the court is 
unbelievable. 

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Yeah, yeah. 
But that serve, I mean, let's be

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honest. 
Oh, I know it's hard. 

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It's been hard to watch. 
It's. 

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It's that's the thing, I love 
Coco but sometimes I struggle 

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watching her matches. 
I know, I know. 

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I find myself looking down at my
phone a lot just to like, take a

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break from the emotional roller 
coaster. 

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Oh. 
Oh, and because it yeah, it gets

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emotional, you know, that the US
Open last year is just it was 

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the most sort of heartbreaking 
moment, I think, for the tour 

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was watching her breakdown on a 
changeover. 

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Yeah. 
Yeah. 

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OK. 
You're WT gay. 

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WT gay Yes. 
So you're not gay TP like 

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objectifying the men? 
Or listen, I this is not to say 

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that I don't. 
He swing both ways. 

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Yeah, there's there's a part of 
me that is gay TP I do follow 

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the men's store just as closely.
And yeah, God, I don't know what

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it is about tennis that attracts
such hot men, but like, 

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sometimes it feels like it's a 
requirement to, like, be hot to 

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be on the tour at this point. 
Yeah, well, and I I think it 

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goes both ways 'cause I think 
also being a tennis player just 

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makes you hot. 
Like not just physically. 

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But like, it's just that's like 
the sexiest job to have, right? 

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There's barely anyone in the top
100 that I would like be like no

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sorry. 
Like I'm not yeah, I'm not 

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turning down any of them. 
I. 

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Mean well, there's a few that 
just 'cause I hate their 

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politics well. 
OK, Yeah. 

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And you know who we mean. 
Yeah. 

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Yeah. 
Oh yeah. 

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Oh yeah. 
You know, villains named Sasha, 

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for example. 
Yeah, Oh my gosh, I couldn't. 

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I couldn't possibly. 
No, never imagine. 

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00:09:06,080 --> 00:09:09,560
OK, great, so you're WT gay And 
what makes you a ball boy? 

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Tell us about your tennis 
background. 

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Have you always loved tennis? 
Yeah, pretty much ever since I 

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was a kid, I've been into 
tennis. 

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My mom taught me how to play, 
and I would just play it like 

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the public courts in my 
hometown. 

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Or I would walk up to the 
shopping center out the street 

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from my house where there was 
like a huge cement wall on the 

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side of a Jo Ann Fabrics. 
And I would just hit against the

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wall all day. 
And they thought they probably 

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hated me. 
What is this like? 

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00:09:35,720 --> 00:09:38,080
No. 
They're like, get this kid out 

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of here. 
And then I played in high 

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school, surprise, like so many 
days before me played in high 

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school because I was too scared 
of team sports. 

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And yeah, I loved it and 
continued playing just like 

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casually with friends. 
And some of my friends in high 

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00:09:54,480 --> 00:09:58,040
school really got me into 
watching and becoming a fan of 

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the big three. 
And yeah, it just, it really 

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00:10:02,240 --> 00:10:05,120
took hold early. 
So you're a you're a believer in

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00:10:05,120 --> 00:10:09,320
the big Three, not the Big 4, 
Sir Andy, come on, I. 

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00:10:09,320 --> 00:10:12,120
No, I love Sir Andy. 
I really, really do. 

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00:10:12,120 --> 00:10:14,480
The Big Three just kind of 
rolled off the tongue more 

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00:10:14,480 --> 00:10:16,920
easily. 
And and they definitely became 

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00:10:16,920 --> 00:10:19,520
the big three. 
But for a minute it was the big 

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00:10:19,520 --> 00:10:21,080
four. 
I was. 

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00:10:21,800 --> 00:10:23,720
I had hopes, but then his poor 
hips. 

201
00:10:24,760 --> 00:10:26,800
No, but I love Andy, I really 
do. 

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00:10:27,320 --> 00:10:30,680
Especially Speaking of politics.
My God, that man is like who I 

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00:10:30,680 --> 00:10:33,960
wish all of the men could be. 
What an icon. 

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What a third wave feminist. 
I love him. 

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00:10:36,640 --> 00:10:39,320
Yeah. 
Yeah, Andy, come on the show. 

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00:10:41,600 --> 00:10:44,240
And where did you grow up? 
I grew up outside Philly. 

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00:10:44,760 --> 00:10:47,240
OK, OK. 
Because I had, like, the same 

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00:10:47,240 --> 00:10:49,080
sort of tennis my mother taught 
me. 

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00:10:49,360 --> 00:10:51,840
And my favorite thing was to 
just take a ball and hit against

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the wall, not even really like 
to play someone else. 

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00:10:54,000 --> 00:10:57,360
But it's just like, so fun and 
meditative and, you know, like a

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00:10:57,360 --> 00:10:59,360
little bit of an escape. 
Yeah. 

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00:11:00,560 --> 00:11:05,840
And so now I'd like you to speak
for everyone and let me know why

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00:11:05,840 --> 00:11:08,680
do gay people love tennis? 
Because I hear this all the 

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00:11:08,680 --> 00:11:10,720
time, you know. 
Oh, do you like sports? 

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00:11:11,400 --> 00:11:12,800
You know, whatever. 
Oh, do you like tennis? 

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00:11:12,800 --> 00:11:14,640
I love tennis. 
I love Serena. 

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00:11:14,640 --> 00:11:17,240
I love Maria da da da da. 
What is that about? 

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00:11:17,240 --> 00:11:20,320
What is that attraction to 
tennis about for gay people? 

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00:11:21,240 --> 00:11:26,480
Yeah, I mean, I do think it's 
partially what I just said about

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00:11:26,480 --> 00:11:30,480
being a little bit fearful of 
team sports because there is 

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00:11:30,480 --> 00:11:35,040
such a, there can be a very like
toxic heteronormative culture 

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00:11:35,040 --> 00:11:37,400
around team sports. 
It's something that queer people

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00:11:37,400 --> 00:11:39,960
haven't always felt like they've
had a place in. 

225
00:11:40,280 --> 00:11:42,560
And I think that kind of 
individuality that comes with 

226
00:11:42,560 --> 00:11:46,080
tennis appeals to queer people 
because you can express yourself

227
00:11:46,080 --> 00:11:48,320
the way you want, whether 
that's, like, through some of 

228
00:11:48,320 --> 00:11:51,920
the, like, fierce outfits that 
they walk out onto court with, 

229
00:11:53,240 --> 00:11:55,720
but also the way they express 
themselves in their game. 

230
00:11:56,040 --> 00:11:59,080
And you can have people who do 
match your values or your 

231
00:11:59,080 --> 00:12:01,320
politics and like, throw your 
full weight behind them. 

232
00:12:01,320 --> 00:12:04,400
And you don't feel like you're 
supporting a team that maybe 

233
00:12:04,400 --> 00:12:06,880
doesn't represent your 
perspectives. 

234
00:12:08,400 --> 00:12:11,080
Interesting. 
Yeah, I think there's just 

235
00:12:11,080 --> 00:12:15,320
something about tennis that like
the glamour to like Queer as 

236
00:12:15,320 --> 00:12:18,720
Love an event, and some of these
tournaments are like such 

237
00:12:18,720 --> 00:12:22,280
Capital E events. 
Oh yeah, it's hard not to get 

238
00:12:22,280 --> 00:12:24,800
into it. 
I mean, there is an inherent 

239
00:12:24,800 --> 00:12:27,520
campiness to a lot of these 
tournaments and a lot of the 

240
00:12:27,520 --> 00:12:30,320
sport, which is just very queer.
I mean, like the all whites at 

241
00:12:30,320 --> 00:12:33,960
Wimbledon, you know, it's just 
it's so campy and there's 

242
00:12:34,040 --> 00:12:36,080
there's an appeal to that. 
I think it's interesting that 

243
00:12:36,080 --> 00:12:37,840
you what you said about teams, 
because I've never thought about

244
00:12:37,840 --> 00:12:40,920
this before. 
But also when you're rooting for

245
00:12:40,920 --> 00:12:43,320
a team, you're not just rooting 
for one player, like you said, 

246
00:12:43,320 --> 00:12:45,720
or, you know, even the full 
team, you're also like it. 

247
00:12:45,920 --> 00:12:47,640
Like, are the owners 
problematic? 

248
00:12:47,640 --> 00:12:52,360
Are the so I I I famously or 
infamously led the renaming of 

249
00:12:52,360 --> 00:12:56,040
the Redskins several years ago. 
And part of the challenge of 

250
00:12:56,040 --> 00:13:01,360
that task was that the owner was
the most hated man in all of the

251
00:13:01,360 --> 00:13:04,560
NFL. 
And no matter what the name was 

252
00:13:04,560 --> 00:13:07,000
going to change to everyone just
hated Dan Snyder so much. 

253
00:13:07,120 --> 00:13:09,840
So you know, if you love your 
team, but the owner is a Dick, 

254
00:13:09,920 --> 00:13:12,840
like there's it's tough, but 
when it's a tennis player, I 

255
00:13:12,840 --> 00:13:15,280
mean, maybe you don't love their
coach, but it's not like that's 

256
00:13:15,280 --> 00:13:17,160
really going to sway your 
support. 

257
00:13:17,160 --> 00:13:19,720
There's no there's no 
overarching man behind the 

258
00:13:19,720 --> 00:13:21,800
curtain who is controlling this 
team. 

259
00:13:21,800 --> 00:13:25,240
So that's really interesting. 
Like it's like a individual that

260
00:13:25,240 --> 00:13:29,960
you can group for and relate to.
I think I've, I've heard you 

261
00:13:29,960 --> 00:13:32,240
talk about this on the show 
before about how it's sort of 

262
00:13:32,240 --> 00:13:34,120
like when you're growing up and 
you're playing a video game, 

263
00:13:34,120 --> 00:13:35,880
like in a chooser fighter 
situation. 

264
00:13:35,880 --> 00:13:39,080
Like, of course, I always picked
like the fierce woman character 

265
00:13:39,400 --> 00:13:42,200
and it sort of feels like fun 
like that with tennis too, where

266
00:13:42,200 --> 00:13:44,960
like you're picking the 
character that you feel 

267
00:13:44,960 --> 00:13:47,720
represents you or that like 
symbolizes queerness or 

268
00:13:47,720 --> 00:13:51,200
campiness. 
And so was your first tennis 

269
00:13:51,200 --> 00:13:53,480
imprint Serena, or was there 
someone before that? 

270
00:13:53,800 --> 00:13:56,960
No, I feel like Serena, like 
late 90s Serena. 

271
00:13:57,240 --> 00:13:59,240
I mean, what a gateway to the 
sport. 

272
00:13:59,720 --> 00:14:02,760
Yeah, I guess I'm, I might be 
slightly older than you. 

273
00:14:02,760 --> 00:14:05,600
I'm in my mid to late 30s or 40s
and. 

274
00:14:06,200 --> 00:14:09,640
You can say. 
So as always, I would say this 

275
00:14:10,360 --> 00:14:12,000
Jennifer Capriotti was my 
Britney Spears. 

276
00:14:12,760 --> 00:14:16,880
I imprinted on her when I was 13
and I was like this diva, yeah, 

277
00:14:17,120 --> 00:14:20,680
semi finals at 14 years old of 
the US Open like fuck yes, so. 

278
00:14:20,960 --> 00:14:21,520
Iconic. 
Yeah. 

279
00:14:21,600 --> 00:14:24,280
Iconic Diva it. 
Yeah, it's in you. 

280
00:14:24,400 --> 00:14:26,200
You're stuck. 
I have no choice. 

281
00:14:26,200 --> 00:14:27,800
I'm contractually obligated, 
yeah. 

282
00:14:27,880 --> 00:14:29,800
Yeah, yeah. 
It's like her and Wilson 

283
00:14:29,800 --> 00:14:31,520
Phillips. 
I was really like, coming of age

284
00:14:31,560 --> 00:14:35,000
at a weird time. 
It's like, but I I also don't 

285
00:14:35,000 --> 00:14:36,680
mind, you know? 
Release me, baby. 

286
00:14:36,920 --> 00:14:39,680
Yeah. 
OK, Let's do a speed round real 

287
00:14:39,680 --> 00:14:40,920
quick and then we'll get into 
the book. 

288
00:14:41,360 --> 00:14:44,160
I'm going to switch this Coco or
Naomi. 

289
00:14:45,440 --> 00:14:47,560
Oh my God, how can you do this 
to me? 

290
00:14:48,320 --> 00:14:51,440
I'm going to say, I'm going to 
say Naomi. 

291
00:14:52,200 --> 00:14:55,040
Why? 
I think I, I think I fell in 

292
00:14:55,040 --> 00:14:56,720
love with her first. 
Like I'm just going to go 

293
00:14:56,720 --> 00:14:58,960
chronologically. 
Like I think I just fell in love

294
00:14:58,960 --> 00:15:00,720
with her game and her 
personality first. 

295
00:15:01,080 --> 00:15:04,280
No shade whatsoever to Coco. 
Like I yeah, like I would die 

296
00:15:04,280 --> 00:15:06,600
for her. 
No, exactly, exactly. 

297
00:15:06,600 --> 00:15:09,000
And I and I'm sorry. 
I sometimes I torture ball boys 

298
00:15:09,000 --> 00:15:10,600
and this is, this is the torture
round. 

299
00:15:10,600 --> 00:15:12,680
So sorry. 
What did you think of Naomi's 

300
00:15:12,720 --> 00:15:17,640
Australian Open walk on kit? 
It wasn't my favorite look, but 

301
00:15:17,840 --> 00:15:23,680
the way she, the way she carries
herself, like any outfit to me, 

302
00:15:23,680 --> 00:15:27,640
I'm like, I'm still gasping. 
And like, and also her point 

303
00:15:27,640 --> 00:15:29,600
afterwards that was like, if you
didn't get it, it wasn't for 

304
00:15:29,600 --> 00:15:31,080
you. 
I'm kind of like, yeah, like she

305
00:15:31,120 --> 00:15:33,440
doesn't need me to comment on 
her style. 

306
00:15:33,440 --> 00:15:36,880
Like, yeah, it's not. 
It's not up to me to determine 

307
00:15:36,880 --> 00:15:39,440
whether that was good or not. 
But I do think she has had 

308
00:15:39,440 --> 00:15:42,360
better looks. 
Yeah, and unfortunately, I think

309
00:15:42,360 --> 00:15:46,480
very few people got it, if we're
being honest, 'cause I'm glad 

310
00:15:46,480 --> 00:15:49,120
she did it, 'cause it was the 
moment. 

311
00:15:49,120 --> 00:15:52,680
And again, it's that campiness 
factor of like, OK, diva, right.

312
00:15:52,840 --> 00:15:56,520
But the execution like the the 
culottes with the what? 

313
00:15:56,520 --> 00:15:59,760
It's just saying, you know, you 
know, it's a reality that. 

314
00:16:00,880 --> 00:16:03,680
OK, next question, Miami or 
Indian Wells. 

315
00:16:04,240 --> 00:16:08,160
Indian Wells Why you think 
you're classy? 

316
00:16:09,800 --> 00:16:13,280
Yeah, I don't know about that. 
But no, I just, I just love the 

317
00:16:13,280 --> 00:16:15,960
tournament so much. 
I mean, not Larry Ellison. 

318
00:16:15,960 --> 00:16:19,200
Like, please, please get fucked,
Larry Ellison. 

319
00:16:19,200 --> 00:16:22,800
But but the tournament itself is
just so fun. 

320
00:16:22,800 --> 00:16:25,720
And I feel like you can feel how
much fun the players are having 

321
00:16:25,720 --> 00:16:27,920
and how much they love to be 
there, which makes it so 

322
00:16:27,920 --> 00:16:30,880
exciting and like it's also just
satisfying looking at the 

323
00:16:30,880 --> 00:16:33,920
courts. 
They're so perfectly symmetrical

324
00:16:33,920 --> 00:16:37,720
with the overhead lights and the
palm trees, the mountains in the

325
00:16:37,720 --> 00:16:41,600
background. 
Of the backdrop, Like, I love 

326
00:16:41,600 --> 00:16:44,720
the nosebleeds at Indian Wells 
because you get the pink sunset 

327
00:16:44,720 --> 00:16:48,840
on the mountains while it's 
like, it is literally they say 

328
00:16:48,840 --> 00:16:50,320
it's tennis paradise. 
I think it's tennis heaven. 

329
00:16:50,320 --> 00:16:52,360
It's just like, oh, like this is
like, yeah. 

330
00:16:53,360 --> 00:16:55,160
Gorgeous. 
It is, it is gorgeous. 

331
00:16:55,240 --> 00:16:57,720
And yeah, unfortunately Larry 
Ellison is doing his thing. 

332
00:16:57,720 --> 00:17:00,880
And and also again, listeners, I
think that This is why there's 

333
00:17:01,360 --> 00:17:03,240
there have been fewer and fewer 
pride events this year. 

334
00:17:03,240 --> 00:17:05,359
There's none. 
So again, you can either listen 

335
00:17:05,359 --> 00:17:09,839
to the wedding band they have 
playing in the main area or come

336
00:17:09,839 --> 00:17:13,359
to the tennis and T dance. 
Lincoln Bio Yeah, I know, tough 

337
00:17:13,359 --> 00:17:15,480
choice. 
Favorite surface? 

338
00:17:16,680 --> 00:17:18,839
Hard, hard, hard. 
Yeah. 

339
00:17:18,960 --> 00:17:21,440
No, no. 
Diva. 

340
00:17:21,839 --> 00:17:25,359
Favorite tournament? 
I, I have to say, the US Open. 

341
00:17:25,880 --> 00:17:28,840
I just have such good memories. 
They're going with friends and 

342
00:17:28,840 --> 00:17:32,240
it's just such a fun time. 
I love how electric it feels 

343
00:17:32,240 --> 00:17:35,040
like it just, it feels like New 
York. 

344
00:17:35,840 --> 00:17:39,360
Maybe that's cheesy, but there's
just like an electricity in the 

345
00:17:39,360 --> 00:17:41,200
air. 
The fans, like maybe they're 

346
00:17:41,440 --> 00:17:44,680
sometimes a little over the top,
but I just love the I love how 

347
00:17:45,360 --> 00:17:48,480
energetic it is and how into it 
the fans are. 

348
00:17:49,280 --> 00:17:51,440
I feel like what I'm learning 
about you is like you're, you're

349
00:17:51,440 --> 00:17:55,360
like a Showtime kind of guy. 
Like you like boldness you like 

350
00:17:55,480 --> 00:17:57,240
brashness you love? 
Serena. 

351
00:17:57,240 --> 00:18:00,200
'S you love the Naomi's you 
love, the US Open you love a 

352
00:18:00,200 --> 00:18:01,680
show you love? 
Yeah. 

353
00:18:01,880 --> 00:18:03,400
I love the thrill of it all. 
Yeah. 

354
00:18:03,400 --> 00:18:06,120
Yeah. 
OK, OK, I I can feel that, you 

355
00:18:06,160 --> 00:18:09,120
know, I have, I have my issues 
with Arthur Ashe Stadium, but, 

356
00:18:09,120 --> 00:18:12,360
you know, I'll settle that with,
with the USTA directors. 

357
00:18:12,360 --> 00:18:16,960
So, yeah. 
And so you wrote a, a, a, a 

358
00:18:17,120 --> 00:18:18,800
tennis romance. 
Are you single? 

359
00:18:19,480 --> 00:18:23,200
I am not I agree I do have a 
double S partner in life. 

360
00:18:24,520 --> 00:18:27,800
I do not have a double S partner
on the court if anyone would 

361
00:18:27,800 --> 00:18:31,520
like to apply. 
My husband is not not the best 

362
00:18:31,520 --> 00:18:32,880
at tennis. 
He's very new to it. 

363
00:18:33,280 --> 00:18:37,440
I think our longest rally is 
probably like 1 1/2 shots so. 

364
00:18:38,560 --> 00:18:41,160
But I have I've fully 
indoctrinated him like he does 

365
00:18:41,160 --> 00:18:43,200
love watching matches now so I 
have to like. 

366
00:18:43,200 --> 00:18:45,160
Credit where credit's due, he 
has become a fan. 

367
00:18:45,880 --> 00:18:47,520
OK, great. 
I mean, what a testament to the 

368
00:18:47,520 --> 00:18:51,400
strength of your marriage that 
despite him not being able to 

369
00:18:51,400 --> 00:18:53,520
rally because 10, you know, 
marriage is a rally. 

370
00:18:53,520 --> 00:18:54,760
There's there's a lot of 
parallels. 

371
00:18:54,880 --> 00:18:56,760
I know there are. 
Yeah, not that I would know 

372
00:18:56,760 --> 00:19:00,000
because I am. 
I am the opposite of married. 

373
00:19:00,760 --> 00:19:03,720
So that was getting ballsy. 
Well done, Tom Velner. 

374
00:19:03,720 --> 00:19:04,880
Thank you. 
Oh my God, I made it. 

375
00:19:05,160 --> 00:19:06,080
You made it. 
You made it through the 

376
00:19:06,080 --> 00:19:08,400
gauntlet, but we're not done yet
because now we got to dive into 

377
00:19:08,400 --> 00:19:10,080
this book. 
So we're going to talk about 

378
00:19:10,360 --> 00:19:11,720
again. 
It's called 30 Love. 

379
00:19:11,920 --> 00:19:15,920
It comes out on March 10th. 
What inspired you to write this 

380
00:19:15,920 --> 00:19:17,400
book? 
Did you think that you were 

381
00:19:17,400 --> 00:19:19,360
going to be writing gay tennis 
novels as a child? 

382
00:19:20,240 --> 00:19:22,360
No, I wish I could say that. 
Yeah. 

383
00:19:22,360 --> 00:19:25,520
It's like my lifelong dream. 
I I will say, though, that I I 

384
00:19:25,520 --> 00:19:28,960
do have a memory from like 
kindergarten of writing like a 

385
00:19:28,960 --> 00:19:32,040
short love story about two of my
Beanie Babies that fell in love.

386
00:19:32,520 --> 00:19:35,080
It was a boy and a girl. 
That will be the only straight 

387
00:19:35,080 --> 00:19:38,840
romance I ever write. 
But I do think I've always had a

388
00:19:38,840 --> 00:19:41,960
fascination with love stories, 
like I said, like been watching 

389
00:19:41,960 --> 00:19:44,240
tennis for a long time. 
I've always been a fan of ROM 

390
00:19:44,240 --> 00:19:47,880
coms, obsessed with like 90s, 
early 2000s ROM coms. 

391
00:19:48,440 --> 00:19:51,640
And I was watching a lot of both
when I was stuck at home during 

392
00:19:51,640 --> 00:19:54,880
the pandemic. 
Just like I would always have 

393
00:19:54,880 --> 00:19:56,880
matches on in the background, 
even when I was working. 

394
00:19:57,480 --> 00:20:00,120
And yeah, I kept waiting for 
there to be the first openly gay

395
00:20:00,120 --> 00:20:02,680
man on tour and. 
He obviously was not coming 

396
00:20:02,680 --> 00:20:05,600
along at that point and I was 
like well what if I took these 

397
00:20:05,600 --> 00:20:10,240
two loves tennis and ROM coms 
and like wrote my own player who

398
00:20:10,240 --> 00:20:13,080
was maybe secretly falling in 
love with another player on tour

399
00:20:13,440 --> 00:20:15,720
and what that might look like 
behind the scenes. 

400
00:20:17,400 --> 00:20:20,400
I love the term ROM com because 
I like I was saying it's like 

401
00:20:20,400 --> 00:20:24,120
it's not just a romance, it's 
funny and it's a it's a little 

402
00:20:24,120 --> 00:20:26,440
like Harry Met Sally. 
There's like a real like. 

403
00:20:26,640 --> 00:20:29,520
That's a huge compliment. 
Arm to it, you know, it's like, 

404
00:20:29,880 --> 00:20:32,560
yeah, I love it. 
I I, I often don't think of 

405
00:20:32,560 --> 00:20:35,640
novels as ROM coms, but I think 
that that's a really cool way to

406
00:20:35,640 --> 00:20:36,480
describe it. 
Yeah. 

407
00:20:36,560 --> 00:20:39,360
Yeah, I think, yeah, there's 
definitely like a distinction 

408
00:20:39,360 --> 00:20:43,280
between the classic romance 
novel and then more of a ROM com

409
00:20:43,280 --> 00:20:44,720
too. 
Like I think there are books 

410
00:20:44,800 --> 00:20:46,320
that can make you laugh out 
loud. 

411
00:20:46,320 --> 00:20:48,000
And that's definitely what I was
aiming for. 

412
00:20:48,000 --> 00:20:49,800
So I'm I'm happy to hear it made
you laugh. 

413
00:20:50,120 --> 00:20:52,800
Yes, yes. 
Although, OK, so I have to start

414
00:20:52,800 --> 00:20:55,600
out, though I've got a slight 
bone to pick with you, Sir. 

415
00:20:55,600 --> 00:20:59,320
We're not going to give away 
every detail in the book or too 

416
00:20:59,320 --> 00:21:03,280
many salacious things, but the 
book opens with the protagonist,

417
00:21:03,280 --> 00:21:10,360
Leo, on a tennis podcast that is
hosted by a middle-aged, 

418
00:21:10,680 --> 00:21:14,400
slightly behind the times, maybe
a little offensive, overly 

419
00:21:14,400 --> 00:21:21,280
reliant on bad dad jokes host 
named Paul Jacuz. 

420
00:21:21,280 --> 00:21:26,240
I did not sign away my rights to
be in this book, Tom. 

421
00:21:26,240 --> 00:21:29,240
How dare you? 
Paul, you are my news. 

422
00:21:30,480 --> 00:21:33,200
No, I as it says at the 
beginning of the book, all 

423
00:21:33,200 --> 00:21:36,760
characters are works of fiction.
I will stand by that in the 

424
00:21:36,760 --> 00:21:41,120
court of law. 
I, I did not, I did not know you

425
00:21:41,120 --> 00:21:44,880
when I started writing this book
a few years ago, but it is, it 

426
00:21:44,880 --> 00:21:48,400
is a terrible coincidence, but 
I, I love it. 

427
00:21:48,600 --> 00:21:52,240
Also, you have to give yourself 
more credit because the Paul 

428
00:21:52,240 --> 00:21:55,360
podcast host in the book is 
supposed to be much older than 

429
00:21:55,360 --> 00:21:58,160
you and I. 
I think you have a much better 

430
00:21:58,160 --> 00:22:00,320
take on things than he does. 
OK. 

431
00:22:00,480 --> 00:22:04,000
And we find out his take is is 
not great as the book goes on. 

432
00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:07,080
So yes, yes. 
He definitely represents more of

433
00:22:07,080 --> 00:22:10,160
the like old boys club of the 
tennis world. 

434
00:22:10,480 --> 00:22:12,080
Exactly. 
Yeah, yeah. 

435
00:22:12,080 --> 00:22:13,480
And you can. 
You can feel it. 

436
00:22:13,600 --> 00:22:16,720
Fun fact. 
Also, my friend Chris Bolin is 

437
00:22:16,720 --> 00:22:20,880
an author, and he wrote a 
mystery, and one of the bad 

438
00:22:20,880 --> 00:22:23,560
people in that name was also 
Paul. 

439
00:22:23,760 --> 00:22:26,600
So I'm just saying like, you 
know what, guys? 

440
00:22:27,120 --> 00:22:31,920
Give me a break. 
OK, So the book basically, it 

441
00:22:31,920 --> 00:22:33,880
takes place over the course of 
one year on tour, which I 

442
00:22:33,880 --> 00:22:36,160
thought was really interesting. 
You've got a lot of great 

443
00:22:36,160 --> 00:22:38,560
details on every tournament. 
Thank you. 

444
00:22:38,640 --> 00:22:41,960
And and I think it makes it 
accessible to readers who maybe 

445
00:22:41,960 --> 00:22:43,440
don't know tennis. 
Maybe they're just looking for a

446
00:22:43,440 --> 00:22:46,520
queer romance or, you know, they
they've finished all the heated 

447
00:22:46,520 --> 00:22:49,320
rivalry books and they're like, 
I need more sports boys. 

448
00:22:51,000 --> 00:22:53,600
How did you manage to get such 
details, especially if you 

449
00:22:53,600 --> 00:22:54,680
haven't been to these 
tournaments? 

450
00:22:54,680 --> 00:22:57,560
Because it's really well done. 
Thank you, that means a lot, 

451
00:22:57,560 --> 00:23:00,520
especially because you were 
obviously such a huge fan and 

452
00:23:00,520 --> 00:23:03,120
follow it so closely. 
I'm a monster, yeah. 

453
00:23:04,800 --> 00:23:07,840
Yeah, I mean, I think part of it
was like, once I started working

454
00:23:07,840 --> 00:23:10,760
from home, I truly was watching 
matches like, all day, everyday.

455
00:23:11,040 --> 00:23:14,600
So I think like, that sort of 
became my research for the book.

456
00:23:14,600 --> 00:23:18,520
Like, I was just constantly 
taking notes about every detail 

457
00:23:18,520 --> 00:23:21,480
about the tournament itself, 
about the way that the matches 

458
00:23:21,480 --> 00:23:25,640
went down, following players on 
Instagram, too, just to, like, 

459
00:23:25,720 --> 00:23:28,080
get a sense of their life off 
the court as well. 

460
00:23:29,960 --> 00:23:33,360
But yeah, I wanted to make sure 
that you felt really immersed in

461
00:23:33,360 --> 00:23:34,920
the sport. 
Like if you were going to spend 

462
00:23:34,920 --> 00:23:38,440
a year with these players, I 
wanted you to feel like you were

463
00:23:38,440 --> 00:23:40,920
right there with them. 
And partially because I am just 

464
00:23:40,920 --> 00:23:43,960
so obsessed at this sport and 
the tournaments that I wanted my

465
00:23:43,960 --> 00:23:47,280
love for it to come through and 
hopefully like be a little 

466
00:23:47,880 --> 00:23:50,720
infectious for other people. 
Yeah, no. 

467
00:23:50,720 --> 00:23:52,920
And I I think, I think you 
infected everybody because I 

468
00:23:53,040 --> 00:23:54,960
think it really did work like 
what you said. 

469
00:23:54,960 --> 00:23:57,920
Like I felt like I was on tour 
for a year that even got like 

470
00:23:57,920 --> 00:24:00,280
the travel and you don't know 
who's going to be at what 

471
00:24:00,280 --> 00:24:02,080
tournament and it's like, are we
going to see each other? 

472
00:24:02,080 --> 00:24:04,480
We're not going to see each 
other and all dynamic there. 

473
00:24:04,480 --> 00:24:07,520
That's really fun and sexy in a 
weird way too. 

474
00:24:07,520 --> 00:24:11,320
I felt like I was kind of being 
edged for for like a good half 

475
00:24:11,320 --> 00:24:13,120
of the book. 
I was like, what's going to 

476
00:24:13,120 --> 00:24:14,600
happen next? 
Are they going to see each 

477
00:24:14,600 --> 00:24:16,720
other? 
There's so much sexual tension 

478
00:24:16,720 --> 00:24:19,200
for the first half of this book 
or even more. 

479
00:24:19,200 --> 00:24:22,280
It was like you, really. 
You took us through it, Tom. 

480
00:24:22,480 --> 00:24:27,840
That was definitely intentional.
I wanted it to feel like a slow 

481
00:24:27,840 --> 00:24:31,680
burn where when they do finally 
get together, which I don't 

482
00:24:31,680 --> 00:24:34,760
think is a spoiler, it's a ROM 
com when they finally get 

483
00:24:34,760 --> 00:24:36,600
together. 
Like it feels really earned. 

484
00:24:37,000 --> 00:24:39,640
Like I wanted the pacing to feel
natural, especially for people 

485
00:24:39,640 --> 00:24:42,480
who are traveling around the 
world and maybe going to 

486
00:24:42,480 --> 00:24:45,840
different places. 
It didn't feel like it would 

487
00:24:45,840 --> 00:24:47,680
make sense to have them get 
together too soon. 

488
00:24:47,840 --> 00:24:51,840
I wanted the tension to build 
and almost feel like tennis 

489
00:24:51,840 --> 00:24:54,880
itself with a lot of push and 
pull and like, you're like, 

490
00:24:54,880 --> 00:24:58,960
waiting for the big moment to 
come, which I think, yeah, a lot

491
00:24:58,960 --> 00:25:02,200
of like these 90s ROM coms that 
I love so much. 

492
00:25:02,200 --> 00:25:04,960
Like you don't see the two main 
people get together until the 

493
00:25:04,960 --> 00:25:08,000
very end. 
So yeah, I wanted it to have 

494
00:25:08,000 --> 00:25:11,480
that kind of feel. 
OK, yeah, yeah, no, I I get that

495
00:25:11,480 --> 00:25:13,240
now. 
And, and also it is such a 

496
00:25:13,240 --> 00:25:15,840
relief. 
And I think I think a lot of 

497
00:25:15,840 --> 00:25:19,360
queer people have been sort of 
traumatized by queer stories 

498
00:25:19,360 --> 00:25:23,440
that have been in the media for 
like the last 40 years or so 

499
00:25:23,440 --> 00:25:27,600
where it's somebody dies, 
somebody gets beaten up, like 

500
00:25:27,960 --> 00:25:31,880
they get AIDS. 
It's been a lot of torture porn 

501
00:25:32,080 --> 00:25:34,880
that's out there. 
And and we as as the queer 

502
00:25:34,880 --> 00:25:40,040
community sometimes have to had 
to be like, thank you for giving

503
00:25:40,040 --> 00:25:43,080
us some sort of acknowledgement 
and platform in broader 

504
00:25:43,080 --> 00:25:45,080
societies so that our stories 
are being told. 

505
00:25:45,320 --> 00:25:48,640
But our stories were always sad.
And this is not a sad story. 

506
00:25:48,640 --> 00:25:51,600
There's tension and there's 
stuff where it's like things 

507
00:25:51,600 --> 00:25:55,560
could go right or wrong or 
whatever, but it's such a relief

508
00:25:56,200 --> 00:25:58,240
to have these stories out there 
where it's like, no, not 

509
00:25:58,240 --> 00:26:00,080
everybody dies. 
And I think that it's like 

510
00:26:00,160 --> 00:26:02,600
healing gay trauma almost, 
right? 

511
00:26:02,680 --> 00:26:05,800
Well, that means a lot. 
Yeah, I think you're definitely 

512
00:26:05,800 --> 00:26:08,640
right. 
There's always been this trend 

513
00:26:08,640 --> 00:26:13,400
of like, barrier gaze is like a 
term for how no matter what 

514
00:26:13,400 --> 00:26:15,440
story it was, a gay person had 
to die. 

515
00:26:15,440 --> 00:26:19,280
Like, the gay character always 
died, either violence or AIDS, 

516
00:26:19,280 --> 00:26:21,680
whatever it was. 
Those are like the crumbs we had

517
00:26:21,680 --> 00:26:23,880
to accept. 
And I think now, and especially 

518
00:26:23,880 --> 00:26:28,200
like with heated Rivalry, I 
think there was so much love for

519
00:26:28,200 --> 00:26:32,160
that show, myself included, just
because it it was a happy 

520
00:26:32,160 --> 00:26:35,200
ending. 
And you got to see them 

521
00:26:35,200 --> 00:26:39,520
experience literally joy. 
Yeah, there was like, queer joy 

522
00:26:39,520 --> 00:26:41,560
for them. 
Despite going through things 

523
00:26:41,560 --> 00:26:44,560
obviously along the way, you 
still get to see them have their

524
00:26:44,560 --> 00:26:46,320
happy ending. 
And that's what I wanted to do 

525
00:26:46,320 --> 00:26:48,200
here, too. 
Like of course there's struggle 

526
00:26:48,200 --> 00:26:53,000
for the main character, but he 
gets to also experience like, 

527
00:26:53,320 --> 00:26:58,480
positive relationships, God 
forbid, and yeah, experience 

528
00:26:58,480 --> 00:27:02,800
love and he gets to shock or 
have things work out as a queer 

529
00:27:02,800 --> 00:27:05,840
person like God forbid. 
Yeah, you mentioned he had the 

530
00:27:05,840 --> 00:27:10,160
rivalry and and honestly, the 
month after that finished, I 

531
00:27:10,160 --> 00:27:12,640
swear to God, like the Lexapro 
doses went down in West 

532
00:27:12,640 --> 00:27:17,080
Hollywood. 
Everyone was euphoric because we

533
00:27:17,080 --> 00:27:19,640
finally got the happy ending and
he was just. 

534
00:27:19,720 --> 00:27:22,160
Like, I know we've been waiting,
our shoulders dropped. 

535
00:27:22,400 --> 00:27:23,520
Yeah. 
Yeah. 

536
00:27:23,520 --> 00:27:27,480
So I, I really hope that this 
trend continues where people see

537
00:27:27,480 --> 00:27:30,360
like, whether it's TV execs or 
publishers, like they see that 

538
00:27:30,360 --> 00:27:34,240
it's, it's good for business to 
actually tell queer stories and 

539
00:27:34,520 --> 00:27:37,560
give them happy endings. 
Yeah, we're just going to keep 

540
00:27:37,760 --> 00:27:39,400
maybe the name of this show is 
going to be happy endings. 

541
00:27:40,360 --> 00:27:42,640
Actually, it might. 
Be Yeah, happy endings with Tom 

542
00:27:42,640 --> 00:27:44,960
Velner. 
Maybe that's a future book I'm 

543
00:27:44,960 --> 00:27:46,640
going to have to write. 
Yeah, that's exactly. 

544
00:27:47,400 --> 00:27:51,200
Well, Speaking of heated rivalry
also, I mean, it seems like gays

545
00:27:51,200 --> 00:27:53,760
in sports are having a moment. 
You know, there's heated 

546
00:27:53,760 --> 00:27:56,400
rivalry, there's your book, 
there's other queer sports books

547
00:27:56,400 --> 00:27:59,000
coming out. 
I cannot go to the backroom of 

548
00:27:59,000 --> 00:28:01,520
the Eagle without tripping over 
another gay tennis podcast. 

549
00:28:02,640 --> 00:28:04,480
Why do we think this is 
happening? 

550
00:28:04,480 --> 00:28:06,160
We're everywhere. 
I know. 

551
00:28:06,160 --> 00:28:10,440
Well, I think, I think it's sort
of like was only a matter of 

552
00:28:10,440 --> 00:28:13,240
time. 
Like, I think we are slowly, and

553
00:28:13,240 --> 00:28:16,920
I mean slowly starting to see 
more athletes come out. 

554
00:28:17,040 --> 00:28:20,160
And I think like we like the 
queer community. 

555
00:28:20,160 --> 00:28:22,200
We've always looked for 
ourselves everywhere we go. 

556
00:28:22,200 --> 00:28:26,520
Like we want to see our stories 
told in books, in TV, in music, 

557
00:28:26,520 --> 00:28:27,880
like wherever. 
We want to see ourselves 

558
00:28:27,880 --> 00:28:30,880
represented everywhere. 
So I think even if you are not a

559
00:28:30,920 --> 00:28:33,200
big sports fan, like I, I really
don't follow any other sport 

560
00:28:33,200 --> 00:28:36,960
besides tennis. 
But if there, if there was a 

561
00:28:36,960 --> 00:28:38,960
hockey player who came out or if
there was a football player who 

562
00:28:38,960 --> 00:28:40,920
came out, I would have no choice
but to stay on. 

563
00:28:41,160 --> 00:28:43,160
I would, I wouldn't follow. 
Yeah. 

564
00:28:43,160 --> 00:28:45,160
Like I would immediately follow 
them. 

565
00:28:45,200 --> 00:28:46,840
I would back them. 
I would root for them. 

566
00:28:47,240 --> 00:28:50,600
And I think like, yeah, I think 
there's, there are so many 

567
00:28:51,040 --> 00:28:54,160
forces out there that want to 
erase queer stories and have us 

568
00:28:54,160 --> 00:28:56,920
be invisible. 
So I think even if it's sports, 

569
00:28:56,920 --> 00:28:59,600
which is like an area of life 
that maybe we haven't always 

570
00:28:59,600 --> 00:29:02,320
felt welcome, we want to see 
queerness there too. 

571
00:29:02,320 --> 00:29:04,960
And we want more people to tell 
their stories in sports. 

572
00:29:05,200 --> 00:29:08,360
And I think, yeah, like there's 
been, there have been a lot of 

573
00:29:08,360 --> 00:29:10,640
queer sports romances for a 
while now. 

574
00:29:10,640 --> 00:29:13,000
And I think it was, yeah, like 
only a matter of time before we 

575
00:29:13,000 --> 00:29:17,320
had a mainstream moment with 
Heated Rivalry and hopefully 30 

576
00:29:17,320 --> 00:29:21,080
Love and some other some other 
stories in the works. 

577
00:29:21,560 --> 00:29:25,160
Yeah, I will admit my ignorance.
Like I never even really thought

578
00:29:25,160 --> 00:29:28,600
about the romance genre as 
something that that was for me 

579
00:29:28,960 --> 00:29:31,520
because, you know, I think of it
as like, you know, I was going 

580
00:29:31,520 --> 00:29:33,520
to say a cheesy Hallmark movie, 
but I'll be honest, I love a 

581
00:29:33,520 --> 00:29:36,480
Hallmark movie. 
But I was just like, oh, no, I 

582
00:29:36,480 --> 00:29:39,040
need to read, I don't know, 
Dostoyevsky or like some like 

583
00:29:39,040 --> 00:29:42,080
fucking bullshit. 
But actually since he Reverie 

584
00:29:42,080 --> 00:29:45,400
and now reading your book, I've 
got other queer romance is that 

585
00:29:45,400 --> 00:29:47,960
I'm going to read because it's 
just it's like taking a bath. 

586
00:29:48,400 --> 00:29:50,040
It's just like it's like 
self-care. 

587
00:29:50,040 --> 00:29:51,800
It's just like, no. 
Yeah. 

588
00:29:52,040 --> 00:29:53,880
Well, yeah. 
Like psychologically, like, it's

589
00:29:53,880 --> 00:29:56,160
just so good for you to know 
that things are going to work 

590
00:29:56,160 --> 00:29:59,400
out at the end of the story. 
Like, and what I love about 

591
00:29:59,400 --> 00:30:02,880
romance, too, is that, like, I, 
I like, sometimes talk about it 

592
00:30:02,880 --> 00:30:04,920
like the pill and the peanut 
butter with your dog. 

593
00:30:05,000 --> 00:30:08,480
You need to get them to swallow 
the hard thing, but you're going

594
00:30:08,480 --> 00:30:10,760
to disguise it. 
And I think with so many 

595
00:30:10,760 --> 00:30:14,680
romances that I read and watch, 
like there's so much in there 

596
00:30:14,680 --> 00:30:18,120
that is political or it's, yeah,
it's about sexuality, it's about

597
00:30:18,120 --> 00:30:21,880
race, whatever it may be. 
Like you're able to process 

598
00:30:21,880 --> 00:30:25,840
those difficult topics, but 
you're in this comforting world 

599
00:30:25,840 --> 00:30:27,120
where you know it's going to 
work out. 

600
00:30:27,120 --> 00:30:29,040
And like, you don't get that 
anywhere else. 

601
00:30:29,760 --> 00:30:31,800
Yeah, exactly. 
It's it's like a you're creating

602
00:30:31,800 --> 00:30:35,200
a safe space to explore 
feelings. 

603
00:30:35,360 --> 00:30:37,160
Yeah. 
Because you know, it's going to 

604
00:30:37,160 --> 00:30:41,520
work out versus having this, you
know, maybe like jaded or trauma

605
00:30:41,520 --> 00:30:44,440
or whatever, where it's like, 
well, everyone's gonna die or 

606
00:30:44,440 --> 00:30:46,480
everything's gonna be bad or 
someone's gonna get beat up if 

607
00:30:46,480 --> 00:30:48,520
you hold hands in public, yadda,
yadda, yadda. 

608
00:30:48,520 --> 00:30:50,640
And like, and there is some 
homophobia in your book. 

609
00:30:50,720 --> 00:30:53,680
You know, you, I love that you 
weren't like Pollyannaish where 

610
00:30:53,680 --> 00:30:56,040
it was like, and now everyone 
just loves everyone. 

611
00:30:56,080 --> 00:30:58,000
It's rainbows. 
And it's like, no, like there's 

612
00:30:58,000 --> 00:31:01,000
some real ditty people who don't
respond well. 

613
00:31:01,000 --> 00:31:03,960
Like one of the characters loses
A sponsor and has trouble with a

614
00:31:03,960 --> 00:31:05,800
coach or whatever. 
And it's like, it's not the 

615
00:31:05,800 --> 00:31:08,200
easiest thing. 
And I think that's important. 

616
00:31:08,840 --> 00:31:11,600
Yeah, definitely. 
I didn't want to sugarcoat it 

617
00:31:12,040 --> 00:31:14,880
because we are not there yet in 
sports. 

618
00:31:14,880 --> 00:31:18,360
Like I think unfortunately 
coming out stories in sports are

619
00:31:18,360 --> 00:31:22,080
still very new for the most 
part. 

620
00:31:22,440 --> 00:31:27,600
And yeah, I wanted to show that 
like it's, it's still not a 

621
00:31:27,600 --> 00:31:29,400
perfect world out there in 
tennis land. 

622
00:31:30,360 --> 00:31:34,200
There are still people whose 
politics are not great and who 

623
00:31:34,200 --> 00:31:36,800
players probably do fear would 
not be supportive. 

624
00:31:36,800 --> 00:31:39,560
So like, yeah, I wanted to make 
sure that that was in there, but

625
00:31:39,560 --> 00:31:43,720
not not the main themes that you
obviously could still enjoy 

626
00:31:43,720 --> 00:31:45,680
yourself and yeah, and have a 
good time. 

627
00:31:46,280 --> 00:31:49,560
Yeah, I mean, look, dude, I if 
we saw the voting records of the

628
00:31:49,600 --> 00:31:51,880
ATPI, don't know if you'll 
really love it. 

629
00:31:51,880 --> 00:31:55,280
So yeah. 
And you know, and that's OK. 

630
00:31:55,280 --> 00:31:58,920
And also on this show, I try to 
be a little sort of punk rock 

631
00:31:58,920 --> 00:32:02,120
about it, where it's like, I'm 
going to maybe objectify someone

632
00:32:02,120 --> 00:32:05,080
who is secretly MAGA and yeah, 
maybe they don't like it, but 

633
00:32:05,080 --> 00:32:08,320
actually I kind of think that's 
sexier because they don't like 

634
00:32:08,320 --> 00:32:09,520
it. 
Like, screw you, I'm still going

635
00:32:09,520 --> 00:32:11,040
to say you're hot. 
Yeah, we're queering. 

636
00:32:11,040 --> 00:32:11,960
We're still going to talk about 
you. 

637
00:32:12,080 --> 00:32:15,720
Yeah, and actually, you know, we
so we do have two gay players on

638
00:32:15,720 --> 00:32:19,280
tour now. 
We've got Joao, Lucas Reyes, 

639
00:32:19,280 --> 00:32:22,080
Thermopolis, da Silva and we've 
got Mika Brunhold. 

640
00:32:23,520 --> 00:32:25,320
First one from Brazil, someone 
from Switzerland. 

641
00:32:25,440 --> 00:32:28,680
Shout out to da Silva who played
the first round of the Rio Open.

642
00:32:28,880 --> 00:32:31,880
First openly gay man to play in 
a main draw ATP tournament. 

643
00:32:32,800 --> 00:32:34,200
Work. 
A huge shout out. 

644
00:32:34,480 --> 00:32:35,720
Yeah, huge. 
Like, that's huge. 

645
00:32:35,920 --> 00:32:39,680
Granted, he was given a wild 
card, so he didn't play his way 

646
00:32:39,680 --> 00:32:42,200
in because his ranking is not up
there yet. 

647
00:32:42,200 --> 00:32:44,560
Not yet. 
Not yet we're. 

648
00:32:44,560 --> 00:32:45,720
Hoping. 
Yeah. 

649
00:32:45,920 --> 00:32:47,480
And he's, you know, he's, he's 
good. 

650
00:32:47,480 --> 00:32:49,160
And also like, what a place to 
do it. 

651
00:32:49,160 --> 00:32:52,840
Like at the Rio Open, I watched 
a lot of the South American 

652
00:32:52,840 --> 00:32:55,240
swing this time 'cause I think I
was just kind of craving some 

653
00:32:55,240 --> 00:32:58,360
clay. 
But the Rio Open, I mean, have 

654
00:32:58,360 --> 00:33:00,960
you been to Rio? 
I have not but it. 

655
00:33:01,120 --> 00:33:03,200
Is. 
That's what I've heard. 

656
00:33:03,280 --> 00:33:06,920
I know. 
And like God for him, for him to

657
00:33:07,200 --> 00:33:10,960
debut in a main draw there too, 
like it's so perfect because 

658
00:33:10,960 --> 00:33:15,480
obviously he's at home, but also
just like he, he's beautiful. 

659
00:33:15,480 --> 00:33:17,480
Like, let's just say it, he's 
beautiful. 

660
00:33:18,120 --> 00:33:20,080
Oh, yeah, well, no. 
And I loved it because so many 

661
00:33:20,080 --> 00:33:23,080
players were just having, taking
photos like on the beach and 

662
00:33:23,080 --> 00:33:26,960
just like, it was just, it was a
great time for for everyone, 

663
00:33:26,960 --> 00:33:31,880
fans and players alike. 
And, you know, but no, we, we 

664
00:33:31,880 --> 00:33:34,080
haven't had a player in the top 
150 yet. 

665
00:33:34,360 --> 00:33:37,840
And I have no desire to out 
anybody, as I've said many times

666
00:33:37,840 --> 00:33:39,440
in the show. 
And I don't like, I think it's 

667
00:33:39,440 --> 00:33:41,440
disgusting. 
But I do think we are going to 

668
00:33:41,440 --> 00:33:44,840
have a player somewhere in the 
top 150 in the next one or two 

669
00:33:44,840 --> 00:33:47,200
years come out. 
It's just, it's coming. 

670
00:33:47,200 --> 00:33:48,400
Like you said, it's a matter of 
time. 

671
00:33:49,040 --> 00:33:52,520
I think so, yeah. 
I mean, I would love if Joao or 

672
00:33:52,520 --> 00:33:55,800
Micah were to burst into the top
150 like that would be 

673
00:33:55,800 --> 00:33:58,320
incredible. 
But even if not, yeah, I agree. 

674
00:33:58,360 --> 00:34:01,160
I think it's it's incredible 
because they're so young, but 

675
00:34:01,160 --> 00:34:03,200
they're going to be the ones who
blaze the trail on the men's 

676
00:34:03,200 --> 00:34:05,320
tour. 
And I hope that someone in the 

677
00:34:05,320 --> 00:34:09,280
top 150 does eventually come out
if they feel comfortable because

678
00:34:09,920 --> 00:34:12,199
Oh my gosh, with that, it would 
just be incredible to. 

679
00:34:12,199 --> 00:34:16,239
It would mean everyone at the 
top of the game be openly gay 

680
00:34:16,239 --> 00:34:18,719
playing in main draws. 
Yeah, I really hope. 

681
00:34:19,280 --> 00:34:23,320
And we have our lesbian Divas, 
we've got Casapkina, we've got a

682
00:34:23,320 --> 00:34:27,920
few, but I identify as male. 
I would love a gay male role 

683
00:34:27,920 --> 00:34:30,120
model. 
Because also I was thinking 

684
00:34:30,120 --> 00:34:32,320
about this book. 
I was like, God, I wish, I wish 

685
00:34:32,320 --> 00:34:34,360
I had your book when I was in 
high school. 

686
00:34:35,000 --> 00:34:36,880
I know not that it's a high 
school level. 

687
00:34:36,880 --> 00:34:38,800
It's not like it's like a young 
adult novel. 

688
00:34:39,560 --> 00:34:41,840
It's no. 
But it was just like it was, 

689
00:34:41,880 --> 00:34:44,040
it's really inspiring. 
So I think, you know, I think 

690
00:34:44,040 --> 00:34:45,679
you're going to inspire some 
tennis players. 

691
00:34:45,679 --> 00:34:47,840
I'm just I'm just saying it 
right now from your. 

692
00:34:47,840 --> 00:34:50,199
Lips. 
So, you know, get out. 

693
00:34:50,239 --> 00:34:52,040
My lips have been a lot of 
places so. 

694
00:34:53,840 --> 00:34:56,440
I definitely had that thought. 
Like, it's such a, it feels like

695
00:34:56,440 --> 00:35:00,080
such a pipe dream. 
But yeah, I mean, you heard from

696
00:35:01,360 --> 00:35:03,920
Hudson Williams and Connor's 
story that they were getting DMS

697
00:35:03,920 --> 00:35:06,560
from hockey players who are 
closeted. 

698
00:35:06,680 --> 00:35:09,320
Wow. 
And reaching out to them being 

699
00:35:09,320 --> 00:35:11,800
like, thank you for this story. 
And yeah, I mean, of course the 

700
00:35:11,800 --> 00:35:14,800
thoughts crossed my mind that 
like God. 

701
00:35:15,200 --> 00:35:18,520
I can your your husband is going
to hate your DMS. 

702
00:35:19,080 --> 00:35:21,360
It's going to be spicy up in 
Tom's DMS. 

703
00:35:21,400 --> 00:35:24,760
Oh my God. 
What's next? 

704
00:35:24,760 --> 00:35:28,120
Are there more books coming out?
Yeah, I am working on another 

705
00:35:28,120 --> 00:35:31,400
book. 
I can't say too much yet, but 

706
00:35:31,480 --> 00:35:33,640
yeah, there is another one in 
the works. 

707
00:35:34,840 --> 00:35:37,120
OK, yeah, I was thinking I was 
like, well, this one's 30, love.

708
00:35:37,120 --> 00:35:39,200
Like, are you a fan of the 
comeback? 

709
00:35:40,280 --> 00:35:42,480
Lisa Kudrow show. 
I'm familiar, but I actually 

710
00:35:42,480 --> 00:35:44,000
haven't watched it. 
Wow. 

711
00:35:44,000 --> 00:35:48,680
We're going to end here, folks. 
So it is amazing. 

712
00:35:48,760 --> 00:35:51,240
I'm going to court order you. 
I'm going to cross court order 

713
00:35:51,240 --> 00:35:52,760
you to watch it. 
It's the best show. 

714
00:35:53,160 --> 00:35:55,280
I'll watch it so that you don't 
sue me for naming a character 

715
00:35:55,280 --> 00:35:57,120
Paul. 
Exactly, exactly. 

716
00:35:57,120 --> 00:36:01,200
You'll be hearing from my tennis
lawyer, but it's coming out for 

717
00:36:01,200 --> 00:36:04,080
its, I think fourth season now. 
And it's just, it comes out like

718
00:36:04,080 --> 00:36:05,920
every like 10 years. 
We got to check in with this 

719
00:36:05,920 --> 00:36:07,520
amazing character, Valerie 
Cherish. 

720
00:36:08,040 --> 00:36:09,880
And I was like, OK, this one is 
30 love. 

721
00:36:09,880 --> 00:36:14,040
Like I want to see, I want 40 
love where, you know, Leo is 

722
00:36:14,280 --> 00:36:16,800
older and maybe he's a coach or,
you know, it's just like, I want

723
00:36:16,800 --> 00:36:19,080
to know Leo again. 
And you know, just like have a 

724
00:36:19,080 --> 00:36:22,240
bit of a a reunion. 
So, you know, just throwing I'm 

725
00:36:22,320 --> 00:36:23,440
I'm giving you that idea for 
free. 

726
00:36:23,440 --> 00:36:27,240
So in 10 years and that comes 
out, we will have a redemption 

727
00:36:27,240 --> 00:36:28,400
arc for Paul. 
So. 

728
00:36:29,960 --> 00:36:32,680
We can only hope. 
Yeah, no, I, I love that idea. 

729
00:36:32,680 --> 00:36:34,960
And I, I think 40 love could be 
really cool. 

730
00:36:34,960 --> 00:36:37,200
And I would, I would love 
someday to revisit these 

731
00:36:37,200 --> 00:36:40,000
characters because I, I do like,
kind of miss them. 

732
00:36:40,000 --> 00:36:43,480
Like as much as I don't miss 
obsessing over this book and all

733
00:36:43,480 --> 00:36:46,800
of the edits And yeah, just like
overthinking every scene. 

734
00:36:47,200 --> 00:36:50,560
It it was so fun living in their
world, especially like given 

735
00:36:51,040 --> 00:36:53,640
everything going on in our own 
world right now, it was like a a

736
00:36:53,880 --> 00:36:56,440
nice escape. 
Yes, 100%. 

737
00:36:56,440 --> 00:36:57,720
Yeah. 
It was a really good escape. 

738
00:36:57,720 --> 00:36:59,600
That's a great, that's a great 
phrase. 

739
00:37:01,000 --> 00:37:03,400
Well, amazing. 
We're excited for everything. 

740
00:37:03,400 --> 00:37:05,440
And and also like we don't have 
to worry about the next book 

741
00:37:05,440 --> 00:37:08,360
because the new book, the first 
book, it's coming out again 

742
00:37:08,360 --> 00:37:11,560
March 10th. 
Everybody pre-order it and Tom 

743
00:37:11,560 --> 00:37:14,680
Villaner loved it. 
Thank you so much. 

744
00:37:21,440 --> 00:37:24,200
Now we got to get into some of 
the tennis because you are not 

745
00:37:24,200 --> 00:37:26,880
you're here to work. 
You're not here to talk, Sir. 

746
00:37:27,360 --> 00:37:29,680
So we're going to talk about the
tour just briefly. 

747
00:37:29,680 --> 00:37:32,800
I mean, there's been a million 
things going on, literally 

748
00:37:32,800 --> 00:37:38,160
tournaments all over the world, 
South America, Europe, Middle 

749
00:37:38,160 --> 00:37:40,040
East, everywhere, even in the 
good old US of A. 

750
00:37:40,800 --> 00:37:44,040
And to start off with every show
I want to talk about the tennis 

751
00:37:44,040 --> 00:37:46,800
is we talk about the Lobsbians. 
And again, that's just the thing

752
00:37:46,800 --> 00:37:49,480
that made us gayer for tennis 
since the last show. 

753
00:37:49,960 --> 00:37:52,520
And it can be anything from 
someone doing something sexy to 

754
00:37:52,520 --> 00:37:55,000
someone doing something 
ridiculous to, I mean, a pop 

755
00:37:55,000 --> 00:37:57,920
culture moment as we were just 
talking about all the things 

756
00:37:57,920 --> 00:37:59,800
that appeal to our 
sensibilities. 

757
00:37:59,800 --> 00:38:02,840
And I got to start off first. 
Lobs being it's Hilary Duff's 

758
00:38:02,840 --> 00:38:08,760
new song Weather for Tennis. 
You know, it's a bop. 

759
00:38:08,760 --> 00:38:10,280
It's a good song. 
Yeah. 

760
00:38:11,000 --> 00:38:12,680
Yeah. 
Like Lily Allen, She had her 

761
00:38:12,680 --> 00:38:14,000
song last year. 
Tennis. 

762
00:38:14,040 --> 00:38:15,800
It was OK. 
I liked it. 

763
00:38:15,840 --> 00:38:16,600
You. 
Know I liked it. 

764
00:38:16,840 --> 00:38:18,800
Who the hell is Marilyn or 
Madeline or whatever? 

765
00:38:18,800 --> 00:38:21,080
It's fine. 
But this one I've been playing 

766
00:38:21,080 --> 00:38:24,160
on repeat and I'm like, this is 
like the weather for tennis. 

767
00:38:24,200 --> 00:38:25,320
It's good, it's good. 
It's. 

768
00:38:25,400 --> 00:38:27,520
Really good. 
Yeah, I'm, I'm happy for her 

769
00:38:27,520 --> 00:38:30,360
with this comeback. 
It's a good album and I'm just 

770
00:38:30,360 --> 00:38:33,240
like, wow, what is it with 
slightly scorned or aging women 

771
00:38:33,240 --> 00:38:35,600
who write a song about tennis? 
Like there's just something. 

772
00:38:36,000 --> 00:38:37,840
I know. 
I feel like they're picking up 

773
00:38:37,840 --> 00:38:42,640
on what a good metaphor tennis 
is for tension and maybe some 

774
00:38:42,680 --> 00:38:45,240
angst. 
Yeah, yes. 

775
00:38:45,360 --> 00:38:47,680
So I don't know, that's sort of 
like tennis. 

776
00:38:47,680 --> 00:38:51,680
Is definitely in in the broader 
culture, you know, whether it's 

777
00:38:51,720 --> 00:38:55,240
influencers like Morgan Riddle 
or just Zendaya always being at 

778
00:38:55,240 --> 00:38:58,960
it at a match. 
So it's having its moment, it's 

779
00:38:59,120 --> 00:39:01,560
spreading, it's spreading 
everywhere. 

780
00:39:03,000 --> 00:39:05,920
Well, and also the the semi 
theme of this show is hot and 

781
00:39:05,920 --> 00:39:09,960
bothered or hot or bothered. 
And the media the last few weeks

782
00:39:09,960 --> 00:39:12,600
has also been hot and bothered. 
Just a few lobs VNS there. 

783
00:39:13,000 --> 00:39:16,080
I just love the moment where the
on court interviewer was talking

784
00:39:16,080 --> 00:39:20,120
to Sebastian Corda after he 
played Kaboli and she was like, 

785
00:39:20,120 --> 00:39:23,960
that was some really tight sex. 
Oh, I mean sets and, and, you 

786
00:39:23,960 --> 00:39:26,760
know, it's just obviously a, a, 
a slip and courtney's like, 

787
00:39:26,760 --> 00:39:29,680
yeah, Coboli's hot. 
Yeah, I love that he leaned into

788
00:39:29,680 --> 00:39:32,640
it. 
Yes, it's like, oh, again, it's 

789
00:39:32,640 --> 00:39:35,680
like no, I feel like 20 years 
ago I've been like or like let's

790
00:39:35,680 --> 00:39:36,920
bleep that or and just. 
Like. 

791
00:39:37,320 --> 00:39:39,960
It's funny, it's it's, it's just
cute. 

792
00:39:40,000 --> 00:39:45,040
And well, and then that was also
like the same few days apart 

793
00:39:45,040 --> 00:39:49,240
from the tennis TV tweet about 
that player booths that was 

794
00:39:49,240 --> 00:39:54,680
making your run and painting the
lines like his name is Busay, 

795
00:39:54,720 --> 00:40:00,840
which is really Bussy girl. 
Like there, it's the easiest way

796
00:40:00,840 --> 00:40:02,880
to know that there's no one gay 
on the social team. 

797
00:40:03,360 --> 00:40:05,960
No, no. 
Like like how did that happen 

798
00:40:06,360 --> 00:40:08,160
or? 
Is that what it is? 

799
00:40:08,400 --> 00:40:10,080
Who's like, girl, this is the 
moment. 

800
00:40:10,240 --> 00:40:11,520
This. 
This is it. 

801
00:40:11,520 --> 00:40:14,440
Yeah, that, that could be too. 
Like, but it was just the the 

802
00:40:14,440 --> 00:40:17,920
collective queer tennis media's 
mouth dropped when they saw 

803
00:40:17,920 --> 00:40:21,760
that. 
And yeah, and, and another mouth

804
00:40:21,760 --> 00:40:24,640
drop. 
Valentin Vashiro's on court 

805
00:40:24,640 --> 00:40:27,840
interview. 
Now this almost crossed the 

806
00:40:27,840 --> 00:40:29,360
line. 
I, I actually felt a little 

807
00:40:29,360 --> 00:40:31,640
weird about posting it, but of 
course I posted it. 

808
00:40:32,960 --> 00:40:36,600
But he does this after a court 
interview and yeah, his just his

809
00:40:36,600 --> 00:40:38,960
gigantic hog is straining his 
shorts. 

810
00:40:39,040 --> 00:40:41,880
To use the technical term, yeah.
Yeah, it's like, I didn't know 

811
00:40:41,880 --> 00:40:45,120
he was half Hungarian, but it's 
like he's just like. 

812
00:40:45,280 --> 00:40:49,200
OK and I'm not even kidding I I 
literally am half Hungarian with

813
00:40:49,200 --> 00:40:53,040
that what you will. 
OK OK those DMS are getting 

814
00:40:53,040 --> 00:40:59,720
spicier but like wow. 
Yeah, it was, it was a big wow 

815
00:40:59,720 --> 00:41:02,240
moment. 
I I almost felt like it was sort

816
00:41:02,240 --> 00:41:06,080
of like the Olympic pole vaulter
moment that went viral. 

817
00:41:06,080 --> 00:41:11,320
Like, yeah, I mean, if there's 
like a giant package in sports, 

818
00:41:11,320 --> 00:41:14,400
it's it's getting the viral 
treatment on Instagram. 

819
00:41:14,400 --> 00:41:15,520
Yeah. 
Yeah. 

820
00:41:15,760 --> 00:41:18,720
Which which I agree, it's like 
you have to know that it's 

821
00:41:18,920 --> 00:41:22,840
probably uncomfortable for them.
Yeah, I was just like, because 

822
00:41:22,840 --> 00:41:25,600
there's ones where it's like oh,
he's look so sexy, look at that 

823
00:41:25,600 --> 00:41:28,520
butter. 
But this was like like I know 

824
00:41:28,520 --> 00:41:32,320
his religion. 
It was very clear. 

825
00:41:33,160 --> 00:41:37,480
So yeah, but hey, definitely 
some Bay teepee points there. 

826
00:41:37,480 --> 00:41:38,280
We'll. 
Just say that. 

827
00:41:40,320 --> 00:41:42,680
Yeah, and there's some other 
Lobsvians I love. 

828
00:41:42,720 --> 00:41:45,760
I mean, this one is a little 
more of a ROM com Lobsvian, but 

829
00:41:45,760 --> 00:41:49,600
I just love the Rio dogs. 
So at the Rio Open, when the 

830
00:41:49,600 --> 00:41:53,720
players walk on with dogs who 
are up for adoption and I want 

831
00:41:53,720 --> 00:41:55,880
them all, I want this is what I 
love to reopen. 

832
00:41:55,880 --> 00:41:58,120
I want to go down there. 
I want to take pictures with 

833
00:41:58,120 --> 00:42:00,840
Desilva on the beach with our 
adopted dog. 

834
00:42:00,840 --> 00:42:05,640
Like, that's life goals. 
Yes, I'm with you and I, I don't

835
00:42:05,640 --> 00:42:08,800
know why that doesn't happen. 
More like the walk out dogs. 

836
00:42:08,800 --> 00:42:11,640
That's such a good idea. 
Yeah, seriously. 

837
00:42:11,720 --> 00:42:13,120
Like those. 
Forget the kids. 

838
00:42:13,120 --> 00:42:15,360
Let me get enough attention at 
home. 

839
00:42:15,360 --> 00:42:17,000
It's fine. 
Yeah, I agree. 

840
00:42:17,000 --> 00:42:19,640
Yeah, I want more dogs. 
Yeah, like every, every. 

841
00:42:19,720 --> 00:42:24,560
Oh, OK, petition for dogs to be 
the official walk out because, I

842
00:42:24,560 --> 00:42:26,320
mean, they must be in heaven 
with all the tennis balls 

843
00:42:26,320 --> 00:42:27,120
around. 
They're just like. 

844
00:42:27,120 --> 00:42:29,200
Oh God, it's their dream. 
Best day ever. 

845
00:42:29,240 --> 00:42:30,240
Yeah. 
Yeah. 

846
00:42:32,360 --> 00:42:34,600
OK, so those are the lobs beans 
that have happened in the last 

847
00:42:34,600 --> 00:42:35,560
few weeks. 
And there were even more. 

848
00:42:35,560 --> 00:42:38,840
But honestly, we could spend an 
entire entire day talking about 

849
00:42:38,840 --> 00:42:41,720
everything that made us gayer 
for tennis, even in just the 

850
00:42:41,720 --> 00:42:43,760
last two weeks, because there is
a lot. 

851
00:42:44,200 --> 00:42:47,000
But we're going to get into some
of the action with Twit. 

852
00:42:47,200 --> 00:42:50,920
And that is this week in tennis.
Again. 

853
00:42:50,920 --> 00:42:53,000
As always, there's so much 
action going on, we cannot 

854
00:42:53,000 --> 00:42:55,920
possibly cover everything. 
If you're coming here for all 

855
00:42:55,920 --> 00:42:58,480
the scores, you're going to be 
as disappointed as I am that I 

856
00:42:58,480 --> 00:43:00,840
did not have 30 love to read 
when I was coming out. 

857
00:43:02,040 --> 00:43:05,520
But since we're all hot and 
bothered and basically worked up

858
00:43:05,600 --> 00:43:10,120
into a lather because of Tom's 
book, we are breaking down Twit 

859
00:43:10,520 --> 00:43:13,560
into hot and then bothered 
because pretty much everyone was

860
00:43:13,560 --> 00:43:15,880
one of these. 
So we're going to start out with

861
00:43:15,880 --> 00:43:20,680
hot and we got to talk about 
Jessica Pagula's win in Dubai. 

862
00:43:21,080 --> 00:43:24,640
She has some really tough, 
strong wins over Anna Simova and

863
00:43:24,640 --> 00:43:29,320
Towson to get into the final 
runs right over Spinolina, who 

864
00:43:29,320 --> 00:43:30,840
might have been a little tired 
from her semi. 

865
00:43:32,160 --> 00:43:35,080
Pagula has been so consistent 
for the last six months. 

866
00:43:35,840 --> 00:43:39,160
She's always a consistent queen,
but there's something that feels

867
00:43:39,160 --> 00:43:42,840
a little different lately. 
She's having her moment. 

868
00:43:42,840 --> 00:43:44,560
Like she's really. 
Yeah. 

869
00:43:44,560 --> 00:43:47,760
And, and and so there's a 
there's a great character in 

870
00:43:47,760 --> 00:43:52,400
your book named Tess. 
And I honestly feel like Tess 

871
00:43:52,400 --> 00:43:54,040
and Pagula have a lot of 
parallels. 

872
00:43:54,040 --> 00:43:57,280
Was that, is that true? 
Did you think of that or I'm 

873
00:43:57,280 --> 00:44:01,520
just like making a connection? 
No, I definitely think you're on

874
00:44:01,520 --> 00:44:04,440
to something there. 
It was not specifically Pagula, 

875
00:44:04,440 --> 00:44:08,960
but like sort of like that 
friend group, like her Maddie 

876
00:44:08,960 --> 00:44:11,520
Keys. 
Like I want to test to sort of 

877
00:44:11,520 --> 00:44:14,720
have that big sister on tour 
vibe where you feel like you 

878
00:44:14,720 --> 00:44:17,720
look up to these women and like 
you just feel like they'd be 

879
00:44:17,720 --> 00:44:20,120
your best friend on tour. 
And I want to test if you like 

880
00:44:20,120 --> 00:44:22,200
that. 
But I will say so Tess is a 

881
00:44:22,400 --> 00:44:27,080
Filipino American player, and I 
have to imagine she would be so 

882
00:44:27,080 --> 00:44:31,280
excited about Ayala, who is 
like, having incredible success 

883
00:44:31,280 --> 00:44:33,920
and it's so fun to watch. 
Yeah, shout out to her. 

884
00:44:34,680 --> 00:44:38,240
Oh, big shout out to you. 
I mean the the crowds that come 

885
00:44:38,240 --> 00:44:42,960
to a Nyala match, it's rivaling 
Fonseca's. 

886
00:44:43,320 --> 00:44:45,360
You know, it was wild. 
I caught a bit of her match 

887
00:44:45,360 --> 00:44:49,000
against Cristea because, like 
Christia famously at the 

888
00:44:49,000 --> 00:44:51,440
Australian Open, did not love 
the noises that Naomi was 

889
00:44:51,440 --> 00:44:53,480
making. 
She must have been in hell 

890
00:44:53,480 --> 00:44:54,200
playing. 
Yeah. 

891
00:44:54,240 --> 00:44:57,120
Oh, I'm, I'm sure, yeah. 
But yeah, I love to see it, 

892
00:44:57,360 --> 00:44:59,160
yeah. 
Love it well and also I was 

893
00:44:59,160 --> 00:45:02,240
thinking of Pagula cause Pagula 
is half Korean but but yes that 

894
00:45:02,240 --> 00:45:05,960
big sister vibe loves seeing and
I love that that Pagula is 

895
00:45:05,960 --> 00:45:09,440
having this moment and I I think
she could pull out a Grand Slam.

896
00:45:10,040 --> 00:45:11,560
I think she's got a few years in
her. 

897
00:45:11,840 --> 00:45:14,240
I definitely think she's has it 
in her. 

898
00:45:14,240 --> 00:45:17,880
I think she just like it's like 
she needs that magic moment 

899
00:45:17,880 --> 00:45:20,720
where like The X Factor comes 
out and she just can finally 

900
00:45:20,720 --> 00:45:23,960
take down Sabalenka or whoever 
it is in a final. 

901
00:45:24,240 --> 00:45:28,520
Yeah, I mean, I think, I think 
the problem is, is that her, her

902
00:45:28,520 --> 00:45:31,800
game can pretty much take out 
anyone right now except 

903
00:45:31,800 --> 00:45:34,840
Sabalenka when Sabalenka is on. 
Yeah, yeah. 

904
00:45:35,160 --> 00:45:36,520
So it's gonna, yeah, it's 
tricky. 

905
00:45:36,520 --> 00:45:40,040
It's tricky. 
Well, in some other news, we've 

906
00:45:40,040 --> 00:45:42,280
got some new power couples on 
tour. 

907
00:45:42,280 --> 00:45:44,800
Not necessarily just in romance,
but talking about player coach 

908
00:45:44,800 --> 00:45:47,800
partnerships. 
So both of these matchups 

909
00:45:47,960 --> 00:45:50,760
titillate me. 
We've got Grigor Dimitrov 

910
00:45:50,760 --> 00:45:54,320
pairing up with David and 
Albandian and Arthur Fees being 

911
00:45:54,320 --> 00:45:58,120
coached by Goran Ivanisovic. 
I think both of these are 

912
00:45:58,120 --> 00:46:00,840
incredible picks. 
At first I was like, wait, 

913
00:46:00,840 --> 00:46:03,560
didn't Grigor and David play? 
And they actually did. 

914
00:46:03,560 --> 00:46:06,320
They played in 2012, Nebandian 
won. 

915
00:46:06,320 --> 00:46:08,800
So maybe he's just going to get 
some revenge on his coach now. 

916
00:46:09,800 --> 00:46:15,720
But I, I loved Nebandian's play 
and like, also like hot 

917
00:46:16,080 --> 00:46:19,600
Argentinian, South American 
like, like, and I didn't even 

918
00:46:19,600 --> 00:46:22,000
know he was coaching. 
I would have hired him. 

919
00:46:22,000 --> 00:46:25,320
I didn't know. 
I love this too, though. 

920
00:46:25,320 --> 00:46:28,200
I think that's such a cool 
relationship they can have. 

921
00:46:28,360 --> 00:46:30,640
I feel like I could be wrong, 
but I feel like you don't see 

922
00:46:30,640 --> 00:46:33,160
that very often where you're 
coached by someone you played 

923
00:46:33,160 --> 00:46:35,120
like, not that long ago. 
Yeah. 

924
00:46:35,120 --> 00:46:37,960
And that has to be good for the 
bond that you have. 

925
00:46:38,480 --> 00:46:41,240
Yeah, I mean, the thing that 
came to mind immediately was 

926
00:46:41,240 --> 00:46:44,360
that weird moment in time when 
Andy Murray was Djokovic's 

927
00:46:44,360 --> 00:46:45,440
coach. 
Oh well. 

928
00:46:45,480 --> 00:46:47,960
Yeah, which was just weird. 
It was like I didn't understand 

929
00:46:47,960 --> 00:46:50,080
that in any way. 
Like, that was bizarre. 

930
00:46:50,080 --> 00:46:51,360
Yeah, that felt like a fever 
dream. 

931
00:46:51,680 --> 00:46:53,680
Yeah. 
It's like, hey, guy that I 

932
00:46:53,680 --> 00:46:57,360
basically owned, will you 
approach me Just like what's 

933
00:46:57,360 --> 00:47:03,000
going on here? 
And Fees and Ivanisovich love 

934
00:47:03,000 --> 00:47:04,720
it. 
Fees is looking great. 

935
00:47:04,720 --> 00:47:08,840
He gets to the final in Abu 
Dhabi, gets destroyed and said 

936
00:47:08,840 --> 00:47:10,560
final. 
But you know, it's funny. 

937
00:47:10,560 --> 00:47:14,600
I did not like the way Goran 
treated Sitsipas when he coached

938
00:47:14,600 --> 00:47:16,160
him for a minute. 
I don't know if you remember 

939
00:47:16,160 --> 00:47:18,760
this, but like it was like last 
year when they coached. 

940
00:47:18,760 --> 00:47:21,160
They work together for a few 
months and Goran basically goes 

941
00:47:21,160 --> 00:47:23,600
out in the media and talks about
how fat and out of shapes Finos 

942
00:47:23,720 --> 00:47:25,680
is. 
And just like he's like, he just

943
00:47:25,680 --> 00:47:27,840
doesn't have it. 
And it was like, girl, you like 

944
00:47:28,560 --> 00:47:30,240
maybe just tell him that 
privately. 

945
00:47:30,240 --> 00:47:34,520
Like you don't need to. 
Tell everyone else so yeah, but 

946
00:47:34,520 --> 00:47:38,720
I think he's going to and and 
fees is not out of shape because

947
00:47:38,720 --> 00:47:43,600
we've all seen the photos of his
12 pack because he is jacked and

948
00:47:43,600 --> 00:47:46,160
like looking good in every 
sense. 

949
00:47:46,160 --> 00:47:50,440
Yeah, and I, I love watching 
him, not just for that reason, I

950
00:47:50,440 --> 00:47:53,000
think he's so exciting to watch 
and I feel like he hasn't in him

951
00:47:53,000 --> 00:47:56,080
to start making some deep runs 
at slams, which he hasn't quite 

952
00:47:56,080 --> 00:47:58,760
done yet. 
But I feel like this coaching 

953
00:47:58,800 --> 00:48:01,000
matchup could be good for him, 
yeah. 

954
00:48:01,320 --> 00:48:03,480
And I'm really glad he took the 
time off he needed. 

955
00:48:03,760 --> 00:48:05,880
You know, he didn't rush back 
from the injury. 

956
00:48:05,880 --> 00:48:07,480
He was like, look, I'm out, I'm 
out. 

957
00:48:07,480 --> 00:48:09,920
Like I think he, he thought 
maybe he'd be back for Australia

958
00:48:09,920 --> 00:48:13,440
and then just didn't. 
And I think it's now, No, no, 

959
00:48:13,480 --> 00:48:16,720
it's not like he's 90% and just 
managing through, which I think 

960
00:48:16,720 --> 00:48:18,600
Tommy Paul did last year, which 
was a mistake. 

961
00:48:18,600 --> 00:48:21,040
It's like take the time to heal 
the tours. 

962
00:48:21,440 --> 00:48:23,680
There is no offseason. 
We have to acknowledge that. 

963
00:48:23,680 --> 00:48:26,280
And so it's like, look, when you
need time off, Anna Samova took 

964
00:48:26,280 --> 00:48:29,680
time off for mental health fees,
takes time off for for physical 

965
00:48:29,680 --> 00:48:31,840
health. 
You got to do it 'cause the tour

966
00:48:31,840 --> 00:48:37,000
ain't gonna stop. 
We also have Medvedev winning, 

967
00:48:37,400 --> 00:48:41,160
winning in air quotes in Dubai 
cause the final was a walk over 

968
00:48:41,160 --> 00:48:44,000
against Greek spore. 
But I'm happy about it. 

969
00:48:44,080 --> 00:48:46,720
Medvedev has now won his second 
title of the year. 

970
00:48:47,440 --> 00:48:49,720
And I'm happy about it because I
caught the match between him and

971
00:48:49,720 --> 00:48:53,720
Felix OJ Aliasim and that was 
like, I feel like I need to go 

972
00:48:53,720 --> 00:48:56,240
on antibiotics 'cause that was 
like that was clinical. 

973
00:48:56,280 --> 00:48:59,400
I feel like I was at the clinic.
It was like he destroyed him in 

974
00:48:59,400 --> 00:49:03,440
that second set with the perfect
Medvedev game. 

975
00:49:03,680 --> 00:49:05,720
He did not try to overpower 
Felix. 

976
00:49:05,960 --> 00:49:09,600
He wore him down with these 20 
stroke rallies. 

977
00:49:10,040 --> 00:49:12,920
That is classic Medvedev because
Medvedev, he just doesn't hit it

978
00:49:12,920 --> 00:49:15,440
out. 
Felix was gassed. 

979
00:49:15,440 --> 00:49:18,160
Felix had nothing left. 
He ended up losing by two breaks

980
00:49:18,160 --> 00:49:21,240
in the 2nd and I was like, 
that's, that's the medi. 

981
00:49:21,960 --> 00:49:24,280
I love Medvedev. 
I know he's not the greatest 

982
00:49:24,280 --> 00:49:26,320
person. 
In some ways he might have some 

983
00:49:26,320 --> 00:49:30,720
problematic politics personality
wise though, because I I also 

984
00:49:30,720 --> 00:49:32,400
like I need players with 
personality. 

985
00:49:32,520 --> 00:49:36,120
Yeah, he's got personality. 
Oh yes, in spades. 

986
00:49:36,240 --> 00:49:38,640
And yeah, I agree. 
I felt like, I feel like he's 

987
00:49:38,640 --> 00:49:43,920
been like kind of not quiet, 
like vocally, but quiet in his 

988
00:49:43,920 --> 00:49:46,520
game for a while now. 
But I feel like with him too, 

989
00:49:46,520 --> 00:49:50,160
like we were saying with Pakula,
it feels a little different for 

990
00:49:50,160 --> 00:49:52,680
him right now. 
Like he's back, back for 

991
00:49:52,680 --> 00:49:55,160
revenge. 
He wants to be where he was 

992
00:49:55,160 --> 00:49:57,840
before. 
Yeah, I think, I think he's not 

993
00:49:57,840 --> 00:50:03,040
happy to be lumped in with the 
other 90s Divas of the city 

994
00:50:03,040 --> 00:50:05,640
passes and Dimitrov. 
So like the guys who never want 

995
00:50:05,640 --> 00:50:08,560
to slam because yes, he's won a 
slam, He's been #1 but 

996
00:50:08,560 --> 00:50:10,200
everyone's like, oh, your time 
is over. 

997
00:50:10,280 --> 00:50:12,640
And I think, I think he's like, 
girl, no. 

998
00:50:12,640 --> 00:50:13,840
Yeah, like, wait a minute. 
Yeah. 

999
00:50:13,880 --> 00:50:16,440
Because it it did feel like he 
was sort of on his way out, but 

1000
00:50:16,440 --> 00:50:24,800
Nope. 
So those are some of the things 

1001
00:50:24,800 --> 00:50:27,160
that were hot on tour, but then 
there's been a lot of things 

1002
00:50:27,160 --> 00:50:29,040
that have been bothered. 
So we got to talk about the 

1003
00:50:29,040 --> 00:50:32,240
bothered side of the tour and 
we've been having a fair share 

1004
00:50:32,240 --> 00:50:35,120
of meltdowns on tour. 
You know, some of the ladies 

1005
00:50:35,120 --> 00:50:38,440
we've talked about already, but 
I am, I'm a little worried about

1006
00:50:38,440 --> 00:50:40,520
Anna Samova's state of mind 
right now. 

1007
00:50:41,080 --> 00:50:44,760
She is really perfecting the art
of becoming a meme or a GIF 

1008
00:50:45,280 --> 00:50:49,920
because her facial expressions, 
she looks miserable out there. 

1009
00:50:49,920 --> 00:50:52,160
Even if she's winning a point, 
she looks really. 

1010
00:50:52,840 --> 00:50:57,040
Bothered I was going to say like
the image I can't get out of my 

1011
00:50:57,040 --> 00:51:00,520
brain is from AO where like she 
won a point, but the way she 

1012
00:51:00,520 --> 00:51:05,320
looked at her team like the the 
most haunting grimace I've ever 

1013
00:51:05,320 --> 00:51:08,920
seen in my life. 
Like, I know I, I really feel 

1014
00:51:08,920 --> 00:51:12,440
for her because like she, I 
just, I hope she does what's 

1015
00:51:12,440 --> 00:51:14,720
right for her because she took 
that mental health break that 

1016
00:51:14,720 --> 00:51:18,880
was clearly so good for her. 
And I hope as much as I I want 

1017
00:51:18,880 --> 00:51:21,600
her to continue the success from
last season, I hope that if she 

1018
00:51:21,600 --> 00:51:25,800
needs a break, she takes it. 
Yeah, I think she might struggle

1019
00:51:25,800 --> 00:51:28,440
with expectations and I think 
that now that there's 

1020
00:51:28,440 --> 00:51:31,240
expectations cause a lot of 
people are calling her to win 

1021
00:51:31,240 --> 00:51:32,400
the yesterday open, including 
me. 

1022
00:51:32,400 --> 00:51:36,040
So I apologize Amanda, I I don't
want to be contributing to the 

1023
00:51:36,040 --> 00:51:39,600
pressure, but you better win. 
But yeah, but I think I think 

1024
00:51:39,600 --> 00:51:43,480
she's she's got to figure 
something out mentally because 

1025
00:51:43,480 --> 00:51:49,120
also I don't know in this in the
in the year of our Lord 2026 of 

1026
00:51:49,560 --> 00:51:51,560
crazy ass world that we're in, 
it's like, is anything worth 

1027
00:51:51,560 --> 00:51:54,560
getting that upset about that is
on a tennis court? 

1028
00:51:54,640 --> 00:51:57,320
Like, just like, let's all have 
a moment, you know? 

1029
00:51:57,360 --> 00:51:59,440
I know, I know. 
And it it must be hard too 

1030
00:51:59,440 --> 00:52:01,240
though. 
Like it, it feels like the one 

1031
00:52:01,240 --> 00:52:03,840
thing you should be able to 
control in like a completely 

1032
00:52:03,840 --> 00:52:05,520
uncontrollable world that we're 
living in. 

1033
00:52:05,960 --> 00:52:09,600
So like missing a forehand like 
probably would drive me to 

1034
00:52:09,600 --> 00:52:13,560
insanity as well. 
OK, fair. 

1035
00:52:13,560 --> 00:52:17,240
So she's then she's justified. 
Yes, but but no, I know what you

1036
00:52:17,240 --> 00:52:20,040
mean It it I and I mean again, 
like just to go back to Coco, 

1037
00:52:20,040 --> 00:52:23,280
like she she's always the first 
to be like it's just tennis 

1038
00:52:23,280 --> 00:52:26,600
y'all like yeah, there there are
much more important things going

1039
00:52:26,600 --> 00:52:28,720
on. 
So yeah, I that's a that's a 

1040
00:52:28,720 --> 00:52:31,280
tough mindset to get to, I'm 
sure, but I hope Amanda can get 

1041
00:52:31,280 --> 00:52:33,800
there. 
Yeah, well, Speaking of Coco, I 

1042
00:52:33,800 --> 00:52:36,440
have her down as the other as 
one of the other meltdowns 

1043
00:52:36,440 --> 00:52:40,520
because her serve melted down in
her semi final against Videlina 

1044
00:52:41,040 --> 00:52:44,080
and she had a meltdown for her 
standards, which is like very 

1045
00:52:44,080 --> 00:52:48,040
basically like a a stern word. 
She you know, she looked up at 

1046
00:52:48,040 --> 00:52:50,560
her box and she said like, I've 
been doing what you've been 

1047
00:52:50,560 --> 00:52:53,080
asking me to do for six months 
and I still cannot hit a serve. 

1048
00:52:53,600 --> 00:52:58,680
And it's like I love her, love 
her watching her when she can't 

1049
00:52:58,680 --> 00:53:03,720
hit a serve. 
It's it's so confounding, like 

1050
00:53:03,720 --> 00:53:06,320
how is this happening? 
I feel like it's a basic 

1051
00:53:06,320 --> 00:53:07,600
mechanic change that she needs 
to make. 

1052
00:53:07,600 --> 00:53:08,880
I think she just tosses the ball
too high. 

1053
00:53:08,880 --> 00:53:12,240
I think she just needs to, you 
know, I mean, this is me 

1054
00:53:12,320 --> 00:53:16,760
armchair coach, you know, who 
definitely double faults very 

1055
00:53:16,760 --> 00:53:19,280
often. 
But I'm just I, I, it's, it's 

1056
00:53:19,280 --> 00:53:21,720
weird, like why is she why, what
is going on with her? 

1057
00:53:22,200 --> 00:53:24,640
I know. 
And I used to never worry about 

1058
00:53:24,640 --> 00:53:27,800
her serve. 
And now I'm like, oh, I feel 

1059
00:53:27,800 --> 00:53:29,200
like I'm cringing every time she
steps up. 

1060
00:53:29,200 --> 00:53:31,360
Steps up to the line. 
Yeah. 

1061
00:53:31,360 --> 00:53:32,840
So, yeah, it's. 
It's tough to watch. 

1062
00:53:32,840 --> 00:53:36,600
I've been happy that at least, 
like her forehand hasn't been 

1063
00:53:36,720 --> 00:53:40,360
making me cringe as much. 
So there is something removed. 

1064
00:53:40,480 --> 00:53:42,640
Yeah. 
There's some relief there. 

1065
00:53:42,640 --> 00:53:44,880
But now it's it's on the serve. 
Yeah. 

1066
00:53:44,920 --> 00:53:49,880
So it's it's a tough watch, but.
Yeah, well, and I'm also gonna 

1067
00:53:49,880 --> 00:53:53,520
throw Carlos in for meltdowns, 
even though Carlos refuses to 

1068
00:53:53,520 --> 00:53:55,720
lose this year. 
He's 12 and O, which is amazing,

1069
00:53:56,400 --> 00:53:58,040
even though literally at the 
beginning of the year I was like

1070
00:53:58,040 --> 00:53:59,760
that guy's not going to win 
anything because of this 

1071
00:53:59,760 --> 00:54:01,920
coaching take up. 
But you know, that's that's what

1072
00:54:01,920 --> 00:54:05,600
we do here at the Bob boys And 
yes, he won Qatar destroyed fees

1073
00:54:05,600 --> 00:54:08,080
in the final. 
Like I said, Fees won 24 points,

1074
00:54:08,080 --> 00:54:14,360
which is the fifth lowest ever. 
But he, I was kind of a Dick 

1075
00:54:14,600 --> 00:54:15,800
several times throughout the 
tournament. 

1076
00:54:15,800 --> 00:54:19,280
Carlos, like when he's playing 
against Royer, he was mouthing 

1077
00:54:19,280 --> 00:54:22,440
off to his box a lot. 
He had that argument with the 

1078
00:54:22,440 --> 00:54:25,440
chair umpire about taking time 
to get the towel. 

1079
00:54:25,760 --> 00:54:28,680
He just seems a little bratty, 
right? 

1080
00:54:28,680 --> 00:54:31,760
He's in his brat era, yeah. 
He's a little late to the brat 

1081
00:54:31,760 --> 00:54:33,200
era, but yeah, I think you're 
right. 

1082
00:54:33,640 --> 00:54:36,040
Yeah. 
And I think long term, it's not 

1083
00:54:36,040 --> 00:54:37,920
going to work out for him. 
I think it's going to get, I 

1084
00:54:37,920 --> 00:54:39,120
think it's only going to get 
worse. 

1085
00:54:39,160 --> 00:54:41,760
He's going to become a little 
more unbearable and a little 

1086
00:54:41,760 --> 00:54:46,120
more I I don't know, I just and 
again, also I love to read the 

1087
00:54:46,120 --> 00:54:48,280
tea leaves. 
So I'm like, no, this is the 

1088
00:54:48,280 --> 00:54:50,200
end. 
I'm like Raven Symone, but I 

1089
00:54:50,200 --> 00:54:53,560
mean, I feel like it's not the 
greatest look for him, but also 

1090
00:54:53,560 --> 00:54:56,560
he he continues to win so. 
I know that's a thing. 

1091
00:54:56,720 --> 00:54:59,160
It's tough to watch, but then 
he's still getting the wins. 

1092
00:54:59,160 --> 00:55:01,280
So I'm like, well, I mean, if he
needs to get it out of his 

1093
00:55:01,280 --> 00:55:04,440
system, yeah. 
Because I think, yeah, I think 

1094
00:55:04,440 --> 00:55:08,120
we're all missing Juan Carlos in
his box, and I'm sure he is, 

1095
00:55:08,120 --> 00:55:10,120
too. 
So yeah, I'm like, I was just 

1096
00:55:10,120 --> 00:55:14,800
expecting this from the jump. 
Like I thought in January he was

1097
00:55:14,800 --> 00:55:16,520
going to be lashing out like 
this. 

1098
00:55:16,520 --> 00:55:20,960
So I'm a little surprised that 
it's come later because yeah, I 

1099
00:55:20,960 --> 00:55:22,680
was with you. 
I did not think he would go on 

1100
00:55:22,680 --> 00:55:24,920
this winning streak with that 
change up. 

1101
00:55:26,160 --> 00:55:28,680
But I think that's the thing. 
I think it's like, I think there

1102
00:55:28,680 --> 00:55:33,920
was like a little tear in his 
decorum and his family, his 

1103
00:55:34,000 --> 00:55:36,040
especially his brother who can't
even give him a fucking haircut 

1104
00:55:36,320 --> 00:55:37,760
is they're not going to keep him
in line. 

1105
00:55:38,000 --> 00:55:40,120
So it's like that tear is 
continuing to open. 

1106
00:55:40,120 --> 00:55:43,200
And I think like it might like 
by French, he might be like 

1107
00:55:43,200 --> 00:55:46,000
flipping people off, like he 
might be smashing rackets, like,

1108
00:55:46,000 --> 00:55:48,720
I don't know, I don't know. 
Like the trend line is there. 

1109
00:55:48,720 --> 00:55:52,120
We'll see, we'll see. 
And you know, Speaking of bad 

1110
00:55:52,120 --> 00:55:54,480
looks also for Carlos, I'm just 
going to call out. 

1111
00:55:54,480 --> 00:55:57,840
Another thing that bothered me 
was the appearance fees for Abu 

1112
00:55:57,840 --> 00:56:01,320
Dhabi. 
Carlos and Yannick each got $1.2

1113
00:56:01,320 --> 00:56:07,840
million just to play at Cutter. 
I, I don't know, like for 

1114
00:56:07,840 --> 00:56:11,760
perspective, Carlos won the 
tournament and he got $530,000 

1115
00:56:11,760 --> 00:56:13,160
for winning the tournament, 
right? 

1116
00:56:13,800 --> 00:56:16,480
So much more than double that 
they get just for showing up. 

1117
00:56:17,000 --> 00:56:19,240
I don't know, it's a part of the
game, I guess. 

1118
00:56:19,240 --> 00:56:21,840
And of course, you know, 
countries that have a lot of 

1119
00:56:21,840 --> 00:56:24,520
money want to sport wash and get
the big players there. 

1120
00:56:24,520 --> 00:56:30,240
But given the sort of inequality
on tour of players inside and 

1121
00:56:30,240 --> 00:56:33,560
outside of the top 100, it just 
feels greedy, like they really 

1122
00:56:33,560 --> 00:56:36,960
need $1.2 million. 
I know, especially when you 

1123
00:56:36,960 --> 00:56:39,560
think about what they're making 
off the court too, I'm like, I 

1124
00:56:39,560 --> 00:56:43,160
don't, I don't think they need 
that much extra income. 

1125
00:56:43,560 --> 00:56:46,280
Like they're for sale. 
Right, right, right, right. 

1126
00:56:46,400 --> 00:56:49,200
Yeah, it feels it. 
It feels a little bit out of 

1127
00:56:49,200 --> 00:56:51,440
control, That number, especially
when you compare it, like you 

1128
00:56:51,440 --> 00:56:54,480
said, to the prize money, it's 
like, yeah, it's hard to 

1129
00:56:54,480 --> 00:56:56,440
stomach. 
Exactly, I I feel like there 

1130
00:56:56,440 --> 00:56:59,040
needs to be some unspoken or 
even official. 

1131
00:56:59,040 --> 00:57:02,480
It's like the appearance fee 
cannot dwarf winner's fee. 

1132
00:57:02,480 --> 00:57:05,560
Like that's just like like like 
what's what's the point then 

1133
00:57:05,680 --> 00:57:07,640
take away prize money then and 
just make it all appearance 

1134
00:57:07,640 --> 00:57:09,280
fees. 
It's weird, like it doesn't 

1135
00:57:09,280 --> 00:57:12,520
leave a the greatest taste in my
mouth to to see that happening. 

1136
00:57:12,520 --> 00:57:15,200
And and then, you know, 
interestingly enough, sits Apas,

1137
00:57:15,200 --> 00:57:17,640
comes out and gets involved in 
the conversation. 

1138
00:57:17,840 --> 00:57:20,720
He's like, look, I don't play 
the South American swing because

1139
00:57:20,720 --> 00:57:22,760
these parents fees are not high 
enough. 

1140
00:57:23,520 --> 00:57:26,040
First of all, are people really 
paying Stefanos Tsitsipas that 

1141
00:57:26,040 --> 00:57:27,520
much to come to a tournament 
these days? 

1142
00:57:27,680 --> 00:57:30,440
I wouldn't think so, but here he
is. 

1143
00:57:30,680 --> 00:57:34,120
Like, I mean, he's dropped out 
of the Top 40 for the first time

1144
00:57:34,120 --> 00:57:37,480
in eight years. 
I have a soft spot for him. 

1145
00:57:37,560 --> 00:57:39,680
When he plays well, he plays 
really, really well. 

1146
00:57:40,520 --> 00:57:43,560
I do think he's hot. 
I loved the toxic relationship 

1147
00:57:43,560 --> 00:57:45,680
between him and Paula. 
I loved him. 

1148
00:57:46,040 --> 00:57:48,720
That it, it was a it was a fun 
era, yeah. 

1149
00:57:48,760 --> 00:57:50,680
Yeah, yeah. 
Like it was like when Shawn 

1150
00:57:50,680 --> 00:57:52,560
Mendes and Camila Cabello were 
dating. 

1151
00:57:52,560 --> 00:57:55,680
It's just like weird to look at 
but I couldn't. 

1152
00:57:55,680 --> 00:57:57,200
Walk away. 
I know. 

1153
00:57:57,200 --> 00:57:59,400
I agree. 
Yeah, I wanted like a full 

1154
00:57:59,480 --> 00:58:01,120
reality spin off about the two 
of them. 

1155
00:58:01,120 --> 00:58:03,400
Oh. 
I know I I still hope they get 

1156
00:58:03,400 --> 00:58:07,000
back together. 
You never know, you never know, 

1157
00:58:07,920 --> 00:58:09,600
you know, in ROM coms they 
always come back together. 

1158
00:58:09,600 --> 00:58:11,480
Maybe they're maybe this is 
their ROM com and it's just a 

1159
00:58:11,480 --> 00:58:13,560
really weird one. 
This could be their third act 

1160
00:58:13,560 --> 00:58:17,720
breakup where you know that it's
it's going to circle back and 

1161
00:58:17,720 --> 00:58:21,480
they might get together OK. 
Since he does, we're ready for 

1162
00:58:21,480 --> 00:58:24,560
this. 
The last thing that is bothered 

1163
00:58:24,560 --> 00:58:28,600
on tour was the entire Acapulco 
tournament literally had an 

1164
00:58:28,600 --> 00:58:30,840
earthquake during a match Severa
was playing and there was 

1165
00:58:30,840 --> 00:58:34,320
literally an earthquake. 
There is a fair amount of social

1166
00:58:34,320 --> 00:58:37,880
instability going on across the 
country and they continue the 

1167
00:58:37,880 --> 00:58:40,600
tournament going on despite all 
the cartels and everything, 

1168
00:58:40,600 --> 00:58:42,640
which is just as like, wait, 
what are we doing here? 

1169
00:58:43,040 --> 00:58:45,240
Is it this important to play 
tournament when maybe there's 

1170
00:58:45,240 --> 00:58:48,840
actual like danger afoot? 
And not to be xenophobic or 

1171
00:58:48,840 --> 00:58:51,200
overreacting or or not 
understanding cultures or 

1172
00:58:51,200 --> 00:58:52,480
anything. 
And like I understand a country 

1173
00:58:52,480 --> 00:58:56,000
is big, but there was unrest 
across the country so just it 

1174
00:58:56,040 --> 00:58:58,160
felt weird. 
I agree. 

1175
00:58:58,720 --> 00:59:01,360
Yeah. 
It often feels like, and not 

1176
00:59:01,360 --> 00:59:04,520
just with tennis, but like we're
going through the normal motions

1177
00:59:04,520 --> 00:59:06,560
when everything around us is so 
abnormal. 

1178
00:59:07,560 --> 00:59:10,720
So it's it's a strange thing 
where it's like I need tennis as

1179
00:59:10,720 --> 00:59:13,200
an escape. 
But I also recognize that it's 

1180
00:59:13,200 --> 00:59:15,760
so unimportant compared to 
what's going on in some of the 

1181
00:59:15,760 --> 00:59:18,240
countries that these tournaments
are being hosted in right now. 

1182
00:59:18,640 --> 00:59:19,600
Yeah. 
Yeah. 

1183
00:59:19,800 --> 00:59:22,720
And again, listeners, yeah, we 
fully acknowledge that, like, I 

1184
00:59:22,800 --> 00:59:24,400
cannot solve the world's 
problems. 

1185
00:59:24,600 --> 00:59:26,720
Tom, if you have a solution to 
everything going on, please, I 

1186
00:59:26,880 --> 00:59:27,920
actually can. 
Yeah. 

1187
00:59:29,840 --> 00:59:33,480
Slides. 
And then one more like weird 

1188
00:59:33,480 --> 00:59:35,640
thing that happened in Acapulco 
was that really bizarre match 

1189
00:59:35,640 --> 00:59:39,440
point between Terrence Atman and
Miramar Kekmanovich, where, I 

1190
00:59:39,440 --> 00:59:40,920
mean, Atman was like, sick as a 
dog. 

1191
00:59:40,920 --> 00:59:43,520
I think he threw up on the court
at one point and he got a time 

1192
00:59:43,520 --> 00:59:46,520
violation on match point, but it
was his second one, so he lost 

1193
00:59:46,520 --> 00:59:48,760
the point and so then that was 
the end of the match. 

1194
00:59:48,760 --> 00:59:51,640
It was just like you never see, 
you never see that as an ending 

1195
00:59:51,640 --> 00:59:54,400
of a match. 
It's a strange anti climactic 

1196
00:59:54,400 --> 00:59:57,720
way to end a match for sure. 
Like I can get it for a code 

1197
00:59:57,720 --> 01:00:00,600
violation if you smash your 
racket or you like hit a ball 

1198
01:00:00,600 --> 01:00:04,880
into a blinds person, fine. 
But like a time violation 

1199
01:00:04,880 --> 01:00:06,880
leading to the loss of a point 
which is the loss of a match. 

1200
01:00:06,880 --> 01:00:08,640
It just felt very weird. 
Very, very. 

1201
01:00:08,680 --> 01:00:11,600
Weird. 
Yeah, of the times. 

1202
01:00:12,960 --> 01:00:15,760
Well, so that was hot and 
bothered, which I think maybe I 

1203
01:00:15,760 --> 01:00:17,480
kind of like doing twit as hot 
and bothered. 

1204
01:00:17,480 --> 01:00:19,840
That might be like the new thing
that we're doing, like it's like

1205
01:00:19,840 --> 01:00:20,120
hot. 
And. 

1206
01:00:20,200 --> 01:00:23,800
Cincinnati or whatever. 
But also, folks, we do have a 

1207
01:00:23,800 --> 01:00:26,360
new Bay TP rankings. 
With all of this action going 

1208
01:00:26,360 --> 01:00:31,040
on, the Bay TP is out and it is 
reflecting the hottest moves on 

1209
01:00:31,040 --> 01:00:33,800
and off the court. 
Once again, this is not just a 

1210
01:00:33,800 --> 01:00:37,000
list of the hottest guys 'cause 
it'll be the same list over and 

1211
01:00:37,000 --> 01:00:39,120
over again. 
And I can't keep spelling Tommy 

1212
01:00:39,120 --> 01:00:42,880
Paul's name so. 
But it is the guys who are hot 

1213
01:00:42,880 --> 01:00:44,000
and winning because you know 
what? 

1214
01:00:44,000 --> 01:00:46,640
It's super hot to win. 
And I'll always go back to 

1215
01:00:46,640 --> 01:00:49,240
heated rivalry. 
You know why those three guys 

1216
01:00:49,240 --> 01:00:51,120
were so hot? 
Because they were the best three

1217
01:00:51,120 --> 01:00:53,360
goddamn players on the freaking 
league. 

1218
01:00:53,520 --> 01:00:57,240
It wasn't just they were gay 
because they were gay and good. 

1219
01:00:57,400 --> 01:01:02,000
So it's hot to win. 
You know, it's not like Leo and 

1220
01:01:02,000 --> 01:01:05,040
Gabe are slouches on tour. 
No, certainly. 

1221
01:01:05,040 --> 01:01:06,840
Not yeah. 
So they are. 

1222
01:01:07,440 --> 01:01:09,960
They are two of the best, 
certainly too with the best 

1223
01:01:09,960 --> 01:01:12,880
Americans. 
Yeah, so it's it's hot to win. 

1224
01:01:12,920 --> 01:01:14,640
Sorry, I don't know, maybe 
that's offensive, but it's hot 

1225
01:01:14,640 --> 01:01:16,240
to win. 
So anyway, we've got this new 

1226
01:01:16,240 --> 01:01:19,120
Bay TP. 
You know, Carlos is on there, 

1227
01:01:19,120 --> 01:01:21,920
Valentine Vassaro, just because 
that interview is on there. 

1228
01:01:22,840 --> 01:01:25,120
Echevari is on there because he 
won. 

1229
01:01:25,160 --> 01:01:28,120
He wins his first tournament in 
a ridiculous marathon manner. 

1230
01:01:28,440 --> 01:01:31,720
So go to our Instagram, check it
out and let us know what you 

1231
01:01:31,720 --> 01:01:36,360
think and if we missed anyone. 
And we're going to wrap up with 

1232
01:01:36,480 --> 01:01:39,400
a quick chat about Indian Wells 
because that is coming up. 

1233
01:01:39,400 --> 01:01:42,520
It's the 5th Slam. 
The ATP and the WTA is there. 

1234
01:01:42,520 --> 01:01:45,080
I love whenever, when both tours
are at the same tournament. 

1235
01:01:47,120 --> 01:01:51,120
Question in the 30 Love 
universe, who ends up winning 

1236
01:01:51,120 --> 01:01:54,160
Indian Wells first, Leo or Gabe,
the two main characters? 

1237
01:01:56,680 --> 01:02:00,360
That's a tough one. 
I am going to say Leo. 

1238
01:02:01,360 --> 01:02:04,160
I think he is the more 
consistent player. 

1239
01:02:04,520 --> 01:02:07,920
He is higher ranked. 
So I'm I'm going to say Leo. 

1240
01:02:08,560 --> 01:02:11,600
OK, OK. 
I don't know if I agree. 

1241
01:02:12,040 --> 01:02:17,200
I think that Gabe, I think on 
the heels of some things that 

1242
01:02:17,200 --> 01:02:20,160
happen, I think that Gabe is 
going to feel extra competitive.

1243
01:02:21,440 --> 01:02:25,360
And I think that he knows Leo 
intimately. 

1244
01:02:26,480 --> 01:02:29,800
I think that he's mentally a 
little craftier. 

1245
01:02:30,760 --> 01:02:33,120
Definitely. 
My money is on Gabe so. 

1246
01:02:33,200 --> 01:02:35,400
Okay, I love it. 
I mean, they're like completely 

1247
01:02:35,400 --> 01:02:38,400
different play styles. 
Totally this. 

1248
01:02:38,440 --> 01:02:42,160
Leo is like such a hardcore 
power player and Gabe is, yeah, 

1249
01:02:42,160 --> 01:02:44,440
he's super crafty. 
He loves a drop shot. 

1250
01:02:45,040 --> 01:02:47,080
So yeah, I mean, you really can 
make a case for either. 

1251
01:02:47,400 --> 01:02:50,760
Yeah, well, OK, so next time 
they play at Indian Wells, 

1252
01:02:50,760 --> 01:02:52,760
you'll have to come back and 
we'll have to see who was right 

1253
01:02:52,800 --> 01:02:55,600
and maybe in the next. 
Oh my God. 

1254
01:02:55,600 --> 01:02:58,200
OK, so if in the next book you 
have Leo winning Indian Wells, 

1255
01:02:58,200 --> 01:03:01,360
I'm going to be so mad. 
But and but I will, I'll I'll 

1256
01:03:01,360 --> 01:03:04,920
move past it somehow. 
The draws actually aren't out 

1257
01:03:04,920 --> 01:03:06,840
yet for Indian Wells because 
Indian Wells it actually starts 

1258
01:03:06,840 --> 01:03:09,560
on Wednesday. 
So we don't know who any first 

1259
01:03:09,560 --> 01:03:14,040
round matchups coming up, but 
who's your pick to take it all 

1260
01:03:14,040 --> 01:03:16,880
for the men? 
I know it's a boring, easy 

1261
01:03:16,880 --> 01:03:20,120
answer, but I I want to say 
Alcaraz, yeah. 

1262
01:03:21,200 --> 01:03:25,120
I never go with like the 'cause 
I also, and this might be a 

1263
01:03:25,120 --> 01:03:28,360
clear thing, I love an underdog.
I love the unexpected. 

1264
01:03:28,640 --> 01:03:34,040
I don't want to say Alcaraz, but
I it's really hard to not say 

1265
01:03:34,040 --> 01:03:35,360
Alcaraz. 
I know. 

1266
01:03:35,360 --> 01:03:39,720
I feel like if I weren't, I keep
thinking about Menschick's win 

1267
01:03:39,720 --> 01:03:45,480
over Sinner and I wonder if, you
know, maybe he'll break out and 

1268
01:03:45,960 --> 01:03:46,920
take it. 
You never know. 

1269
01:03:47,720 --> 01:03:51,120
I think he, I think fees, I 
think Booblick on a good day, 

1270
01:03:51,120 --> 01:03:54,680
Booblick has kind of gone away. 
But I think they can all be 

1271
01:03:54,680 --> 01:03:57,440
tough for Carlos in a best of 
three. 

1272
01:03:57,680 --> 01:04:01,080
I think best of five, Carlos has
them all, but best of three, I 

1273
01:04:01,080 --> 01:04:05,400
think it's possible, but I think
it's right now he's in such a 

1274
01:04:05,400 --> 01:04:08,120
dominant form that yeah, I think
it's, I think it's going to be 

1275
01:04:08,120 --> 01:04:11,320
Carlos, too. 
Women's side feels much more 

1276
01:04:11,320 --> 01:04:12,280
open. 
Yeah. 

1277
01:04:13,200 --> 01:04:14,800
I couldn't like I. 
Agree. 

1278
01:04:14,920 --> 01:04:16,800
Who are your top three picks for
the women? 

1279
01:04:17,440 --> 01:04:19,280
Oh top. 
Three, OK, because I think it's 

1280
01:04:19,280 --> 01:04:21,520
impossible to say 1. 
I mean, it's like, Oh yeah. 

1281
01:04:21,640 --> 01:04:24,080
It's impossible. 
So I mean, I'm wondering if it's

1282
01:04:24,080 --> 01:04:28,360
like a 2023 reboot where it's 
Carlos and Rabacana as the 

1283
01:04:28,360 --> 01:04:33,320
winners again. 
But also I, I mean, I want to 

1284
01:04:33,320 --> 01:04:36,560
like be delulu and be like, it's
Osaka just because I love her so

1285
01:04:36,560 --> 01:04:38,400
much. 
And I'm like, it's this time. 

1286
01:04:38,400 --> 01:04:41,120
Every tournament I'm like, this 
is this is going to be it. 

1287
01:04:42,200 --> 01:04:45,600
But also I love him Boko. 
She's been having such great 

1288
01:04:45,600 --> 01:04:47,880
results and I love watching her 
play. 

1289
01:04:47,880 --> 01:04:52,160
And I could, I could see her 
being the underdog here and 

1290
01:04:52,320 --> 01:04:55,680
going far. 
I love watching her game like we

1291
01:04:55,680 --> 01:04:57,560
talked about getting stressed 
watching some people like I'd 

1292
01:04:57,560 --> 01:05:00,720
like her. 
Her mechanics are so solid. 

1293
01:05:00,920 --> 01:05:04,520
It's a beautiful game to watch. 
Yes, I love the final between 

1294
01:05:04,520 --> 01:05:07,840
her and Mukova. 
I love Carolina Mukova like I 

1295
01:05:07,840 --> 01:05:09,960
love her. 
I'm like am IA lesbian like I 

1296
01:05:09,960 --> 01:05:14,560
just her her eyebrows just like 
her gameplay like she's just 

1297
01:05:15,080 --> 01:05:17,720
she's fucking cool. 
I know she is and I OK. 

1298
01:05:17,720 --> 01:05:21,680
I I would, can I add a top four?
I would, I would add Mahova as 

1299
01:05:21,800 --> 01:05:23,120
OK. 
Oh, last fourth. 

1300
01:05:23,120 --> 01:05:23,800
OK. 
Thank you. 

1301
01:05:24,040 --> 01:05:26,360
Yeah, yeah, yeah. 
And especially because you you 

1302
01:05:26,360 --> 01:05:30,640
need to replace Naomi. 
I know I I fully accept that 

1303
01:05:30,640 --> 01:05:32,680
that's a delicious choice, but 
I'm putting it out there. 

1304
01:05:32,680 --> 01:05:35,200
For do you think do you think 
Naomi's going to win a Grand 

1305
01:05:35,200 --> 01:05:38,480
Slam again or she just. 
I like. 

1306
01:05:38,480 --> 01:05:43,960
I want to say yes because I I, 
you know, like her semis run at 

1307
01:05:43,960 --> 01:05:47,120
the US Open, I was kind of like,
OK, And then, you know, I know 

1308
01:05:47,120 --> 01:05:49,720
this is like taken aback a 
little far, but when she almost 

1309
01:05:49,720 --> 01:05:53,480
beat Eaga at the French, she had
match points on her. 

1310
01:05:54,120 --> 01:05:57,760
And I remember after that I was 
like, OK, yeah, like she's got 

1311
01:05:57,760 --> 01:05:59,040
it. 
She's going to come back if she 

1312
01:05:59,040 --> 01:06:02,080
can beat Eaga at the French. 
Like, I know she didn't, but she

1313
01:06:02,080 --> 01:06:05,240
was close. 
But I don't know. 

1314
01:06:05,240 --> 01:06:09,680
She's so up and down. 
I, I, I want to say yes because 

1315
01:06:09,760 --> 01:06:13,640
I love her, but I, I'm not 100% 
sure. 

1316
01:06:13,640 --> 01:06:17,880
Yeah. 
I, I, I think you're slightly 

1317
01:06:17,880 --> 01:06:21,880
lower than 100% sure for sure. 
I think she's got like maybe a 

1318
01:06:21,880 --> 01:06:23,400
25% chance. 
Maybe. 

1319
01:06:23,400 --> 01:06:26,280
I know, but it's, it's, it's 
true. 

1320
01:06:26,280 --> 01:06:30,720
It's because when those 4 slams 
she won, that was a that was a 

1321
01:06:30,920 --> 01:06:34,720
powerful moment and I was, it 
was crazy. 

1322
01:06:34,720 --> 01:06:38,240
Like the arc of those from the 
craziness with the Serena final 

1323
01:06:38,240 --> 01:06:41,240
to winning during COVID, it was 
a really weird time in history 

1324
01:06:41,240 --> 01:06:43,960
that she was just dominant. 
Yeah, I know. 

1325
01:06:43,960 --> 01:06:46,920
And I feel like that's like sort
of why I'm still stuck in that 

1326
01:06:46,920 --> 01:06:50,840
era because it was, it was so 
wild to watch that I'm yeah, I'm

1327
01:06:50,840 --> 01:06:54,840
still, I'm still there. 
One more, one more. 

1328
01:06:55,200 --> 01:06:57,880
Yeah, Yeah. 
Well, I just have to say I'm 

1329
01:06:57,880 --> 01:07:01,440
also calling out Indian Wells, 
maybe Larry Ellison 

1330
01:07:01,440 --> 01:07:04,240
specifically, because they did 
not give Stan Vavrinka a wild 

1331
01:07:04,240 --> 01:07:06,800
card. 
I am sorry. 

1332
01:07:06,800 --> 01:07:10,840
That is BS because also he's 
playing well and he's seen us, 

1333
01:07:12,800 --> 01:07:14,200
you know. 
Yeah, he's not going to win the 

1334
01:07:14,200 --> 01:07:17,360
tournament, but neither are 95 
other people. 

1335
01:07:17,360 --> 01:07:20,960
And he's going to get a win in a
couple of rounds probably in 

1336
01:07:20,960 --> 01:07:23,080
most tournaments. 
The enters and that backhand. 

1337
01:07:23,480 --> 01:07:26,920
I was going to say put them in 
just so people can watch that 

1338
01:07:26,920 --> 01:07:29,840
backhand. 
I am gay for that backhand. 

1339
01:07:29,880 --> 01:07:31,600
I am a lesbian for that 
backhand. 

1340
01:07:31,600 --> 01:07:35,640
Like, Oh my God, that is the 
most beautiful thing, that most 

1341
01:07:35,640 --> 01:07:38,680
beautiful shot in the 20th 
century, 21st century. 

1342
01:07:38,720 --> 01:07:40,040
What century are we in? 
I don't even know. 

1343
01:07:40,360 --> 01:07:42,560
But who knows anymore? 
Yeah, where where am I? 

1344
01:07:42,560 --> 01:07:44,600
When are we? 
But that is the most beautiful 

1345
01:07:44,600 --> 01:07:46,920
shot that has been on tour for 
decades. 

1346
01:07:46,960 --> 01:07:49,160
I'm I'm going to stand by that, 
hang that in the Louvre. 

1347
01:07:49,360 --> 01:07:51,880
Yeah, I know. 
I mean, and really anyone handed

1348
01:07:51,880 --> 01:07:54,960
backhand, one handed backhound 
down the line is the most 

1349
01:07:54,960 --> 01:07:58,040
beautiful shot to me. 
And I will say that Leo, the 

1350
01:07:58,040 --> 01:08:00,640
main character in the book, does
have a one handed backhand for 

1351
01:08:00,640 --> 01:08:02,760
that reason. 
Oh. 

1352
01:08:03,000 --> 01:08:04,240
Can't get enough? 
Yes. 

1353
01:08:04,720 --> 01:08:08,920
Well, and also, if I was going 
to pick a a gay shot, right 

1354
01:08:08,920 --> 01:08:11,520
behind the drop shot would be 
the one handed backhand like 

1355
01:08:11,520 --> 01:08:14,760
it's a queer shot. 
Tom, that's our show. 

1356
01:08:14,760 --> 01:08:17,359
I feel like I just went around 
the world with you several 

1357
01:08:17,359 --> 01:08:20,479
times. 
Thank you so much for coming on 

1358
01:08:20,479 --> 01:08:22,319
the show. 
It's been an honor. 

1359
01:08:23,240 --> 01:08:25,000
I can't wait for everyone to 
love your book. 

1360
01:08:25,040 --> 01:08:27,479
Everyone Go Out There drops 
March 10th. 

1361
01:08:27,720 --> 01:08:28,399
Did you have fun? 
Oh. 

1362
01:08:28,800 --> 01:08:31,319
My God I had so much fun. 
I can't believe I'm finally a 

1363
01:08:31,319 --> 01:08:32,399
ball boy. 
You're a ball. 

1364
01:08:32,399 --> 01:08:34,840
You're officially a ball boy. 
And even if you don't have a 

1365
01:08:34,840 --> 01:08:36,880
book, will you come back? 
Oh. 

1366
01:08:37,120 --> 01:08:40,040
My God, I would love to. 
Come back with any, anytime, 

1367
01:08:40,040 --> 01:08:42,080
anywhere. 
You've been a delight to have 

1368
01:08:42,080 --> 01:08:44,520
on. 
And we'll play more games in the

1369
01:08:44,520 --> 01:08:46,120
future. 
Yes, please. 

1370
01:08:46,520 --> 01:08:50,160
And folks, we'll be back in just
a few weeks with a new show 

1371
01:08:50,160 --> 01:08:54,840
recapping all the madcap action 
out in the desert and also a 

1372
01:08:54,840 --> 01:08:58,760
recap of the first ever first 
annual Tennis and Tea Dance in 

1373
01:08:58,760 --> 01:09:01,200
Indian Wells. 
Again, grab your tickets, 

1374
01:09:01,200 --> 01:09:04,200
Lincoln Bio. 
But until then, our balls are 

1375
01:09:04,200 --> 01:09:06,680
going back in the can. 
Thanks everybody. 

1376
01:09:07,319 --> 01:09:09,439
Bye. 
It's time for let's get some 

1377
01:09:10,720 --> 01:09:12,720
ground strokes. 
Baseline. 

1378
01:09:13,399 --> 01:09:16,920
It's top spin. 
That's LGBT. 

1379
01:09:17,640 --> 01:09:18,399
Have a listen.