# Super Shelton, Serena Returns & Another Boycott? | EP 185

An episode of [Nothing Major](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1756744318), 15 Jun 2026, 45 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/dbcf7075-b1a5-4f4d-ade0-b4da0135fb2e/36ca38d6-4880-4489-aee1-b4da01399bc5/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=3b43a2f1-982b-4fe0-ae8e-b4da0135fb3a

Go to https://kachava.com and use code NOTHINGMAJOR for 15% off your first order. On this episode of Nothing Major, Sam, John, and Stevie tackle the hottest topic in tennis: John Isner eating on the podcast. Then they get into the biggest story of the week: Serena Williams is back. Serena’s return to doubles at Queen’s sparks a debate about whether she could make a real singles comeback—and whether anyone should count her out. The guys also break down Ben Shelton’s clutch title run in Stuttgart, Kamil Majchrzak’s shocking grass-court breakthrough in ’s-Hertogenbosch, and Donna Vekic’s Queen’s Club title as a lucky loser (plus a quick lesson on how lucky losers actually work). Plus: Wimbledon prize money, Carlos Alcaraz’s wrist checkup, and rumblings of a US Open mixed doubles boycott. 00:00 Intro 00:22 The Chewing Controversy 02:51 Stuttgart Shelton’s Grass Breakthrough 07:53 Fritz vs Drop Shot Problem 10:36 Den Bosch Name Chaos 11:19 Majchrzak Shocks the Top 10 15:59 Queen’s WTA Vekic Lucky Loser Run 22:33 Major News Serena Doubles Comeback 24:51 Grass Injury Woes 24:58 Fixing Slippery Courts 25:56 Serena Wimbledon Talk 27:20 Mixed Doubles Boycott Buzz 29:39 Wimbledon Prize Money 30:15 Alcaraz Wrist Update 33:57 Stevie Stats Grass Kings 35:00 Servebot Shelton Edition 35:53 World Cup Detour 37:12 Shelton’s Free Cars 39:00 Queens vs Halle Fields 42:17 Berlin Stacked Draw 43:15 Wrap Up See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:00] Speaker 1: All right, on today's episode of Nothing Major, Serena Williams
[0:03] Speaker 1: is back. We also got results from the first grass
[0:06] Speaker 1: court tournaments of the season. Let's get going. Jack, John, Stevie,
[0:10] Speaker 1: and Sam. Got close a few times, never won a slam.
[0:13] Speaker 1: Nothing Major. All right, welcome back, everyone. I've got Stevie,
[0:17] Speaker 1: John with a beautiful background, myself with a normal background,
[0:21] Speaker 1: Charlie Fox, the team at SIFT. Before we start, I
[0:24] Speaker 1: do think we need to address something awkward from the
[0:26] Speaker 1: last two episodes. Isner was eating in the last two episodes.
[0:30] Speaker 1: A lot of people took offense to it, like a lot.
[0:32] Speaker 1: That was the only YouTube comments we got. I feel
[0:34] Speaker 1: like it's a little bit ridiculous. Do you want to
[0:35] Speaker 1: apologize or do you have a statement prepared or anything?
[0:38] Speaker 2: I have a statement. I texted the group chat. Charlie
[0:43] Speaker 2: alerted me to this. I was not really paying attention
[0:46] Speaker 2: and said I was getting roasted in the comments. So
[0:49] Speaker 2: I go to YouTube and sure enough, I was getting roasted.
[0:52] Speaker 2: We do check the comments, everyone. I probably shouldn't have
[0:56] Speaker 2: done it. At the same time, I was starving.
[1:00] Speaker 1: When you're hungry, you're hungry.
[1:02] Speaker 2: And I was getting hangry. I was with Sam in Paris. Stevie,
[1:06] Speaker 2: as you know, Sam can just not eat dinner and
[1:09] Speaker 2: be totally fine. I'll say this. I probably shouldn't have
[1:14] Speaker 2: done it. The sound of someone chewing. I thought I
[1:19] Speaker 2: was muting successfully. When it was not my turn to talk,
[1:24] Speaker 2: I thought I was muting pretty well. But then I
[1:27] Speaker 2: was going like this to eat. It wasn't the best look.
[1:32] Speaker 2: It wasn't the best look.
[1:34] Speaker 1: I didn't think it was that big a deal. But
[1:36] Speaker 1: I'm not going.
[1:36] Speaker 2: So far to apologize. I will just say I shouldn't
[1:39] Speaker 2: have done it in retrospect. But I was hangry.
[1:44] Speaker 3: Maybe just you needed a softer food that you didn't
[1:46] Speaker 3: need as much chewing.
[1:47] Speaker 1: That's a good point. Nice porridge.
[1:50] Speaker 2: A little mushy.
[1:51] Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah. Something like that. All right, let's start talking
[1:53] Speaker 1: about tennis. Hey, so I got a.
[1:54] Speaker 2: Question on your background, Sam. So at this stage, with
[1:57] Speaker 2: that water, you're not going to ever drink that water, right?
[1:59] Speaker 2: Because you want it centered in your background?
[2:01] Speaker 1: I've got a bunch more. I replenish it in the background. Oh, okay.
[2:04] Speaker 1: With the Lunan, yeah.
[2:05] Speaker 2: All right, never mind.
[2:06] Speaker 1: All right, go on.
[2:07] Speaker 3: He's got another Christmas party in 2026 he's got to
[2:09] Speaker 3: work on.
[2:09] Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly.
[2:10] Speaker 1: It's the trendiest water. It's at Air One. All the
[2:12] Speaker 1: celebs are drinking it. You seen that?
[2:13] Speaker 2: Is it glass or plastic?
[2:15] Speaker 1: It's glass. But like if you go like Haley- That's glass? Yeah.
[2:18] Speaker 3: Yeah.
[2:19] Speaker 2: Oh, that is trendy.
[2:20] Speaker 1: Like Haley Bieber and like all these people drink it
[2:22] Speaker 1: and me. Is that like a $ 14 bottle right there?
[2:24] Speaker 1: I don't know how much the bottle costs, but I
[2:28] Speaker 1: get it for free.
[2:29] Speaker 2: You know what they say? You know what they say?
[2:33] Speaker 2: The rich and famous never have to pay for anything.
[2:36] Speaker 1: Yeah.
[2:37] Speaker 2: You know, it's like, you know, the courtside seat at
[2:40] Speaker 2: the Knicks, right? Like you think Timothee Chalamet is?
[2:42] Speaker 1: None of them are paying for that.
[2:44] Speaker 2: Exactly, just like salmon is water.
[2:45] Speaker 1: Right, just like all the celebs of the DMV, the
[2:50] Speaker 1: different way of getting their license. All right, let's talk
[2:51] Speaker 1: about tennis. A handful of glass court tournaments this week.
[2:55] Speaker 1: We're going to start with Stuttgart. Ben Shelton takes out
[2:59] Speaker 1: Taylor Fritz, a rematch from Dallas. Shelton in this event,
[3:05] Speaker 1: look at his scores. He took out Garon, then Shima Bukuru,
[3:09] Speaker 1: then Mahechka, then Fritz. Six. His first round he won
[3:14] Speaker 1: 7-6 in the third, saves a match point. And then
[3:17] Speaker 1: against Shima Bukuru, 6-4 in the third. Then he beat
[3:22] Speaker 1: La Hetchka 6-7, 7-6, 7-6, including a 16-14 in the breaker.
[3:26] Speaker 1: Then he took out Fritz in three. Stevie, are you
[3:28] Speaker 1: surprised Shelton won this tournament, given the fact that he
[3:33] Speaker 1: won Munich on clay, but then he lost first round Madrid...
[3:36] Speaker 1: first round Rome, second round Stuttgart, second round Roland Garros.
[3:41] Speaker 1: He had a bad five-month stretch prior to this.
[3:44] Speaker 3: He's just had an up-and-down year. I think it was
[3:46] Speaker 3: just a– we've talked about it before. It was a
[3:48] Speaker 3: bit of a bummer that he kind of got– he
[3:50] Speaker 3: was sick at Indian Wells, Miami, where you really feel
[3:53] Speaker 3: like the Americans kind of would shine, right, in those
[3:55] Speaker 3: two big Master Series events in the States. But then
[3:58] Speaker 3: when the clay wins Munich, you're like, okay, all things
[4:01] Speaker 3: are right in the Ben Shelton world and then just
[4:03] Speaker 3: doesn't have– you know, a strong French open. But here,
[4:08] Speaker 3: it was a good week for both those guys, Fritz
[4:11] Speaker 3: and Shelton. They both needed good weeks just to kind
[4:13] Speaker 3: of kick off their grass season, both probably assuming like
[4:18] Speaker 3: that's a great chance for them to win a slam, right,
[4:20] Speaker 3: at Wimbledon. So to try and get as quickly, to
[4:24] Speaker 3: get some momentum as quickly as possible is key. And
[4:27] Speaker 3: he didn't do it pretty. He Didn't do it easily,
[4:30] Speaker 3: but he got the job done. And that's what I
[4:32] Speaker 3: think Ben does really well. I mean, same with Taylor
[4:34] Speaker 3: on the other side in the final. These guys don't
[4:36] Speaker 3: need to play their best tennis. They compete extremely well
[4:39] Speaker 3: and they got the job done when they needed to.
[4:41] Speaker 3: And again, it's tricky because you're not going to play
[4:43] Speaker 3: your best tennis on grass first week. I just don't
[4:46] Speaker 3: think many guys outside of maybe Manorino is like itching
[4:50] Speaker 3: for grass, like 49 weeks a year to like get
[4:53] Speaker 3: back to it. So it's, it's a good week. He
[4:57] Speaker 3: didn't play great and he won a title and he
[4:58] Speaker 3: beat a great competitor and Fritz in the final. So
[5:01] Speaker 3: maybe not his best stuff, but trending in the right direction.
[5:04] Speaker 2: Yeah.
[5:04] Speaker 1: Is there, he's got that clutch gene, like saving match
[5:07] Speaker 1: point in the first one against your own, that LaHetchka match.
[5:09] Speaker 1: It was six, seven, and then it was seven, six, 16,
[5:12] Speaker 1: 14 in the breaker.
[5:13] Speaker 2: It's crazy.
[5:13] Speaker 1: The second set. And then the third set was seven, six,
[5:15] Speaker 1: I believe like eight, six in the breaker. And then
[5:18] Speaker 1: like Fritz, he just gets it done in the end.
[5:21] Speaker 1: All single frits, by the way. That's his only second
[5:24] Speaker 1: or third tournament as a single guy. He needed this win,
[5:26] Speaker 1: I think, not only for his tennis, but just, you know,
[5:29] Speaker 1: he's back on the dating world. It looks good on
[5:33] Speaker 1: the resume. Pop a little final.
[5:35] Speaker 2: It looks really good to make a 250 final in Stuttgart.
[5:38] Speaker 2: Add that to his profile.
[5:40] Speaker 1: The ladies love that.
[5:40] Speaker 2: The ladies love that. But Stevie said it really well
[5:43] Speaker 2: with Ben. I mean, clearly he wasn't playing his best
[5:46] Speaker 2: tennis going into Stuttgart. And He wasn't confident going into
[5:50] Speaker 2: the Stuttgart. How can you be confident after losing early
[5:53] Speaker 2: in Madrid, in Rome, in Roland Garros? And his compete
[5:58] Speaker 2: was just off the charts. He could have easily gone out.
[6:01] Speaker 2: against Garone in his first match. He could have easily
[6:04] Speaker 2: gone on his second match. The LaHechka match was ridiculous.
[6:06] Speaker 2: So his ability to just gut through all that when
[6:10] Speaker 2: in all likelihood, he wasn't feeling that great on the court,
[6:13] Speaker 2: but you know, it is first week on grass. It's
[6:16] Speaker 2: the worst. The practices are terrible. You get off the
[6:19] Speaker 2: practice court. You're like, the ball feels awful. I can't move,
[6:22] Speaker 2: at least in my case. Sam, you were an unbelievable
[6:24] Speaker 2: mover on grass. Every time I would play one of
[6:26] Speaker 2: those grass court warm-ups, I'm like, I can't stand this.
[6:28] Speaker 2: The ball feels terrible. Yes, I'm a bot. I can serve,
[6:31] Speaker 2: but everything else feels so bad.
[6:33] Speaker 1: So.
[6:34] Speaker 2: I mean, everyone was dealing with that, right? But he
[6:36] Speaker 2: just competed so well, saved so many match points. He
[6:39] Speaker 2: played two matches in one day at some point, or
[6:41] Speaker 2: was one of them a continuation?
[6:43] Speaker 1: Two different times he had to continue like that. Exactly.
[6:46] Speaker 2: So, I mean, like what he was able to pull
[6:48] Speaker 2: off was unbelievable. And then when he got to the finals,
[6:51] Speaker 2: it's like, all right, I've done all the hard work
[6:54] Speaker 2: just to get to this point. And he obviously played
[6:56] Speaker 2: his best match in the finals against Fritzie. As you mentioned,
[7:00] Speaker 2: a rematch of the Dallas final, another three setter. Unbelievable effort.
[7:04] Speaker 2: From Ben, Stevie said trending in the right direction. He
[7:08] Speaker 2: absolutely is trending in the right direction, and he is
[7:11] Speaker 2: going to be a super tough out at Wimbledon. But
[7:16] Speaker 2: to be able to do what he did on grass
[7:18] Speaker 2: first week, when matches are inherently close, right? Guys ranked
[7:22] Speaker 2: 60 can always compete with guys in the top 10
[7:24] Speaker 2: on grass. Just people are holding serve much easier on
[7:27] Speaker 2: that surface was very well done.
[7:29] Speaker 1: This year he's won Dallas indoor hard. He won Munich
[7:32] Speaker 1: outdoor clay, and now he's won Stuttgart, Pretty impressive. Only
[7:37] Speaker 1: other guy I can think to win three different titles
[7:39] Speaker 1: in the same year would be myself back in 2010.
[7:41] Speaker 1: Three different services you mean? Three different services. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[7:47] Speaker 1: It's not done too often. No, no. And we're only
[7:50] Speaker 1: halfway done through the year, so we'll see how many
[7:52] Speaker 1: more titles he wins. One more thing on this match.
[7:54] Speaker 1: I don't know how much you guys watched it. I
[7:55] Speaker 1: watched the whole third set of the Fritz final and
[7:59] Speaker 1: all the highlights. Shelton played a drop, a ton of
[8:01] Speaker 1: drop shots against Fritz. And remember Roland Garros boss have
[8:04] Speaker 1: already played a ton of drop shots against Fritz. Stevie,
[8:07] Speaker 1: is that something like Fritz needs to address? Yes.
[8:10] Speaker 2: Yes.
[8:11] Speaker 1: Yes. Yeah. Yeah.
[8:12] Speaker 3: I mean, it doesn't help that it's the two hardest
[8:15] Speaker 3: surfaces to then get, you know, get up there and
[8:18] Speaker 3: kind of feel comfortable while you're moving.
[8:20] Speaker 1: Right.
[8:20] Speaker 3: A lot of the times you can kind of see
[8:21] Speaker 3: Fritz not get a confident first step to get up
[8:25] Speaker 3: to those drop shots against Shelton, but, It's a play.
[8:28] Speaker 1: It's out there.
[8:29] Speaker 3: People will now be using it more against him. And
[8:32] Speaker 3: for him, I just think you've got to find a
[8:34] Speaker 3: way early in the match to just win a couple
[8:36] Speaker 3: of those early ones, maybe be closer to the baseline.
[8:39] Speaker 3: Even if it's uncomfortable for the first 10, 15 minutes
[8:41] Speaker 3: of the match, stand super close on return, just closer
[8:45] Speaker 3: to the baseline to then take away that. Because if
[8:47] Speaker 3: they do it early and it doesn't work, you're going
[8:49] Speaker 3: to go away from it as an opponent. So He's
[8:52] Speaker 3: just got to find a way to get that done
[8:54] Speaker 3: early in the match and move on. But it's an
[8:58] Speaker 3: issue at the moment. But look, he's a top 10,
[9:02] Speaker 3: top 5 guy. He will figure it out and that
[9:06] Speaker 3: door will close soon, I would assume.
[9:07] Speaker 1: Ah! I don't know.
[9:10] Speaker 2: I mean, no one's ever said Taylor Fritz has the
[9:12] Speaker 2: best hands in the world, right? Like the softest, silkiest hands.
[9:16] Speaker 2: And so when that drop shot is thrown in there
[9:18] Speaker 2: and leave it to me to make, you know, criticize
[9:20] Speaker 2: someone's movement, getting, getting a drop shot, but he doesn't
[9:23] Speaker 2: have that ability to redrop. right? A lot of players
[9:26] Speaker 2: have that ability to hit the re-drop. Sam, you were
[9:29] Speaker 2: actually really good at that.
[9:30] Speaker 1: Thank you. The re-drop.
[9:32] Speaker 2: Sam was good at the re-drop.
[9:33] Speaker 1: Yeah, the backhand.
[9:35] Speaker 2: But Taylor, he's got one play and that's he shovels
[9:38] Speaker 2: it up the line and then he's at the net.
[9:40] Speaker 2: He's not the best volleyer. It's a very good play
[9:42] Speaker 2: against him. It is something he needs to work on,
[9:44] Speaker 2: but I don't think it's something he can just nip
[9:46] Speaker 2: in the bud like that. It's just not so natural
[9:49] Speaker 2: for him to move up and and then play a
[9:52] Speaker 2: quick volley when he's this far from the net because
[9:54] Speaker 2: he can be lobbed. A lot of players can do
[9:56] Speaker 2: so much if they hit a successful drop shot, one
[9:58] Speaker 2: that he can barely get to.
[10:00] Speaker 3: Do you guys think, though, I agree with that, but
[10:03] Speaker 3: if he can win a couple points early, guys will
[10:06] Speaker 3: go away from that strategy because they're like, oh, it
[10:08] Speaker 3: didn't work. Then in crunch time, they haven't done it
[10:12] Speaker 3: Or is it different now with the coaching from the
[10:13] Speaker 3: sideline where the coach can still then tell them it's
[10:16] Speaker 3: still there, use it in the big moments?
[10:18] Speaker 2: I think if you look at the analytics over the
[10:20] Speaker 2: course of a match, if you have a good dropper, yes,
[10:23] Speaker 2: Taylor might win some early. I don't think that's going
[10:26] Speaker 2: to make guys too shy from hitting that shot.
[10:30] Speaker 1: Yeah, he's also– Taylor hits the ball so hard, it's
[10:32] Speaker 1: hard to hit drop shots off his basic rally ball.
[10:34] Speaker 1: And he knows that too. All right, let's move on
[10:37] Speaker 1: to S. Hertogenbosch. Real quick. They shouldn't be allowed to
[10:42] Speaker 1: have a start and name. Ertogenbosch.
[10:45] Speaker 3: But it's also called like five different things. Then they
[10:48] Speaker 3: call it Denbosch. And then it's called the Rossmall and Open.
[10:50] Speaker 3: Like it's very confusing.
[10:51] Speaker 1: It just annoys me that like you spell it lowercase
[10:54] Speaker 1: S with the thing, then capital H-E-R-T.
[10:57] Speaker 3: We've got some quirks in our language as well.
[10:59] Speaker 2: The apostrophe?
[11:01] Speaker 1: The thing is the apostrophe? Yeah.
[11:03] Speaker 2: It's called an apostrophe.
[11:04] Speaker 1: Call it an apostrophe.
[11:05] Speaker 2: That.
[11:08] Speaker 1: Well, I didn't know if it was different in Europe
[11:09] Speaker 1: because they just put that over just everything. No, that
[11:12] Speaker 1: one's pretty universal. It's the ones that go on the
[11:14] Speaker 1: top and the bottom. Yeah, that one's universal. I think
[11:15] Speaker 1: that's a universal idea. It's like a comma or a period.
[11:18] Speaker 1: It's the same thing. All right, her Togenbosch. Stevie's Polish brother, Mazurczak,
[11:25] Speaker 1: takes out Diemenauer. Stevie, what a run for your boy here.
[11:29] Speaker 1: What a run from a sort of countryman. Three top
[11:32] Speaker 1: ten wins takes out Felix Medvedev and Diminar. I believe
[11:36] Speaker 1: I saw it on here. He is the second man
[11:38] Speaker 1: in history to beat three top 10 men in route
[11:41] Speaker 1: to a 250 final. This kind of like John just said,
[11:45] Speaker 1: you can be ranked 60 in the world on grass
[11:47] Speaker 1: and you kind of challenge the guys that are top 10. Stevie,
[11:50] Speaker 1: this is exactly what happened here. Tell me, you pronounce
[11:54] Speaker 1: the name better than me. Majerjak. Nobody pronounces the name well.
[11:57] Speaker 2: Majerjak.
[11:58] Speaker 1: Majerjak.
[11:59] Speaker 2: It's literally just Majerjak.
[12:02] Speaker 1: My shock. My shot. My shot. Anyway, Stevie. Shock. What
[12:07] Speaker 1: a run for this guy. And do you see these
[12:10] Speaker 1: surprising results on the 250s at grass every year? Yeah.
[12:13] Speaker 3: You don't see maybe this surprising. I would have not
[12:17] Speaker 3: taken him to win it.
[12:18] Speaker 1: That's for sure.
[12:19] Speaker 3: But it's the grass. It's the first week. First ATP week.
[12:24] Speaker 3: They had a challenger week last week. So some guys
[12:26] Speaker 3: get some reps early. But If you can come out
[12:29] Speaker 3: and you can play good tennis on grass and catch
[12:31] Speaker 3: these guys by surprise, it's kind of anything can happen
[12:35] Speaker 3: in this first week.
[12:36] Speaker 1: And it did.
[12:37] Speaker 3: His first couple rounds were, they're not world beaters by name.
[12:42] Speaker 3: And then he goes in and he beats three top
[12:44] Speaker 3: 10 guys in a row, which is super impressive to
[12:47] Speaker 3: do that. To get a title on grass, you know,
[12:51] Speaker 3: he was ranked 75 in the world, if I'm not mistaken,
[12:54] Speaker 3: kind of going into the tournament. So this just solidifies
[12:56] Speaker 3: himself into everything pretty much the rest of the year,
[12:58] Speaker 3: all the Master Series and everything.
[13:00] Speaker 1: But he played great.
[13:01] Speaker 3: I mean, to take out Felix in straight sets, Medvedev
[13:04] Speaker 3: in straight sets, and then Demon in a third set buster, it's...
[13:07] Speaker 3: That's a heck of an effort for a guy like
[13:09] Speaker 3: trying to close out, you know, his biggest title and over,
[13:14] Speaker 3: you know, three guys that have a lot of titles
[13:16] Speaker 3: in the bank. So really impressive.
[13:18] Speaker 1: And the demon loves grass. Watching this match, the demon,
[13:22] Speaker 1: we've done that segment on like ugly games. Demon's got
[13:25] Speaker 1: an ugly game. The more I watch him play, he
[13:27] Speaker 1: is so good and so effective. The way he hits
[13:30] Speaker 1: the ball. Can you, you guys agree with me on this?
[13:33] Speaker 2: I don't like his serve. He's got that, his serve's
[13:34] Speaker 2: kind of funky.
[13:35] Speaker 1: No, I don't think it's ugly. The strokes are like Medvedev.
[13:39] Speaker 1: The way he hits his backhand, the forehand always looks late.
[13:41] Speaker 2: It's Medvedev-esque.
[13:42] Speaker 1: It is ugly, dude. These are so much more compact.
[13:45] Speaker 1: But it's effective. You can have ugly, compact strokes. Yeah,
[13:48] Speaker 1: but it's not like Medvedev. He's like an octopus. The
[13:50] Speaker 1: thing is, he's going everywhere. Okay, we're... The demon's a
[13:53] Speaker 1: mini octopus. He's a squid.
[13:55] Speaker 2: Yeah, it's... But no, it's the way he contorts his body. Like,
[13:59] Speaker 2: his strokes are shorter, but he does this stuff.
[14:02] Speaker 1: But he's good. Obviously, he's good. Like, it doesn't hold
[14:05] Speaker 1: him back.
[14:05] Speaker 2: He's one of the greatest movers the game's ever seen. Like, literally.
[14:08] Speaker 1: Literally, yes.
[14:09] Speaker 2: Like, that's how good Inso. And you know what's fun
[14:11] Speaker 2: about him, too?
[14:12] Speaker 1: He's like one of these... He's like, he moves on
[14:14] Speaker 1: the baseline inside the court. He's not 15 feet behind
[14:17] Speaker 1: the court like all the other good movers that when
[14:19] Speaker 1: we talk about good movers, you're always like, oh, Monfils and...
[14:22] Speaker 1: These clay court guys, that's not him. He's like up
[14:24] Speaker 1: on the baseline jetting around. He's always good on the grass.
[14:28] Speaker 1: Do you have anything you want to add on the Hurtuganbush?
[14:31] Speaker 2: No, but my shock, he's one of those guys that just–
[14:36] Speaker 2: the grass just suits his game so well because he
[14:38] Speaker 2: gets a little more pop on his serve, which he
[14:40] Speaker 2: does not get on any other surface. So he's able
[14:42] Speaker 2: to hold serve at a higher cliff, which everyone does.
[14:45] Speaker 2: And he's got these short– ground strokes. I remember last
[14:48] Speaker 2: year at Wimbledon, he beat Ethan Quinn. He was either
[14:52] Speaker 2: in the first or second round, like one, two and
[14:54] Speaker 2: two or something. And I remember Ethan's coach, Brian Garber
[14:57] Speaker 2: telling me like, we just got our tails kicked by
[15:01] Speaker 2: this guy. He was unbelievable. So he's just one of
[15:03] Speaker 2: those guys. It's just, he's a grass court, you know,
[15:06] Speaker 2: fiend sort of like Manorino.
[15:08] Speaker 3: Like, I mean, to my previous point, he played last week,
[15:10] Speaker 3: a challenger on grass made semi. So he had played
[15:12] Speaker 3: seven matches leading into Felix, um, medvedev like so he
[15:17] Speaker 3: if you're not comfortable at that point on grass like
[15:20] Speaker 3: you play seven matches like made semis of the week
[15:23] Speaker 3: before like you're in good shape yeah more so than.
[15:25] Speaker 2: The other guys you guys know how it is once
[15:27] Speaker 2: you get grass court matches under your belt you're not
[15:29] Speaker 2: worried about the movement nope you're not you know.
[15:32] Speaker 3: You're not worried about the rhythm or anything right you just.
[15:34] Speaker 2: Play exactly you just play where everyone else if you're
[15:37] Speaker 2: not confident on grass you're thinking about everything about how
[15:39] Speaker 2: to move and when to chip and when to survive
[15:42] Speaker 2: you know like He's in that zone, I think, right now,
[15:46] Speaker 2: much like Ben Shelton's going to be.
[15:48] Speaker 1: Yeah, no, it's a lot of– I didn't realize he
[15:49] Speaker 1: played the Challenger beforehand. That's a lot of grass court matches.
[15:52] Speaker 1: He's playing well.
[15:53] Speaker 2: Which Challenger was he in?
[15:54] Speaker 1: The Birmingham. Birmingham?
[15:56] Speaker 2: Birmingham.
[15:57] Speaker 1: Birmingham? Yeah. All right, let's move over to the WTA.
[16:02] Speaker 1: Oakley was this week. You want to move over to Oakley? No,
[16:05] Speaker 1: I want to move over to my– the WTA and
[16:07] Speaker 1: my home club at Queens hosted a WTA 500– this
[16:12] Speaker 1: week congrats to everyone that um was at the event
[16:15] Speaker 1: hopefully my fellow members at the club treated everyone well
[16:18] Speaker 1: and you everyone had a good time donna veckich lucky
[16:21] Speaker 1: loser takes out hometown girl emma raducanu for the everyone
[16:25] Speaker 1: that probably listens to this knows what a lucky loser
[16:27] Speaker 1: is but for those that like don't exactly know how
[16:29] Speaker 1: it works if you lose in the last round of
[16:32] Speaker 1: qualifying they'll take i don't exactly know what works on
[16:35] Speaker 1: the on the woman's side they'll take like the highest
[16:38] Speaker 1: two players highest ranked last two players that lost in
[16:40] Speaker 1: the last round of qualifying And they'll usually put it
[16:42] Speaker 1: into a bowl or something, and they'll pull one out.
[16:46] Speaker 1: And that's how you're put into the main draw. So
[16:47] Speaker 1: someone pulls out of the main draw. They take the
[16:50] Speaker 1: highest-ranked players that lost in the last round of qualifying,
[16:52] Speaker 1: randomly pull them out. And so Donna Vekic, lost in qualifying,
[16:57] Speaker 1: got into the main draw, and then went on a run,
[17:00] Speaker 1: takes out Raducanu, 6-0, 7-6. Stevie Raducanu's kind of back. Like,
[17:05] Speaker 1: not back, but like, she won US Open, obviously, all
[17:08] Speaker 1: those years ago. She has been playing well. This is
[17:10] Speaker 1: like her first... big result I feel like in a
[17:12] Speaker 1: while is this going to add a ton of extra
[17:14] Speaker 1: pressure to her going into Wimbledon in two weeks or
[17:17] Speaker 1: you think it's.
[17:18] Speaker 3: No I don't think so I mean I feel like
[17:20] Speaker 3: there's been a lot of pressure on her but it
[17:23] Speaker 3: just doesn't make sense like she's so good I don't
[17:26] Speaker 3: know if the body just doesn't kind of hold up
[17:28] Speaker 3: to the expectations or the pressure because she just doesn't
[17:33] Speaker 3: seem to play enough she'll have a big result like
[17:34] Speaker 3: this and then you won't see her name for like
[17:37] Speaker 3: two months which is which is a bummer like you
[17:39] Speaker 3: know so Grass should be a good surface for her.
[17:42] Speaker 3: Comfortable confines. Queens Club did an amazing job. The crowds
[17:45] Speaker 3: were insane. Had some friends that actually went to the
[17:49] Speaker 3: women's tournament who said it was awesome. But for her,
[17:53] Speaker 3: I'm trying to think. I think this is only like
[17:54] Speaker 3: her second final since that 2020 U.S.
[17:56] Speaker 1: Open.
[17:58] Speaker 3: Which is crazy in itself. But for the most part,
[18:02] Speaker 3: I mean, Vekic played awesome. I mean, you lose in
[18:04] Speaker 3: qualifying and then you get that second life and she
[18:06] Speaker 3: made the most of it. It's the sixth woman to.
[18:09] Speaker 1: Yeah.
[18:09] Speaker 3: Yeah.
[18:32] Speaker 1: I said this earlier. A lot of people, maybe not now,
[18:36] Speaker 1: think that Queens is the fifth biggest tournament in the world.
[18:38] Speaker 2: It's the fifth major.
[18:40] Speaker 1: It's the fifth major. In 2010, that's what it was considered.
[18:42] Speaker 1: I'm not sure on the women's side if it has
[18:44] Speaker 1: quite the gravitas that it does on the men's side. Ooh,
[18:47] Speaker 1: big word. Yeah, right? That's a good one. But yeah,
[18:50] Speaker 1: congrats to Vekic. She took out Bolter and Raducanu back-to-back.
[18:56] Speaker 1: The Brits. Good news for Vekic as well.
[18:58] Speaker 3: Winning that tournament obviously wasn't on her radar maybe like
[19:00] Speaker 3: a week ago, but now she's seated at– I mean,
[19:02] Speaker 3: she'll be top 32 and probably seated at Wimbledon, which
[19:04] Speaker 3: is like.
[19:06] Speaker 2: What was the cut for that tournament?
[19:08] Speaker 1: I don't know what the cut was.
[19:09] Speaker 3: We don't know what the cut is for most of
[19:14] Speaker 3: the men's tournament.
[19:15] Speaker 1: That was a stupid question. You're always very bullish on Rabakina.
[19:19] Speaker 1: She lost in the quarters to Bolter. Hasn't been past
[19:22] Speaker 1: a quarter since winning Stuttgart like seven weeks ago. Are
[19:26] Speaker 1: you panicking now? No, no, no, no, no. No panic.
[19:31] Speaker 1: I'm not. I mean, Sam has Vekic in the top
[19:33] Speaker 1: three favorites of Wimbledon. No, I don't. No, I don't.
[19:37] Speaker 1: Top four.
[19:38] Speaker 2: I think with Vekic, though, it just goes to show
[19:41] Speaker 2: how close the margins are. Someone who loses in qualities
[19:46] Speaker 2: can go on and like get in as you're talking
[19:49] Speaker 2: about and dominate the main draw like the the gap
[19:51] Speaker 2: between um you know someone really good like to high
[19:56] Speaker 2: rank to someone in the qualities is it's not that
[19:58] Speaker 2: big you know so but she probably was um you
[20:02] Speaker 2: know uh My point is I think she kept her head, right?
[20:10] Speaker 2: She kept her head after qualities, maybe believed that she
[20:14] Speaker 2: could get a lucky loser, and she continued her healthy habits,
[20:17] Speaker 2: much like Kachava. Guys, the one thing that I try
[20:22] Speaker 2: to stay consistent on is morning routine, whether it's walking
[20:26] Speaker 2: or running. I don't really run anymore, but it's a
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[20:33] Speaker 2: get some fresh air and clear my head before the
[20:35] Speaker 2: day starts. It's crazy. Like I'm in a place right now.
[20:38] Speaker 2: The air is super crisp here. The walk is going
[20:41] Speaker 2: to happen after this podcast. So once summer travel kicks
[20:43] Speaker 2: in and the schedules shift, you got to keep up
[20:46] Speaker 2: with those healthy habits because they get very tough.
[20:48] Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely.
[20:49] Speaker 3: And because that's usually when it falls apart. When you're
[20:51] Speaker 3: on the go, you're out of your element, and suddenly
[20:53] Speaker 3: your normal wellness routine doesn't just fit in anymore.
[20:56] Speaker 1: No, especially with nutrition. Everyone cheats, right? Everyone's at home.
[20:59] Speaker 1: You say you're going to eat well. You're always going
[21:00] Speaker 1: to the snack cabinet. I do it. I'm guilty of it,
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[21:55] Speaker 1: Yep.
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[22:29] Speaker 1: partners at Kachava. Alright, that's Winner's Circle. Let's move on
[22:34] Speaker 1: now to major news. There was one massive news story
[22:38] Speaker 1: last week, and that was Serena Williams making her return
[22:42] Speaker 1: in Queens. She played doubles with Vicky Mboko. Isn't it?
[22:46] Speaker 1: They won their first round. They beat Routcliffe and Melencar Martinez.
[22:55] Speaker 1: They were the three seeds, by the way. Serena looked
[22:59] Speaker 1: pretty good. I mean, doubles isn't– it's not like it's 50%
[23:03] Speaker 1: of the work that singles is. It's like 10% of
[23:06] Speaker 1: the work. Let's be real with this, right? It's not like–
[23:08] Speaker 1: it's not that physical.
[23:09] Speaker 2: But– It's less physical than golf.
[23:11] Speaker 1: Yes, it is. But that just goes to show that
[23:14] Speaker 1: like Serena at 44 years old I know she only
[23:17] Speaker 1: played one match because Mboku then got hurt and couldn't
[23:20] Speaker 1: continue after they had a pullout. But Serena, at least
[23:23] Speaker 1: on the doubles court, I think with just one match
[23:26] Speaker 1: that we've watched, just proved to everyone that she can
[23:29] Speaker 1: play doubles with basically everyone.
[23:30] Speaker 2: Absolutely, she can play doubles. And hopefully, she can prove
[23:34] Speaker 2: that she can play singles with everyone. You know, so...
[23:39] Speaker 2: You know, it's smart to start on doubles. I give
[23:41] Speaker 2: her a lot of credit to start on grass. We
[23:43] Speaker 2: talked about how awkward grass is, especially at Queens Club
[23:47] Speaker 2: when those courts are brand new. Mboko slipped and hurt
[23:50] Speaker 2: her knee. I've been talking, Sam. I know you're a
[23:52] Speaker 2: member there. These slips always seem to happen at Queens
[23:55] Speaker 2: Club more than any other tournament. Happened to Mboko. Hopefully
[23:59] Speaker 2: she's okay. But for Serena to go out there and
[24:01] Speaker 2: having not played in so long to play doubles on
[24:03] Speaker 2: this surface, very impressive. I'm sure her movement changes. or
[24:07] Speaker 2: she felt like her movement wasn't great. You know, you're
[24:10] Speaker 2: 44 years old. It's not going to be as good
[24:12] Speaker 2: as it was 15 years ago, but to do it
[24:14] Speaker 2: on grass, pretty encouraging. It's a little disappointing. Obviously, it's
[24:17] Speaker 2: very disappointing, actually. She wasn't able to play more matches.
[24:19] Speaker 2: Everyone wanted to see that. The whole tennis world wanted
[24:22] Speaker 2: to see that. But, I mean, more so than her
[24:26] Speaker 2: and Boca winning the match, just seeing Serena Williams back
[24:29] Speaker 2: on a WTA match court, it's unbelievable.
[24:33] Speaker 1: It's very cool. It seems like it's kind of fake. Yeah,
[24:35] Speaker 1: I know. It postpones her getting into the Hall of
[24:39] Speaker 1: Fame by, like, five more years now, even with that
[24:42] Speaker 1: one match. If she doesn't play ever again, it's five
[24:44] Speaker 1: more years. It's a bit of a Philip Rivers effect, right? Yes, exactly.
[24:47] Speaker 2: He came back for the Colts, and he's got to
[24:49] Speaker 2: wait five more years.
[24:50] Speaker 1: Yeah. By the way, Mboko, like, not really okay. She, like,
[24:53] Speaker 1: partially tore an MC. She's out for the whole grass
[24:56] Speaker 1: court season. Yeah.
[24:57] Speaker 3: Dude.
[24:57] Speaker 1: Yeah, it's brutal. I know. Delpo hurt herself. I got
[25:02] Speaker 1: to talk to the grounds crew at Queens. We might
[25:05] Speaker 1: need to get some new grass in there.
[25:06] Speaker 2: So slippery.
[25:07] Speaker 1: The grass is optically beautiful, but it is tricky to
[25:10] Speaker 1: move on. They almost need to let the members play
[25:13] Speaker 1: on it for like a week before the tournament starts.
[25:15] Speaker 2: The guys are so lucky that the girls are wearing
[25:17] Speaker 2: out the courts the week before. I mean, because if
[25:20] Speaker 2: this was 10 years ago, I would play Queens if
[25:23] Speaker 2: the WTA played the week before.
[25:25] Speaker 3: It doesn't change it as much as from what I
[25:28] Speaker 3: heard from the guys said. It doesn't make that big
[25:30] Speaker 3: of a difference.
[25:30] Speaker 1: Really?
[25:31] Speaker 2: Yeah. How is that possible? Everyone knows the more you
[25:34] Speaker 2: stomp on the grass, the drier it gets and the
[25:36] Speaker 2: footing gets.
[25:37] Speaker 3: Hey, I'm just going from what I've heard from guys
[25:40] Speaker 3: on the ground after who played there last year after
[25:42] Speaker 3: the first time the women's played said it was still
[25:44] Speaker 3: a pretty slippery court week two or, you know, ten
[25:48] Speaker 3: days in.
[25:48] Speaker 1: Stevie, being the journalist he is, has eyes and ears everywhere,
[25:52] Speaker 1: all over the globe. You've got to ask the hard-hitting questions.
[25:54] Speaker 1: This is super hard. Serena's playing with Uchova now this
[25:58] Speaker 1: week at the Berlin Open. Stevie, do you think... It's
[26:01] Speaker 1: been one match. Let's hypothetically say Serena wins a couple
[26:04] Speaker 1: more doubles matches in Berlin. Do you think she's going
[26:07] Speaker 1: to play singles at Wimbledon? No.
[26:09] Speaker 3: Just based on what John's been talking about, the movement
[26:13] Speaker 3: is so hard on the grass. To come out of
[26:16] Speaker 3: retirement and then play singles on the grass as your
[26:20] Speaker 3: first event just seems like a tall task. If you
[26:23] Speaker 3: want to go out there, you want to look or
[26:25] Speaker 3: you want to feel as if you are doing what
[26:28] Speaker 3: you do best and So I see her playing doubles, right?
[26:31] Speaker 3: And then I see her potentially playing singles just on
[26:34] Speaker 3: a more stable hard court in the States, maybe playing
[26:37] Speaker 3: a couple matches and then the US Open kind of deal.
[26:40] Speaker 3: So I don't see her playing singles at Wimbledon, but
[26:43] Speaker 3: I hope I'm wrong because obviously if she does play
[26:45] Speaker 3: singles at Wimbledon, the whole world will be watching, like
[26:48] Speaker 3: every tennis person will be watching that match likely to
[26:51] Speaker 3: be on center and likely to be on a on,
[26:55] Speaker 3: on that court and which is what she deserves.
[26:58] Speaker 2: Yeah.
[26:58] Speaker 1: I don't think she's going to play singles either.
[27:00] Speaker 3: I think, I mean, no, the internet's never lied to me,
[27:02] Speaker 3: but I feel like I saw that maybe her and
[27:04] Speaker 3: Venus were playing doubles at Wimbledon.
[27:05] Speaker 1: I don't know if that's confirmed.
[27:07] Speaker 2: I don't know. They've had some tough luck with Venus
[27:11] Speaker 2: was playing doubles at Roland Garros with Baptiste.
[27:13] Speaker 1: Yeah.
[27:14] Speaker 2: She hurt her knee. So maybe they just need to stick.
[27:17] Speaker 1: Stick together. Yeah. Good point. Good point. The other news
[27:21] Speaker 1: this week was Sinner. He's among some of the top
[27:24] Speaker 1: players to, consider boycotting the U.S. Open Mixed Doubles. Remember
[27:28] Speaker 1: last year, the U.S. Open Mixed Doubles was a huge hit.
[27:31] Speaker 1: All the singles players played. This is kind of like
[27:35] Speaker 1: a nothing statement, I feel like, considering not boycotting the U.S.
[27:39] Speaker 1: Open Mixed Doubles. He didn't even play it last year.
[27:41] Speaker 1: This is the biggest nothing burger of all time. This
[27:43] Speaker 1: is the biggest nothing burger. These players with their fake boycotts,
[27:47] Speaker 1: it's like the Roland Garros.
[27:49] Speaker 3: Yeah, he's going to consider pulling out of Winston-Salem as well,
[27:52] Speaker 3: like the week before.
[27:52] Speaker 1: Yeah. What are we doing? I will say that little
[27:55] Speaker 1: bit of pressure in Roland Garros, if you want to
[27:56] Speaker 1: call it that, Wimbledon increased their prize money a pretty
[27:59] Speaker 1: significant amount.
[27:59] Speaker 2: Yeah, but 20%, didn't it? Not 20%.
[28:02] Speaker 1: No, 16%. 16%, yeah.
[28:03] Speaker 2: I could be wrong.
[28:05] Speaker 1: On this as well. I don't know how you guys feel.
[28:07] Speaker 1: They wanted a $ 20 million. Sorry, go ahead, Steve.
[28:10] Speaker 3: The boycott at Roland Garros, like media, I don't think
[28:12] Speaker 3: had anything to do with Wimbledon. They're not going to
[28:14] Speaker 3: just raise it by that much money like, Based on
[28:17] Speaker 3: two days, like this has been in the works or
[28:19] Speaker 3: am I off on this?
[28:19] Speaker 1: No, I think you're right.
[28:20] Speaker 3: They didn't have a board meeting like that Monday and
[28:22] Speaker 3: be like, oh, like we've got to raise money or
[28:24] Speaker 3: they're not going to talk to the press.
[28:26] Speaker 1: Like, I just don't see that happening.
[28:27] Speaker 2: No, I don't think it was like, oh, it wasn't
[28:31] Speaker 2: the press boycott that did it. It was just the momentum.
[28:34] Speaker 2: I actually think the symbolic 15 minutes that all the
[28:38] Speaker 2: players participated in at Roland Garrison, I think it's done something.
[28:42] Speaker 1: But it has to be done together. Like, everyone needs
[28:44] Speaker 1: to be involved. Well, I don't think everyone was.
[28:47] Speaker 2: Involved, but look at Wimbledon. They increased surprise money by
[28:50] Speaker 2: a significant margin.
[28:51] Speaker 1: But it's saying.
[28:52] Speaker 3: Everybody has to be involved. Like, everybody has to be
[28:54] Speaker 3: on the same page.
[28:56] Speaker 1: I think what Stevie's saying, if Sinner doesn't play the mix,
[28:59] Speaker 1: it's not a big deal because he didn't play last year.
[29:00] Speaker 1: But if the core group of 16 players that played
[29:02] Speaker 1: the mixed doubles last year don't play, then they have
[29:05] Speaker 1: an issue because it was successful last year.
[29:07] Speaker 3: If the 14 of the 16 singles players don't play,
[29:08] Speaker 3: then it's not going to be a success.
[29:11] Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah. If they go to the U.S. Open and say, hey, Sinner, Alcaraz, Sabalenka.
[29:16] Speaker 2: It's interesting that that's the thing that they would.
[29:18] Speaker 1: Yeah.
[29:19] Speaker 2: I mean, the mixed doubles was a resounding success and
[29:22] Speaker 2: not a lot of work to try to win a
[29:24] Speaker 2: million dollars total combined as a team.
[29:28] Speaker 1: Yeah. I think that mixed doubles means a lot to
[29:30] Speaker 1: the U S open though. It was like their thing. Their, their,
[29:33] Speaker 1: they created it.
[29:34] Speaker 2: Their initiative. It's like the one point tournament in Aussie,
[29:37] Speaker 2: you know, it's their thing.
[29:38] Speaker 1: Exactly.
[29:40] Speaker 2: But, but, but I mean, having said that, so what
[29:42] Speaker 2: is the first round prize money at Wimbledon? Does anyone,
[29:45] Speaker 2: you guys?
[29:45] Speaker 1: They put it out the other day. We don't have it.
[29:47] Speaker 1: I think it's like probably a hundred grand.
[29:48] Speaker 2: It's probably more than that maybe.
[29:49] Speaker 1: And the pound. Yeah. How many stones is it?
[29:52] Speaker 2: But it's, it's, it's a significant.
[29:54] Speaker 3: It's a conversion right these days.
[29:55] Speaker 1: Yeah.
[29:57] Speaker 2: Stone is my favorite unit of measurement. The Brits do
[30:00] Speaker 2: a couple things right.
[30:01] Speaker 1: A first round prize money this year will be 80,000 pounds, $ 107, 000.
[30:04] Speaker 2: US.
[30:05] Speaker 1: US dollars. That's a 21% increase over 2024 prize money,
[30:11] Speaker 1: so two years ago. So not enough, but still good. Alcaraz,
[30:18] Speaker 1: speaking of prize money, he's got apparently like a big
[30:22] Speaker 1: medical checkup this week. He's been spotted lately without the brace,
[30:27] Speaker 1: which is good news. They've been so quiet about this,
[30:30] Speaker 1: which I would be too if I were him. He
[30:32] Speaker 1: doesn't owe anyone an explanation on timeline or anything. So
[30:37] Speaker 1: we've got the question in here. When do we think
[30:39] Speaker 1: he's going to return? It's hard to even ask that
[30:41] Speaker 1: because he hasn't given anyone an update, nor do I
[30:44] Speaker 1: don't think he owes it. What do you guys think
[30:47] Speaker 1: about this? Do you think he's feeling better or not,
[30:51] Speaker 1: or do we just don't know?
[30:52] Speaker 2: I don't think he knows. He might be feeling better,
[30:55] Speaker 2: but it's all about what the MRI says and what
[30:57] Speaker 2: the doctor says. We got a right wrist injury. He
[31:01] Speaker 2: has to be so careful. He has to err on
[31:05] Speaker 2: the side of caution. You've seen what these right wrist
[31:08] Speaker 2: injuries can do to players. Dominic Thiem comes to mind, right?
[31:15] Speaker 2: You could very easily not be the same out there.
[31:19] Speaker 2: Del Potro hurt his wrist as well. His was the left.
[31:23] Speaker 2: He couldn't really ever fully come back from it. So I,
[31:30] Speaker 2: I would, I would imagine his team is exercising complete caution.
[31:34] Speaker 2: You don't want this to rear its head again. He
[31:36] Speaker 2: needs to be a hundred percent, not 90%, not 95%.
[31:39] Speaker 2: It needs to be a hundred percent. So we'll see
[31:41] Speaker 2: what this world renowned doctor that he's going to see in, in,
[31:43] Speaker 2: in Barcelona says, um, this is, but I don't, I
[31:48] Speaker 2: don't think even Carlos knows he might be feeling a
[31:51] Speaker 2: little better.
[31:51] Speaker 1: Right.
[31:52] Speaker 2: But, uh, Movement still looks good on the beach and
[31:55] Speaker 2: hitting lefty forehands. He still looks explosive.
[31:58] Speaker 1: That's for sure. And we all know there's that saying,
[32:00] Speaker 1: if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Carlos is broke.
[32:04] Speaker 1: He needed to fix it. But with shipping, it's a
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[32:09] Speaker 1: efficiently or That's not the case with ShipStation.
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[32:32] Speaker 2: a lot of time.
[32:33] Speaker 1: ShipStation is a one-stop shop. They do the management, the inventory,
[32:38] Speaker 1: and the returns. Everything's centralized. Nothing's scattered. It works seemingly.
[32:42] Speaker 3: And it connects to over 200 marketplaces and tools you're
[32:44] Speaker 3: already using. You just plug it in and go with
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[32:48] Speaker 2: And once everything is in one place, you're not bouncing
[32:51] Speaker 2: between systems. It's all the same system. And even returns
[32:55] Speaker 2: become way easier to manage. Returns are always such a pain,
[32:58] Speaker 2: not with ShipStation.
[33:00] Speaker 1: If I was going to run an e-commerce business, which...
[33:03] Speaker 1: I could do, I think. I don't know what I
[33:04] Speaker 1: would sell. Look at these hats. This is exactly how
[33:08] Speaker 1: I'd want to do it, right? Keep things simple. I
[33:10] Speaker 1: kind of want to start an e-commerce business, just a
[33:12] Speaker 1: little one, and just see if I could get it
[33:14] Speaker 1: off the ground and running. But this is exactly how
[33:16] Speaker 1: I'd run my e-commerce business.
[33:18] Speaker 3: Well, Sam's business and over a million other businesses already
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[33:25] Speaker 3: The sooner you switch, the sooner you start saving time
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[33:44] Speaker 1: All right. Say ShipStation three times fast. Yeah.
[33:47] Speaker 2: Sally sold Ship Station at the Seashells. Seashells at the
[33:51] Speaker 2: Ship Station.
[33:53] Speaker 1: That's pretty good. All right. Thanks, actually, to our partner
[33:55] Speaker 1: at Ship Station. That's major news. Let's move on now
[33:58] Speaker 1: to major opinions. We're going to start with Stevie, our
[34:03] Speaker 1: Stevie stats. I've missed the Stevie stats. We don't get
[34:06] Speaker 1: them during something major. It's been like three weeks. So, Stevie,
[34:09] Speaker 1: hit us with something good.
[34:10] Speaker 3: We've got the best winning percentages on grass. Just the
[34:15] Speaker 3: HP Tour, no challengers among active players. And I guess
[34:20] Speaker 3: you guys want to take a stab at who the
[34:21] Speaker 3: top couple are?
[34:24] Speaker 1: Novak. He's number two at 85%. Back-to-back Wimbledon champion. Carlos Alcarez.
[34:31] Speaker 1: He's 89%. And number three, he's Italian. Berrettini.
[34:36] Speaker 3: Berrettini is number three at 77%. Sinner is just at 74%
[34:41] Speaker 3: winning 29 of 39 matches. So got to come out
[34:45] Speaker 3: hot on the grass or just play Wimbledon and win
[34:47] Speaker 3: it like Carlos does.
[34:49] Speaker 1: Yeah. Or Novak. Just do that.
[34:50] Speaker 2: Novak seems to do that a lot too.
[34:52] Speaker 1: Or Novak.
[34:53] Speaker 3: Novak's got a healthier number than the rest of these
[34:55] Speaker 3: guys combined, basically.
[34:57] Speaker 1: Yeah, he does. And a lot more matches. All right,
[35:00] Speaker 1: that's TV stats. John, we've also missed your Sir Bot
[35:02] Speaker 1: of the Week for the last three weeks. What do
[35:04] Speaker 1: you got for us?
[35:05] Speaker 2: Bots love the grass. Everyone knows that. It is bot season,
[35:09] Speaker 2: and I'm going to give the Bot of the Week
[35:11] Speaker 2: to Ben Shelton, who's not a bot. We've been over this.
[35:14] Speaker 2: He's not a bot. But his semifinal win was kind
[35:17] Speaker 2: of botty. Three tiebreakers, no breaks whatsoever. He landed 21-8.
[35:24] Speaker 2: This is his semifinal win against Lehechka. We talked about
[35:27] Speaker 2: the tiebreaker he won, 16-14 in the second set Then
[35:30] Speaker 2: wins in a third set tiebreaker. At one point, he won.
[35:33] Speaker 2: This is the best stat. 21 aces is great. But
[35:36] Speaker 2: at one point, he won 20 consecutive service points.
[35:39] Speaker 1: That's pretty good.
[35:40] Speaker 2: Against La Hetchka.
[35:41] Speaker 1: So, bot.
[35:42] Speaker 2: I mean, three tiebreakers, no breaks.
[35:44] Speaker 1: That's a bot.
[35:45] Speaker 2: Ben, not a bot, but you were in the semifinals, dude.
[35:48] Speaker 1: But congrats.
[35:49] Speaker 2: It got you to the title.
[35:51] Speaker 1: All right. My queries query. Before I get into queries query,
[35:54] Speaker 1: the World Cup's going on. U.S. beat Paraguay 4-1. we
[35:58] Speaker 1: looked like a top five soccer team in the world
[36:02] Speaker 1: we what did we not that could have been nine
[36:05] Speaker 1: one we were missed a lot of goals i won
[36:08] Speaker 1: game i don't want to overreact but we don't need
[36:10] Speaker 1: to overreact tom in the group chat number one all
[36:14] Speaker 1: right tom one of our producers is british he literally
[36:17] Speaker 1: just like you did look very very good so it's
[36:19] Speaker 1: one game all of a sudden i'm like Are we
[36:21] Speaker 1: a favorite to maybe win this thing?
[36:24] Speaker 2: No. It depends.
[36:25] Speaker 1: What do you know about soccer?
[36:26] Speaker 2: If the United States can get out of group play,
[36:28] Speaker 2: it's not a guarantee.
[36:29] Speaker 1: Which we will. We're in the weakest group. No, no, no.
[36:30] Speaker 1: It's a guarantee, dude.
[36:31] Speaker 3: It's a guarantee. They take the top three teams now.
[36:34] Speaker 3: It's like a participation trophy to get out of group play.
[36:36] Speaker 2: It's not the top two? No.
[36:38] Speaker 1: They take the third place teams. This guy doesn't know ball. Yeah,
[36:40] Speaker 1: you don't know ball, dude.
[36:41] Speaker 2: What do you mean, in some?
[36:42] Speaker 3: They take some third place teams with the most points
[36:44] Speaker 3: or goal differentials from... So you can literally, as long
[36:47] Speaker 3: as you don't lose all three games, you probably get into.
[36:49] Speaker 1: They added more teams this year.
[36:51] Speaker 2: Are you sure about that?
[36:53] Speaker 1: I am 1000% sure.
[36:55] Speaker 2: So it's not just two out of every group.
[36:57] Speaker 1: No.
[36:57] Speaker 2: And then you go from there.
[36:58] Speaker 1: Nope. We basically just guaranteed like. They added more teams
[37:00] Speaker 1: and a stupid water break.
[37:02] Speaker 2: The water break is ridiculous.
[37:06] Speaker 1: It's the worst.
[37:08] Speaker 2: But I guess, I don't know. It's hot in the States.
[37:11] Speaker 1: Let me move on to my question. Ben Shelton, I'm
[37:13] Speaker 1: going back to Shelton. He won the clay court event
[37:16] Speaker 1: in Munich and got a car for winning that. Then
[37:20] Speaker 1: he just won the grass court event in Stuttgart, got
[37:22] Speaker 1: a car. Anytime you win a tournament in Germany, you
[37:25] Speaker 1: get a car, you know? Yeah. Do we think Shelton,
[37:30] Speaker 1: fast forward six months, he's going to keep both those cars?
[37:33] Speaker 1: He's going to sell the cars? What do we think
[37:37] Speaker 1: Shelton's doing with the cars? I think he sells them.
[37:39] Speaker 1: Both of them.
[37:40] Speaker 2: Sells them back to the dealership.
[37:41] Speaker 1: Because I think if you.
[37:43] Speaker 3: I feel like Ben's a car guy, likes his cars.
[37:46] Speaker 3: You don't want a car that you didn't pick.
[37:49] Speaker 1: You know what I mean?
[37:50] Speaker 3: You sell it, and then you go buy yourself whatever
[37:52] Speaker 3: you want.
[37:52] Speaker 2: Dude, he's got to pay for the shipping back to
[37:54] Speaker 2: the States?
[37:55] Speaker 1: Well, we don't know that. Maybe they pay for the shipping.
[37:56] Speaker 1: As much as we like ShipStation, they're not shipping cars.
[37:59] Speaker 1: Are they not? I don't know. Maybe they do. Maybe
[38:02] Speaker 1: I'm wrong. Don't be talking about ShipStation and what they
[38:04] Speaker 1: can't do. They're our partner.
[38:05] Speaker 3: I just don't think they're shipping cars, but they should
[38:07] Speaker 3: get into it for Ben.
[38:08] Speaker 1: They should get into a good pivot.
[38:10] Speaker 2: I think you can sell it back to the dealership, right?
[38:12] Speaker 1: I mean, or else you got to pay the taxes
[38:15] Speaker 1: on it. We got to ask someone because there's always those,
[38:17] Speaker 1: we've heard you can sell it back and get cash.
[38:20] Speaker 1: I mean, maybe some, I wouldn't do that. If I'm
[38:21] Speaker 1: the dealership, I'm like, no, I'm not giving you cash.
[38:24] Speaker 1: You got to keep the car. It's your problem now. Why?
[38:27] Speaker 2: Because they can keep the car and then sell it.
[38:29] Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, they can do that on their own. I'm not,
[38:31] Speaker 1: if I'm the dealership, I'm like.
[38:32] Speaker 2: Yeah, but you're not taking, you're not like the dealership,
[38:34] Speaker 2: you're not taking like full value. You're just like, all right,
[38:36] Speaker 2: I don't want this car, which is kind of a
[38:38] Speaker 2: ridiculous thing to say, but like hypothetically speaking, if I won,
[38:42] Speaker 2: if I was in his shoes, I wouldn't take the car.
[38:44] Speaker 2: It's just because I have a car. Yeah.
[38:46] Speaker 1: It's the grind to get that.
[38:47] Speaker 2: Like, yeah.
[38:48] Speaker 3: If you want like Delray and they gave you a
[38:50] Speaker 3: Porsche there, like maybe he can drive it home, but
[38:51] Speaker 3: I feel like it's hard.
[38:52] Speaker 2: Am I big in a Porsche?
[38:53] Speaker 1: Yeah. It is cool to say you won the car.
[38:56] Speaker 1: All right. Well, if we ever talk to him, we'll
[38:59] Speaker 1: figure that out. All right. Let's move on to our
[39:02] Speaker 1: last segment, transition game. This week in Queens. So it's
[39:07] Speaker 1: the 500 week for the men, Queens and Halle. Queens
[39:10] Speaker 1: is a weak field. Queens usually, both these tournaments usually
[39:13] Speaker 1: have a very strong field. Queens has a weak field.
[39:16] Speaker 1: Just so you guys know, I'm going to read you
[39:18] Speaker 1: the top eight seeds. Diemenauer, Lehechka, Menschik, Davidich, Fokina, Hodar, Feese, Cerundolo,
[39:25] Speaker 1: Tommy Paul, nothing against those guys. They're all great players,
[39:27] Speaker 1: and they would have had Alcaraz had he not gotten hurt.
[39:30] Speaker 1: But compared to Halle, which has Zverev, Oje, Aliassime, Shelton, Medvedev, Fritz, Koboli, Rublev, Bublik.
[39:39] Speaker 1: What do you think? Is this just like a, Stevie,
[39:42] Speaker 1: is this just like a coincidence, a one-off year? Or
[39:45] Speaker 1: are we getting into that? You always hear like you
[39:46] Speaker 1: pay more taxes. If you're in London a longer amount
[39:50] Speaker 1: of time, they can start taxing your endorsements. Do you
[39:52] Speaker 1: think that has something to do with it? Or do
[39:54] Speaker 1: you think this is just a random one-off year where
[39:56] Speaker 1: Queens doesn't have a good field?
[39:57] Speaker 3: I think this is a random one-off year because when
[40:00] Speaker 3: we were playing, I felt like I was ranked 35
[40:02] Speaker 3: a lot and was hoping to get into Queens and
[40:05] Speaker 3: never did because the cut was 26. It was always stronger.
[40:09] Speaker 3: I just think it's the way the rankings have shaken
[40:13] Speaker 3: out with just who's at the top. If you look
[40:15] Speaker 3: at Queens... You know, forever, there was Murray. You'd have,
[40:19] Speaker 3: you know, Carlos has always played it. Jack Draper the
[40:21] Speaker 3: last few years. Mussetti's played it the last couple years.
[40:23] Speaker 3: You've had these big name guys or like big marquee
[40:26] Speaker 3: guys play it that are either hurt or not playing.
[40:30] Speaker 3: I mean, I know Draper, I'm assuming he's playing. He
[40:33] Speaker 3: pulled out of last week, but I think it's just
[40:36] Speaker 3: more that. It's just kind of the way the pendulum
[40:39] Speaker 3: has swung. And then in Halle, you've had guys that
[40:40] Speaker 3: play Halle every year. Sasha's going to play it. Ben
[40:43] Speaker 3: plays every tournament in Germany, it seems like. Medvedev has
[40:46] Speaker 3: always played. Rublev has always played. So it just seems
[40:49] Speaker 3: as if they're just kind of going to where they know.
[40:52] Speaker 3: They're not kind of flip-flopping back and forth. But I
[40:55] Speaker 3: think it's just kind of the way the wind has
[40:57] Speaker 3: blown this year.
[40:58] Speaker 2: I'm going to say something.
[40:59] Speaker 1: Yeah.
[41:00] Speaker 2: I don't think Queens is that much weaker.
[41:02] Speaker 1: Okay. It's a name recognition, but if you look– Name recognition, exactly.
[41:06] Speaker 1: I'm saying like Hodar is– Yeah, but name recognition.
[41:07] Speaker 2: Tell me Paul's the eighth seed in Queens.
[41:10] Speaker 3: Yeah, you see Hodar there and you're like, well, that's–
[41:13] Speaker 3: you know, maybe surprising, but he's kind of comparable.
[41:15] Speaker 2: I really do. Like it's like Felix is the two
[41:18] Speaker 2: seed and Holly.
[41:19] Speaker 1: The one seed demon are and Zverev who wins.
[41:22] Speaker 2: Zverev's grand slam.
[41:23] Speaker 1: All right, we're going to keep going. You want to
[41:25] Speaker 1: play this game with me? Two seed LaHechka versus Felix.
[41:27] Speaker 1: Who wins?
[41:28] Speaker 2: Give me LaHechka.
[41:29] Speaker 1: No, in name recognition, it's Felix. Oh, the three seed
[41:32] Speaker 1: men's chic versus Ben Shelton. It's Ben. So Holly's now
[41:34] Speaker 1: up three, zero, the four seed in Queens, David Ichvokina
[41:38] Speaker 1: against Medvedev.
[41:39] Speaker 3: In name recognition, Halle's got it. But in tennis, John
[41:42] Speaker 3: is right, dude.
[41:43] Speaker 1: But it's all about name recognition. That's the whole name
[41:45] Speaker 1: of this segment. Oh, okay. It is. I thought it
[41:48] Speaker 1: was a transition game, not name recognition. The sexy players
[41:51] Speaker 1: are in Halle.
[41:53] Speaker 2: But I think Queens are, I mean, in terms of sexiness,
[41:57] Speaker 2: it's a seven out of ten.
[41:58] Speaker 1: Tommy Paul's the ultimate sexiness guy, but that's just one
[42:01] Speaker 1: of them. One Tommy doesn't overtake eight guys at Halle.
[42:06] Speaker 1: Maybe he does. I don't know. On the sexiness scale,
[42:09] Speaker 1: but you get what I'm saying. I do not. As
[42:13] Speaker 1: far as name recognition, they're all in Halle. I have
[42:16] Speaker 1: no idea what you're saying anymore. In Berlin, all the
[42:19] Speaker 1: women are in Berlin, especially the Americans. Sabalenka is playing.
[42:22] Speaker 1: Then you have Rabakina, Pagula, Anisimova, Coco Gauff, Svitolina. It's
[42:27] Speaker 1: like a major over there in Berlin. How many tournaments
[42:31] Speaker 1: are there in Germany, by the way, in the course
[42:33] Speaker 1: of like an eight-week period.
[42:36] Speaker 2: They love their grass in Germany.
[42:37] Speaker 1: Yeah, but they love the clay too. The women have
[42:39] Speaker 1: that event in Stuttgart and then the men have Munich
[42:41] Speaker 1: and the men have Hamburg and then there's something in
[42:44] Speaker 1: Bad Hamburg. I don't even know what that is at
[42:46] Speaker 1: some point. It's not the good one.
[42:48] Speaker 2: It's not the good one.
[42:49] Speaker 1: Holy smokes. But big week. Next Monday is going to
[42:57] Speaker 1: be a fun show because we've got three big tournaments.
[43:01] Speaker 1: There is a Bad Homburg. I don't care. It's a
[43:03] Speaker 1: Bad Homburg. Dumbest name ever. Oh, actually, Bad Homburg is
[43:08] Speaker 1: next week. Speaking of Bad Homburg. Yeah, so next week's
[43:13] Speaker 1: show is going to be fun because all the big
[43:14] Speaker 1: names are playing. But that's it for us. But also Thursday,
[43:18] Speaker 1: we've got a fun interview. Bah Humbug. Bah Humbug. Thursday,
[43:21] Speaker 1: we have an interview with– we've already filmed with Diana– Deanna.
[43:25] Speaker 1: Deanna Schneider, Roland Garros semifinalist. It was a really fun one.
[43:31] Speaker 1: More importantly, she– North Carolina Wolfpack. State. Near John– North
[43:35] Speaker 1: Carolina State. Yeah, North Carolina State. Wolfpack. Near where John
[43:40] Speaker 1: grew up. But that's going to be a fun interview.
[43:41] Speaker 1: That's coming out Thursday. As you guys know, we're Monday,
[43:44] Speaker 1: Thursday pod now. And that's it for– I had a comment.
[43:49] Speaker 2: Where was I? I was– I was at SMU doing
[43:54] Speaker 2: something and Grant Chin had his tennis camp going on
[43:59] Speaker 2: and various age groups. I think that, you know, there
[44:00] Speaker 2: were some 13 and 14 year olds. Three kids came
[44:03] Speaker 2: up to me, said, love the pod and love the Monday,
[44:07] Speaker 2: Thursday cadence. They didn't use the word cadence, but they
[44:09] Speaker 2: said they, three of them. They said, we like it
[44:11] Speaker 2: on Thursday. So Sam, All credit goes to you, dude.
[44:15] Speaker 1: Thank you. Thank you. All right. Well, everyone, hope you
[44:18] Speaker 1: enjoy that episode. We're back on the regular Monday, Thursday.
[44:22] Speaker 1: Schneider on Thursday. We'll see you guys in a few days.
[44:41] Speaker 1: Nothing made you. Nothing. Nothing made you.
[44:52] Speaker 2: Nothing.
[44:55] Speaker 1: Nothing made you.

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