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- [00:00]
A
Foreign. A big welcome to episode three of our Wimbledon Live brought to you by Novellas. This is the series where we're going to bring you analysis from inside the grounds at SW19. And as the last couple of days our segments involve the Soto Tennis major moments of the day, the tennis athlete player of the day. Our our special Wimbledon stories and memories with our with our special guest of the evening and then a quick fire round and then as ever we will finish with our Dear Dan, any questions that you guys have please send them in and we'll be I'll be answering as many questions as I can at the end each day your chance to try and pick my brains. Ask what you have always wanted to ask us here at Control the controllables and as a starting point our guest this evening is also a Wimbledon champion 2012 Men's doubles Wimbledon champion Freddie Nielsen. Someone if you follow the podcast and are part of many of our podcast shows that we bring to you pre and post of the Grand Slam events, then you will you will find that Freddy Nielsen, a popular guest always is going to join us. And and I think it's a special special evening for him to join. You know some of you might have heard the news on social media that is coming out about doubles on the ATP side. I think we're going to hear more in the next couple of days but I know it has been made public so I think having Freddy on to be able to discuss that and obviously today the doubles also started at Wimbledon. You know it's always the men's started today, so many matches played and then tomorrow we have the rest of the first round men's matches. Then we have the women's doubles also starting tomorrow. But to get us started our our soto tennis moments of the day there's lots as always the stories keep coming thick and fast here at Wimbledon. And you know Yannick Sinner, anybody that watched that had his 95th career Grand Slam wintered against Nuno Borges. Not easy. 767-664. That's the most ever Grand Slam winning matches by an Italian by the way. I, I would expect that that's an Italian man. But that is, that is what's my what my notes say. So I'm going to say Italian man and if it is Italian man or woman then even, even more amazing alert at the end. The number 16 seed has gone out losing to Martin Fucavich in four sets. Tommy Paul was playing on on court three. I was watching that on the balcony earlier today. He went through sets. Davidovich Forkina finally won an ATP event last week in Mallorca. And then he is, he is going strong into the third round. A player that we've said to watch actually number 31 seed Ignacio Busier. He is out lose lost in straight set 626263 to to Jensen Brooksby. Now Buse is a real one to watch. However, maybe the grass courts he still needs. I think these players do need a bit of time on the grass courts. It's hard to, to come out firing very early on in their careers. And one that is a little bit of a, a pat on my back. You know, if you listen to our, our, our previews, we like to pick ourselves up with our picks even though we tend to have rubbish picks. But I did tell you all to watch out for Barton Korva, Czech Republic and she beat the number 32 seed Katarina Cine Akava 6264 today. She's good. Watch out for her. I talked about it earlier in the week. I talked about her on the, on the preview. She came close to beating Irina Sabalenka setting a breakup last week. She's seriously good. She now goes on to play Krychikova who is absolutely one of our moments of the day because she's taken out the the current Roland Garros champion in Mira Andreeva. Now if you listen to the podcast a lot you will know as much as I think Mirandriva is an incredible player, I absolutely have not backed her to do well at Wimbledon. I just don't believe that right now she's ready to do it on grass courts. I see two big weaknesses which fair play to her Roland Garros, she managed to handle them very well. One is the emotional side and we did see her at the end of the match for all her racket into her chair and absolutely, you know, that's maybe to be expected when you lose a match. She lost the match in three sets against Krychikova 467-5664. But the big one for me is just the forehand, the forehand of Kre, the forehand of Andrea I just don't think is a great forehand on faster courts, lower bouncing courts. I think on a clear court she can manage it quite well. But I don't think she can manage it so well on a grass court. And obviously Kova champion here only only a couple of years ago knows her way around a grass court, knows away around the major championships and K moves on. And now players Barton Kova in, in the Next round. The, the, our next moment of the day that I want to talk about is, is I saw this draw come out and obviously we're going to talk a little bit about doubles when Freddy comes on. But it wasn't so long ago that Alexander Bublek said doubles is not tennis, it's half court tennis. If you can't play singles, you play doubles. If you can't play doubles, you play paddle. Very simple. And he's, he's made that comment alongside many other comments and gets my goat and really gets on my nerves is these comments are all feeding into people, the decision makers at the ATP. Why or why or why we have to be in a position where we're degrading other tennis players. There's, they're all professional tennis players out there on the tour. Some of them happen to be better when it's one on one and they are the ones, it's a meritocracy. Those are the ones that have the highest ranking in that form of the game. The, the ones that have the highest ranking in the form of the game where there's two players on court are also professional tennis players. Why we need to degrade that, why we shouldn't be celebrating each other, I do not know. And Alexander Blueblick, unfortunately, has been one of the biggest advocates of that and alongside his partner Nick Kyrgios, who's also been quite derogatory towards doubles specialists. Again, just. They're professional tennis players. That's what they are. They're putting the work in they have done since they were five years old. You know, no one's more special than anybody else. You know, maybe Carlos Alcaraz and Yannick Sinik and tell us what to do, you know, on Arena Sabalenka. But if you're 30, 40 in the world, I can assure you you're not selling any more tickets than somebody who's playing doubles. You're not, you're not anymore, you know, for TV rights and all of these different things. You know, you're just part of the traveling circus that is providing entertainment and content and playing your role. Let's start celebrating each other. Let's start talking about everyone as professional 10 tennis players and acting in a professional way. Now, Bublick and Kyrgios did play Aravelo and Pavic, one of the, one of the best double teams in the world. One of the most professional tennis players out there in, in Aravelo and Pavic. They've been doing it for years and I think that was an interesting one. It was big, big crowds on the outside courts. And as I, I would fully expect, Arabella and Pavic won that match 6, 3, 6 4. And I'll tell you why the 16 3, 64 because the better, you know when in a doubles match they are better than Bublek and Kyrgios, full stop. That doesn't mean on a one off match that public and Kyrgios can't win. Just like, you know, if you put someone who isn't as good high ranked in singles, you can have those, you can have those wins, but they are the better team. They showed it today. Kyrgios, as usual, swore, shouted at the umpire, you can find me. I honestly don't care, he said. And for me just that, that, that is a real moment of the day to talk about the doubles change that I, that I've mentioned. Now I do know a little bit more about this. It's not my role quite to bring this out yet because there's more going to be coming in the next couple of days, you know, from, from the players. But there is something that's been made public and it was being made public by Lorenzo, a colleague, an exclusive on Spacio Tennis on X Doubles at risk. He said yesterday, more or less 50 doubles players met with the ATP and received updates about the future of their discipline. From 2028, prize money could be distributed for an 8020 to a 9020 model. Draws could be reduced to 16 teams at Masters 1000 events and eight teams at other tournaments. The doubles players, especially those who are still far from retirement, are expected to strongly oppose these proposals. The ranking points would also need to be redesigned. But the biggest concern is breaking into the doubles tour could become almost impossible for pure double specialists. Now watch this space on this because what's happening I don't like at all. You know, I really don't like and I don't like in our sport that we have these egos, we have this weak leadership that is, that is allowing these things to start being passed just by egotistical normally men that are making these comments that have maybe got jealousy of certain money that's been made rather than fighting the real fight which is going up against the tournaments and actually trying to get a bigger revenue share. Why are we trying to take money off people? Why are we trying to lose jobs in our sport? We should be trying to create jobs. So watch this space on that. And this is good timing because we have our guest Freddy Nielsen joining us. Freddie, a big welcome. How are you doing?
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B
Thank you. I'm doing Great, thanks for having me.
- [10:08]
A
You just came in during my rant, which we're going to jump into a couple more things. I want one more of our moments of the day and actually this is where I'll bring you in first. I know we did talk about it a little bit on the preview show as Dan Evans was in tears today at the court at Wimbledon. Retired 36 years old, career high ranking of 21 achieved back in August of 23. Two ATP titles in Melbourne, the summer set back in 2021, and then the ATP 500 in Washington. Bit of a funny story, actually, that I'm sure Dan won't mind me sharing, but the Washington one, he actually was speaking to, I don't know if you heard here, the Brad Gilbert story. No, so, so he's in Washington and he wins his first round and Brad Gilbert was there. I think he was helping some player at that time. I don't know if it was maybe Jessicula or Coco Golf. Coco Golf. And, and he was there and he said, Brad, look, you're having a conversation, you know, what are some of these players do at these, these events? And he said, look, and I might get the drink wrong, but I think he, I think he said it was a tequila shot or a margarita. What you need to do, Dan, is you need to have a couple of margari and that'll just trim the tone. So Dan ended up having a couple of margaritas after his first round. And then the next day he won his second round and he saw Brad in the bar back at the hotel and Brad gave him the little nod and said, more of the same tonight, Dan. And Dan made his way all the way through the ATP 500 event. Drink and two margaritas every night. Some would argue maybe that was less than he used to drink at some tournaments, but the two margaritas got him through. What he said after the match, you think of your family and all the sacrifices. I was one of the lucky few who got to play here. Everything was worth it in the end. Anyone thinking about putting the work in, it's absolutely worth it. And I think those are nice little sentiments that Dan's made at the end of, you know, a great career for, for, for the young man. He's only 36 years old, but I think it's nice for him to leave those words with us as well.
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B
Absolutely. I mean, people tend to focus a lot on what, what it takes away from. And I, for one, I've always said when people have asked me about it, that it gives you so Much. And every choice comes with you losing something else. And I couldn't agree more with his statement. I mean, it's totally worth it. And people ask me, you know, what if your kids want to play tennis? And I'm like, yeah, great. On him. How can I say they shouldn't do something that has given me so much? And I'm, I'm happy to hear that it's given him much. He also does seem like a passionate guy who wouldn't be doing it if, if he wasn't really into it. So that's nice to hear.
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A
And, and also, Freddie, we've been through the moments of the day, our Soto tennis moments of the day, but one, we did talk about it on the preview. Now, as I mentioned the preview, I think your statement was the hot take that you left us with was it was going to be the year of the Brits.
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B
I think it was. I mean, I must have been hot in my head from Qualis, because from the actual hot weather, because that seemed to backfire, right? That was a poor take.
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A
Well, 0 for 10 on day one.
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B
I mean, maybe the, maybe the, if you will, the pressure of Wimbledon, I underestimated it for how tough it can be on the Brits. It seemed in, in history, it has seemed to, to make it difficult for many Brits, but I genuinely believe that it seemed like there was something else going on. Egg on my face, though, and, and
- [13:51]
A
one of the ones that, I mean, I had egg on my face during Roland Garros. I definitely, I definitely didn't fully back Andreva to win the title. I know we mentioned it, but I actually, I actually said I think the forehand is going to let it down. You know, it's just a, it's a shot for me that when I, when I think about winning the biggest of events, I always think, I always have this kind of saying in my head. It's actually I, I link it to England, England football team who just scraped through tonight due to the genius of Harry Kane. But you can't, you can't protect yourself to a big title. You know, now that now you might be able to do that maybe like under 14s, we all probably did it sometimes, right? We kind of protected ourselves to a title where we were the favorite. Maybe Rafael Nadal at Roland Garrus could protect himself a bit to a title because he was so much better than everyone on clay. But in general, you have to go and grab it, right? You have to go and win it. Play to win mentality, go and get it And I've all. When I've watched Mira play, I've always just felt that, that forehand a bit like Alexander Zverev on the forehand as well. It gets quite protective. It doesn't, it doesn't go and grab titles. But certainly felt van Driver going into Wimbledon and we just talked about it before you came on the grass court are not suited for that, you know. And I think she was seeing 2024 champion on the, on the other side of the net who just hits the ball like a bullet through. Through the court. Wasn't the perfect, wasn't the perfect draw for her, but she's gone out today. Six, four in the third set.
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B
And, and that's where I think even though it slowed down so much and all the facts and the stats of grass say that the rallies are the same length as everywhere else. It is still one of the surfaces where you can expose, expose things like this, right? The low bounds. You can make the ball skid in fast to a, to a shot like that. And, and, and just like with Andrea when you mentioned Sveriv as well, he was also. He had a tough time in his first round against and against blocks. So is kind of more possible to exploit a technical. You wouldn't say flaw, but maybe kind of shortcoming on the grass still. I think, and I think it's quite nice actually that there's still a little bit. I don't think it's enough but, but, but there's still that you still see the, the element of the surface play in, in that way.
- [16:24]
A
And moving on to our next topics. Freddie and we shared a couple of text messages before. I didn't know if you'd heard about it. Obviously we have talked about Aravelo and Pavic beating Bublik and Kyrgios, which I think was quite an apt match today. You know, that was maybe as you came on, I was having a bit of a rant on just basic. Can we not just celebrate people being professional tennis players? Can we not just, just want to celebrate each other and give more spaces for people and you know, why are we doing this? Because the news and I don't want to go massively into extent. I'm only talking really about what's. What I shared with you that's been made public. But it seems like this serious movement now happening from, from the ATP. So people understand this as well. You have ATP is obviously separate from WTA and separate from Grand Slams and the councils that are run that I guess a big part of the decision making process. With the WTA actually on those councils you actually have quite a bit of player power and they've set that up in the way, I don't know if you knew this Freddie, but they've set it up in the way with the WTA that no decisions are made without the player representatives on the board having input. So it's a big job. If you're on the council at the WTA, you are actually dealing with a lot of things now on the ATP side really the players representatives, which I believe of Avasori and Aravelo on the, for the doubles players, they don't actually get spoken to about what decisions they're looking to make, they get spoken about what decisions have been made. So it's very, very different, you know, in terms of, in terms of the position. And I guess what we're starting to hear is that there's maybe some news coming out that they are starting to make some changes. We're looking at, looking at the prize money being changed in 2028, looking at the draws being reduced, looking at the pathway into the atps just being based on a singles ranking, not no longer a doubles ranking, which technically and, and the, the way I see this is some countries have this rule where in one year you have to be 18 to smoke cigarettes, the next year you have to be 19, the next year you have to be 20, the next year you have to Be 21 and over 60, 70 year period that's going to make, make cigarettes extinct because nobody's going to be old enough to be able to buy them. And it feels a little bit like the system they're looking at is maybe going along those lines of the only way to get in is through your singles ranking. So all of a sudden no double specialists will be able to come through.
- [19:05]
B
Yeah, I mean, I've been pretty resigned to the fact that it has seemed for a long time that the, the governing bodies of tennis, they don't really want doubles, the tournament directors don't want doubles. And I'm kind of mentally been accepting that it's gonna happen sooner rather than later. And I find for me personally it's always a little bit difficult to, to, to talk about these kind of things because I feel like I'm in the minority here because people will throw numbers and stats and supply and demand and all these things at me and I don't really care about that too much when it comes to decision making. And for me personally I kind of feel we gotta protect the sport and then I'm absolute okay taking a hit Financially, which I don't believe. I mean, if you. If. If you market it well and stuff, I think you can absolutely gain the same out of having doubles, and you can sell it to whatever betting rights there are, the same way that you are selling challenger matches for betting rights and all that. But it's a sport. I know it's entertainment, but it's sport as well. And I'm very, very pro. The sports side. I mean, to me, it's a little bit like if the marathon started getting unpopular, let's just run 10km because then it's quicker. We could show it on TV. The marathon is the marathon, and tennis is tennis and singles and singles and doubles is doubles. And it's. To me, it's. It's. It's part of the whole package. And I would always try to make it like that and take the hit, but I know that I'm in the minority. I also understand a lot of the arguments about ticket sales and people coming out to watch and whatnot, but I don't really care too much about that. I think you have your product and you make the most of it, and then whatever that is, then. Then you try to. To. To make it work. And if you don't believe in the project yourself and you're not able to sell it to the rest of the world, then how is the rest of the world gonna believe that the product is worth it? I mean, it's. I think it's a real shame. And it. It just. It feeds more and more into. We see it everywhere in the world, right? Money talks. You're not. You're not in it for the sport. You make changes for. To be able to sell and generate more revenue, not for the betterness of the game. And I think it's everywhere, and it's. I think it's quite sad. And I don't particularly like it. So. Yeah, it's. It's not surprising to me, to be honest. It's really not surprising. But I think it's inevitable the way that the majority of the world thinks. And the majority of the world. I mean, we see it now in the World cup, these ridiculous hydration breaks, right? And they're kind of hiding it behind player welfare. And I'm like, okay, if it's player welfare and it's not money, then just don't. Don't sell any advertisement. Don't call it. The hydration break hasn't has a name, you know, a sponsor name.
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A
Turn the air conditioning off.
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B
Exactly. So to me, it's. You see we even see it in the Olympics a lot. And, and I don't like that at all. I think keep the sport, the sport and then whatever happens, happens.
- [22:22]
A
And I think it's a conversation me and you could have for two hours, right? And this is, this is a, a relatively short podcast, but it's the only point I just like to make on it. I think a lot of, I think the fact that the sport is in a place where there's in house fighting amongst the players is the wrong place for the energy to be going. It's the wrong place for the greed to be going or the if, if it is, this is financial, which it is, right? And it's, and it's about, it's about a certain set of players believing they're entitled to a bigger pot of the money because they don't value and for some reason they degrade another set of players. And they've got enough people in leadership roles that are probably a bit jealous that they weren't making that money, you know, when they were playing and they happened to be on the side of a certain set of players rather than. I go back to this thing is why are we not all celebrating and pushing the sport forward together? And because actually the biggest, the biggest fight to have here is actually with the tournaments to get a bigger revenue share. That's the harder thing to do, right? If you're. Make your product, market your product so well that you are in a position of strength, but also have the right conversations that you are pushing to get like, we know, like Wimbledon's for 14.9% that Wimbledon are paying of the revenue, right. You know, and they want to push that for 22. But that's a difficult conversation to have. But do it with Wimbledon, have it, you know, push that forward together as one. You know, the fact that there's become this kind of separation within it amongst the players that they're saying, well actually let's scoop the money from these because they shouldn't be get making that money, which is a completely ridiculous way of looking at it, but let's bring that money over to here. And actually now we're not having the bigger fight which is, which is with the, with the tournament directors, it's with the other tournaments, it's with the, it's with these big tournaments that are making a shed load of, shed load of money right out of, out of the product of tennis. They're not making the money out the product of singles, they're making the money out the product of tennis. And Part of the product of tennis is you have men, you have women in the grand slams and the 1000s. You have men, you have women, you have people playing one on the court, people playing two on the court. You have some superstars, you have players are playing against superstars, you have exciting matches, you have easy matches, you have, have, you know, you have like a bunch of. It all goes into what the product of tennis is. And, and I just would like to think that the players could stick together and, and create a better product, get the narratives out there, get the storytelling out there, sell the sport even more and then have the hard hitting conversations to get more money coming into the sport so we can professionalize the sport. This feels like a bit of an easy option and a bit of a weak leadership option driven by greedy egos that are, that are influencing the decision makers.
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B
And from my experience, from what I've heard and what people have told me and throughout time with the, with the player boards, the reality of the situation is that there basically no players are thinking about the greater good of the game or the game in 20 years time. They think about how can I benefit right now? And then what else happens they don't really care about. I think you can kind of understand that to a certain degree, but it's also a shame. So when you say that people should come together, yeah, I don't disagree at all, but it's just, it's not really realistic to happen, I think because everybody, everybody is in it for their own sake. There's no unity. There's no, this is how it should be for everybody else. So how is the sport gonna grow? I mean, I think a lot of these, a lot of players, if the sport is dead in 30 years, they don't care as long as they max out their time in the sport. And it's a real shame. And like you say, the infighting is, you know, you have players abusing the, the double players and then there's this and that and it just makes it, it's such a shame, you know, know
- [26:33]
A
it's, but the WTA seemed to be doing it pretty well. Freddie, that's my point. My point is if you, if you look at, honestly if you look at the way the WTA doing it, and I'm heavily involved, not, not at that level, but in terms of, in terms of coaching some of the best WTA doubles players in the world and, and I get that insight, there is, there is real positivity and from the leadership within the WTA, they loved how doubles is going. You look at the WTA social media channels, they are definitely doing a better job. They could still do a better job, but they're doing a better job of, of the marketing that they're doing. You know, they, they really are, you know, so, so I think the, the WTA are showing it is possible and me and you are a privileged white males, but privileged white males running the sport. The, on the men's side of the sport. They don't, they're not seeing things from a, from a different point of view. You know, we had this conversation around a couple of the, the wives today and they made a really good point. They said this is what we as women feel all the time. You know, what the doubles players are feeling. And the things we were saying, they were like kind of welcome to our world, you know, and that was quite sobering to hear actually. You know, and I think that's the, that's the bit that, that this carries for me because I do strongly believe that this is heavily, heavily linked to male ego and this is heavily linked to male entitlement, ego, inability to see the world out of other people's eyes. And that makes me feel a bit sick. You know, that's the bit that goes to my core. We could talk about this for hours. We'll maybe talk about it more. Obviously there is going to be more news coming out out. I'm hearing over the next few days. Maybe we're not fully on the ball. Maybe the, the social media channel, the social media posts that we read out isn't exactly correct, but there's definitely movement. There's definitely obviously something we feel passionate about and I feel very passionate about the future of our sport, you know, and I don't like to break it down into singles, doubles. It's just I, I wanna, I want it to be very much, you know, let's professionalize tennis and let's give more and more people opportunities and certainly let's not lose anybody's job. You're here because you're the Wimbledon champion, Freddy Wimbledon champion 2012, you know, and this 14 years on, it's not to
- [29:04]
B
highlight my poor hot. Take this, this early in the conversation so you can set up for the preview how bad it was.
- [29:11]
A
No, it's not, I don't want to, I'm not. This is not for me to take you down. I'm privileged to you coming on the podcast, you know, these couple of weeks, you know, to have you guys amazing guests to share your stories and you know, so I want you to take me back to 2012. You know, I know it was an unbelievable run. I know there's lots. We did actually about a four and a half hour podcast when we started the podcast with yourself and Johnny Marray. So we kind of went into all the details. So let's kind of dart right at it. You now, you're now finals day, you're on the center court, you find yourself in a position where you guys are serving for the match. You five set match, you've got this wild card into the event, you've beaten some top teams, you've beaten the Bryan brothers in the semi finals, you know, you've gone on this amazing run but now it's real. So tell, tell, tell me about that moment, how you and Johnny handled that moment in any little, any little stories that came along that way that you reflect on.
- [30:10]
B
Yeah, like you said, so much had gone on and it really was, it was a roller coaster ride that whole final. I'm not going to go through the whole lead up because there was so much but just small things like you can't warm up on center court. Right. And we had, that day we had been given a, a kind of a chance to get in and see the court from, from court view so that it wasn't going to be completely new. But when we walked from the locker room to the, to the court, I remember thinking, I don't think I've actually walked this way. I mean I, I can't remember if I was the first or if somebody was front. I'm like I'm not entirely certain I know where I'm walking and that's how the day started. And then we walked on and for one and a half sets it felt like they were absolutely destroying us. It felt like they were hitting the ball 10 times faster than we were. Then all of a sudden momentum changed, they could close out the second set or at the end of the second set we were up, we served first. So we got to 5, 4 and it felt like they got a little bit tight. We got a lucky, lucky game to get to 6 4. It felt like momentum completely changed from then I got injured. There was a bit of rain after the third set so there were injury times and there were, we had to wait for the roof to come on and we were up 5:2 in the fourth set. Breaker. I served at 5:4. We lost two random points and we may, we lost that second set. But, but by then there was a big crowd and the atmosphere was there was really massive and I was, I was feeling great. I wasn't Too upset about it, actually. And Johnny went to the bathroom and when he came back I was kind of thinking, I hope he's not too disappointed because I'm still pretty confident. And he was not bothered one bit. And he came out in the first service game of the fifth, was just completely solid. Didn't give an inch from Johnny and we got an early break and then. And when we held to 4:1, I think it was 40:30 and Takao hit a return at me and I can't remember if I hit a shank volley or if it was off the tape, but it just dropped in for a drop shot winner. And I remember just thinking, this is gonna happen no matter what. I mean, if I just hold my racket in my hand, this is gonna go our way. It felt so ridiculous. So actually when we served for it, it's the most calm. I watched the whole tournament, I think, and I, I almost too calm because yeah, first of all, we was there at 5:3 and I was really embracing the, the moment and I was, I was kind of thinking, you know what, what do you say in these moments? And we had a running thing going from the semi final where we, we played on Court 12, which obviously wasn't the biggest of chords to the, to the Bryans didn't really appreciate that too much, but we were still like two kids who got to go to Disneyland for the first time. And I mean he played many more times than I had, but it was still my first competition. So we were sitting there and from court 12 you have a very nice view over the facade of center court, which is obviously you've been there and the people have been to know it's beautiful. And we were kind of just sitting talking about how nice it was here and, and I think it was Johnny who said, because back in the day there was a advertisement campaign for Carlsberg where they did the most insane nightclub and they did the most insane skull celebrations and they did the most insane roommates. And the play at the end of the advert was, we don't do gold celebrations or roommates or nightclubs, but if we did, they'd be the best in the world. And so, so, so Johnny, just go, yeah, if Carlsberg did tennis clubs, huh? And, and then at the, at 5:3, I was so calm. I was so calm and I was, I felt so good and I was just ecstatic. I was convinced we were going to do it. So, so I was very in the moment and I just told Johnny, hey, if, if Carlsberg did moments to live for, you know, just to acknowledge the situation. And I, like I said, I was so convinced that, that, that I, I almost messed it up for us because I did, I think, the first rogue move of the whole tournament, basically at, at 30, 15, and just like, all right, settle down. Don't get carried away. You still got to get it over the line. And then obviously, Johnny had ice in his veins in those two weeks, and it was a good matchup for us that we, that we played together, and he just served it out calmly. But, yeah, there was a lot, there was a lot that was going on there, and I'm really lucky that I was able to experience it in that way, I think, because I was very aware of what was happening and the crowd and the whole experience. So, so I'm very grateful for that.
- [35:05]
A
If Carlsberg, if Carlsberg did stories.
- [35:08]
B
Yeah, right. It feels like that sometimes they even jinxed it. Johnny had a, had a, had a mental coach that was helping him at the time. He even jinxed it before the semi final, told us it's meant to be. Like, yeah, maybe you think that. Just don't tell me. I don't need to know that. Let me just. Without thinking about that stuff. But even with that, it still worked out all right.
- [35:34]
A
Amazing. What a. What, what memories that no one will take from you, Freddy. Look, we, I, I, I knew we wouldn't quite stick to our 30, 35 minutes, you know, knowing, knowing what we're like. And I don't want to rush it, but I do have a promise to our listeners that we do. So are you ready for our Wimbledon Quickfire question?
- [35:54]
B
Yes, yes, I'm ready for whatever you throw at me. And I know about the time. I've been on this podcast many times. It's how we roll.
- [36:02]
A
The last two nights, we've kept on the 35 minutes.
- [36:05]
B
Yeah, but I wasn't there.
- [36:08]
A
So we've worked out it's you, not me. What's your best Wimbledon memory as a fan?
- [36:16]
B
Was the first time I was there when I was 13 years old, I think. No, no, I was 10 years, nine years old. It was in 93. So it's a year I turned 10, and I couldn't believe my granddad was a member. So he had an in. So a few times we would come over and I think that really, that was so. I was so lucky. And I was also a little bit of a special kid in the sense that I was so into it. I would study the order of play. I knew some players back then that I don't know now I've seen some video clips of me or writing about some players like who, who is this? And I, I think just to take it up a notch, I was there in 96 as well when I was 13 and with my, with my grandparents and my uncle and they had tickets for the European championship semi final between England and Germany at Wembley. I think that combination, I mean, can you, can you combine better sporting events? I mean you, you probably remember what it was like in England back then. The whole country was on fire with the Euros.
- [37:18]
A
Well, it was coming home. It still hasn't come.
- [37:20]
B
No, exactly, but exactly. So, so I would say that. And so I was shot in order to play, for example. And I'm a big fan of Rafter and he used to play doubles, so he would play doubles with Bjorkman and the first few rounds. As you know, the doubles are played on small courts. So I, I think I watched Rafter when he was one of the top players in the world playing doubles from on court 10 or 11, like this far away. And that, that just blew my mind.
- [37:50]
A
Yeah, finish the sentence. When I think of Wimbledon, I think of.
- [37:56]
B
I mean tennis is the first thing that comes to mind. But tradition, history, I think that's the. Yeah, I could, I could go into a rabbit hole, but I would say tradition and history.
- [38:07]
A
Who would you most like to play on center court? Past or present player?
- [38:12]
B
Roger. He was, he was, he was my guy and the one I appreciate watching the most throughout my time as a tennis fan. And I, I think it would be him. I would be a little bit scared of the absolute drumming I would get, but I think that would be a cool thing to say.
- [38:32]
A
What song would you like to walk out onto center court?
- [38:36]
B
In general, I would say, I mean at Wimbledon, nothing. I wouldn't want that. It doesn't belong at center court, so I would want nothing on center court.
- [38:45]
A
I thought you were going to say you'll never walk alone.
- [38:48]
B
No, no. And even if I, if I did a warm up song, I want something that had a little more kept to it. And also you'll never walk alone as a little bit. I mean it's the greatest song of all time. But if you go to a neutral crowd, it's, it's, you know, there might be a few non Liverpool fans in there and you can. I think it's an acquired taste and it would be. Yeah, I would probably pick something that had a little more beat to it.
- [39:13]
A
If the whole calendar was played on grass, what would the top five ATP and WTA look like. Would it be different to now? If so, how?
- [39:25]
B
Yes, it would be difficult. Different, but not that different. If you. Of course, the further back in history you go, the bigger the difference would be. But now you still see that the, the top seeds go through. But I mean, I think it's safe to say that what we saw today, for example, Andreva is not losing to Krachikova and any other court. Right. So how would it be different? I think the, the top wouldn't be the different you would see. Carlos and Janik would still be 1 and 2, and on the girls, you probably still see Rybakina and Swantek and Sabalenka in the top, but who knows, maybe. Maybe Osaka would be still a little higher ranked or, or something like that. On the men's side, I don't think maybe Sveriv wouldn't be in top five. I think it's not as much as it would have been 20 years ago, 30 years ago, but there would be a difference. But the very top, I think would still be the same.
- [40:26]
A
Your favorite ever Wimbledon champion. And why any event, I think, apart
- [40:33]
B
from, of course, Roger, but, but that, that doesn't stand out as much as the Ivanicevich story. The Ivanicevich with Rafter. I was really into that year and I remember I was a big Rafter fan and that's just, that's why it might be my favorite one, because I was rooting for him. But I was equally happy for Ivanisovic. And I remember where I was to this day when I was watching it, they moved it to the Monday. Right. The crowd was, was pretty different and, and special.
- [41:04]
A
So I was doing the stats for IBM for that match. I was there. Oh, you were? Yeah.
- [41:12]
B
That's amazing.
- [41:13]
A
I was on, I was on that court.
- [41:15]
B
I mean, putting. Yeah, putting me on the spot. I think it would be that. And it stands out. And it's one of the things I, I often go back and watch that last game when he served it out. It's an insane tennis game, like the double falls and everything that happens.
- [41:31]
A
The drama was incredible. The crowd, the crowd that day was different to any other Wimbledon crowd because it was, it was open to public. So it was, it was like a, that. It was tickets. I think you queued up to get all center court tickets. There was no corporate. So normally on Seneca you have the corporate tickets and you have, you know, then you have some people that are members of the public that queue up. But this was like. It was live unity. No, no, no, this was like the opportunity of a lifetime for people to get it. I think they charged like 10 pound or 20 pound for a ticket or whatever it was. And it was like this opportunity to see a Wimbledon men's singles final that nobody would normally have. And they came ready, and it was obviously two big characters. You know, half the stadium probably fancied Pat Rafter, you know, the rest, you know, loved Ivanicevich and his story. And he's a wild card. And he'd had all of these big events. Big. You know, he's a big character in, In Wimbledon. It was. Yeah, thanks for bringing that one back alive because that was. That was incredible.
- [42:34]
B
And just a special mention for me because I was quite captivated by this back in the day. But I also really, really like when Novotna won it after what felt like probably wasn't gonna happen. And I thought that was pretty cool too.
- [42:51]
A
What's your guilty pleasure?
- [42:53]
B
Junk food. I eat it a lot.
- [42:59]
A
What's one thing you'd change about Wimbledon?
- [43:02]
B
Them back to five sets and doubles.
- [43:05]
A
What's the best advice young tennis players should remember when playing tennis?
- [43:11]
B
Enjoy it. Always enjoy it. Never lose track of. Of. Of how difficult it is that you're there. Never, ever take anything for granted. And always, no matter what happens, remember to enjoy it. Because, number one, you don't win all that much throughout a career unless you're a freak like some of these guys that we have out there. And number two, you never know when it's gone. And. Yeah, so I would say never, ever forget to enjoy the journey.
- [43:49]
A
And last question, most important question. Who's winning the World Cup?
- [43:55]
B
Friends, I've said it since before the tournament. I mean, the, The. The. The whole, the whole squad is insane. The top four, whoever they decide to play is. I feel like you have to score three goals against them because they're definitely gonna. On a bad day, they're gonna score two, and then you see who they have on the bench. It's laughable to me. So I would be very surprised if they don't win.
- [44:20]
A
Well, that's good news that you've predicted that, because your predictions are normally wrong. So I. I'm pleased that. I'm pleased that you have given the kiss of death to France. Maybe go out in time.
- [44:36]
B
Maybe. Maybe it's because when I have been wrong, I've been spectacularly wrong. I did have a decent. I seem to remember I might have not said it completely black and white. I did kind of mention that Otto might be Ben Shelton, so there was A few.
- [44:53]
A
It was mentioned. It was. And we, we backed that. We talked, we talked highly of Otto.
- [44:59]
B
But, but when I do fail and when I do crash and burn, I crash and burn.
- [45:03]
A
Han non.
- [45:04]
B
None more so than when I called a dark horse to win a tournament she wasn't even in.
- [45:10]
A
And you, and you, you saw, I'm sure you've seen that bar is still going, the one that I sent in our WhatsApp group all those weeks ago. So you, you need to hope she loses to Kryjakova. I'm going to be unbearable on that WhatsApp group. Freddie Nielsen, love having you always. Thank you as, as ever. And we will, we will talk again, I am sure, in the coming days once we get a bit more information and look forward to hopefully having you at the end of the week or the end of the two weeks to discuss everything else that's going to go on over the next 10 days. You can jump off now. I'm going to just finish off with my last couple of things. We'll speak, we'll speak soon. And one of, one of the, one of the things I didn't mention because I was talking too much and ranting and raving was I, I missed out our tennis athlete player of the day, which was Jensen Brooksby. Now, Jensen Brooksby, 18 months ago, couldn't even hold a phone. Two dislocated wrists, two surgeries, eight weeks in a cast on each hand and 20 months of rehab before he could even finish a single practice match today, beating Nathio Busse 626263 in straight sets to reach the third round of Wimbledon, where he now plays defending champion Yannick Sinner. So, yeah, a big, big, big story. And it's not just to tell a story. It's absolutely a strength and conditioning story story. You know, the, the work that goes into that, which is exactly what tennis athlete exists for. So look out for tennis athlete on, on all of our notes on the podcasts and below and, and do get in touch if you want to hear more on that. Our last section of the day is Dear Dan, Dear Dan. Questions, We've got a couple questions coming in. I do see a question coming in here online as well that I want to get to because Betty Stalk has been a big supporter of the podcast over the years. So, Betty, thank you for listening as ever and commenting. I think this is for Dan Evans. You know, thank you for your great career. And what is, what's the best memory of Dan on court? Did it feel a bit, bit comforting? Many Players and fans didn't find it correct that you didn't get a wild card at any of the UK tournaments or Wimbledon. Obviously I can't answer that for Dan Evans, but I know he wasn't, he wasn't overly happy. We did address this actually on the, on the preview before the podcast before the, before Wimbledon and obviously celebrating the amazing career Dan's had and what he's given to the sport. We've talked about it earlier tonight. Maybe the timing of announcing my thoughts on this was I felt he actually announced his retirement a little bit late and I think he announced it to probably try and force, force getting the wild card into Queens and maybe Wimbledon. And obviously you can talk about whether he should or shouldn't. If he wasn't retiring, he probably wouldn't have got those wild cards. He'd won one match match since September. But when you start looking at the sentimental value of that and what he's given to British tennis, then absolutely he should. But I just think he should have announced it earlier to allow time, one, for him to get into better shape, two, for him to be able to have the relevant conversations and the planning for the tournaments to be able to give him that opportunity. So, but well done, Dan Evans on a great career and we've got one here. Hi, Dan. What separates a top 1 to 5 doubles player compared to a 50 to 100 player? And this comes from, from max? Good question. Obviously it depends, right? It depends on, on the individual. But I, I would, I would say, you know, doubles even more so than singles, comes down to smaller, finer margins, you know, we're talking about, I, I, it was, it was absolutely. If we take, if we take the situation of doubles where you, you can often win a match and lose more points, you know, especially outside of the Grand Slams when you have, when you, when you have the sudden death juices and you have the match tie breaks, it's massively, massively important that every single point counts and all of, all of those details. So the players that are relentless, the players that have the best structures, identities, understand their game, understand their players, you know, aren't going to rogue with that, you know, aren't just going off feeling, but actually really, really understand and then train that way as well because doubles is offense and defense always, it's very little neutral. So, so training to that level, setting your standards very high because you're going to need your standards, you're going to need your standards of hitting your spots on your serve, you're going to need your standards of if you've got the ball and your strike zone, hitting the good return, you're going to need your standards of finishing the point when it's there to be finished. And if you don't put that work in on a daily basis, you're going to get caught out. And it's why we see a lot of these players that predominantly play singles. When we see them on the doubles court, they struggle because they give one or two, three volleys away in, in a set or a game. They maybe don't quite. They're not used to maybe hitting the return so wide on the quarter, so low over the net, a different type of return. So, so, so really, the, the top players in the world have absolutely nailed down this system. The way they're playing, the territory, the positions that they're getting in. And when you go down the rankings, you tend to see people haven't quite got that nailed down yet. There's maybe a few too many errors. You're not hitting your spots on the serve. You know, you're missing returns in big moments. You're not clinical enough with your finishing bollies. So it's really a matter of that relentless work, work that goes into it. So. But thank you for your question. What has gone through your head as a coach as you get ready for a final with your players as a coach? This is from Barry. Look, I'll tell you a little secret. Like, as coaches, we get nervous, right? You know, but we, we can't short. It's very much as coaches, we've got a, an image of calm. You know, I, I strongly believe that. I think if players can feel our nervous energy, we're not doing our job as a coach. Coach. That's not, that's not for us to pass that on to the players. But of course we're nervous. We want to win, you know, and if it's a Wimbledon final or a US Open final or, you know, these, these, these big, major, major events, you know, that you are part of a historical event, you know, you're not playing, you know, when people say, well done on winning the US Open, I didn't win the US Open. Players that I coach won the U S. Open, you know, but you are obviously a big part of that or a part of. We're fully aware of the history of the sport. We respect it massively, you know, so, one, we feel privileged to be a part of that. But two, of course, we do feel nerves ourselves, you know, and that is the things going through your head, you know, have we have we prepared right? You know, have I given the right information? How. What are the final. I always think, what are the final things that we're going to say to the player? You know, does it affect the mindset of the player? Maybe it does, maybe it doesn't. Some days it does, some days it doesn't. But you. You just want to make sure that you are ready to give those real clear, clear messages. But not just the message, but the tone of the message. You know, is this a time where I'm gonna go? You know, I would talk. I know that semi finals of US Open last year. I was really strong with the. With the team before the final. My message was more just, I. I trust you. We've gone through the match. You know, the plan. Go, just go and express yourself. So trying to get the right timing of that, I think is. Is something that's massive. So, of course, you're going through that in your head. You're trying to feel out where the players are, what is it that they need help to help get them in the right mindset, what are the right messages? And then. And then it's up to them, right? You know, you're. You're feeling every point and emotionally attached, but ultimately it's not. You're not playing the tennis match, but, you know, so you kind of go through that a little bit as a fan, but you've got to stay emotionally detached. And it's. It's an amazing experience. I feel very lucky to have experienced it quite a few times, and long may that continue that I get more of those experiences. But you still feel the nerves. Feel. Still feel the nerves. Strong. Last question. What's your favorite court at Wimbledon, apart from the indoor courts? Do any of them have a special meaning to you from Jess? I do know, obviously, center court's incredible. You know, I went on there yesterday just to watch, and I was like, wall, so have to say center court first. But the one that I do love is court three. And we're privileged to be in the position that we're in in the players area. And you have the balcony overlooking that court, and you have this perfect kind of overview of all of the court at Wimbledon. But Court 3 really stands out for me on that. You know, always has a good crowd. Always. There's always a cue to get onto that court. You know, had some special matches with players that I coach on that court as well. That obviously sticks in my mind as well. So I would say Court 3 at Wimbledon would be a really special court that has a special meaning to me, guys. Thank you. It was a little bit longer than I wanted. A little bit. But I think the value that Freddie brings, it's. Well, it's well worth having him on for that. That time tomorrow night, we have Johnny o'. Mara. I don't know how many of you remember Johnny, but Johnny fantastically worked with Andy Murray for a while. Johnny had a great run with Alicia Barnett two or three years ago in the mixed doubles, where they won some big events. He was a big, big character. Played amazing tennis. Looking forward to hearing more about that story from him. And also that rounding up day four at Wimbledon, which promises to be as exciting as the first day is at the event, have been. So thank you for coming on. Thank you for your questions. Sorry if I didn't get to every single question this evening. We'll try and move some of those to tomorrow evening, but until next time, I'm Dan Kiernan, and we are control, the controllables.