With an Intel AI PC, AI assistance helps you save time. With AI-powered text-to-image tools, you can unleash your creativity with fewer clicks. Or, let AI draft your emails. It's possible on an Intel AI PC. Additional purchase may be required. Learn more at intel.co.uk slash AIPC. All right. Welcome to serve. We will get straight into it. Happy last show of the year team. We did it. We did it. We didn't, we didn't, didn't get turned off.
by enough people to ruin us forever. Listen, this is going to be great. We have year-end review ATP. If you listened to last week's episode with the WTA, we're going to start at 20. I'm going to give you something that went well in 2024. Number 20 is going to be Arthur Feast and then projecting forward. What does success look like? What is something that can be improved upon in 2025? Let's get right to it. Arthur Feast was someone that I thought was going to break out and...
come close to the top 10 for a lot of the year. Kind of largely disappointing, batting about 500 for the year, made a late run later in the year and really had some good results playing deep in a bunch of the indoor events. But when you watch him... super athletic, hits the ball huge, plays with a lot of enthusiasm, that French flair that we love. I love his coach, Sebastian Grosjean, someone who is incredibly kind to me.
when I was a young player, has been four in the world, semis of all the slams, one Bercy, great, great player, problem solver, and did it from a position of about five foot nine. Arthur Feast. Lots to like. One of the things I worry about, and you've heard me say it with certain players before, big windups. So you get on faster surfaces against really good players. Can a swing size catch up to the speed of...
The other person's ball. A lot to like here. Is Feast going up or down before next year or at the end of next year, JW? I think up. I mean, 20 years old. As you say, this is someone who a year ago we would have said this is a player to keep an eye on. No. breakthrough win, no real signature, no middle weekend at Wimbledon, but no crazy run in a major, but just solid. And I think you're right. The fact that he won these matches at the tail end of the year is a good sign. Yeah, this is a...
The cliche, if this is a stock I'm buying. Karen Hatchinoff is an interesting take because it's weird that he's almost like a victim of his own success to these conversations. He's in at 19. We know what he is. He's made runs to semis. of majors multiple times. He is capable of playing on the big stages, but is maybe someone... I remember him coming out and playing a brutal four-setter against Rafa at the US Open where you leave going, oh, this guy...
is six foot six. He hits the ball really well. He was coming out of his shoes on his forehand, serving 135. This looks like the prototype for a top five player hasn't quite gotten there, but certainly doesn't diminish his consistency at all. I wonder if he sort of is what he is. He'll have some nice events. He's a big guy. Sort of the elaborate backswing on the forehand can get him in trouble sometimes. Not the greatest mover out there, but very solid, powerful strokes.
I'm not sure. I think he is what he is. I'm not sure this is a guy that's winning majors. This is always going to be someone who's dangerous and can win on a given day. And I think... His 2024 is sort of about on brand for him. Yeah, I think one of the things, if I'm in his camp, finishes this year with a record of 37 and 22, really good. How do we improve a little?
Can we double up wins versus losses for next year? That's a realistic goal where you can catch a lead if you play well at the beginning of the year, but there's no reason in my mind why he shouldn't be winning two matches for every one that he loses. And that's probably a rankings difference of five, six, seven spots, which I think would be a good improvement for him at this time in his career. Comes along, is one of the prodigies, now is...
you know, not one of the youngins anymore. And you're getting people coming in like a sinner and is very like who have surpassed him and maybe do. what he does, but just a little bit better, but certainly a really, really good player who's there every week and would surprise no one if he made another semifinal at a slam. Number 18, Francis Tiafoe. I think by his own admission,
he would tell you that his year kind of started maybe at Wimbledon, right? He was barely winning back-to-back matches, maybe save for Houston, but had a really bad start to the year. So you can digest that. A couple of ways. What went wrong? I'm sure he's had plenty of time to think about that. And then almost beats Alcaraz on center court at Wimbledon, kind of out of nowhere. And then has a really good summer. Starts in D.C., makes a run there to the semis.
finals of Cincinnati. And it's weird because if he's 20 in the world, every other part of the year, he's top five in the world when he gets to the U S open, like every time it's the most predictable thing ever that if he's seated 25 at the U S open, you can just almost slot them in.
to the quarters, and it is showtime, and he is someone who, the brighter the lights, the brighter that smile gets, and it starts off pretty bright as is. He is an absolutely, he's a joy to watch, he's a joy to be around, and... He'd probably tell you, I want to be consistent. Am I a top five guy? I've snuck into the top 10 for a cup of coffee. Am I a top five player? Can I produce the level that I've consistently produced at the US Open the last three years?
15 weeks a year. I think sometimes we might conflate personal fondness for Francis with tennis fondness. I've started to kind of change my tune on him. I wonder if he doesn't put too much pressure on himself. I mean, he was... He was sub 500 on the year going to Wimbledon. And he makes no bones about the fact New York, it's showtime, it's his home major. He loves Manhattan and his record in New York.
speaks for itself the past few years, but I do wonder sometimes, how does he replicate that level of engagement 11 months a year? And I wonder now if maybe he puts a little bit too much emphasis on one tournament. I mean, look, we all love him as a member of the tennis traveling circus. He's a great presence. Other players like him. I mean, from a... personal standpoint, it's easy to find great favor. And I think the question now is just, how does Francis bring the level of energy?
The results, but also just kind of the level of engagement and seriousness that he brings to the U.S. Open. How does he do that, you know, in March, April, and May? The other thing that I think we need to address with Francis is… The parts of the year where the ball can jump up and out of the zone, right? If it's in his pocket on his backhand side, has a great backhand, has a world-class backhand. When it gets up and away...
little bit tougher, has that short kind of flat swing, does it much better than I did. But I had a similar swing path where I liked it at Wimbledon more than I liked it at the French Open, right? Where it had time to kind of flutter out of the strike zone. And then I felt like I was chopping wood a little.
bit the same on the forehand side isn't able to kind of kick serve his way through those problems on those so i do think his game as much as anyone else in the world is is surface dependent as far as effectiveness i don't think it's
a coincidence that Wimbledon hits the balls coming through. He can get away with the chips a little bit more, that flat back into the corners, can take the second serve returns a little bit earlier, can jump on the forehand without it getting up and out of the zone. I don't think that's a coincidence why he plays well.
At the US Open, by far his best major. Tennis is better when he is playing well because he is one of the outsized personalities in this game. So is he a top five guy? Is he a top seven guy? Will he make world tour finals? in his career. He is a star but hasn't reached that goal yet. We're all better if he does it. And again, good of you to acknowledge.
our own bias because his personality is phenomenal. I saw him with Alcaraz here in Charlotte and he was a 10 out of 10 as far as making a spectacle of that event. This is an interesting one to me. Number 17, Lorenzo Musetti, right? If you would have told me two years ago that all of a sudden this guy's big career bounce, right, where he enters the top 20 and makes the semis of a major would be on grass, I would have tried to sell you a bridge. Right? Clay? Sure. Looks like a French...
French Open semifinalist, right? It looks like someone who is going to be in the semis of Rome and can create that speed and has the classic. He's like almost like a late 90s clay quarter, right? Where you take those big swings and you're fading away from the ball. But what a great job he has done with figuring out how to be effective on surfaces that two years ago, dummies like me would have said he has no shot.
You tell me two years ago he makes the semis of Wimbledon after making the finals of Queens? No chance, I believe you. The Italian resurgence continues. through Lorenzo Musetti, had a great, great year and reinvented himself on a surface that, you know, he probably wasn't raised thinking he was going to be effective on. Low slice.
He's got that one-handed backhand, and he moves well. Nice athlete. Beat Taylor Fritz to get to that semifinal of Wimbledon. He's 22 years old, but he's an old 22. He's a father. He talks, you know, not about his... Jewelry, but Carrara marbles. Big fan of Mercedes. And 22 these days is a really small number. A lot of runway up ahead. And he's gone the Wawrinka model of someone who takes huge swings.
And maybe earlier in their career, they're trying to take huge swings on returns. He's gone to that like chop down, you know, almost like fighter D mode on first serve returns. And then has found a way to open up the shoulders. from there. Magnus Norman brought that to Wawrinka's game. Listen, the tour is a copycat place, right? But Musetti, especially at Wimbledon this year, I watched him chop down Paracard, break him three, four, five times.
by chopping that first one in and then kind of figuring it out from there as opposed to, you know, having those extreme grips and dealing with a big first serve with those. So nice adjustments from Musetti this year. inserted himself into a lot of storylines this year. 16th in the world, Hubie Herkacz. Hubie Herkacz is just a really good fucking player.
He's just a really good player. He's been up around, you know, I think a career I'm guessing is what, like six, seven in the world, something like that. Six. Yeah, there you go. But serves bombs. Forehand side fades a little bit. That's his confidence shot. When he's playing well, you worry less about his forehand. When he's not playing well, it can be exposed. Has a really good backhand. The way he walks around the court kind of...
pigeon toed, happy, you know, kind of like ambles around the court. He's like Yoda. Like, you know, like Yoda walks around with like a little crutch and you're like five Yoda. And you're like, this guy's not very fast. And then they start moving and he's sliding all over the court, open stance, like, and then all of a sudden he's like Yoda.
It's like, whoa, that didn't look like it was supposed to happen based on the way that you were walking in between points, but just like a really, really, really good player. And oh, by the way, one that's hired one Yvonne Lendl for his 2025 campaign. What do we make of that? I mean, one thing you think about Hercotch is really nice player, booming serve. I don't think it was the case this year, but he's led the tour in aces some years.
there isn't a lot of great competitive resolve sometimes. There are a lot of matches slipped through his hands, a lot of matches. It's five all in the third, and he kind of fades, has now made a coaching change. I wonder how... Ivan Lendl did not get into this to coach a guy at 16 to get to the fourth round of some majors. I mean, Lendl sees something here. I just wonder if this isn't as much about sort of toughening up competitive resolve.
as it is anything else because the power is there. You know, I mean, this is the guy who beat, he beat Roger at Wimbledon, probably his signature win in a major, but he's also won Miami. So this is not just a one surface. player either. I just, I like to see a little more mental toughness. Winning Miami, beating a younger Yannick Sinner in the final, if I, if I remember correctly, like what does Hubie Herkacz do, right? He doesn't want to get attacked to the forehand side.
can go after it, but it is kind of hit or miss. I'm curious to see if we see a little bit more second serve returning in. He is a capable volleyer. little things to where you're chipping forehands up the line and covering. He's a big body. So I'm curious if there are those things where he doesn't want to get in those extended rallies, where the longer the rally goes on, the more he can be exposed to the side.
that everyone knows he can be exposed to. So curious to see what adjustments are made. I'm sure we'll see them straight out of the gate in one of the early tournaments in Australia, but also credit to Hubie Herkacz. Craig Boynton did a great job with Hubie Herkacz and some coach-player relationships.
just fizzle out, not because there's not respect, not because there haven't been results similar to Jess Pagula and David Witt. Sometimes you just need a shot in the arm and sometimes that shot is apparently... Yvonne Lendl, which is crazy, but good to see our past champions back in the game. Lendl obviously has had a ton of success with Andy Murray, guided him to his first Grand Slam title.
Not sure we're going to see the same thing with Hubie Herkoc, but will be fun storyline to watch anyways. Number 15, Jack Draper. Seen him for a couple of years. Big lefty serve. Looks like he could play football somewhere. I walked past him in the locker room was instantly impressed by his size. He was bigger and stronger than I thought.
The way he presents on TV, I think it's just because he wears baggy clothing. Honestly, that's not a joke. I actually think people come up to me like, you're bigger than I thought. I was like, yeah, I just wore baggy clothes. But I think the same thing with Jack Draper, obviously making it to the semifinals of the US Open. Points of improvement in 24.
consistency, winning matches every week. The backhand got way better, right? He wasn't trying to wing winners down the line. He found this nice thing where he would really take aggressive swings, but not scared to like miss middle. I wasn't trying to force it into corners, basically challenging people. Okay, you got to find my back end, but I'm going to drill it deep in the court and I'm going to keep a bunch of space between us. Much improved fitness and also...
There is a lane where he can become better because right now the match against Yannick Sinner straight sets and he said physically it got the most of me. I was vomiting by the end of it. There's humidity. There are some players that just... Alcaraz for a while struggled in heat. Anything above 90 degrees, all of a sudden we saw cramping issues. I think Jack Draper has a little bit of a physical hurdle now.
You'd have to be on his team to know if that's humidity, if it's length of match, if it's physicality. I'm not sure, but I got to imagine the book in the locker room right now is if you can get him into an extended match, five sets. What does the recovery look like? Can I do that seven times best of five in two weeks? Right now, I don't think so. But the good news for him is that fitness is largely a choice. right? Beyond nerves, and those will subside the more you're in specific situations.
A lot of upside here for Jack Draper. Got to think he's in the top 10 sooner than later and a lot of progress made in 2024, especially on the backhand side with movement, with fitness. I still think there's some runway on the fitness side. Six, four. Lefty serve are nice credentials as well. I also give him credit. Remember the contretemps he had in Cincinnati over perhaps he should have conceded the point against Felix. You know, big controversy. Tennis Twitter went crazy.
And it impacted him. I mean, I heard this firsthand, that this is a guy who really values reputation and sportsmanship, and it really got to him. What does he do? He goes to the U.S. Open and puts it behind him, reaches the semifinal. He also has referenced you multiple times.
He heard, I think, I guess on this podcast, that there were some questions about his fitness. He did not say that to disagree. I mean, he basically said, you know, what Andy Roddick says is true and I need to work on my fitness. It did. Get to him at that U.S. Open semifinal. The roof closed. It was just like a UFC fighter who just got gassed. The flip side.
He's 22 years old. He seems very level-headed. And any player that basically says publicly, yes, I need to work on my fitness, I think has made a statement in and of itself. And again. If we're in the stock picking mode, this is one to have in your portfolio. Yeah. And the other thing I will say is that I'm not sitting here saying like, I thought I was in shape early in my career.
I also would cramp early in my career. And I was in shape for most tournaments, just not four or five back-to-backs recovering from six-hour marathons at majors. I had to adjust diet. I had to adjust a lot of things. You don't really know until you know. And acknowledging it is the first part of fixing it. I didn't know that he had said that about our...
our podcast. I'm still shocked that people listen at all, much less players, but I love his game. I like what he's about. He seems like a really good citizen. I've been, I've said hello a couple of times in passing. Jovial energy. A lot of upside here. Could really be a complete pain in the ass, especially on grass. Beat Alcaraz at Queens. Really, really, really good player. Made huge strides this year. I do think there's a little bit more in the fitness. You cannot win a major.
without being able to play extended matches in extreme conditions unless you get very, very, very, very lucky with time, place, length, et cetera, et cetera. But way more positives than negatives right now with Jack Graber. Like you said, complete buy rating. With an Intel AI PC, AI assistance helps you save time. With AI-powered text-to-image tools, you can unleash your creativity with fewer clicks. Or let AI draft your emails.
It's possible on an Intel AIPC. Additional purchase may be required. Learn more at intel.co.uk slash AIPC Number one freshman, Hugo Humbert. Maybe like one of the most disrespectfully ignored players on tour, someone you don't talk about every week. Also very surface dependent on a very slick court like you get at a Wimbledon, at a Bear Sea where he made a run, Dubai where he had a great tournament this year.
Listen, if you rub your desk right now and it's smooth, that means Umber would play well on it. Now, if you rub a piece of sandpaper, it'd be a little bit more challenging. Flat through the court, short strokes, likes taking second serves early. The lefty serve is very good, cuts it, can kick it out to the forehand. A lot to like with his game. Is he complete enough to get to the top 10, right? To get to the top eight, to qualify for World Tour Finals.
A valid question, one that I'm not sure I know the answer to, but certainly a guy that no one wants to see on a slick surface. Yeah, a stylish player. If we're going to revert to stereotype, you know, very sort of... Classic French player, lefty, fun to watch, beautiful strokes. Not necessarily a foxhole guy. I'm not sure this is the guy you want. If your life hinges on the outcome of a match, I'm not sure he's the guy you want playing it for you.
A lot to like stylistically. I think this might be a bit of a hard overhead situation. Fun guy to watch play. I'm not sure. Is he a top 10 player? I don't know. 13 is very interesting. And it's someone who... was in the same breath for a little while as name your three big prospects. It was Holger Runa, Alcaraz, Sinner. And now Alcaraz and Sinner are...
seemingly going to be all-time greats. And Holger Runa is still kind of trying to find, one, a coach that he can have a relationship with more than four or five months at a time, and an identity as a player. It feels like peaks and valleys, sometimes he's playing defensive, sometimes he's playing offensive. It seems like he's looking to his box for guidance sometimes. Jim Currier has said the strategy changes.
day-to-day. There's so much raw potential that's obvious, but simultaneously, it still feels like he's searching. at this moment in time, has beaten the best players in the world, has beaten Novak Djokovic a couple of times when Djokovic was having his best years. So a lot to like with Holger Runa, but also a lot of inconsistency. Yeah, this is a guy who...
absolutely sort of out Novak Novak. I mean, stare down Djokovic in 2023, which is the year Djokovic came within a few points of winning the Grand Slam. Holger Runa gave him one of his more authoritative defeats. It's been a bit of a retreat since then. Again, they're just...
Some players, they need another weapon. Some players, it's clear they need to work on fitness. This is a player who just kind of needs to professionalize things a little bit more. There's a lot of churn and a lot of drama, and the coaching seems to change. way more often than it should. And, you know, remember, Lubacitch was involved and Becker was involved. I mean, it just, it seems like there's a...
bit too much chaos here. This is someone on the plus side who, as you know, this guy, remember what Novak is to Andy Murray, which is two guys born within, you know, a matter of days. Holger Runa is to Alcaraz, so he's still... You know, he's not 22 years old yet. So plenty of time to kind of professionalize the operation here. But I think this was, I think he would admit to this. I mean, this was a bit of a regression. This was a backslide here. Yeah, I think he has. And, you know, listen.
Him being four in the world wouldn't surprise anyone and him losing second round of the first two majors of the year wouldn't surprise anyone. And that's that kind of therein lies the issue. What are we going to get? A lot of eyeballs on Holger Runa moving forward in 2025. Like you said, still very, very young. None of us are really the best version of ourselves at that age. So we'll see. We'll see what he comes up with. Someone who made massive strides this year.
from someone who is a very solid player, someone who won matches, who had made the semifinal of Australia, to someone who wins tournaments, especially prestigious tournaments. like Queens and is in the conversation, knocking on the door of the top 10 in the conversation with the top American for most of the year before Taylor completely separated himself at the US Open. Tommy Paul had a great year.
And outside of guys just being Alcaraz or Sinner or having more weaponry, as complete a player as there is on the ATB Tour. plays on every surface, survives on every surface, thrives on every surface, won three titles, won more than twice as many matches as he lost, which in tennis terms is like, that's top 10 behavior right there. You know, Wimbledon, he...
played a nice match and fell to Carlos Alcaraz. You'll remember that match he had US Open middle weekend, lost to Sinner. No, you know, no shame in that. Just... Really, we talked before about Runa sort of professionalizing the operation. Holgeruna need only look up one spot in the rankings to the next story up and see a guy who, you know, early 20s probably wasn't doing things the right way and then eventually...
learned how to become a full-blown professional and the results speak for themselves. I don't know if someone asked me, is Tommy Paul capable of winning a major? I'm not sure what my answer would be, but is Tommy Paul capable of... a really long career doing what he's doing now, sneaking inside the top 10 and staying there. You're right. He plays on every surface. He wins a lot of matches. Winning begets winning. And I think this is, you know, this is a real sort of tennis success story.
Yeah. Props to Brad Stein, because I think Tommy Paul would tell you maybe a little unorganized early in his career and has become a true professional. And I mean that in the most flattering way, right? No criticism backwards, but to get it. proceed, improve, become a professional, not the easiest thing to do, doesn't happen.
all the time, not even close to all the time. I say majority of the time, it's a tough lesson to learn. Props to Tommy Paul, clocking in at a career year-end ranking high of number 12. Number 11, Stefano Sitsipas, someone who... You know, it was normally in that top 10 of the year-end rankings and has still been very effective on clay. I think he would probably tell you he's been exposed on faster surfaces.
His first serve return has to improve somehow, some way. When you make a first serve against him, you're normally looking at a ball that you can be aggressive on. On the next one, does he step inside the court more often? Does he lay back? He likes to get height on the backhand side. He's a great shot producer. Is he the best mover in the world? No. Is he great when the ball is at him or on him? Is he super creative then? Yes.
Is he going to be able to improve his serve 10% at this point? I don't know. He's amazingly fun to watch. And unfortunately, he's almost a victim of his own shadow now because he's been so good in the past. I mean, we're talking about a guy that was one set away from winning Roland Garros against one Novak Djokovic. And it's now he's 11 in the world and we're going, that's a great accomplishment.
but just not in comparison to what he's been the five or six years previous. Whatever he improves on in 2025, he has to return first serves better and more effectively to get back into that top five, in my opinion. We love the one-handed backhand, but watch him play on a surface that is not clay and you really see it.
getting picked on and picked apart. I mean, you're right. I mean, at some level, you know, it's a guy who's multiple major finals. We all remember he had Novak a set away from winning Roland Garros a few years ago, has played deep in the majors.
Actually, I thought it was interesting. I mean, this was sort of a disappointing year, and his girlfriend was the comeback player of the year, and she actually finished one ranking spot lower than he did. You know, he won 45 matches, won a title, nothing to be embarrassed about.
This is a guy who a lot of people were thinking was heavy in the conversation of best player never to have won a major. Not a banner 2024. I mean, there's parental issues. There are coaching issues. There's a lot going on here, too. And, you know, he's only 26 years old, so there's still plenty of time to turn things around. But this was not a great year for a player despite...
45 wins and a top 11 finish. And let's level set here so we don't go to negative town. It would surprise nobody if this guy was in a Roland Garros final. Like, it wouldn't surprise anyone. So there is a lot ahead of him still. It's just a matter of how do we problem solve and level set consistency issues when the service is a little bit quicker, right? How do we get through?
not playing well in New York in the past. Basically, how do we grind out these points in different places where there isn't dirt underneath your feet? Listen, Steph is an all world talent. Everyone loves watching him. He's almost like a throwback with the way he produces his shots. Again, he's another one, not unlike Francis, where it's better when he's involved. A lot of fun. I hope we see him.
deep into majors for a couple of years in Australia, you mentioned the finals, made the finals. Like maybe he comes out of, out of the, the, the year hot and kind of level sets and, and gets back to it. But the one thing is I would be hitting a million returns if I'm set to it's a boss. Cause I think that's where.
it separates consistently. You talk about him getting bullied from the baseline. A lot of that starts with average returns, right? If you hit average returns and I did it for all of my career and average might be giving myself credit. But if I wasn't returning well, my average return, I was getting beat up and I was running around. Why do you play so far behind the baseline? Because I returned like shit. That's why.
That's, I mean, people talk about it and they never get to the actual reason. Why'd you play so far back? Because I shanked a return and then I have to get my ass back so I can try to save it at the last second, right? So I can relate to it. It's obvious. It's certainly not easy, but I think it is a-
thing for him to work on. Going into 2025, easier said than done. Father Time catches up with all of us, but Grigor Dimitrov fought it off for another year to finish in the top 10. Great run there in Miami. He's at this place where he's kind of done it all. Career high three in the world. One world tour finals has won another Masters event in Miami. No Grand Slam fight. Semi-finals of Grand Slams. Wimbledon, US Open.
et cetera, et cetera. He's a star. Everyone loves him. He had a great year. And does he have the firepower? And this is for everyone. It's an impossible question because it's like, I'm right, but like, what are we asking? Can he knock off a center? Can he knock off an Alcarez? Is he going to be consistently better than a Medvedev? Don't know. And that should take nothing away from the year he had. He was inspirational to watch in 2024. Yeah, well said. Player turns.
34 years old before Roland Garros. Still in the top 10 in achievement in itself. Look, I don't know. Are we predicting him to win his first major in his mid-30s? Perhaps not. But yeah, a lot to like here. A lot of match wins. And one of those guys who just, people enjoyed his presence and enjoyed his game when he broke through.
the misfortune of the nickname we've spoken about in the past. And you know what? In his mid-30s, he is no less delightful of presence. Good for Grigor Dimitrov, and long may it continue. You tell Alex Demonor at the beginning of the year that you're going to be participating in world tour finals. And he's going, you know what? Fantastic. Guy is an uber competitor.
gets the most juice out of every squeeze. Does he hit it harder than anyone off the back and side? No. Does he serve people off the court? No. Is he lightning fast? Yes. Is he the old school Aussie Hewitt Roseball, tough as nails, doesn't care how he gets it done, just wants to get it done in the rafter mold? Yeah. He is. He's an absolute throwback Aussie in the best of ways. And also, is he limited in upside against the Giants?
of the game. Maybe. Can he punch them out? I don't know. Can he land some shots? Absolutely. But take nothing away. This guy is a maximizer by definition. I love what I see. from Alex Demon or had some issues with injuries this year and still finished at a career high ranking number nine. Nothing but respect here, right, JW?
Nothing but respect. Interesting that Australia gives us sort of the ultimate, the exemplar of overachievement and maxing out your talent and also the other extreme. It was interesting. At Wimbledon, remember, he plays that match against Arthur Feast, wins it on match point, has this sort of...
tweaking back injury. And he has this, you know, biggest win of his career, perhaps, gets to face Novak in the quarterfinals and he has this look like he saw a ghost. Well, what happened? He knew immediately this was a serious injury. He didn't play between Wimbledon, between that match and the U.S. Open. So the fact that he had this kind of year to achieve what he achieved and then got to the year in finals and finished in the top 10 and also missed.
A big chunk, you know, to 2000 level events. It's a real achievement. And this is we talk about players that other players would do well to try and emulate. Put this guy on your list. Death. Taxes. and Rublev being in the top 10. Maybe Gravity, something else that we can rely on. Listen, Rublev is in the... We're having kind of the same conversation of which I can...
totally relate to is he is an unbelievable player, unbelievable ball striker. Is he an elite mover? No. Is his second serve attackable? Absolutely. But the guy's always in the top 10. And I will not let people be victims of their own success here. Like he is a great, great, great player who has had an unbelievable career. And he's stuck in this position. And I've read about it because we've talked about kind of the emotional.
toll that we can see tennis takes on him while he's playing. And it's basically, it's, and I struggled through this, not as visibly or as violently to myself, but If you try to care a little bit less, do you lose that edge, right? Do you lose the thing that makes your good weeks really good? The answer could be yes. And so he's stuck in this place where...
do I lay off and breathe a little bit more or does that actually, is that a net negative for me if I don't have that edge? Maybe the best version of myself is this like crazed, you know, fanatical person on the court. I don't like that. Doesn't get mentioned enough as potentially being true, but.
I like Rublev. Everyone seems to really like Rublev on tour. Does he blow his gasket? Absolutely. Are there things that he could improve on? Yes. Are there things that separate Alcaraz and Sinner and Medvedev and probably now Fritz? Yes. Is he... A fucking really good player? Absolutely. Is he fun to watch? Yes. I like Andre Rublev a lot. He blows his gasket a lot.
And most times, for better or worse, it's self-immolation, self-flagellation, which is different. Which is a big difference, by the way. Not being an asshole to your opponent, but just taking it out on yourself. That's a big difference. He also played, I saw 27. I'm like, oh, he's 27 years old. Oh, I'm not looking at the age column. I'm looking at the tournaments played. 27 is a lot of matches. That's a lot of travel for a guy in the top 10, isn't it? Yeah, and that's like...
And you're leaving out every other event, right? Like we used to say your tournaments are your tournaments, then your off weeks and training. I mean, that's a big load. He's a worker. He's a tour guy, right? It feels like there's certain guys that are just kind of like always on tour.
Look who's number seven. Yeah. I mean, it's not, listen, we're talking about the greatest male player of all time, right? Novak Djokovic at number seven. I don't even, we're not even going to talk about him being number seven, right? We're going to talk about. This year, which basically came down to him making the finals of Wimbledon on one leg. And dummies like me thinking that he didn't have enough time to even play, much less make a final. So greatness.
personified again, him winning the Olympics in that fashion at Roland Garros least favorite surface without losing a set is one of the greatest feats I've seen in tennis. Calling his shot.
saying this is the one that's most important to me and then delivering more impressive to me than if he actually would have won two majors this year. The pressure set, knowing it's the last time you're going to play the Olympics. I mean, shit, now he's going to go play the Olympics again and I'm going to get... smoked again 41 years old yeah fuck but i just respect i don't know how else to state it maybe the most
emotional I was watching a match just because of the respect swelling in my chest as I was watching it. Most athletes try to deflect and reduce pressure, not surprisingly. I mean, you said it. He called his shot. For all intents, this is going to be his last chance of gold. And for months and months in advance, he pinpointed this and spoke publicly of this is what he was building his year for.
I mean, just play this out as though you were scripting it. At Roland Garros, he ends up winning the match, but in the process, he has the meniscus injury. At the same event where they're holding the Olympics, he doesn't know if he'll play Wimbledon, but oh yes, of course he can, and actually gets to the final.
Loses to Carlos Alcaraz for the second year in a row. Then he goes to Paris to the same venue, the same court where he had this injury. He plays Rafa off the bat. It's like a who's scripting this. beats Rafa, and he just keeps winning and winning, finally gets to the final, you know, the gold medal match, and who's on the other side of the net? Oh, yeah, Alcaraz, the guy who just beat him at the last event they played, and he just wasn't going to leave the court.
with a medal colored anything other than gold. The convulsive sobs when he won that match were something I'll never forget. And yeah, if you said to Djokovic a year ago today, if you'd said to him, hey... Got good news and bad news. The bad news is you won three majors in 2023. You're going to win zero in 2024, and you're going to have a knee injury. And he says, oh, gee, what's the good news? You're going to win gold medal, and Serbia is going to toast you. He'd say, where do I sign?
And that's what he did. I mean, statistically, probably the least successful year he's had in... almost two decades, and yet he would sign up for this and that gold medal matches. That's my sort of enduring tennis memory of 2024 was Djokovic, Alcaraz, and Novak just saying, there's no way in hell I'm losing.
I think we deal, oh, it turns it up when it matters. And I think the will to win, everyone wants to win. Meet the moment. Yeah, but it's harder to do that. A lot of factors. He willed himself to that gold medal. physically, mentally, emotionally, and oh, by the way, beating who was at that moment the current best player in the world who had just come off of two majors.
Willed himself to win. It was one of the most impressive victories. And I told him this, I saw him in the locker room at the US Open. I said, of all your victories, when you're in full flight, those are one thing. struggling physically, mentally, the lead-in, the whole thing. I said, maybe the most impressive tournament I've ever seen from you, which is obviously when you're talking to someone who's won, you know, dozens and dozens of majors.
is quite a statement, but I fully feel it. 2025, we're almost at the who cares, because I don't, like, he's done what he's done. Is he going to be able to pare down the reps? play less tournaments, and still compete for majors, we will see. It didn't really work this year in the majors. Did work at the Olympics. Pairing with Andy Murray will be endlessly entertaining. It'll give us knuckleheads something to talk about.
And I don't say who cares as if no one cares. Obviously, everyone cares about Novak Djokovic and how he's playing tennis. I'm just saying his legacy is set in stone. Whatever he does from this moment forward doesn't affect that legacy, except if it's positive.
If he goes away and doesn't win another match for the rest of his life, it doesn't do anything to his legacy. Not a single thing. It's only upside from here for Novak Djokovic. But that balancing act, this is the first year in a long time where he's going into it saying, I'm probably not the best player in the world as it currently stands, and I might not even be one of the two best as it currently stands.
A couple of guys named Roger Rafa, he's dealt with that before, but on the way up as opposed to kind of on the sunset of his career. But nothing but respect for Novak. That Olympics was... I've run out of superlatives for it. I could do an entire show about that. Now we'll go to Kasper Rude, six in the world. One of the most underrated players. We take him for granted, has been a three-time major finalist. This year he goes, he wins over 50 matches again.
every week. What does he need to do to make that next step? We know he's one of the best players in the world on clay. He has three or four results off of clay every year that are really, really, really, really good. Makes the world tour finals every single year. We don't talk about it enough.
Is he going to be able to up the pace on his second serve a little bit? In World Tour Finals, we saw him stepping in on second serve returns a little bit. Can he differentiate? Can he take his backhand line? 90% of them to this point in his career have gone cross-court. Can he mix it up a little bit? Simply, if the best players in the world know what's coming next, it's like Barry Bonds sitting on a fastball.
right? Kasparud has to be a little bit, has to show a little bit more variety in his game on top of that forehand, which is all world as far as action and jump off of the court. But Just another great year for him. He's six in the world. Again, he's there every year. And I hear a million pundits and dumbasses go, well, he's not going to be the top 10 next year. And then he does it again and shuts everyone else up. This guy is a great player.
We've moved past the, you know, is this a fluke? Is this deceptive? I mean, I think this has become, this has moved into the, you know, I mean, it's a little crass, but this is, I think the comp maybe might be a little David Ferrer. where there's a lot of admiration. This is a talent ringer. This is not someone who's leaving anything on the court. It's just, does he have the weapons? Does he have the forcefulness? Does he have the assertiveness? Does he have the pop?
to compete with a center. And I don't know if you're, you tell me if you're, if you're coaching the guy, what are you telling him to do to beat a center as Vera of an Alcaraz has to up the risk profile when he plays those guys, like keep your lock set. But you have to be able to come out of your shoes on a second serve return. Even just the bluff of moving up return positions, he made the semis of World Tour Finals, won two matches. And he was taking a little bit earlier.
Serve and volley, even if you're not good at it, just to give people, if they know they can drift back 17 feet on your second serve and find your backhand, you have to shift it a little bit. You have to make them think.
of something a little bit different. Maybe you get to the forehand where you absolutely come out of your shoes and rip it a little bit earlier in the rally. There's something that has to happen where you have to be able to up your risk profile a little bit when you're playing the greats.
of the game and all the while not losing your stock offering when you're playing someone who's 40 in the world because you've been great at that. You've won the matches that you're supposed to win for a long time, which is, by the way, one of the most underrated things. in this sport and something that our next player has made a career of. Daniil Medvedev, if you've listened to this podcast, you know how much I love this guy. I look past all of his petulance.
He has like a hall pass on behavior, and I don't know why. I'm not going to try to explain it. I just love it. Maybe it's because he normally sees it in a rational way later. Maybe it's because without being able to bully anyone off the baseline, he has created a Hall of Fame career, number one in the world, US Open champion, multiple other major finals. This year...
He started taking losses with ugly scorelines. Two players like a center. He started off, I think, 6-1 against center. Center has completely reversed it. The last couple times they've played, it's like center. now misses as little as Medvedev, but he also hits it harder than anyone on tour. So if you're Medvedev, you're basically looking forward to next year saying, how can I sneak out those wins? How can I get more days like I had when I beat Sinner in the quarters of Wimbledon?
How do I use my game, which isn't a common walk to the middle of the ring and start throwing uppercuts? It's jab, move, jab, move, jab, move. To play the type of game that Medvedev plays is a laborious... mental mountain that he has so far done unbelievably well. There's no one who saw this guy hitting at 14 who was like, this guy's going to be number one in the world. He is an absolute maximizer, tennis IQ.
through the roof. The question moving forward is, can he put in the mental effort that it takes to play the way that he plays? Which is, by the way, the most effective version of himself. He's not someone that's going to walk in, people are going to play inside the court. Shut up.
The stroke production isn't built that way. That's not how he's built the most effective version of himself. It's not as easy as just stepping in. He's not the guy that's going to step inside and just knock the cover off of a forehand.
Some people just, it'd be like, they say step inside the court like it's telling someone who's, like Muggsy Bogues, you should just dunk or post someone up. And follow that. Thanks for the tip. It doesn't make any, yeah, exactly. Like, no, no shit. Love, Daniel Medvedev. And I feel like the space between him, Alcaraz, Sinner, maybe grew a little bit this year. And the guy's still top five in the world. Like, he is an all-timer. He's fantastic.
If you could get ranking points for quotable lines and for perspective and for times the guy makes fans smile, he'd be higher than five. The flip side is I think when he was winning. When he beat Novak and was winning the U.S. Open and when he was getting to finals in Australia, we didn't talk enough about his serve. I think one thing we haven't talked about now is the drop-off of his serve. I mean, look at his serve stats.
2024 was a rough year for him, and I think that has gotten him to so much trouble in a way that, you know, the court positioning is obvious to anyone who watches, and there are rallies where you can't even see him. He's so far behind the camera. But the serve, I think, is a really sort of problematic element to his game. On the other hand, that can be fixed pretty easily. Again, love having him in the cast. A bit of a step-back year for him.
You know, this guy, especially on hard courts, is a threat to win every major he enters. And we'll see if – look at the serve, though, and see if that doesn't improve next year. Yeah, you're right. Percentage is down. Ace is down. Across the board, you're right. Curious to see if that's a technical adjustment or something else. And again, a step back year, keywords, a step back year against their own shadow. A dream year.
for 99% of the players on tour. Someone who took a massive leap forward from a rankings perspective, from a results perspective in majors was Taylor Fritz. Right. Never been past the quarters before this year. made a run at Wimbledon, won tournaments, and obviously the biggest result of the year was making the finals of the U.S. Open. First male man to be in a U.S. Open final since 2009.
Hearing that chatter and then delivering in New York, unbelievable effort. The guy's a worker. He is a tour rat. And I say that in the best possible way. The guy never wants to take weeks off. He just wants to play tennis. He's there every week. He puts the work in. I just like it because he expects to be in that US Open final. The way that he talks about where he wants to be, he doesn't shy away from it.
He goes in there and he punches every time. The question is, and I remember doing world tour finals when he lost to Sinner for the second time, is what can he do? to change tactics against a Yannick Sinner. He is not someone, no one is, that can create the drop shots and the slices.
of an Alcaraz or the speed. Taylor's never going to be the best mover in the world. He has improved drastically getting in and out of the corners and actually playing D when he needs to. You know, is he, he's not a... pericard server where he has a great serve but the second serve against center is is going to be dealt with so his issue isn't improvement if he's improving how he's improving
Across the board, he's improved in every single area of his game. Credit to Mike Russell, Paul Anacone, and Taylor for doing that work. The question is now matchups. Can I either avoid them to try to win a major or how do I adjust? specifically against Yannick Sinner, because I think that's the worst matchup for Taylor Fritz. It's interesting because Taylor Fritz, part of his success, I mean, what, 53 matches this year?
a couple of titles. And one of them, I mean, he really has owned the matchup with Zverev, who he beat at both majors and then beat him again in interim. The other guy who's ranked number one, he's had a much harder time with, and that is solving that sinner dilemma, who beat him multiple times, including not just the turn final, but of course the U.S. Open final as well. I mean, I think there's so much to admire here. I mean, one thing that's always struck me is just the...
The chasm, the difference between sort of the casual perception of Taylor Fritz, the good-looking guy from California with the social media girlfriend who eats Chipotle, and then the tennis version is this guy gets outworked and outstudied by no one.
I mean, I think you used the word gym rat. I mean, that's sort of a great shorthand for him. I mean, this is someone who really lives, eats, and breathes tennis. This is still not someone, I'm not sure he still had a really signature win in his career to be a top five player. and have come off making the finals of the previous major, and still you don't feel like he's going to come anywhere close to his ceiling at majors, really.
speaks well of him and i i don't know i mean i'm curious to hear what you say i mean i don't know what the answer is for how do you crack the sinner riddle but a lot of other riddles he uh nailed in 2024 yeah and he's he's by the way just circle wimbledon because he's been in the quarters a couple times
I think if he could have probably one match back outside of the center of things where it's like, I could go play that match and I know I'm going to win it the next time I play it, not I hope I'm going to win it, is that match against Musetti at Wimbledon.
Right. Fritz is very, very, very good on grass. He's going to be a contender at Wimbledon. He would argue that his signature wins are Rafa in the finals of Indian Wells and beating Zverev in two majors, the number two player in the world in the same year. Back-to-back majors. Listen, Taylor Fritz, all you can hope for is progress. And he's consistently provided that over his career. Nothing but respect for what he did and his team did.
this year. And then we get to the Chuckster. It's kind of weird because he's this all-world talent who won two majors to bring his tally up to four by the time he's 21, along with... 1000s and all this other stuff. But we forget that he didn't win a tournament between Wimbledon and Indian Wells. And then he missed the entire clay court season. And then he lost a Bodek van de Zanskulp in...
at the US Open, right? And then he beats Sinner over in Asia and then loses a couple of weird ones at the end of the year. So 2020, what went right? Yeah, I fucking won majors. Like I won majors. I won my second Wimbledon title. And what's the area's improvement being healthy and doing it all the time and winning 70 plus matches like, like center did this year.
And it's become pretty clear cut. The battle lines were sinners on hard. And then anything that's not hard, you know, clay grass is kind of Alcaraz territory right now. And they're the best in their given spaces. And he's a joy to watch. Expectations couldn't be more at size. He's one of the biggest global superstars, not in tennis, but in anything. Everyone wants to be around him. Oh, you know, if he looks and he's like, oh, you won 54 matches this year. He'd be like, oh, that's not, it's not.
it's not great that's not as many as i would have wanted oh but you also won wimbledon and the french open okay great three in the world three in the world i don't know just be on court more often like is that it that's that i mean I think he improved his serve. He adjusted the motion a little bit. Now he kind of went up and down in a V, and now it's rounded at the bottom a little bit more. The backhand got better. He's using the slice more often. It's just that he needs the...
time and the space, it seems like mentally, I don't think he's just a machine like Sinner is. I think even the way he plays is more based on feel and emotion, right? It's fantastic. He's a performer. He's theatrical. Won two majors. Listen, he'll stay at three in the world. He'll tell you that. He'll stay at three in the world forever if he wins two majors every year. That's more important to him.
right now but ranking actually went down yeah he actually and then he said in charlotte too like i i do want my number one ranking back but i don't i don't know what you tell him like just be on court more like i don't know what do you tell him I mean, look, he has 7,010 points. Sinner has 11,830. So he won just as many majors, actually won the head-to-head battle against Sinner.
in 2024, and he's almost 5,000 points less in the rankings. I mean, this is just 21 years old. He's not only won four majors, but he's won three of the four. And there's no conceivable reason why he can't win in Australia. We talked about this. I mean, he really is sort of...
shouldered himself with this burden of kind of being tennis's front-facing guy. I mean, it probably doesn't suit Sinner so well. And Alcaraz seems to be saying, you know what, I got this. I'm happy to be the figurehead of the sport. And again, give any player a chance to win half the majors, two out of four and double their total. And it doesn't really matter what happens at some indoor event in October. They'll sign up for it.
was playing Nadal a couple of years ago at Roland Garros, broke his ankle and couldn't put any weight on it. At that point, did we think that he would reach a career high ranking in 2024? Probably not. Listen. The biggest mark against him is that he's not Roger, Rafa, Novak, Alcaraz, or Sinner. The biggest knock is that he is pretty clearly the best player to have not won a major.
at this point in his career. And I'm not talking about right now, statistically ever, ever. Right. So it's, it's this weird thing where I'm not going to criticize someone for being elite. Okay. And also, is there some scar tissue in majors? Listen, I'm someone who wanted to win Wimbledon more than anything in life. And as that window closed, I felt more and more pressure.
to take that opportunity. And it didn't always work out perfectly. I think at majors specifically, because he has to talk about it so much, there is an extra pressure set there. Does he want to be the best player to have never won a major or does he win a major and then he goes past people like me and Medvedev and all these other people who his career statistics stack up favorably against except for...
the ranking and the major. It's weird because you hear people say, well, he has to step inside the court. His stroke production on his forehand side is high, rounded, and big. It's not as if he can just, it's not made. to step two feet inside the court, cut the corner, and Alcaraz people off the jump or Roger people off the jump. He's done an amazing job of adjusting his serve. Right? Remember he, like... was double faulting at a cocoa pace for a couple of years, most efficient.
Server in tennis right now serving 75% some odd for the year. I mean, it's a joke how he's adjusted and become the most effective server that he can possibly be. Can he take the ball a little earlier in second serve returns? Can he serve and volley a little bit? Those little things might matter, right? Roland Garros this year, he was a set away from winning a major again.
A set away, up two sets to one and had the momentum against Alcaraz. Didn't play badly in the last two sets, by the way. Alcaraz just went into like video game mode. So... It's just the margins. I'm not going to criticize someone and pretend like they haven't accomplished a lot because they haven't accomplished the thing. That's well put. Did you catch that moment when he had the dispute in Asia with the chair?
And it was one of sort of the great tennis tells of 2024. And he basically, you know, plenty of players lose it with the chair. And his response was, I'm paraphrasing here, but. Close to this. He basically said, you guys are the reason why you've cost me these majors when I've gotten to the finals. And by the way, I'm biased as it gets. That's not true. What's that? They haven't cost him majors.
No, no, exactly. No, my point is it was a little glimpse into just how much this weighs on him. And to me, it was just a sort of little peek into the mentality. He knows what his reputation is. He knows that he's considered the best player, as you say.
Like, historically, the best player never to have won a major. On the one hand, that's a real compliment. I mean, that's a real sort of testament to how close he's come, what people think of his game. He was 69 matches this year. That also is a burden. To me, this is one of sort of a real storyline to follow. I mean, imagine what the celebration and the relief and the joy and the swirl of emotion will be like if he ever gets there. But he's made two major finals. One of them he served.
for it against Dominic Thiem in 2020 U.S. Open did not close. Last year, you say Roland Garros up two sets to one against Alcaraz. Much different kind of match, but... So much talent, so much depth. I probably would take Wimbledon out of the equation, but at three of the four majors, he's going to be on every contender list for the rest of his career. Strictly as a matter of math, you think he probably breaks through.
27 years old with all that talent, with no more, you know, Novak question mark, no more Rafa Roger. Kind of a fascinating character study in a lot. We could do a whole show on this guy, but the truth is he's, you know. He's number two in the world for a reason and still a lot of opportunities for him to not be the best player, never to have won a major. Couldn't walk two years ago also, just so we're being clear, like couldn't walk two years ago.
In number one, I mean, this is going to be a short, like we're in the last two minutes of the year for served folks. Sinner, what went right in 2024? Well, I make less errors. I hit the ball harder. My serve is a lot better. Broke through for my maiden slam. Came through at the U.S. Open. Dominated the field, by the way. It wasn't as if he dominated the entire field start to finish, and it wasn't close.
73 wins, six losses. When you win more tournaments than you do lose matches in a given year, as my friend Larry David said, I wish we were friends. We're not. I would. loved pretty good pretty good amazing going to next year obvious elephant in the room water is he going to be suspended i don't know
As far as game goes, he's like, yeah, I can volley better. Yeah, you can. I mean, you're pretty good at that. Like there's not much to be improved on. He is a machine. Like in the way that Novak was a machine where you knew what was going to happen. every time he went on the court, right? And there's, can he be better on clay? Probably. Does he need to be better on clay to win eight majors? No, no. Can he win Wimbledon? Probably.
Does he even need to win Wimbledon to win six majors eventually? No, I don't know what you tell him. You just hope for, if you're in the center camp, like what's the improvement you can make? Like don't get suspended. I don't know. Like player of the year. With two majors versus two majors, he won 19 more matches than Alcaraz and lost seven less. One more titles. He's our player of the year.
I don't know. This is the most boring number one segment of all time because he approved on everything. I don't know. I don't know. Edited out the errors, 2023 to 2024. Also edited out. the doubt, the hesitations. I mean, sometimes there was a passiveness that seeped into his game. There was none of that this year. Yeah, I mean, it's a pity we're talking about this, but I think we'd probably be...
If we didn't, we're all waiting to see how this appeal goes. I mean, again, the first weekend of the U.S. Open, he has this press conference and basically says with great sort of clarity and conviction what happened. With that cloud hanging over his head, he then won seven matches in a row to win his second major of the year. So, yeah, I mean, this is one of the great tennis seasons in the history of the sport, really.
We'll see how he plays in 2025, and we'll see how this appeal pans out. Mike, what else you got, man? We're closing in. We're closing in. It's a wrap. Can you believe we started this podcast this year? I know. January 30th. It's kind of nuts. Crazy. And here we are. Look at us. Look at us.
Look at us. What else you got? Anything? You know, last show, we kind of talked about the sleepers in the WTA, but it seems like in the ATP, there's a few more characters, cast of characters. You know, who do you think 2025 is going to have a huge impact? Yeah, I'll fire it quickly. Ben Shelton, on the job training.
finished lower this year than he did the year before, but I think he's a better player at Mass. I think getting stuck between hyper-aggression and being able to actually rely on his wheels, crazy athlete, he's going to end this next year close to the top 10. Sebastian Korda always looks like a top 10 player on the eye test. It's just a matter of health. He is such a clean ball striker, reminds me a lot of Thomas Burdick.
with the way that he's able to produce. JW, your guy, Petty Paracard. Let's go prediction special. 31 right now. Where does he end next year? Number one. No, I would say, how about he takes 10 points off? 21. There's still a lot of edges that need to be sanded there. This is this tennis web binata, I keep calling it. But I mean, the serve is like nothing you've ever seen.
You know, this is going to be a climb. I think he'll be top 25 this time. I'm going to calm down otherwise. Someone who I want everyone to watch for. You know, you always get asked, who's going to break out next year? Someone who, it would surprise me zero if they ended up in the top 10 and he doesn't get mentioned in the top 10 enough, was on a great run in Madrid this year, can play huge, has a big serve, has a strong body, got hurt in Madrid.
kind of detoured his season a lot, but can beat really good players and has enough weapons. Yuri Lehechka. Watch him for next year. Complete game, can come forward. Big, strong body. Feels like there's... a bit of a belief system. If you look at him, I think Thomas Mahat is someone who could be entering the top 10 next year, currently sitting at 25. Curious to see if our guy Berrettini, hashtag Cincinnati show.
comeback player of the year comeback but 34 in the world he's proven he can get back now is he a top 15 guy is he a top 10 guy can he make the semis of majors his hit by like circle wimbledon for him Because he has been screwed at Wimbledon since he made the final. He's won Queens twice, had to pull out because he got COVID like three days before the event.
One time this year played center. I think first round or second was first round or second, first round. I was in Italy watching that. It's like the entire country stopped. He is a great grass court player. Circle Wimbledon, Circle Berrettini surprises nobody if he makes the last four of that event. Listen, this has been served. JW, thanks for sticking in there with us. Producer Mike.
As I said at our team meeting last week, you're the only person that has their hands on every single part of this operation. Appreciate you. Techie Sean, Social Sophie, the whole entire team. It's been a fun year. It's been awesome. I think we should do it again. Happy New Year, everybody. Cheers. Happy holidays. Happy New Year. And we will see you on the other side in 2025. Thank you. Most importantly, to our listeners, our viewers.
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