Hi, Megan Rapinoe here. This week on A Touch More, Sue and I go over the first weekend of Unrivaled. Caitlin Clark sitting next to Taylor Swift at a playoff game. And what's really behind the legislation that aims to bar transgender girls from school sports. Plus, we'll hear some responses to last week's Baker of the Week. And Sue's going to share her ice cream recipe. Check out the latest episode of A Touch More wherever you get your podcasts and on YouTube.
Hey everybody, welcome to quick served. Disappointing. You never want to see anyone walk off because their body gives out and because they feel like they can't play anymore, especially in a three to five set format. But that's what happened in the Alex Zverev, Novak Djokovic match. Bit of a dicey first set, no breaks. Novak looked okay at times, looked, you know, compromised at times. Zverev wins the first set and then...
Are you asking yourself, can I actually play a minimum of three more physical sets? Novak didn't waste any time. Listen, he's either hurt or he's not. So people seem to be making a big deal about him not.
calling the trainer and just walking right around but that part doesn't bother me i don't need the ceremony of a trainer walking out pressing around and really not doing much i mean if there's an injury there's an injury i'm not sure what the trainer does in that scenario, if there's nothing that could have been done in the last two days to get him to the moment where he thought he could play five sets, then I'm not sure what we're going to do in 90 seconds in front of a crowd full of people.
to make Novak feel like he can play at least three more sets if he wants to win. And if he doesn't think he can play those three more sets physically, then what is he actually doing? Disappointing because... I think that was the first time, the last three matches, that we've seen Novak in full flight. Obviously, won the Olympics, looked great there, but in a grand slam...
Since he won 2023 U.S. Open, I think there's a first time we got glimpses of kind of vintage peak Novak. And now you see Alex Verov going to take on Yannick Sinner in the final, who... Ben Sheldon had chances in the first set, was up a break twice, had set points on his own serve. Easier said than done.
If you're Ben Shelton, you have to close there. And he said as much in his post-match press conference. One of the crazy stats that you all would have owned my house if I was given this, average first serve speed for the match. Who leads that category? Mike Hayden? Our producer, Mike. I don't know if we can say your last name here. We should keep your anonymity. One would say Ben Shelton. Right. And one would be wrong.
Average first serve speed for the match, at least what I saw on the Aussie Open Web app. 119 center, 117 Ben Shelton. Won not a huge majority of his first serve points and lost. the majority of his second serve points, got broken six times in three sets, which is... It's tough to actually make real. His winners to errors were 27 to 55 unforced errors. Now, that can vary based on who's keeping tabs like at different tournaments. It's just one person deciding what's an error and what's not.
So there is some variance there. If someone hits a great second serve at, you know, 109 and hits a corner and you miss a second serve return, is that an unforced error? Not in my book at all, but, you know. Some people do that, but if, you know, 55 errors, you know, 18.3 per set on average, that's over four and a half games per set on unforced errors.
which is a tough ask against someone like a Yannick Sinner. I think Ben knows his father, Brian, who's done a great job, by the way, since taking the reins as Ben's coach, would tell you that... Those numbers aren't going to get it done. And a lot of people will point to those. I see it. He wasn't going to come out and have a neutral stat line and be able to beat Onyx Center. He wasn't going to come out and have...
you know, 15 winners in 20 years. He had to play irresponsibly, got himself to the point where he had a look. For me, it's as if we don't talk about Ben's serve because it is so dynamic and it is so effective. He's lefty. He can tip the radar gun at 150. He has all the spins. He can kick, he can slice. He just needs to land the fastball more often, right? The best serve for the day was the, I was arguing with James about it on text just now, James Blake.
And I sent him the average first serve speed because we were kind of arguing in a nice way over text the other day where James wanted, you know, the variance and I wanted. I feel like the fastball sets the table for the variance, right? I feel like if Ben can get to the point where he can accurately land a flat serve.
on the ad side at 137 and there's no such thing as a totally flat serve like you always have to have some some spin on it but the flat ball on the ad side that makes his 106 can opener out wide that much better yannick was able to almost like lean to certain spots and challenge ben to go big and he doesn't really step up and do that i feel like he's more comfortable kind of throwing the spinny stuff
which is really effective against guys who aren't elite returners. I think it's less effective against guys that are elite returners. I don't know that there's a world where Ben beats, you know, a prime Yannick center. where center is averaging a higher first serve speed in a three out of five set match. So either you got to get more accurate because if you get more accurate on your, your flat.
it makes all the other pitches better, right? If a pitcher is painting the corners at 98 and has control of a strike zone, the secondary pitches become... 30 40 better on average i just don't know that you can go through these great returners you know and i've i've talked with
with Brian Shelton about this too. And I don't know if it's a, maybe the accuracy needs to be there on the, on the big one more often. And maybe that's the issue. And maybe that's the trade-off is do we, you know, we're scared to hit too many second serves because that's also a problem, but.
at the at the highest level and where ben can go and i sell this saying like ben's been in two grand slam finals and another quarterfinal he likes the long format he's done an amazing job just out of college we forget the first time he ever left the country was two years ago to australia and he made the quarters so it has largely been on the job training but i think if you want to contend for elite titles it requires elite
an elite version of problem solving. You know, what works against a lot may not work against the Novak's, the sinners. You do have to step up and have, be able to control the strike zone with, with all your pitches. When he does that. He's not going to get broken six times in three sets. You know, he's not going to have to. Go ahead.
I was going to say, he did say, you know, kind of after the match, you know, that he's like, hey, these guys, Alcaraz, Novak, Sinner, they've been dominating slams since I've been on tour. Yeah. You know, they're still winning three sets, winning in four sets. They figured out I'm getting closer to being able. to do that you've talked about this before right you just need to get matches in you need to see it you need to see it
And he even said, right, he's like, the windows against these guys are so small. Yeah. And like, I was missing my windows today. Yeah. He's right. And listen, nothing, this is no, this is no criticism. It's, it's, it's, we're, we're, we're, we're talking about problem solving. I'm not saying, I think what Ben's done in two years out of college, he basically won so many challengers right away that he skipped minor leagues of tennis.
He played for like, he played challenges for like three months and then he made a quarter of a grand slam and then he was on tour. So he's still learning for sure. I just, there has to be a world where he gets to be an accurate server when he's up when he goes up the register because if he can flatten out a serve where he can make it 55 or 60 percent of the time out wide on the deuce side i don't know how you cover because right now you can lean
You can basically lean for his slice serve and react to the kicker, which is amazing, but you still have time to react off of it. You can't react off of a flat serve wide on a deuce side from a lefty who has that much juice. If he ups the accuracy on the flat serves, then he becomes the guy who doesn't get broken for entire tournaments. He's close right now, and it's nothing that they would probably disagree with.
it's as if we don't talk about his service, something that can improve. I think it has to, as far as accuracy, when he goes up the register, right? Because right now it feels like there's this trade-off between accuracy and power and you know controlling the amount of second serves hit by hitting the spinny ones around the court and if he gets to a point and he's capable otherwise i wouldn't be talking about it right i don't i we talked about a couple days
people were bagging on demon. We're not talking about the Easter bunny. Like he's not going to hit one 145. He's improved to serve two or three miles an hour. And that is, you know, that that's great. Ben has the ability to do it. He can do it. He has it in his arm. But we need to get to the point where the flat ball is so accurate or accurate enough that it makes the secondary pitches.
20 or 30% better. And maybe that takes getting broken six times to getting broken three times. And that makes a big difference. Makes a big difference. But listen. He came in. He didn't have any prep. He lost to Mensik in his only match coming in. Had a brutal first round draw with Nakashima. Made semis, man. Like the guy gets through. His fitness is not in question.
He's a horse. He's really, really made strides in fitness. His back end is better. Is it perfect? No, it's not perfect. It's so improved compared to 15 months ago. which is what you look for, right? You're not looking, not everyone is Novak, not everyone is Andre and that can't be the comp. But simply, I think a serve is elite. I think it's great. It's one of the best on tour. And I weirdly think it could be even better and more accurate.
He's got more options than I ever did. I was just more accurate at landing the big one. So I could pitch a better ball game because I could establish a fastball at 65% plus. I wasn't lefty. That's a huge advantage. I was hitting my spin the same way that they saw 95% of the time. He's not. Real opportunity. So what is he doing for the month of February?
Yeah, I think it's ongoing. I don't think it's a technical fix. I just think we're going to have to learn to hit this in big spots and not shy away from the big one to make a first serve. I think he's still learning how to pitch a ballgame. And it's, it's, and we don't all agree. Like I, I'm not saying I'm right. You know, James wanted to mix it up. I remember I talked to Brad Gilbert and we were both like, you gotta, you gotta hit it big. Like that's your big advantage in this matchup.
Your big advantage is I can actually hit my first serve 25 miles an hour bigger than the best player in the world currently. And then you come out and center has a higher first serve speed. And I understand that's because of spin and 87 mile an hour kicks that bring averages down. The Harvard guy, James, explained that to me like I'm some fucking idiot. Well, if you hit one 106, it brings the average down on 117. Matt's. Turned James. Just Matt's. Yeah, it's just the Matt's.
You idiot. I don't know why I turned James into that voice. It's just what I turned him into. I turned him into like Adam Sandler. But we'll see. I just think he needs to. I told James like him telling me how to mix up a 140 serve with a slice serve is like me telling James how to be fast. I'm not fast and he can't hit a 140. So.
You know, but I know it's all in good fun. James and I, I love talking to him because it gets a different perspective and he's obviously seen the biggest servers in the world. I just think accuracy is going to matter on that big one. If you're currently at a 45% or 50% clip, guys can give you that one and hope you miss it at a 30% all point and then have to defend. But I think as soon as he becomes more accurate on that flat one where he goes up the register, it's going to be...
A game changer. The rest of his game is improving so much. Coming in, serving, volleying. The back end's better. He can drive it middle. Returning, it's not going to be a natural thing. It wasn't a natural thing for me, but he got two breaks in the first set. against sinner who hasn't really been broken so the athleticism there there's so much to like with ben shelton
You know, I think there's it's amazing that he's that good. And I think there's a lot of room for improvement. If I'm in his camp, I'm very optimistic about what the what the future holds. And listen, all the while, we just take center's greatness for granted.
We're like, oh, yeah, he should have done this because Sinner's so good, and then we just leave it, which is our fault, right? Like, that sucks. Yannick Sinner is the best, most consistent, bankable, predictable player in the world right now. You know, is Alcaraz's... top level better maybe but is sinners 80 85 percent better than alca res is right now yeah it is yeah he's the most consistent entity we have in tennis right now so
Props to him. I think he's the favorite against Alex Zverev. I do want to say, Zverev's always there. And he's a great player. He's a great player. He's beaten all the top guys. He's one year in finals. It's just, winning a slam changes the entire way that we look at Alex Varev. But it can't take away from the fact that he's just... always there, always professional, is a real problem to deal with. Anyone who returns well, moves well, and serves in the 130s consistently at 70%.
You know, he's kind of the opposite of Ben. I don't know that he has all the spins and angles and all the tricks and the thing, but he's the most accurate big server maybe of all time. You know, this side who's not 8,000 feet tall. You know, he's only six foot seven or six, six, whatever it is. Six, six. Yeah, but he hits the spots. He's accurate. He's the most accurate server on tour right now.
You know, whereas Ben has the most options, but we just have to give the guy respect. And I thought I was so disheartened and you can disagree with, with. Some people were mad that Novak went after the journalist and didn't talk to Jim. I'm not going to tell you not to be mad at that. I wasn't. He can do it. He can choose who he talks to. You don't get a free thing to say whatever you want about someone and then...
Expect them not to exercise leverage. And he ended up getting what he wanted. Okay. Like, that doesn't bother me. Right? And I disagree with a lot. I disagree, you know, I... especially in Australia, there's some scar tissue. There was a huge controversy, the whole thing. But I thought it was so shitty to boo someone who's won 10 times there and who is, you don't know if they're going to come back.
Like it would really suck if Novak's last memory in a place that he has been dominant, where we have seen excellence from him to the point where we probably take it too much for granted. to be getting booed off the court and a quick little goodbye and a wave. That kind of sucks, man. You hope that he has that beautiful sunset in a place that...
He's provided so much action. I'm not telling you to agree with what he does. I'm not telling you because I'm going to say he's excellent. He deserves appreciation. You're going to say, oh, well, he did these things. Okay. We don't have to agree with everything. To say, you know what? He's really friendly in the locker room. He always says hello. He's always courteous to his other players. They all really respect him. Maybe we disagree with some stuff. That's fine. We can disagree.
But what you can't do is disrespect excellence. When you're a tennis fan going to a tennis tournament, we have to appreciate history. We can't be petty when someone is hurt. Hurt enough. Do you think Novak wanted to walk off the court there? No, he wanted to fucking win again and say F you to everyone who's doubted him. No one's ever been better with friction. So you don't think he wanted to turn this upside down? He's done it before here. He was hurt two years ago and won the tournament.
He's emotional. You never have to wonder what he's thinking. He said I did everything I could manage, my muscle tear, but towards the end of the set, I felt like more and more pain. I mean, what do you expect a guy to do? He's 37 years old. He knows his body. But also, he played his points hard. Yeah, if you're compromised, you pick and choose your spots to go. I remember one year Pete won Wimbledon, and he wasn't practicing on off days.
He had shin splints and he was just loading up on painkillers and going out and letting it rip, Tater Chip. Wasn't comfortable. It doesn't mean that like you finish a match and everything's perfect or you don't finish a match and everything's bad. It's so rare in tennis for... you to feel perfect. And father time comes for everyone. And is it, you know, Novak said, like, I've been getting hurt. I don't know what it is.
You're 37 and you've put in a lot of road work. You know, you're going to get your knee hurts a little bit and you have to have surgery and your hip hurts a little bit. That's I don't think all of a sudden. the healthiest you've ever been is in front of you. I just, I felt sad for him and for tennis and this tournament getting booed off the court because you don't think that you can actually deliver.
the product and or when, and by the way, when it's a tear in your leg, it's different than like having a bruise on your foot, right? Where it's pain and it's going to be there, but...
It's not as if you're going to risk the next three to six months making a tear worse. There's hurt. Hurt you can play through. My elbow's sore. It's throbbing. That's hurt. Injured is when you have... tears some people treat being hurt like being injured and maybe this is a whole nother episode at some point but Simply, when someone who's won 10 times there and someone who's won more slams than any male in history decides they can't go, I don't need to see the parade.
of a trainer running out with a backpack there's nothing in a back there's nothing that you could have put in a backpack right then that's legal that you could have given Novak to make him better in 45 seconds. I don't need to see it. I don't need to see a trainer run out there. Props to Zverev for saying basically the same thing. I thought that was a cool moment for him. And it's weird because have you ever had gotten one versus two in a slam final and had been like, oh, man.
You know, I think the way that it ended kind of makes it that way. You know, Zverev is two in the world and you feel like maybe, you know, there's other stars who are more accomplished. on the on the slam level you know that you know would maybe be a juicier matchup but the guy is just really good he's really good like what's his biggest weakness he can't hit a forehand like carlos i don't know that is like
Your moves change the game. These guys, Medvedev and Zverev, have changed the game with the way that they can move. They present such a problem. Anyway, so I was just disappointed. Novak... has earned a better response. Regardless of, I don't care what you think of any other part, you can respect excellence without agreeing with someone all the time.
And I think that that respect should have won out when he was leaving the place where he has created so much history. And I hated that. I didn't like that. And he said in his press, I don't know if I'll be back, which makes it worse. We don't either. Listen, a 37-year-old walks off because he can't go the distance. Could he have played two more games? Probably. That's not the same as playing three and a half, four more sets.
Oh, by the way, and having to play center in the final, like potentially. It wasn't baked in, but it's not about getting through three more games. That doesn't do anything for anyone. Novak's here to win tennis tournaments. He doesn't care about the semis. He wants to challenge the players for the titles. He could compromise it even further, right? If it is a tear, like it's, you know, is it worth? No. Is it worth writing off this season? Maybe if you're in a final and there's one set left.
Maybe the answer is yes. Winning three more sets against Varev and then having to go again. You know, he made the call. He didn't think he could get there. He knows better than we do. He just does. Anyone who pretends they know better than him, they're wrong. they're wrong you can have your questions you can say your stuff you can do that's fine but like am i gonna are we at the point where we're criticizing someone for deciding they can't physically go when he's physically gone
A lot. He played Wimbledon. There's no way he's going to play Wimbledon. His fans didn't like that. And he did it. He did it. He made the final. I was wrong. He was right. you know, I was still stunned props to him. I, you know, but like, I just, the, the moment where he walks off and people booed, I don't know what the hell's going on right now. It seems like everyone's mad at everyone down there. Not great.
But I guess that's the temperature of the room that we have right now. Anyways, the women's final will be on a lighter note. The women's final, I can't wait to see it. I think it's... I think we know what we're going to get with Sabalenka. I think the question mark is Maddie Keys in the situation. I think it almost helps that she's playing the number one player in the world. I think that will allow her to free up.
You know, I think against Sloan in the final, it's like, I don't know. Shit, this is like a great opportunity for both of us. This is amazing. We're not playing Serena. They both knew that. But the mental side of that is sometimes more difficult. Expectation, I think, is the hardest thing in sports. So I'm hoping for a great women's final. I think it's needed. And I just feel kind of down. I hope that's not his last exit from... that court that he has owned, not least, throughout his career.