It's time for let's get some ground strokes, baseline, get
some top spin that's LGBT. Have a listen.
Make some noise with the ball boys.
Hey everybody, and welcome to the latest episode of The Ball
Boys. We are the tennis podcast that
puts the meddling in Mediterranean.
I'm your host, Paul Monkle. I'm bringing you the insights,
outbursts, giggles and wiggles of the ATP and WTA tours.
And welcome to clay season, everyone.
Things are getting messy and dirty and caked up.
And that's just the action off the court.
Maybe it's because we're in that oh so slight lull that happens
in the tours just after the Sunshine Double.
But the players are feeling that time by opening up the rumor
mill. Did so and so break up?
Who called who ugly and who stole whose coach?
The drama starring Zendaya. Anyway, all this gossip fits
perfectly into the clay season. The shoes are muddy and the mud
is slinging. The balls are flying about as
fast as the rumors and serves are breaking about as often as
the news is about the latest breakups or scandals.
So today we are dishing the dirt.
But we are not dissing the dirt Ballers.
Because I, for one, love the clay.
We got a little taste of the clay mates earlier in the season
down in South America, but now things are in full swing.
And since the last show, it's been nothing but clay all day.
But it's also sort of in the US versus the world, not just
politically, but also because we had our two clay tournaments in
the US with a couple of Americans taking home the
titles, and then literally everyone else turned their
attention to Europe, highlighted by the Masters 1000 in Monte
Carlo. I said it last year and I will
say it again, this is my tennis paradise.
It is so romantic, historic, sexy.
I want to live at the club in Monte Carlo or even in the
grotto underneath it. And so today we are rolling
around in the dirt and talking all the Goss hips and the top
hits from the last two weeks. We have a brand spanking noob
ATP featuring this tournament's Arthur Fees.
Heading over to our Instagram and see those full rankings and
let us know who we missed and also listeners, if you or anyone
you know is gay for football or basketball or any other sport
and you want to be involved in the next ball boys series, let
us know. Heading over to our Instagram,
that's at TBB tennis. Again, that's at TBB.
The letters as in the ball boys tennis at TBB tennis because we
are growing and we are for anyone who is gay for any sport.
So with all that said, to get through everything, I've got a
brand spanking new ball boy with me today.
Just in time for a Houston recap, we have a cowboy from the
Lone Star State. He's a full time publicist as
well as a writer for local LGBTQ plus institutions like Outsmart
Magazine and My Gay Houston, and an avid tennis player and member
of Houston's gay tennis league, the Houston Tennis Club.
He's the birthday, he's the baddie.
It's Zach McKenzie. Oh my God, hello I'm so excited.
Hi Zach, I am so excited to have you here.
You know, we've been talking for a little while now and I've been
wanting to get you on the show forever.
You are a fellow Scorpio. I still think we need to do a
spooky episode together just cause it's in our blood.
I think so too and I have a friend who does astrology
readings who really keeps me in check so I think that she could
give us some pre show topics to talk and insights.
Well, OK, side note, not to like tip my cards, but I do believe
that there is like a tennis astrology connection where it's
like you play like such a Scorpio, oh your service, such a
Capricorn. I don't know what it is yet
'cause I don't really know much about the astrology, but there's
something. OK.
You were talking about doing like a coffee table book in the
last episode I think, and that could be a chapter at least.
I mean, we got a lot of projects and products we got to get out
there, folks. I need an intern, I need a crew.
But yeah, I'm very excited to have you on here.
So you're a writer as well as a publicist.
I don't really know what a publicist does, so I'm going to
ignore that. But as a writer, what kind of
things do you write about? Yeah, so I started writing back
in 2018, I think, and it was right around the year that I was
coming out of the closet, honestly.
And, or maybe I was, it was a few years before that I was
writing for another magazine. And then I parlayed that work
into writing for Outsmart. And it's been really cool
because I like I interview local Houstonians in the LGBTQ plus
community and it's Houston is huge.
We're the 4th largest city in the nation and the most diverse.
So it's really cool to be able to interview and tell the
stories of business owners, chefs, actors, singers,
performers around town. Drag Queens.
Like throw a Rock. I've probably interviewed that
drag queen, you know what I mean?
Like it's been so not. A rock.
Well, OK, go to the fall or a brick.
Yeah, Oh my God. And so, yeah, it's been really
cool. And within that, I've been able
to use that portfolio of interviewing local Houstonians
to interview celebrities. So I've gotten to interview like
Isaac Bizraki and Chelsea Handler and Orville Peck, you
know, so it's been really cool and writing for My Gay Houston,
it's kind of a guide to just show people outside of Houston
that we're a welcoming city. We have an amazing neighborhood.
We have affirming spaces and perfect like restaurants to go
to. I manage the social media as
well. And we have a drag queen named
Queen Persephone who we send out on these different assignments
to go and try out restaurants. And she's in full drag, you
know, and so she's going into these spaces in wig, makeup,
dress, and nobody cares, you know what I mean?
And if they care, it's because they want a picture with her or
something, you know? So it's it's been a really cool
way to share the story of Houston with readers and
visitors from outside of the city, but as well as sharing
stories of Houstonians within the city for people who may not
know who they are. Oh, that's so great.
I mean, I guess I am embarrassed to admit I've never been to
Houston. In fact, I lived in New York for
so long I keep almost calling it Houston.
But it's Houston. Right.
Well, and The thing is, is like in Texas, and I'm not going to
be one of these people that craps on other cities, I went to
UT in Austin and I lived there for five years.
And whenever I moved to Houston, it was an immediate culture
shock because it was huge, sprawling.
There's so many different skylines versus Austin's one.
You know, it's the way I've always described it is that
Austin's kind of the younger brother who tells you why it's
so cool. And then Houston's kind of the
cooler older sister who's like, smoking a cigarette in the
corner. And she's like, I'm cool too,
but I'm not going to tell you why.
You know, Like, you're going to come and you're going to figure
out which part of the city you like, what food you like.
It's I love Houston. I've fallen in love with it.
I've been here since 2014. OK, OK, I, I've been to Dallas
then, you know, I guess we won't name her, but I actually did.
I did a I so I'm in, I'm a market researcher.
I work in marketing and I do ethnographies and all that.
And so I went to Dallas to learn about the gay scene there.
And like the biggest take away I had was the phrase dalitude,
which is the attitude that the gay people in Dallas have.
Or maybe even just it's just like the overarching like, yeah,
you've got Dalitude, which is like, wow, that's.
I I've lived in Texas my whole life.
That's my first time hearing that.
Oh, really? Yeah.
Oh, wow. Oh well.
Well, you're welcome. We need one in Houston.
I guess we'll have to figure that one out too.
Yeah, before we get off your writing, you also have a sub
stack, right? Yeah, thanks for mentioning
that. I whenever I found out about Sub
Stack, I was like, you know what, this is basically like
back in the day whenever people had Zangas or like, Oh yeah,
Blogspot, whatever it is, you know.
And so being able to write my own personal essays on that I'm
able to share things that I would share with in my friends
circles or just ideas that I want to get out there and see if
other people relate to them, you know?
And I write one a month and it's totally free.
And I love the act of publishing.
There's a quote and I forget who said it, but nobody likes to
write. It's the being done with writing
and being able to share it with people and seeing the response
has been the cool fart. So yeah, I really enjoy it.
It's been fun. And just so people can find it,
what's the name of it? He's just my under score.
Zach McKenzie Yeah. And I can double check that
because it's funny because, like, I spend so much time on it
that I don't actually look at mine.
Right. Oh, it's just at Zachary
McKenzie, Zach. OK, so folks, don't listen to
him. He was lying about his name a
minute ago, but now it's Zachary McKenzie at Zachary McKenzie on
Slipstack. Amazing.
Yeah. Oh, by the way, was everyone in
Houston just like a total maniac about Artemis?
It's so crazy that you say that because, yes, the really, like,
every single person I talked to. And it's funny because, like,
people who I didn't even know were into space, particularly a
lot of my girlfriends that were watching.
And specifically whenever that astronaut that wanted to name
one of the craters after his late wife, I think, oh, my God,
yeah, that way. That way, double platinum on my
Instagram feed like I that's all anybody was talking about.
I will say it, anything that gives hope core these days, I
think we're latching onto with a death grip because people, like
I said, people who weren't even into it were very into it.
And I'll roll my eyes and stuff that's kind of like popping off
in culture or whatever, but I wasn't going to yuck anybody's
Yum. And it was really inspiring.
It's cool. I'm yeah, I was here for it.
Well, you can leave the yucking of people's Yum to me because
that is kind of my my Forte. I don't even know if I believe
in the moon landing. I'm just kidding.
I love your take of Hope Core, because we're going to need
another planet soon. So let's like, get going.
That Project Hail Mary is closer than we think.
So yeah. Well, I'll write our Teslas up
to the to Mars. Oh, how dare you.
I will crash into the moon. Let's go a little deeper into
your tennis background with our segment that we call new balls,
please. So we play this with every new
ball boy where I just want to go a little deeper.
I want to probe on just how gay you are for tennis.
So, Zach McKenzie, Are you ready for some rapid fire questions?
I'm so ready. All right.
And by the way, well, first question, do you like Zach or
Zachary? I go by Zach but but on sub
stack apparently Zachary. Yeah, apparently.
And when I get mad at you, it's Zachary.
Zachary Banks. A famous nickname from college.
Yeah. Oh, God, I bet.
And have you been in? Have you been in Texas your
whole life? I grew up in a small town an
hour north of Austin. What's the name of the town?
It's called lampasses. What is it?
It's called lampasses. Lampasses.
All right, shout out lampasses. Hey y'all giddy up, OK?
Are you gay TP or WT gay? Do you like the ATP or Women's
store more? Thank you for explaining.
I I really I I waffle, but lately it's been very gay.
TP Yeah. I think it's just a because it's
like what's been on my TV lately and Monte Carlo wrapping up and
watching that happen in Houston. It's also just kind of like the
real obviously the eye candy, not not horrible, but also just
I just and I know we're going to get into Monte Carlo soon, but
like just a video of Carlos and Yannick, like him recording him
jumping off of the diving board. I talk about hope corps, like
heated rivalry. Sit down.
We've got we've got heated rivalry at home.
So yeah, I've been very gay TP lately.
Yeah, I mean, it's funny. I think that the tour absolutely
has caught on to the very large population that objectifies the
male players. And not just gay men, but also I
talk to women as much as gay men on my Instagram, where it's just
like, did you see Vassaro? I mean, they're just, they're
showing it off. They're like, here is this hot
guy, that hot guy? Well, and to your point on your
last episode talking about Tommy Paul Schwartz being the correct
height, I think there's something, there's a spectrum
happening, yeah, that people bind themselves on whenever
they're watching. Yeah.
Exactly, I've been waffling too though because I'm worried about
getting a little bored of Syncraz.
It's like girls, we need, we need 1/3.
It's a little predictable at this point and the heartfelt
speeches that they give to each other at the winner's podium.
I'm just kind of like, y'all are going to have to start getting
creative because we've heard it. Yeah, Oh my God, that would be a
fun game to play. Maybe we'll think about that for
the next time I have you on. But like, we should rewrite
their speeches going forward. What should they what they want
to say? What what they or like the coded
like we'll do like a coded like oh, this like whenever I talk
about your team, I mean you're taint, you know, I.
Was I was literally just thinking team yeah, yeah.
And So what makes you a ball boy?
Like what's your background in tennis?
So you mentioned that I'm part of Houston Tennis Club.
I actually was invited to write an essay about it for our
program for our annual tournament that we host.
And I got to revisit this kind of like part of my life where I,
I was like when what was my origin with tennis?
And I realized it was whenever I was watching back in the day, I
was watching the Nickelodeon kids Choice Awards and Serena
was nominated for like female athlete or just like general
athlete of the year. And growing up in my small
Central Texas town, football is king.
Everybody plays football or a few people stick with
basketball. And, and whenever I say people,
I mean like males, you know. Yeah, straight, straight boys.
Yeah. Yeah, they're, they're brought
up to be like, you're going to play football, you're going to
get your leather jacket, all that.
I always grew up just like not wanting to play football.
I it never interested me. I was always kind of bored by it
and then. So it's scary.
I don't want to get tackled. I, I did not know about
traumatic brain injury at the time, but looking back, I'm
glad. But then I'm watching the
supercut of Serena and I'm just like, who is this?
You know, like she was not in my forefront at that point.
I don't remember if she won or not.
But that moment I on the next commercial break, I went into my
parents living room and I was like, I think I want to try
tennis, you know. And so then the next day I had a
tennis racket and we were out there just like hitting balls.
And after that just got into camp, like did summer camp and
it was really easy to get into summer camp because not a lot of
people in my town play tennis. And so we from there, it just
like took off and I played in middle school and then in high
school I was varsity for 3 1/2 years and then got really burnt
out. Honestly, like that's kind of
like the thing that I was kind of ashamed to share with people
for a while was that after high school, I just like didn't want
to pick up my racket. In fact, I put it in my closet
and I said, you keep it mom, I'm going to college, never to play
the sport again. But then as I got, I graduated
college and moved to Houston. I came back here and I was like,
I miss it. I went back home, got my racket,
brought it back and the rest is history.
OK. And so maybe related to that,
but I'd like you to now speak for the entire gay community.
Why do gay people, especially gay men, love tennis so much?
I think there's a kind of the surface level reasons and then
there's a little deeper reasons. I, I think that whenever you
think about growing up and you're playing these team
sports, these hyper masculine team sports, which I'm not just,
I'm not homogenizing the gay community.
I know some gay people love football, you know what I mean?
But for me and where I was in my life, I being in those like
really intense, like football locker rooms was just really
intimidating to me and I did not want to be there.
You know, I didn't feel say, if I didn't feel seen, I didn't
feel like I had a space in there and I just felt judged even
though nobody knew I was gay. So then finding out about this
sport, I could be competitive, I could let out aggression and
anger and all the emotions that come along with tennis.
But it's like a one-on-one and it's just me on the court or at
most another person next to me, you know, I think that's the
appealing part is that like we seek these safe spaces as gay
community. And for me, the tennis court was
a safe space whenever I lived in this town.
You know, now the more surface level, I think the fashion
really draws an eye to the court, you know, on and off
court. And the men and the women.
Oh, 100%. And yeah, I mean, it's so easy
to point to Serena and Venus for what they've done and now like
Naomi and etcetera, but seeing the men coming out in their full
on suits, like track suits or whatever, then they're dead to
them, you know? But then also like the
specifically thinking about singles, I took step back and I
was like, this is basically a lip sync for your life.
Like it's one versus 1. You get to choose your favorite,
whether you're picking because of stats or looks or whatever.
You know, it's kind of like that intensity and the drama of it.
And just like the tennis is a dramatic sport, and I think it
pulls like theater Queens. It pulls like people who just
love. It's like for people who love
bitchiness, we've got those players.
For people who love like show offs, we've got that.
For just like jocks, we've got jocks.
I mean, it's really like the cool thing about tennis, just
building off that it's like any one of those can win.
You. Know like we've had errors where
it's like the diva wins, we've had errors where the grinder
wins. You know, it's like the Justine
Ennons versus the Sharapova. There's different personalities,
so. Yeah.
And again, I don't mean to generalize.
I'm just saying like kind of stereotypically, those are
things. That's what.
We do here. Yeah, you're not you're not
recording yet, are you? No.
But all that to say, I think that to your point, there's a
little bit of something for every type of gay stereotype out
there. But I think for players in
particular playing tennis, where I grew up, it was kind of seen
as like, you're doing what, you know?
Like I thought, girl, I thought girls played tennis, you know
what I mean? It was just like, now I'm
painting an even bigger target on my back, you know?
But I didn't care 'cause I loved it.
Interesting. Yeah.
So listeners, I'm curious, like, what kind of tennis gay are you?
Are you the the theater tennis gay?
Are you the kind of bitch you on?
I know which one I am 'cause I'm a bitch but OK, so speed.
Round I will be fast, I promise. No, no, I mean, you know, I'll
just cut it all out, Yannick or Carlos.
Carlos I think just for me, more fun to watch, funnier just in
personality. I never skip a Carlos video.
I know why. Well, yeah, he's always
stretching or just doing something, but.
Yeah, yeah. And also, sometimes he looks a
little lost out there, even though he's not, and it's just
fun to watch. I don't know him doing the
little :) on the camera, like using every single brain cell he
has to make that happen. You think of that?
Yeah. So fun, love him.
Coco or Arena? This was tough.
I'm going to go Coco. Why?
American girlie. She deals with a lot.
Like maybe I'm the theater gay, tennis gay.
Because as much as Arena is very dramatic on the court, Coco
deals with so much this week in particular, like he deals with
so much crap for being a person of color in this sport, a woman
of color in this sport that I just love how she handles
herself in press conferences and on social media.
And yeah, she's a fabulous person for people to look up to,
men and women. Oh, she is my role model for how
to handle things with grace. I I get cut off in traffic and I
lose it. OK, who is your ATP crush?
OK, it's a tie. It's either Mateo Baronzini or
Lorenzo Mazzetti. OK, so he likes Italians, he has
a straight sensibility. OK, I have those are both great
picks. Classic.
I mean Lorenzo Lucetti talk when you talk about fashion earlier,
I couldn't help but think about his like Pope kit last year
where it was like white and flowy, the APC sleeveless.
I mean, he made the entire world horny so.
Yeah, I also just like, love following these guys on social
media because they're having fun.
Like a lot of them are having a lot of fun.
You know, like Mark I, he didn't make my list.
But Marcos. You're on.
Yeah, He's where?
You follow heavy heavy recommend that follow.
And he knows what he's doing, he knows his assets and he's
putting them out there for us. So.
And his leg sets. Yeah, and his thigh sets.
Thank you, Marcos. Come on, the pod.
Who is your WTA crush? WTA Oh, so I all roads lead back
to the tennis league on part of, I'm going to say Madison Keys.
Her Kindness Winds Foundation donated $1000 to our tournament
a couple years ago and that just makes me really keen on her, you
know? Yeah.
Yeah, that's a good. I enjoy watching her.
I love her personality. I mean her, her win last year at
the Australian Open was my favorite, I think tournament win
for on the women's side. OK, this next question, I don't
even know if the microphones are going to pick it up, but we're
going to try. Are you Ole Ole, Ole, Ole, Ole
Ole or are you Ole the performer?
The former is the first one, yes.
The first one, yes, yes, OK. Because we are in the clay
season and especially in France, everybody and Monte Carlo is
right next to France, in case you didn't know.
I don't really know where anything is, but the the cheers
and the chants are back. And it is one of my lesser
favorite things that the crowd does because they don't do it
once, especially the the latter one up, up, up, up, up, up, up,
up, up. They do it non-stop during the
changeovers. And I'm like, guys, just chill
out. I was in New York and we watched
the French Open finals last year at a, at a tennis themed bar.
I I think it's called, I have a coaster for it somewhere, but I
think it's called like Dirty Love and fully tennis themed.
Yeah, it's amazing. And two stories, amazing food,
amazing drinks. The bartender was really cool.
We talked tennis and they had screens up and it was the
coolest thing watching the finals, the men's finals and
like the guy sitting next to us, we're sitting in the Ole, Ole
Ole and people from the street were like stopping and like
sticking their heads in to watch with.
It was the coolest afternoon like of watching tennis I've
ever had. I loved it that.
Sounds amazing. That sounds cool.
I'm going to be in New York for the open, but with ticket prices
the way they are, I don't know forward to go into it, but I'll
go to that bar. You should.
It's it's great. I want to hear a little bit more
about Houston and the gay tennis scene in Houston.
So you're a member of, it's just called the Houston Tennis Club.
Tell me about that club. How long you been part of it?
Are you the best player in Houston?
No Oh my God, I literally oh God that just sent a chill.
That's why I. Figured that no one can Fact
Check it. You can say it right now and
everything. They will Fact Check it.
We have it is the coolest group of guys.
So it's it's an inclusive group, but it's LGBTQ focused.
We have a few folks in there that are allies, but for the
most part it's gay male presenting guys.
And it's just the best. We meet on three days a week and
we have courts all around the city, but we stick to two main
ones. And it's like guys that have
been there since I first started going back in 2016 probably.
And it's the coolest snapshot of the Houston tennis scene.
We have guys that play in open, We have guys that play in D, you
know, D level and they're just like having a blast out there,
getting better, getting competitive.
And then we host our own annual GLTA tournament called the
Sutex. And it's people from all across
the country come in, It's a weekend long tournament and we
have a banquet. Last year they had silky nutmeg
ganache from RuPaul's Drag Race performed.
But yeah, so we go all out. That tournament is in in
November. Typically, yeah.
OK, cool. Yeah.
You should and like it's so fun and like you start to see the
same people coming every year to compete and like some they get
better. They're playing with different
double S partners and the like drama just like boils out.
Yeah, that's. Great, now OK, like any gay
club? Like do people just end up
sleeping together? I love that you asked that
because I don't know. Oh, come on, You know, you know
the T Come on. There's a couple guys in there
that have gotten together that met through the club and they're
in actual relationships, you know what I mean?
And like, oh, yeah, yeah. And this is a group that like
comes together and we Kiki, you know, like we are.
It is sisters vibes, you know, and it's it's all different
ages. This is what I was kind of
saying about it being a good snapshot of Houston in general,
but also the Houston tennis scene in that diversity in age,
race, and everybody has such like, different jobs and it's
like people that you would never meet otherwise you'd see weekly,
you know? And it's the coolest.
So there might be. I'm not pretty to it.
OK, yeah, well, I want you to find out and let us all know.
I want to know all the secrets. You have to come to Hutex and
find out. You know what?
I'm girls. Daddy's coming.
Well, let's stay in Houston a little bit longer because we
just had the US clay championships.
At first I was a little alarmed because the clay in Texas has
been turned more red than it used to be.
Listen, people, we've got to stop turning things red in this
country. If anything in Texas got to turn
a purple, blue even. But it it did also look really
good because I got to say like the red matched the red in
Europe. And I was like, OK, they're
they're at least it's weird. American clay tennis in a is in
a really weird state because literally these two tournaments,
Charleston and Houston, half the field as Americans and there's
some Argentinians and all that involved.
But then everyone else is over in Europe.
None of the Americans went over to play Monte Carlo after
Houston. Not a single one.
You know, the only American in Monte Carlo was Ethan Quinn, God
bless his heart. But it's like weird.
It's like we're like we're like now we suck at clay.
We're just going to play in America, but you know, it was
kind of fun to see. So Tommy Paul wins.
So fun. You know, we love that.
Let's stay on Tommy a little bit longer.
This was his first clay title, so he's now got a title on all
three surfaces. I mean, look, Tommy Paul, I mean
that, not that you asked, but that is my tennis crush, which
is embarrassing at this point because like every 14 year old
girl will say Tommy Paul, but you know, we're doubt the parts
we're doubt having. Having gone to this tournament,
I it's funny the the energy shift of all the women whenever
he walks out that they straighten up because they want
to see him. It's pretty intense.
Oh, I bet. Well, and like people were
dressed in those stands. It is not the casual athleisure
Lululemon attire. Like people were dressed to
watch tennis, which I thought was kind of a nice change of
pace. Well, and it's in, it takes
place at a Country Club here, so there is an expectation of
decorum. So you've been tell me about it.
Like, how's the food? What's the vibe?
The vibes are great. I went last year my friends
family happens to donate through some certain channel to be able
to get a box seat for a certain time period yeah so I got to go
to the Lexus like VIP lounge, which was amazing and it was
very chic and yeah the food was amazing.
I was just looking through old pictures today to refresh my
memory and like open bar salmon tacos, pulled pork sandwiches
and. I remember your photos and I was
like drooling. Look, I was like, you messaged
me immediately and you're like, is this what they're serving?
I said in the VIP lounge. But all that to say is the
people who like the ticket holders that aren't VIP, which
is where I typically belong, they also have amazing options
on the grounds because there's a good company.
BBQ is set up out there in the tent and it's amazing BBQ.
You know you can't go wrong. Well, and I feel like Houston is
not going to fuck around with food.
Like it's going to be good food. One thing about Houston is we,
like you, go anywhere else in Texas, it pales in comparison to
Houston when it comes to food, trust.
There's that dalatude. OK, no, it does look great.
And and also I love A250I mean all of these tournaments, at
least in the States and you know, ticket pricing is crazy in
the States and it's it's even bleeding over to like Australia
had the most expensive tickets ever in the final this year.
It's like it's just the prices are getting crazy.
But these smaller more intimate events like I would love to have
seen that semi final between Tiafo and Tommy Paul.
Like I mean granted it poured so it was like a deluge this year.
And poor Francis Tiafo, he got 2 horrendous bounces post
rainstorm that like basically lost in the third set and like
that was rough because he was he could have won the title easily
but. Yeah, I mean, we were watching
in. So I was actually at another
GLTA tournament in Austin with some of the guys from the Tennis
Club and we happened to catch that game and it was, it was a
pretty dismal feeling. Watching, yeah, yeah, poor
Thiafo. But I'm very happy Thiafo's back
in, in the conversation 'cause he went away for a minute.
So. But we did have Tommy Paul win
against Burachaga. I don't know if I'm saying that
right. Roman Burachaga, what a story of
him. He'd won a challenger down in
South America and flew like a red eye overnight and then makes
it all into the final. And like the Argentinians, like
last weekend, there were 3 or 4 finals and the Argentinians were
either in the finals or winning the tournament or you know, it's
like they're, they know what they're doing down there.
So God bless. Well, whoever is doing the
social media stuff for this tournament is really doing a
great job because they're the challenges that they're having
them do like on camera or whatever.
And then like taking them around the city, like being able to see
Tommy Paul go and buy some a pair of boots in the Heights,
which is a neighborhood here. Just cool to see them like out
and about in the city, you know what I mean?
Like they're not just like holed up at their hotel or like
training non-stop. They're having fun.
And not to make any assumptions about your mobile activities,
but how's Grinder there at that tournament?
OK so I hate to disappoint, wasn't on it, but I know plenty
of gay guys that go to the tournament.
The vibes are great. It's a lot of the Country Club
scene, you know, but there are plenty of games that go, a lot
of guys from our club that actually got tickets to go this
year. Well, cuz every time I go to any
tennis tournament or tennis event of any kind, like you turn
on grinder and it's just a grid of tennis balls.
You know like that the screen name of the tennis ball.
We build community where we can and you know, I do my most viral
marketing there so well. Wrapping up the US clay swing.
So we also had Charleston where Jessica Palula, she defended her
title shout out to her. I love JPEG right now.
She's the most consistent player on the women's tour.
Great personality. I think she's so cool and
Charleston is another one. The courts look that stadium is
gorgeous and I do love that it actually isn't the red clay.
It's like the only like blue clay or Gray clay.
It's a different color and it's it's sexy, but we're going to
move on and we're going to start talking about the European swing
and just what's been going on. We got to start with our lobs
being though. I know, I know, we're like 30
minutes into this show, but we're going to start with our
lobs beings. I know I was like, I was like I.
Yeah, yeah, I know. Oh honey.
So again, a lobs being is anything that made us gayer for
tennis since the last show. And the only correct answer and
usually we have many lobstians and like look, it's not hard to
find one. Like 1 lobstian could have been
Yelena Ostapenko yelling at a fan because that's just like I
just love that. I love that for her and for us.
But the only correct answer this time around is the maroon and
tan Lotto kit look. It was already making waves when
half of the Argentinian team was wearing it.
So Barachago wore them on his crazy run of the final.
And it's just a, it's a great clay court color combination.
But then we had Fetty Gomez also in Houston doing the splits.
So this is all over all of our timelines.
And like, he's not a petite boy and he's just thick thighs doing
splits on the clay. Are you kidding me?
Like if that doesn't make you gay for tennis, I don't know
what does. I'm like, where are the content
creators that are going to make that into like a like a RuPaul's
Drag, Like put that on the back on the mainstage of the RuPaul's
Drag Race. Show yeah, yeah.
Or like do like the edit of Juicy Love, Dion jumping into a
split and turns into Fetti Gomez.
Like yes, show us that on social.
I need that content. I need that.
Yeah, yeah. But then they all got, they all
got, I hate saying trumped, but they all got overshadowed.
They were in the shadow of Valentin Basharo.
He said hold my cannoli. And he sported that look all the
way to the Monte Carlo semis. And it's funny because those
shorts on everyone else looked kind of like 7 inch shorts, a
little, a little longer than I would love on him.
He's like the Naomi Smalls of tennis where his legs are so
long. The shorts were like short
shorts on him and he looked so good.
And look again, we talked about this like the ATP, they know
what they're doing. And there were many photos that
left very little to the imagination that were posted on
like tennischannel.com. Because every time he would
celebrate, Bro was. Bro was very happy and we could
tell so. I get.
I just I'm stuck on Naomi Smalls of tennis.
Right. No, I agree.
I love it. I love it.
Well, and like, I guess whatever the opposite of a Lozvian is in
Houston, Ben Shelton winning double s with his partner, whose
name escapes me. The tradition at the tournament
to jump into the pool at the Country Club, and Ben Shelton
just dove right in with his socks on.
And I was like, Buddy. It's not the socks.
Coco Chanel said remove one thing.
Look. In the mirror, yeah.
I was like, maybe it's the socks.
Yeah, honey. Or maybe he's got like a toe
fungus. Maybe.
Which I don't mean to be, you know.
Yeah, his his partner was Andres Andrade.
What a name. I don't know, it's pretty easy
and I couldn't even remember it. But it it's like a, it's like a
tongue twister like to twist that.
No, no. There it is.
But anyway, the Lotto kit, like I've never even thought I need
to own a Lotto kit. I need that Lotto kit now, but
I'm worried that I'm going to look more Burr chaga and less
Macharo just in terms of like the leg size.
But you know what? I'm just.
You pull it off. Thank you.
Oh, my God. Zachary.
OK, Well, now it's time for
twit. And that is this week in tennis
where we're just talking about some of the the news, the dudes,
the feuds, the results of the tour.
And yes, we are officially in clay season.
Zach, are you a clay mate? How do you feel?
About that, I like the fact that it's like so different and I
honestly love a longer rally. It just adds to the suspense.
So the fact that the ball is moving so freaking slow and and
so it's just different. I appreciate it.
I don't know if it's necessarily my favorite surface, but I like
watching it. What's your favorite?
I think just like as what is it? No, just like, what is it?
I mean, black hardcore. Hardcore.
Yeah. I'm such an idiot.
Cement. Asphalt.
Yeah, yeah, I'm the same. I mean, I I really enjoy this
time of year because it's a nice palate cleanser because like we
had the sunshine double and the, you know, Australian swing.
But like now it's like we get this new take on everything and
like we got to like mix it up. And the ball was so slow in
Monte Carlo because of the weather and it was like colder
and misty and all that. So I mean, Alexander, Sasha
Bublik gets bageled like that doesn't happen with his serve,
but he gets bageled because the conditions were so slow.
So it's kind of fun that like serve bots, sorry, this this
ain't your time. You know, this is Diego
Schwartzman's time. So Monte Carlo just wrapped up.
And again, we got to take a moment, give her her flowers for
the most beautiful setting in the world, in my humble opinion,
for tennis is this court. It overlooks the Riviera.
It is just like built into the side of these cliffs.
It is old, like, you know that people have died there.
You know, there's been some drama there.
There's definitely like a cat burglar in the audience.
Like, it's like a James Bond set.
And I love it so much. I remember listening to your
episode about Monte Carlo last year and I didn't think you
could be more of like intensely obsessed with it, but this might
have topped it. Like I just because I remember
listening because I was like all excited to hear what he had to
say about Houston. And then you'd like, you're
like, Houston happened. Now on to this place that I want
to move to. You are selling Houston.
I'm definitely going to visit, but Monte Carlo I want to be
buried in although, but also because the the political
climate's a little different. You know, there was that one
cutaway. I don't know if you saw this, it
was like on some socials, but there was like a giant mega
yacht with a paddle court and like, just like these four girls
playing and I don't even know if they're playing paddle or
racquetball or it was a court. It definitely wasn't pickleball,
thank God, but it wasn't tennis. And I was just like, that's
giving me the X right now. I don't need to see a
billionaire's boat but you. Know, got it, yeah, yeah, I
feel. Bad, I don't know, but I'm going
to go sometime because also the ticker prices again, the ticker
prices in Europe are so much better.
I I just bought all of my tickets for the LA Olympics and.
So you're feeling a little little.
Cash poor, yeah. And I got AI got a good day.
I I got a decent day. I splurged on the tennis tickets
cause all the cheap ones are gone.
I did get like $28.00 badminton tickets though, which I'm pumped
for. Got $20 men's volleyball prelim
like that. I mean that yeah.
I mean, indoor men's volleyball is some of the most fast-paced,
sexy action you're going to find, so at least outside of the
Eagle. But we got to find your.
We got to find your volleyball ball, boy.
Seriously, Like, yeah, guy listeners, if you are a
volleyball ball boy, let's talk because.
Volleyball boy. Volleyball boy, yeah, I would
love. He's a writer.
So we had the final today. We get our first tour clash
between Yannick Sinner and Carlos Alcarez.
This year they haven't met since last year, I think at the tour
Finals. I think they met in the final.
Yeah. Yannick takes it in two sets.
7663, It was a good match. I wasn't obsessed with it.
Did you know that this is only his second title on clay,
Yannick Sinner. Any guesses to what the first
one was? You'll never guess.
You know, 'cause I was like, oh, I was like thinking about, oh,
what, what, what big title on clay has he won?
He won Croatia a 250 event in 2022, but do you know who he
beat in that final? Carlos Alcaraz.
Oh, there you go. So that was a good match up for
the for back then, but this is his biggest tournament win on
clay. He looked good.
The conditions were rough. It was very windy, little colder
than they like, but he's he is back his his.
I was talking to a friend last night.
Like his wrist snapping is just like the way he like just gets
it around on his backhand. It's just insane so.
Yeah, I saw that he had that incredible volley at the net
that was like their play of the game on the Monte Carlo social
media. Oh.
Yeah, no, there were definitely some good highlights, you know,
from both of them. It wasn't the cleanest match.
Again, I think the conditions were rough, Like the first serve
percentages were much lower than they they normally are.
But it was when you're watching them play, you're like, oh,
that's what the best tennis looks like versus, you know,
some other matchups where it's like, look, you're really good,
but you're 1/4 finalist, you know, like, you're not, you
know, yeah. But to your point, it's like I'm
kind of anxiously awaiting the day where somebody pops up and
it's just it's not the classic matchup again, you know?
Yeah, yeah, I mean, and even though this is only the this is
the first time they've met all year, so it's not like they've
been dominating every tournament.
The thing is one of them is always winning the tournament.
You know, like Yannick gets the Sunshine double, Carlos gets
Australia. But yeah, we we we need to mix
it up. And I don't think anyone who is
currently in the top 10 is going to be mixing it up with them.
There's some hope for the Arthur fees, the Fonsecas, maybe a men
sick, but he's kind of falling off.
But also like maybe like maybe the next person to challenge
them hasn't even been born yet. Like, I don't know, like they're
going to have to wait until they're 40 and then some 20 year
olds are going to take them out. Right.
But also, this was like a pretty big win for Yannick in terms of
some career stats. He's won his fourth major in a
row. I think he's only the second
person to do that behind Djokovic.
He's on a 17 match win streak. I'm happy that because the tide
had turned so much in Carlos's favor last year.
I'm just happy that it's like, we look, we're already bored
with the big two. If it's the big one, just check,
please. Like, I'll just be watching
padel. So, yeah.
But I'm curious. Like, so I also, I have a
penchant for the dramatic flair. And so I've been ringing the
alarms about Carlos and his coaching decision of, like,
leaving Juan Carlos Ferrero, you know, basically his second dad,
who coached him from the age of 15 until he's 22, and then he
just dumps him for his brother. And now Carlos is kind of like,
skidding out. I mean, I don't know.
I'm a little worried about his focus.
I'm a little worried about his family.
But just as worrying as Carlos's, you know, lack of
tournament wins or titles in the last few months.
Was that hair? I am sorry, but what in the set
of golden girls accidentally glued on backwards Evie oddly
wig was that that he's because he had like a it was like AI
guess technically a mullet because there's a little bit
shade on each side, but then it was like this weird swooping
motion. It looked like it was literally
backwards and I was like, what? Like Carlos, you're you're a
multi $1,000,000 brand get that's a stylist.
That's the part where I'm like, whatever.
He came out where like the next day his head was shaved.
At the US Open. Yeah, yeah, I did too.
I was like, that's kind of cool. Like that's Rock'n'roll, but
that I was Golden Girls is crazy but.
Because he looked, he looked so tough at the US Open and
everything seemed right. And it actually was really
flattering on him. Like he's got really thick hair,
but sometimes it's a little too much.
He also just kind of gives like, I don't care, Like, of all the
things that he's thinking about, it ain't that, you know?
And there's something to be respected about that, you know,
Like, I feel like we can talk about certain like, fashion
players that it's like we're excited to see what they come
wearing out, you know, but. He's not.
No, he's like, I'm just here to win titles, you know?
Yeah, no, it's funny, like last year when he was like, you guys
are gonna be, you're gonna minds are gonna be blown when I see
what I do next. And all he did was dye a blonde
like any queen in wee ho. Like OK girl, you shave your
head and dye a blonde. Yeah, we're checking in on you.
We're doing mental health checks now.
Yeah, exactly. Yeah, like, at least do the
eyebrows. Oh.
My God, go full Gaga. Right.
That would be actually, I, I want him to bleach his eyebrows
and shave his head and go bleach that cue ball again.
That would be a look. Then he would win the French
Open. If he doesn't do that, I don't
think his odds are very, very good.
He could be the Dennis Rodman of tennis, yes.
There we go. Which we desperately need.
We do need that. We need someone who's got that
flair. Like, I don't know, has anyone
ever walked out on court in a dress?
He's a boy. Well, the other big highlight
and I mean big, we got to talk about his Valentine Basharo's
run to the semis. First of all, he loves a Bay TP
clash. So he takes out Musetti in the
second round. Your crush takes out Herkash a
couple of rounds later. He was this tournaments Arthur
fees, so Arthur fees what he did in Miami where he was just like
beating all the hotties, including he beat Basharo.
Basharo like what a story his hometown masters, just the the
crowd was so into it, but they were like respectful, like they
were cheering for Carlos. They were cheering for
everybody. But those shorts, you know,
sometimes I wonder, like, is he really a a top, top tier talent?
But he's been consistent. He's got some really good
results and I'm just I'm, I'm extremely happy he's here.
Just pulling up the pictures of him in that in the shorts that
you're referring to. I'm I'm going to make this my
phone background real quick. And also, I got to say, it's
funny, I'm a wag hag. I love all of the wives and
girlfriends. But like, I feel like his
girlfriend is the victim of a lot of jealousy right now
because everybody wants Valentin and they're like, Can you
believe that she gets that? Because like they post a lot on
social. She posts a lot on socials and
it's like they're very cute. But we're all like, oh, I'm so
happy for you. You.
Do you see Valentin Vashiro sticking around?
Is he going to be a threat? Yeah.
I mean, I think so, especially after this Monte Carlo, I mean,
going, what was it, 4646 with Carlos?
Yeah, I mean, I say why not? I think so.
Yeah, I was surprised at how well he did against Carlos.
I thought it was going to be I, I, I mean, Sinner destroyed
Zverev way faster and easier than than Carlos.
Took down Vasharo for sure. And also Vasharo is doing really
well with a lot of pressure because he's this time last year
he was ranked in the two hundreds.
And doing that in front of your hometown, like, I don't know,
like what was the name of your hometown again?
Lily Pass. Lamp passes.
Lamp passes, like, you know, if you were at the lamp passes
open, like that's a lot of pressure.
Yeah, yeah. Oh.
Yeah. I mean, I mean, I'm looking at
like Lorenzo Machete beat him in two sets, went to three, and all
the others except for with Alcaraz, I mean, got the
stamina, he's got the staying power.
I think so. Stamina for sure because yeah,
he played all his matches super late.
They end because they were three setters.
They were it was like dark out freezing and come back the next
day and do it because this is not one of the masters one
thousands that is 10 days or even 2 weeks.
It's just it's a week and it got it in.
So yeah, I'm very happy that he's here.
I hope he stays and I hope he continues just being like a
short trailblazer and we'll see what he let's see what he comes
up with next. That crazy guy you mentioned the
study, though, Speaking of, I am a little worried about what's
going on with him. So he withdrew in Australia, he
was up two sets to love against Novak Djokovic in the
quarterfinals and got injured. Terrible injury.
It was like an abdominal strain. He hasn't.
He hasn't won a match since. He lost both of his matches in
the Sunshine Double. Loses to Vashiro here, like you
said. I'm worried about Moussati.
What's going on? Is he fading away?
I don't think he's fading away. I think I mean, an injury is an
injury. He'll he'll bounce back.
Kind of to your point about like cracking past the top 10 or
whatever it is. You know, I think that like he's
just waiting for his one big moment and hasn't had it yet.
But he's like I said, he's like fun to follow.
He's fun to watch. He's fun to watch play.
He pretty to look at, you know, but he to your point, it's like
we talk about the same big players every kind of Masters or
tournament or whatever it is, you know, and I feel like he
just kind of like starts and then kind of goes away, you
know, which is a bummer. But I think he's got the ability
to come back. Yeah, I just hope that he's not
falling into like a bit of like a slump.
Last year was his big coming out year.
I mean, he'd been around, but last year he really reached new
heights. And maybe this is a sophomore
slump mixed with the injury. I also think this is my theory.
I think that he crumbled under the pressure of literally
everyone in the world wanting to have sex with him.
You know, there was a there was an article, I think it was in
the UK. The title was this tennis player
is making the entire world horny for tennis.
And it was like literally just a profile of him.
And like, you know, he's got that Bottega Veneta contract.
So he comes out like stylish and he's so sexy.
He's walked back on his on court style.
He's very like regular Smegular. He's not trying to be like, you
know, the Flying Nun Pope kit. There's none of that going on
because I think maybe it was like distracting, you know?
I think there's something to be said about that.
What it evokes for me is like whenever, like coaches in high
school make their teams wear the same, like you have to wear a
suit and tie and that's it. And you wear it to school.
And before you go, I don't know why I keep like referencing like
high school or whatever, you know?
But like, colleges do it too. And it's like whenever you start
seeing like the NFL players that are walking off the bus to the
stadium and they're wearing like something super flashy, it's
like that's the, I guess to put on my PR hat, which you don't
know what that means. You don't even know what I mean.
You don't want the story to be what you wore like you wanted to
be how you won the tournament. You know what I mean?
And so I feel like whatever a player gets too big for their
britches or too fashionable for their sport, the coaches are
kind of like, hey, what are we focusing on here?
You know, it's like because to your point, the the Flying Nun
pub kit, it's like that's what we're talking about right now,
you know what I mean? And it's like, that's the
headline, that's the pull quote. That's what everybody's talking
about. You don't want that to be the
story. You want your skill in the sport
you're trying to stay in for as long as your knees work to be
the story. Yeah, yeah, I'm just looking up
his his stats and he has lost his last 7 finals.
So, you know, his story was distracting.
Like he he needs to just lock in and I think he needs to play a
few more two 50s and win those. He needs a little bit of like a
jump start and I'm worried that right now he had such a big clay
season last year. I don't know if he's going to be
treading water in Madrid and and Rome.
And then, you know, I don't know, like he he could, he could
take a tumble. I hope it's not a 60 pass tumble
where he's like down in the 40s. But he's he's in danger.
So, Molly, you're in danger, girl.
He could be in the Kia asylum. OK, I've been hearing, I've been
hearing that term. What the hell does that mean?
Kia Asylum is a term that I actually had to learn from a
friend and I want to make sure. I'm pretty sure I think it's
actually Kia, but everybody just says Kia Asylum.
It's like. Khia.
Yeah, it's pop girl purgatory, you know, like, yes, Who talked
about it recently? Oh, like Charlie XCX was in the
Kia asylum until BRAT. It's just like these girls who,
you know, their names, you know, kind of some of their hits, you
know, But then they never break into, like, full superstardom,
OK. So yeah, that's OK.
Lucetti is in the Kia asylum. I yes, yeah, he needs a hit.
Yeah, exactly. Wow, Kia Asylum mentioned on
POD. Check, check, check, check.
We're going to end the show talking about the rumor mail.
So like I said at the top, the rumors are flying left and right
on the Tors. Did they break up?
Did he retire? Does she have a new coach?
And I just want to cover some of them.
I want to address some of them. Not that I necessarily have any
insider information, but it just felt crazy, like the amount of
rumors that we're going around. So Kaina Shakuri, amazing
player, has had a lot of injuries, really stumbled coming
back. But he's a finalist at the US
Open. He lost a chillage.
There was all these notices that he was retiring at a Challenger
tournament. That was his last time.
I was like, well, that's a weird place to retire.
And he had to come out onto socials and be like, guys, no,
I'm not retiring. I go, I'll let you know when I'm
retiring. And then I think on the same
day, Craig Shapiro drops the bombshell that Taylor Fritz and
Morgan Riddle have broken up. He said he's got very, like,
credible sources and that like, they're over.
You can't just drop that. And then we see Morgan Riddle
commenting on a post saying, Taylor, did you know, we broke
up? Which again, OK, maybe that's
what a publicist does. Because I was like, is that APR
move? Is she trying to cover?
I think Miss Girl Guide, her Twitter or her text thumbs a
little too free because if it's not true, that makes sense.
That's kind of funny. It's cheeky, it's whatever, you
know, And but if it's her trying to just distract and like get
the story buried or whatever, it's kind of like, well, now
you're lying, you know, which is just golden rule, never great.
I'm just, I like AI, love Morgan Riddle.
Do you? Do you follow her much?
I don't follow her, but like I, I have girlfriends who do and
they will evangelize the good word of Morgan.
She is. She is a great Instagram follow
folks. She's not afraid to talk
politics. She has very correct politics
and takes. It.
I had no idea, yeah. No, takes it.
I would not expect like she's like fuck ice.
I mean, she's like full on like calling out.
I officially Stan no. No, when I started seeing, I was
like, oh, you're a goddess. Yeah, no, she's amazing.
Well, and also like because didn't the speculation happen
because she was absent from his player box for a few?
She, she hasn't really been around.
I mean, not that Taylor's really showing up in any significant
way himself, but maybe it's because of the breakup.
I mean, I don't know, they were such a embedded and and meshed
couple that it was just shocking to hear.
Like, oh, like, I felt sad. I felt sad because I also worry
that she's the only thing keeping Taylor on this side of
politics. So I'm just like, oh, like, you
know. That's The thing is like, I
would love a chart that just tells me where, yeah, every
player falls. You know, like Tommy, Paul seems
to come up a lot whenever people are talking about politics.
Tennis players, I don't know if they have, like, the most woke
politics in the world. Where I have landed on all of
that, though, I have now accepted that it is actually
kind of punk rock to objectify straight men who may not like my
politics. Like, you know, fuck that, You
know, A great equalizer. Yeah.
I mean, like, look, I mean all
of them like Draper and there's just people who have like a lot
of potentially problematic politics and it's not it's not
great. I mean, our sport is not again,
there's there's many different types of people that get into
tennis, but like there's also problematic ones.
And yeah, Tommy, Paul, Ben Shelton, you know, all of them
might have some some right word leaning predilections, but you
know, they all need a Morgan Riddle in in their box.
So, you know, I don't know, maybe she'll show up in another
player's box. Yeah, but also just like to her
point or like to put a pin in it, like I'm glad that she at
least addressed it to put my feminist cap on.
It's like she wasn't going to let this guy either scoop her
being able to share her own breakup with the world whenever
she wants to or like whatever, you know?
So I'm I'm firmly on the side of hers handling it however she
wants to, as long as she and Taylor are aligned.
Yeah, you know what I love? I think that in the last five
minutes I've turned you into Morgan, Riddlestand and I.
Am She's amazing immediately. She's amazing.
Yeah. Yeah.
And she's really funny. Like it's.
I'm not. I was surprised.
I was like this one. No, but yes.
Yeah, I'm so down. Get her on Dancing With the
Stars. Get her on the ball, boys.
One of the ball boys first, yet on her way.
It's a pipeline. Yeah, well we're not done with
the rumors though folks 'cause then we had some coaching drama.
So there were the rumor meal was going on over in coaching world
where first of all, Medvedev's former coach breaks up with his
new protege and honestly future Bay TP member Nishesh Bazov
already. But Medvedev had a long term
coach and this guy just over Instagram is just like, this
ain't working by Nishesh. But the bigger feud and a feud
that I did not see coming, I didn't think I'd ever talk about
these two players in the same breath.
We have Giovanni and Pesci Pericard versus Igas Fiantec.
The girls are fighting because Igas has picked up a new coach
from the Nadal Academy, Francisco Roy, who was for a
brief moment in Pesci Pericard's coach.
And he's like, no, you don't call, you don't write, you don't
tell me. So again, the drama.
And it's good for ego because ego needs to get her shit
together because she really needs to get back into being a a
part of the conversation. But again, the the the drama, I
think people are just loving the drama because also over on
socials we had Stefanos sits past being interviewed about who
you should date and not, which is just a terrible question to
ask somebody with his track record.
And the first thing out of his mouth is you should never date a
tennis player. And then Paula Bedosa comments
on that post with just a bunch of laughing emojis.
Now, is she laughing at him or with him?
We don't know. But it's just a It's a messy
time. Was he saying it like in jest or
was he serious? He was, he was like, that was
his answer. He's an odd duck though.
His whole life on social is very mercurial and and mysterious,
but he's just got like a different take on things, which
I appreciate. Can you stand 10 toes down?
I I can respect that. And then the last drama was poor
Coco Goff. We talked about this.
Poor Coco Goff was fighting for her life after her mew mew
campaign that I thought was really cute.
I thought she looked really pretty.
But people are like these photos aren't beautiful and she was not
feeling great after those critiques.
And she, she had a great post on Instagram talking about it
really in depth, maybe a little too in depth.
To be honest, I don't even know if I got to the end of the video
but. That's what I was going to say.
I I had her TikTok pulled up and I was watching it and was doing
stuff around like the kitchen or whatever and was just listening
to it. And I thought I was like, has
this looped back around? Did I miss the ending of it?
And she was she was still got, which I'm like, you know what,
stand your ground. Speak, speak, girl, speak.
But I did appreciate how she was like, these were not
professional photos. This was my assistant with an
iPhone like I was going to. This was the brief, Yeah, yeah.
And also though, I think for me, I was like, that's a really cool
artistic choice. Even if it was like, oh, it was
just a simple hair and a makeup. I was like, that's really cool.
Because in this era of everything being so polished and
perfect and AI and like overdone and filled and filtered and
blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, I was like, I think that's a
really cool aesthetic that they got to me too.
And. It and it's different because
like we see the same professional shots with these
tennis players all the time and just keep scrolling, honestly.
So something that stops you in your tracks and you're just
like, what is this? Why is this?
You know? And she I just love that she was
like so down to she loved the bag so much that she was like, I
just wanted to show it off and do what I need to do.
And she was grateful to Mew Mew. I thought she handled it
beautifully. And didn't she in the video or
like sat in the couch and something she was like, girls
with natural hair, if you get it, you get it or something like
that. If, you know, you know, and I
was like, and shut up, everybody, you know what I mean?
Like that tells you enough. Like you're speaking on things
that you know nothing about. So.
Yeah. Yeah, I, I'm, I'm glad you
reminded me that. I love that she was like, if you
have natural hair, you are beautiful like.
Queen. I like chills.
Like, yeah, I love. Saying she's she's somebody who
like kids coming up in the sport now, they have so many people to
look up to and she's definitely one of them.
Yeah, she's definitely one of my WTA crushes.
I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna say that.
But moving on to our Bay TP, so we've got a new Bay TP out
folks, which is again, the hottest players on and off the
court. The people who are making moves,
going for deep runs, but are also just really freaking hot or
they're doing something cool. It is not just who is the
hottest player because we cannot have Tummy Paul at the top of
the list every single week. You and Tommy Paul, my God.
You know what? Look, the heart wants what it
wants. But we've got a new list out.
And yes, topped by the Naomi Smalls of the ATP, Valatin
Vashiro, plus many others we've talked about, at least one of
your crushes is on there, maybe some surprises or two.
So gone over to Instagram, check it out again, our Instagram is
at TBB Tennis. That's at TBB Tennis, but we're
going to wrap up real quick. And I just want to get your look
ahead, Mr. McKenzie. So Zachary, we have Madrid
starting in a week. We've got Barcelona coming up.
Madrid. I kind of love it because it's
this weird, like brutalist stadium.
The men and women are back together.
There are models on the court as ball boys and ball girls living
for it all. I want to get your hot takes,
though. So Venus Williams gets a wild
card to Madrid. She's on an eighth match losing
streak. How do we feel about her getting
a wild card? I think with Venus, it's like
whatever she was coming back, everybody was excited, you know,
but also apprehensive because she was gone for so long.
And I love Venus down like and Serena, obviously, like those
are my girls. They're why I'm here, but they
they're my mother's they but it's kind of that thing where
it's like we want it's like push her over the edge and get that
win, you know, because it's like not Kia asylum.
She's not in her flop era, but it is kind of just like, give us
something, you know? Yeah.
Is it more like the Kia retirement home that she's in?
Like, I'm not saying that well, it's.
Just like girls. I had friends that were very
excited about her coming back in general, you know, like, and who
wouldn't be? It's kind of a return to this
golden era of all of us growing up and this was our girl, you
know, or one of them. But it's also just kind of like,
it's kind of like whenever singer goes on their farewell
tour and then they're touring five years later, it's just kind
of like, we had this big party for you and like, you were gone
and we were celebrating how amazing you were, you know?
So I don't know, I, I love Venus.
I'll watch her till she finally hangs up her racket.
But it's always kind of tough to see her not rise above.
Yeah, that's the thing. She will pack the stadium.
So it's like, OK, she's going to sell the tickets, she's going to
get the butts in the seats. And also, as I've railed on over
and over again on the show, I'm so sick of watching matches
where there's like 20 people in the stands.
Like, no, we need to fill the stands.
Like, you know, and if that means busting the kids in,
great. If that means Venus trotting her
out when she's 70, whatever. But like, fill these stands.
Now. Do we think Yannick is going to
go into completely uncharted territory just like the Artemis
and when the 5th Masters winning in Madrid?
I'm going to say no. I think it's, I think it's not
his best shot. What's that?
He's never done well there. He's never even made the final,
I don't think. He's never like gone really,
really far there. But he's never had a great clay
season in general because he kind of missed.
Well, he didn't kind of missed the last clay season because we
know why. And then he was just a baby.
But I go into like math mode where I'm like, mathematically,
is he really just going to keep winning everything?
I mean, he could, but I do think that Carlos is going to not
enjoy the taste of the runner up trophy and I think he's going to
really assert himself, not out of discipline, but out of maybe
a little bit of bruised ego so. Yeah, I mean, he's definitely
got more to lose, right? There's something to be said
about being in a losing streak and that motivating you and with
center, like y'all talked about it on the last episode I
believe. But just like how he's kind of
come back and his legs are like jacked, he's fast dump truck.
Like it's a different, different whole body type that's going to
be on that court. So I don't know.
But I I could see Alcaraz, like getting back into the workshop
and being like, what do we got to do, you know?
So I mean, would it be, would it be cool if Senator took it?
Yeah. Like, I think it'd be fun to
watch, even though I'm rooting for Carlos, you know?
Yeah. I'm rooting for Carlos to show
us something new on the court and on his head and, you know, a
new wig, a new stylist. And it's definitely just a 2
horse race. And on the women's side, I think
it's it's, you know, Sabalenka's kind of owned Madrid the last
few years. She seems to be pretty
unstoppable. I can't really imagine anyone
kind of on clay really, except for maybe Eaga.
But Eaga is a big question mark right now.
So yeah. But in the exciting news, Holger
Rune is coming back. So that crazy Mother Effer was
supposed to be out for a year because he had a horrible
Achilles tear and, like, had to have complete reconstructive
surgery. And he was posting videos like a
week after the surgery, you know, with his leg propped up,
smacking tennis balls. I don't know.
I'm worried that he's pushing it too fast because he's playing.
He was supposed to be out, I think all of 2026.
It's May, and he's going to be playing Hamburg before the
French Open. He's like, ready.
He's also a child so I feel like he is recovering a lot faster
than. He he's got those, he's got
those stem cells and that collagen.
That we don't. He's doing fine.
I think he's good. Yeah.
Kind of astonishing to see how
young he is. I know I he's literally a a
child and like. His birthday His birth year
starts with A2. Oh yeah, well, and that's not
even young anymore. And that's what's so depressing,
'cause he can be 26 and have A2 and it's like, OK, I don't even
know this. Is the time we spiral.
Yeah, exactly. I need to.
I need a cigarette. But I am excited to him back
because like Holger, if he cooks a little longer, he could be
someone that pushes Yannick and Carlos.
I don't think he's going to be the big three.
People were very excited to call him like the third member of the
the new big three. He's not there yet, but he could
be and we need somebody. Well, that is our show.
Zach, you are officially a ball boy.
How do you feel? I I enjoyed my time.
I hope I did a good job. You were fantastic and listeners
out there programming note we're going to be back in three weeks.
We're usually every two weeks, but it's going to be 3 weeks
because we've got Barcelona and then Madrid and I'm not going to
do a show halfway through Madrid.
So we'll be packing and unpacking everyone who is
keeping it classy and sassy on the clay with that show.
So we'll see you then in three weeks.
Until then, our balls are going back into the can.
Thanks y'all, bye.