WTA Finals Recap, ATP Finals Drama, Djokovic 101st Title & More

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Hey, everyone. Welcome to Served. We are coming to you this week from the Lorne Hotel in Austin, Texas. We are here for the Andy Roddick Foundation annual gala. We have Wyclef tonight. Sick. A little gone till November.

I'm pumped. Which is just like now, so I don't know. Is that gone until like now? Yeah, gone until this month? I don't know. But the Lauren Hotel hooked us up with some rooms. We appreciate this space. We are not in the normal studio. I'm going to tell you a little bit about... what I do with the anti-erotic foundation real quick. I want to take this opportunity and thank you for giving me a time and listening to this. It's obviously something near and dear to my heart.

I've been doing it 25 years. I'll tell you how it started. I was on an airplane with one Andre Agassi. I was 17 years old, and I got to ask him some questions. He said, all right, kid, 25 minutes left in this flight. What do you got? And so I was like, oh, man, what was it like? Was Brooke Shields a good kisser? No, I didn't ask that. I said, not really knowing fully his history from his book, I said, what is your biggest regret?

And he said, not starting my foundation early enough. And that is something that stuck with me. in my soul because Andre is one of the most generous philanthropists that Earth has ever seen and what he's done for entire areas of Las Vegas is unprecedented.

And so for him to have done all that and still think that, hey, you know what? I wish I could have done more. We started off foundation then. We'll skip to the end. We did our first event. It was a tennis clinic in a parking lot in my high school. across the street, and we raised like $500, and we thought that was great. Fast forward, we've raised over $30 million to this point in time, hopefully more after tonight. We have one Wyclef Jean playing our event tonight in Austin.

Thanks to all of you who are coming in person. If you're not, I have a favor to ask. subscribers, we are going to put a donation link in the show notes. Uh, so to tell you a little bit about what we do, we were on afterschool and summer programming. We've been ranked the best in the country. Our staff is amazing. They are amazing at executing a plan to give kids a chance, right? So after school, summer programs, it's where we can make our impact.

The goal is for parents, kids, K through fifth grader in our schools, and then we run another 40 programs. across the city of Austin, Texas in out of school and summer programming. We serve over 45,000 kids in the Austin area. So it's a big, big operation. We have done great work. Please, if you're so obliged, donate to our cause. It really is a great one. Our staff does an amazing job. I will personally match out of my own pocket.

anything we can raise through this donation link on served up to $150,000. And we'll do that over the next week. So hopefully that is something that I do have to match. I would love nothing more. Thank you for taking the time. Go to arfoundation.org if you want. more information. I don't know. We have certain amount of subscribers.

It's more than 150,000. We could do less than a dollar per subscriber and we'd get there, Mike. Yeah, I love that. Yeah. Sean already said he's in for 10 bucks. We're all set. Or he has to be. I'm not sure. One of the two. He'll put in the expense report. Thank you for taking-

Thank you for taking the time to listen to me off the top of the show. Obviously, on the other side of the break, we are going to get to Elena Rabakina and her dominance in Saudi. We are going to get to the Novak Djokovic of things in Athens. And is he playing? Is he not playing? Is Musetti in? Is he out?

how that whole thing unfolded. We were going to be joined by our good friend, Kim Kleisters on this show, but we got a text today. She tore her Achilles about three weeks ago. I don't think I'm oversharing, but then.

a week after she had surgery got out of bed fell on it again and ruptured it again she is having a hell of a time with her legs so she was going to go to the doctor's appointment and then come here to do or come on and join to do the show for the WTA recap not possible Mike what happened she

She just went to the doctor. She got good news. She got her boot off, her splint off, and now she's in a boot, but they wanted to go get the x-ray, go see PT for the first time. She left me a voice message, said her right leg, the leg that she injured, is just about three times smaller than it was before.

It happens quick. So shout out. She's, she's a badass and she always does it with a smile and she's so happy. I'm like, I wouldn't want anybody talking to me right now. I wouldn't want to think about it. I mean, I remember you talking about.

how big your nuts were after your vasectomy, and you couldn't even get through that with a straight face. That was brutal. Yeah, you were. I know, because you talked about it all the time, how brutal it was. God forbid I rupture my Achilles. God, that's what I'm saying. Kim can't put weight on her leg for another...

four weeks and you were complaining about booboo on your nuts yeah i think scientifically it proves women are tougher than men oh we didn't 100 yeah well i mean science does prove that yeah yeah has proven that yeah uh for so We're another one from the weaker sex. JW is going to come and join us. Hottie's in an apartment in Paris somewhere. I don't know where he is, but he's going to save the day and weigh in on the goings on of the tours.

right after the break. Thank you for potentially donating. Kim, we love you. We hope you feel better soon. Mike was able to make a full recovery with his nuts, so we should be fine. And we'll get to more after the break.

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All right, welcome back, and we're going to bring in JW, hot off the bench. We were supposed to have a little Kim Clysters. We reached out to our friend Blair Henley, and just schedules are a mess today. JW, the old faithful coming in from, are you, are you in a bunker somewhere? Where, where are you right now? I'm going to blink twice and then you're going to send gruel. I'm in an Airbnb and I'm not wearing a scarf.

Because I'm a big fan of España of La Liga. I'm wearing it because it's really cold in this Airbnb. But no complaints. I do think trading Kim Claysters for me is pretty lopsided. You need a new general manager. But good to be with you here. Well, Kim, listen, it's out of our hands. Kim's Achilles and legs are giving her fits right now in the doctor's orders, so we had to...

We had to replace. JW, thanks for being a good sport and jumping on. We know that you don't have much time. I think the story of last week, obviously, Rabakina's dominance at the WTA finals in Saudi Arabia. Going through Anna Samova, pretty straightforward. Iga, Alexandrova, Pagula, Sabalenka, 5-0 on the trot. We were crazy enough two weeks ago on the show to say that we think she's going to have a massive 2026.

This didn't do much to dispel that prediction, did it? No. I couldn't remember if it was you or Courier who I was arguing. It must have been Courier because I think we were pretty good on – And yeah, we talked last week about how there's not always a ton of predictive value in these year-end events, but watch her play, watch her serve her way out of trouble, watch her authoritative tennis, watch her get it done in November, and you...

Cannot help think she has put herself right back squarely in the conversation of who's going to win majors next year. That was thoroughly, thoroughly impressive. Yeah, and I think one of the things is there's been – I don't know that anyone's ever been worried about the – on-the-court product with Rabaka when all is well, right? There has been some turmoil, and obviously there's still some lingering effects from Vukov. And, you know, what did you make of...

Her not taking a picture with the WTA CEO at the end. It seems like there are still some feelings about how everything went down and the fact that they just suspended. Her coach, and I don't know how else to define it. I won't go there, but there still seems to be some issue. Yeah, this is a player who doesn't give up much. I don't know if you saw her reaction.

Before she spurned WTA CEO Portia Archer at the trophy presentation ceremony, I don't know if you saw her reaction on Match Point. Not exactly cartwheels. This is not a player who's particularly expressive. So that gesture... basically not acknowledging the WTA was actually a rare glimpse into her personality. I don't think the WTA has any apologizing to do. You get a complaint about a situation, you're almost obligated to look into it.

There is a code of conduct. They determined the coach violated that term of conduct. WTA did nothing wrong, in my opinion. But I think it said something that she's still defiant about that. And also this situation. frightened a lot of people really close to the center of it. The fact that here we are and we're talking about her as a future major champion and she won $5 million and from outside looking in seems comfortable and happy with the coach. They've had some nice results.

In a way, we could say this situation could have gone a lot darker. We should be happy for everyone involved. But yeah, I mean, I thought this was not a player who gives up much. You know, she's got that Red Bull sponsorship. We sort of... kid about the very curious pairing of player and product. She doesn't give off a lot of Red Bull energy, but that gesture with the CEO, that actually was a glimpse into her character that she doesn't often provide.

I got one for you. As you look into your crystal ball for next year, if I gave you these two players and you were to tell me this one is going to win a major next year, and I gave you Anna Samova and Rabakina, what say you? Ooh, that's a good one. Oh, man. I'm going to make you answer the same question. One of them, of course, has reached the finals of two majors on the trot, and the other is...

a former Wimbledon champion who very nearly won Australia as well. I think I might, recency effect, I might go Rabaka. I mean, that serve is... That's one of the great weapons in modern tennis, that serve of hers. People see that scoreline, that 7-6, and they'll say, oh, she beat Sabalenkin, a tiebreaker. That doesn't happen very often.

What happened in the 20 or so minutes before that is worth going back and watching if you have a chance. That serve bailed her out of so many potentially problematic situations. I'm going to say Rabacanek is the serve. What do you say? I think I say Robachna just because she's better on clay. So it's like one more opportunity, right? I think she's won Rome before. It's not her best service by any means. I think they have the same limitations on the surface.

But it's more, does she have three and a half chances at the slams versus three? I don't know. Anna Samova's been to the semis there before as well in her breakout. I ask the question because I don't have a confident response either way. I do think Robacan has the best serve in women's tennis. It seems like when you say, you know, Goff and Iga and Sabalenka and...

You slot Rabakina into that conversation, and none of them want to play her. Right? Sabalenka, she's one of the only ones that can go toe-to-toe with the consistency of a Sabalenka. Well, Sabalenka's not getting easy looks to knock off second serve returns. I guess, I think, Rabakina, but let's also be sober here, right? We're talking about Anna Samova against someone who has been at the top of the game.

One Wimbledon, and we're saying an either or, and we don't know the answer. And if we rewind 18 months with Anna Samova, she wasn't in the main draw of Wimbledon. Hell of a year for Anna Samova. Great job. For Bacchina going through World Tour Finals, how much stock do you put into this? Because normally I'm like, I think we overvalue year-end finals. But then it's like Rabakina and I put a little bit more stock into it. Why do I do that? Do you have that kind of same leaning?

I think some I'm taking off this ridiculous. God bless España. I can't sit here and do a podcast in a ridiculous soccer scarf. I'm sorry. You have to cut that out. Where were we? No, I think, you know, I think the women probably have a little bit more. sort of, again, predictive value. I think some of this is just eye test. I mean, you look up, look at the way she served in that final, for example. Look at the way she stared down Sabalenka in a tie break.

You just know it when you see it. This is also, again, this is a player who we know how good she is. This is someone who very nearly has two majors and she does have one. I also think you sort of look at the women's tennis field. We talk about it's center and Alcaraz and a long staircase down. Women's tennis field is not any given Sunday anymore. I mean, there's a certain level of parity at the top. We had four major winners, of course.

That core group, they were there in 2024. They were there right now. I think we know how good they are when they're beating each other. And I also think. That surface, that field, I think you just look at how Rabakina played and it passes the eye test of this is a player who's back, as you say. And, you know, it's interesting. She and Anderson Mova have both had this sort of...

It's been a bit of mercurial careers for two very different reasons, but it's off-court and not injury-related. I just think you know it when you see it, and yeah, I think those are two players that will... be contending for slams next year no matter what? Yeah, very simply, when Anasimova or Rabacanar are playing one of the top players, you don't really worry about them, right? It's just the only place that I think...

Koko, Iga, Saba separate are the random second rounds and third rounds and round of 16 potential losses. It feels like they're always able to get into position to face. you know, one of the other top two or three, whereas Anna Samova, well, not, this is not accounting for the last, you know, five months of the season, but just. look forward before that in Rabakina. It's just a little bit more of a heart rate monitor to get to those quarter semis finals.

But it does feel like they're both, in the latter half of this year, making a habit of it. Listen, I'm here for the parity. Four different winners of four different majors this year. I think that's a lot of fun. I don't know that we see someone where we had, like Vondrozova, when she wins Wimbledon, for example, even Robachna, when she won Wimbledon, wasn't a top five player at that time. I don't know that we're going to see someone who's 30 in the world.

go through and win a slam next year. So it's parody, but it feels like it has a ceiling a little bit for, for the outlier results. You know, so congrats again to Elena Robachna, just a hell of a run. 5-0 sweep, world tour finals.

Those names, props, well done. serve was in full flight. Hopefully a sign of things to come for her moving into 2026. I certainly think she's going to have an absolute monster of 2026. I think you slot her into the top three in the world year-end rankings next year. Clip it. We'll see if it makes good. But then, were you having a hard time keeping up with who was qualified, who wasn't? This 250 match, FAA camping out and see if he's in.

Novak wins, Musetti's out until the handshake, then Musetti's in, and what the hell's going on, JW? Yeah, it's not great for the credibility of your great tentpole event. When you've got this much churn at the end, I think there are a lot of questions about Novak. It was awesome that he won his 101st title. It was awesome that he did. We talked last week about his self-imposed exile from Serbia. What we didn't talk about was...

That's a Djokovic family-owned event that, like him, decided things were no longer comfortable in Serbia. The event moved to Greece as well and then to have Novak win it, but it all had this sort of strange shroud of what does this mean for Turin? When you and I left... I just want to be clear because we got a little bit of shit for it. When we said it looks like Novak is playing, this was an interview that the head of the Italian Federation gave. So this wasn't just click.

and it wasn't just believing Tennis Centel we all fell for. The head of the Italian Federation did an interview in which he said, yeah, exactly. It's a lot of, anyway, so is Novak playing? Is he not playing? When did... Lucetti find out. We talked about Felix. We were joking. Should he have just camped out and had a fun week in Amsterdam or gone to Monte Carlo?

It turned out he had nothing to worry about at all, no matter what. Amsterdam is a tough one. I think you can test positive for Amsterdam. I don't know that that would have been the place for FA. It's secondhand brownies. John, I do want to give Andy a shout out because Andy and I were texting on Thursday at like 6 o'clock and before all these matches happened and Andy said that...

Novak is, quote, he's going to beat Busetti and take him out, and then he's going to tell him he's not playing when they shake hands. And guess what? Andy was right. Busetti came out and said that... He didn't know until they were smiling at the net with each other. Feel free to post that screenshot, Mikey Hayden, because you were a little skeptical. I just said he's going to win his home tournament. And also, it's like...

For all the yahoos who were kind of saying, well, Novak should have let this person know, that person know. Okay, let's paint the picture here that JW is just referencing. He owns the license. for the tournament in Athens that he is participating in. I don't know that he can pull out of the tournament the next week and play the last three matches. in the tournament that he owns in Athens. What are his choices? My guess, and this is pure speculation, if I'm in his position,

is, okay, we're going to wait and see. Maybe if I cruise through Athens, maybe I go. But I also don't see a world where why, when you're 38, you'd want to go run through the ringer one last time. You know, to end the year, you're feeling good. You're in your new hometown. But, like, what are his options? He's not going to say publicly that I'm pulling out of Turin and then play Athens because people are going to go, well, that's bullshit. Now, if he wins Athens, which we want him to.

try to win every tournament he plays, and then tells Musetti, they're like, oh, well, they moved the schedule for you. I don't know. That sounds like a them problem. That sounds like they shouldn't be starting a day after the ATV finals. And my guess was that... If I'm him and I know FAA is in or out, I know if I'm pulling out, FAA is definitely in. You don't know about Musetti. I'm guessing, and this is pure speculation, that FAA might have had a hint that he was good to go.

If Novak knew anywhere along the lines. They'll never admit it. This is complete conspiracy. But I did call that one. I'll tell you when I mess it up. And if you've listened to our draw shows.

I'll be the first to say I don't know anything. And if I'm Novak, I'm going to tell the guy when I shake hands with him that, yeah, I know you're disappointed. It doesn't matter. You're still in. It's no big deal. That's kind of fun. But listen, here's... Here's the thing, and I know I'm beating a dead horse here with schedule and everything else. I just read an article that there are 14 Challenger events played in December.

that will count towards the 2026 race, meaning the race to Turin for next year or the ATP race, the live rankings. They won't count for the end of this year. They're not going to tack them on. They're going to be counted towards next year. Anyone? Bueller? Anyone want to tell me what that sets precedent for? Bueller? Say it. You're on a roll here. Take the ball. Don't give it up.

So if we're fine generally with challengers being in a wraparound season, why are we not okay with 250s contributing to the race in 2026? Why are we in the position where Athens can't be played the week after the World Tour Finals if it wants to be and count towards 2026 so we're not extending the season? The ATP has just set precedent with the Challenger Tour.

I hope it's a preview of things to come. The most obvious solution is to buy back tournaments, scoot everything up two or three weeks, 250s at the end of the year. As we've seen, they don't often dictate who has actually in and out, and when they do, it means pullouts are going to happen, right? Wraparound season, you should be playing three or four 250s right now, maybe three.

And then those should count towards the 2027 race. So if you want to count those results towards world tour finals, which it hardly ever matters, right? This might've been the year where it mattered a little bit and it ended up. being even more chaotic because of the possibility of qualification in this last week. So hopefully a sign of things to come. Just play three weeks, have them count towards the 2027 race. It's not that hard. 250s are largely local businesses.

Right? After the year, you might actually have the attention of the tennis world because it's the only show in town. I still haven't heard what a negative is beyond it just being a mess financially with putting the toothpaste back in as far as scheduling. Let's take some of that newfound money, whether it's from selling off made up licenses for 1000s that we just decide that we can sell off now. Betting contracts. We have some disposable income right now, right?

Let's buy back some tournaments. Let's do the right thing. Let's move the schedule up. Let's shut up all the talking heads like me and all the players who have been complaining. Don't force anyone. to unionize or take drastic steps. Just fix the wraparound season, and that fixes a lot of the issues, Mike.

Where does the next gen leaving Saudi Arabia early? So for context, the next gen tournament was supposed to be in Saudi Arabia and Jeddah through 2027. They announced this past week they'd be cutting that short. So the next gen finals will be leaving. Where does, where does that as an indicator to what you're laying out? Like maybe they're going to move that in the calendar. I don't know.

Next gen is a different, it's a little bit of a different thing because when you're 18, 19, like you don't, you don't feel the length of a season. It's not as if you've been doing it for five or six years. I'm go ahead, JW. Yeah, I mean, to your point, though, I mean, you're right. It's a little strange that that event didn't fulfill its contract in the same country that just got a Masters 1000. But to your point, if the season ended earlier, something like the next gen...

gets a nice little shot of energy. Hey, if you're really a tennis fan or you really want to watch Fonseca and Lerner Tien, this now has more oxygen. So ironically enough, the next gen is one. If we went by the erotic model. Next Gen is one of these events that actually would really benefit. Totally. I mean, the Next Gen right now is competing with Christmas. What are we doing? That's a tough one. Not a lot of people can take market share from Santa.

I don't know that that's the one. I hope that we're getting smarter. I understand if you don't have the budgets and if you're struggling year to year and obviously coming out of... COVID and level setting and liquid capital wasn't the easiest thing. And you do have to buy back tournaments. There is an expense to fixing the schedule. People need to understand that it's not as easy as just moving around weeks on a calendar, I'm sure. And this is over my pay grade.

The buyback process has to be a pain in the ass. There are TV contracts, I'm sure. In some local markets, you got to unwind a bunch of stuff. Now, only if there was a way to create a bunch of capital to do that. I think we're at that moment. I hope we're at that moment. And I promise you, I swear, right? Because I've had a burr up my ass about the schedule for who knows how long. I promise you, I will lay on the sword of my own opinion if this happens.

and say props way to go progress made we didn't have to blow up the sport we didn't have to unionize we didn't have to do all of this crazy shit to get to a result that should just be common sense and is common sense You won't find anyone from the ATP or from any faction that's like, oh, you know what? The length of the tour schedule is just right. No one thinks that.

Even if they're getting paid by the ATP, they're trying to work it out. Go ahead, JW. Yeah, but one way or the other, right? For all the players that say the season is too long, I'm playing on fumes, which is totally understandable. There are also other players saying we need more playing opportunities. Well, this solves it. If you're top, you know, if you're, if you're outcast on center and Taylor Fritz, you say, you know what? I'm home for Halloween and not.

If you're another player who's chasing points or who's having a hot streak and wants to keep going. Lay these events after Turin, these 250s you're talking about, and everybody goes home happy. The players are there because they want to be there. You may have, I don't know, the Djokovic family, let's be clear, I think the family owns the sanction, not Novak. But if the Djokovic family...

owns an event and Novak wants to play, great, you're getting a star. Some players who want to boost their rankings, maybe there's even a ranking bonus from their sponsor that they need to hit. Some guy ranked 22 is going to enter these events. You'll get...

You'll get a pretty good field, but the top four or five guys who are saying they're exhausted, they're going to be on a beach somewhere. Everybody wins here. If I put on my full tinfoil hat and I was part of the ATP and I had already sold a license to the family member of one of our... big players and that was a way to get some of our biggest stars to play at the end of the year i don't know

I might be in the business of selling off some more fucking licenses to guarantee some play. At least there's something we're getting some out of it now. I'm not saying we need like the sinner Chucky Alcaraz cup, but I'm not, not saying it. I mean,

I think you're out of something. I don't know. Arnold Palmer has an event. Tiger has an event. I don't know. I don't know. Maybe we get a little – I don't know. Is that too sensical? That just sounds like too good of an idea. I don't know. I generally hope that this – becomes, listen, maybe my idea is not the idea, but some formation of shorter length of schedule for the people that need it most so we don't burn out our superstars.

We do not have a home team in tennis. We don't have Yankees fans that will show up regardless of the product because we've loved this team for 50 years. We sell based on the stars of our game and based on the product that they put out.

We want to maximize that product. That is done through rest, preparation, and not losing someone at some point for three months, six months to an Achilles tear. If we can help support these players' bodies. has a spillover into mental. Maybe we get another two years out of one of our superstars, right? When Marat Safin was 60 in the world and he was the second round matchup for a superstar early in a slam, there were no losers.

Let's keep our name players around. JW, you got something? All right, real quick, speed round. Speaking of longevity, LA 2028, is Djokovic in the field? I don't think so. I hope I'm wrong. I don't know if you caught that. He referenced that. And I also, I got to give him props because him saying, I still want to retire at the LA Olympics with a Serbian flag in my hand.

was a perfect way to address many, many issues that are going on for him right now. The never-ending question of, when are you going to retire? I don't fucking know when I want to. I like it. I enjoy it. Oh, and I'm getting paid $100 million a year. Like, this is still a good thing for me. And by the way, I made the semis at four slams this year. Okay? So, one. Two.

I know I live in Greece. I know there's a lot of chatter. We talked about it, and then there was another article in one of the English publications about him moving to Greece largely because of political reasons and his views on it in Serbia. Great way of saying my heart is with Serbia. I want to retire.

With the best of relationships with a Serbian flag in my hand. I thought this was a really smart way to kind of Address a lot of things JW did am I reading too much into that? That's exactly I said that's brilliant. That's that's a great and I mean this I don't mean this pejoratively. I don't mean this

That was a great political answer. That was like two birds in one stone. And you sort of keep this annoying retirement question at bay. Hey, it's two and a half years from now. You mentioned Serbia and. Move on, everyone. I mean, who knows? We all hope he makes it. That would be amazing. He's got a gold medal to defend. Even if not, that was a brilliant bit of political strategy.

We'll see what happens. We'll see what happens. He said a lot in one short sentence. I don't know. Maybe it's retire with a Serbian flag in my hand. Plus that tour event in Athens to say goodbye. I don't know. For no reason. For no reason at all. JW, thanks for checking in. Thanks for saving the day. Enjoy Paris. The scarf looks great on you.

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Welcome back. And the point I wanted to get to, and I know JW had to go, and thanks to him for even coming on at all. Top players play less. People who want to hunt points, like... Cam Norrie going into next year, or Lerner Tien, who just won in Mets, want to give him a massive shout-out. 28 in the world, started the year at 122. That's some work, man. Yeah. And big deal, 10 spots this week.

You know what that does? Bueller? Anyone? No, tell us. 38-28? Seated at the Aussie Open. That's crazy. Is not going to have – so that Medi rematch ain't happening in the second round. Guy's gone to work. You know what? I like watching young players who, like Lerner Tien, and I don't mean this in a bad way. I mean this most complimentary way possible. Doesn't have a serve that's going to blow you away. Doesn't have a shot that's going to like.

knock you off the court at any given moment. I love young players who already have a very high tennis IQ. Knows when to chip. Knows when to take cuts, has that kind of short pop forehand, almost like a Grosjean where there's not a huge take back and he can kind of work it out of the center. Beats you with spacing and timing, not necessarily taking massive cuts.

But what a great way to end the year. And if there was a wraparound schedule, wouldn't have affected his success at the end of the year, right? Kind of what you were talking about, right? Yeah, he can still do what he wants. Nori can try to make up some ground and get seated.

You know, there's nothing stopping anyone from playing more. It just becomes a choice for the top players who are creating the revenue, who are selling most of the tickets. I think they should have the option, and I think we should have a wraparound season. People can play all the 250s. Laurentian is still going to be able to get that win in Mets. Can I ask you a question on that? He's the first American male to win an ATP title as a teenager since you.

What is his mentality then after getting that first win? What is he thinking? He's 19 years old. He's not a very big guy. He's 5'11", like 160 pounds according to his bio. What is he doing through the end of the year and what's he doing getting ready for being seated? At the Australian Open. Yeah, something that's always going to... And you don't often see a young player...

Go into the Australian Open like he did this year. Play someone like Medvedev who it's just going to be an absolute brawl of long rallies. I think Lerner already understands this because I have yet to see him like super tired. he is going to have to always be fit. He is going to have to always have the option. Like, listen, I might knock your head off with my game, but he goes, I can pick you apart.

Right. I can have body shots. I can all of a sudden stun you with a jab across the chin. I think it's something he already understands for him. It's just like, okay. Am I better than when I started a year ago? Yes. Am I getting results week in and week out? Am I beating top 10 players? Yeah, his record against top 10 players is shockingly good for someone who's young.

and who started the year outside of the top 100. It doesn't seem like when he gets beat, I don't think it's ever because he's in awe of a situation or because he's punched himself out of a match. It might just mean that someone... can go bigger, stronger, faster on that day. Um, I don't know that I would try to recreate anything as far as a mentality with this kid. I think he's, I think he understands it. I think he understands what he does well. I think he has.

full control of the concepts of the game and how to apply them. So I'm just excited, you know, getting up to 28, he will be seated in Australia. Let's say you can keep that position. You're looking at third rounds, maybe some fourth rounds of slams. Those points and the availability of them will work his way up. And we're going to be looking at him in the top 20, top 15.

if he has an average first six months, right? Can we defend the result in Australia? We'll see. It's a pretty clean runway after that. His game should translate to grass really well, right? I don't know about Clay. Hits a little flattened through the court. I'm not going to get a lot of freebies, but like on a faster court where he can, I mean, is technically he's very sound, doesn't need a lot of time.

to put some pace on the ball and to inject pace into the thing, can slice to get himself in positions, can play offense inside the court, take your time away, can play some defense. We saw it against Meddy. He was going to the chip a lot.

I think it's just really fun to watch this guy and him along with Alex Mickelson and Brooksby and be curious to see how that group starts pushing the other group of, you know, he finished ahead of Francis this year in the rankings. Francis is going to finish year-end 30.

you know, uh, learned TN's 28. So can this new group kind of push, you know, the Tommy Pauls and, you know, all them a little bit more. It'd be fun to watch, but props to them. Um, thank you for, uh, watching served a reminder, did a whole.

thing about donating to the Andy Roddick foundation at the beginning of the show, uh, click on that thing. If you have any interest, check out what we do at air foundation.org or where is it in the description? I don't know. It'll be in the show descriptions. We'll put it up in the link tree. It'll be anywhere. You can find any information on the show.

We'll give it a shout. Awesome. Would appreciate your support. I will personally match up to 150K if we can get there from listeners of the show. It would be awesome. I will celebrate you forever. I don't know. I might even be drunk next week when we do it, if we get there. Thanks for listening to surf.

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