2025 US OPEN RECAP: Alcaraz & Sabalenka Victory, Trump Visits Ashe, "Last American Man", & more

Summary

Served with Andy Roddick – US Open 2025 Recap

Episode: "2025 US OPEN RECAP: Alcaraz & Sabalenka Victory, Trump Visits Ashe, 'Last American Man', & more"

Date: September 9, 2025
Host: Andy Roddick
Guests: Jon Wertheim (JW), Mike
Summary by: Expert Podcast Summarizer

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Episode Overview

This episode of Served dives deep into the 2025 US Open, focusing on Carlos Alcaraz’s dominant victory, Aryna Sabalenka’s continued rise, the logistical chaos surrounding the surprise presidential visit, and conversations on the state of American tennis. Andy, Jon Wertheim (JW), and Mike analyze key matches, player rivalries, and reflect on memorable moments both on and off court, keeping a playful, candid, and expert tone throughout.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Carlos Alcaraz’s Masterclass & the Alcaraz vs. Sinner Rivalry

• Unmatched Performance:

  • Andy and JW are nearly “hyperbolic” in praising Alcaraz’s level, noting this may be his best major yet, losing just one set and facing only one break point in the final—remarkably, the only one Sinner converted ([02:18]).
  • "I'm having a hard time not being hyperbolic about the level of Alcaraz." — Andy ([01:22])

• Technical Innovations:

  • Andy breaks down how Alcaraz’s combination of burst speed, volleying, and improvisational net play “changes a lot of things” in men’s tennis.
    • “He’s coming in off balls that aren’t approach shots... His speed is different than anyone else we’ve seen... It’s not a standard way to come to the net. It’s like a bulldozer, but you need so many skills working at the same time with this burst of speed to make it happen.” ([03:32])

• Strategic Adjustments:

  • Both players’ in-match adjustments are praised, with Alcaraz’s ability to abandon less effective strategies mid-match.
    • “It felt like Carlos had so much clarity about this two week training block. Whatever him and Ferrero are talking about, they had plans to plans to plans.” — Andy ([07:44])

• Mutual Respect and Rivalry:

  • Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner are depicted as intensely respectful rivals, pushing each other to historic heights.
  • JW: “When we talk about the rivalry being the rocket booster of sports, I mean, Carlos takes a two week break and basically focuses solely on how do I execute this takedown of the guy ahead of me...” ([21:19])

• Coaching Evolution:

  • Both Andy and JW embrace the growing role of coaching, particularly highlighting Juan Carlos Ferrero’s influence on Alcaraz.
  • “I used to be pretty opposed. And it’s one on one... But I think this really adds an element.” — JW ([11:38])

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2. Sinner’s Mindset and Growth

• Self-Awareness in Defeat:

  • Sinner’s press conference is lauded for its candor and self-awareness.
    • "I didn't make one serve and volley, you know, I didn't use a lot of drop shots ... and then you arrive to a point where you play against Carlos where you have to go out of the comfort zone ... I'm gonna aim to maybe even lose some matches from now on, but ... try to be a bit more unpredictable as a player." — Yannick Sinner ([19:52])
  • Andy: “I’m just like the level of self-awareness unreal right after a match is absurd.” ([20:33])

• Suffering a Comprehensive Loss:

  • The hosts reflect that sometimes an emphatic defeat is almost easier to process, prompting reevaluation and motivation.

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3. Sabalenka’s Victory and Women's Tennis

• Sabalenka’s Resilience:

  • Discussion centers on Sabalenka finally solidifying her spot as world no. 1 and winning clutch matches after years of heartbreak and serving yips.
  • “She had full-blown serving yips three years ago ... That takes so much work. That’s so hard to do.” — Andy ([38:51])

• Tiebreak Record:

  • Sabalenka’s record-setting streak of 19 consecutive tiebreakers is noted and celebrated.
    • “She’s underrated at number one at the same time.” — JW ([39:09])
  • “Is it really? Look that up. Most tiebreak wins in a row ever.” — Andy ([36:24])
  • Mike confirms: “Apparently it broke yours of 18 consecutive.” — Mike ([40:44])

• Broader Context – American Women’s Strength:

  • Amanda Anisimova jumps from World No. 9 to World No. 4, with the hosts highlighting depth in American women’s tennis.

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4. US Open Experience: Trump’s Visit & Onsite Madness

• Logistical Mayhem:

  • The hosts recount security chaos and fan frustration associated with President Trump’s visit to Arthur Ashe Stadium.
  • Andy: “You walk in ... there’s like this lounge area ... and it was obvious these guys from the Secret Service have been working their asses off ... It was just eerie.” ([47:09])
  • “People aren’t being let in ... the match has been going on for 45 minutes. People aren’t in.” ([51:05])

• USTA’s Awkward Position:

  • Both JW and Andy show sympathy for USTA staff tasked with managing last-minute security and operational disruptions, while criticizing their censorship memo (“We regularly ask broadcasters to refrain from showcasing off-court disruptions ... Are you kidding?” — JW, [53:49]), comparing it to regular celebrity coverage.

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5. State of American Men’s Tennis: "The Last American Man"

• Progress Over Perfection:

  • Andy vehemently pushes back on simplistic narratives about the US men’s Slam drought, celebrating depth and recent progress:
    • “We have to be able to think in a sober way about progress. Like if we can’t celebrate progress, then we’re just lazy.” — Andy ([59:25])
    • 23 American men in the draw (“That’s a massive number on the men’s side.” — Andy, [62:48]), and multiple players consistently reaching Grand Slam semifinals.

• Andy’s Personal Feelings:

  • “I want this [an American man winning a Major] so much. Probably more than anyone outside of the people that actually are going to end up winning it.” ([59:25])
  • “I just happened to be the last one. Andre won in January of the year that I won ... I just happened to be the ...” — Andy ([63:59])

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6. Locker Room Vibes & Tennis Community

• Describes the relaxed yet electric pre-match locker room atmosphere, and the cool experience of witnessing tennis generations interact (Alcaraz meeting Connors), underscoring how the sport’s legends are still present at its biggest moments ([29:45]).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Alcaraz’s Net Play:

  • “It’s not a standard way to come to the net. It’s like a bulldozer ... you need so many skills working at the same time with this burst of speed to make it happen.” — Andy Roddick ([03:32])

• On Sinner’s Self-Assessment:

  • “I didn't make one serve and volley ... I didn't use a lot of drop shots ... So I'm gonna ... try to be a bit more unpredictable as a player.” — Yannick Sinner ([19:52])

• On Sabalenka's Tiebreak Record:

  • “19 straight tiebreakers, is that not a record?” — JW ([36:20])
  • "Apparently it broke yours of 18 consecutive." — Mike ([40:44])
  • “It’s easy to say goodbye to a record that you didn’t know you had.” — Andy ([40:58])

• On the US Open Security Chaos:

  • “You walk in ... and it was obvious that these guys from the Secret Service have been working their asses off all night. ... it was just eerie.” — Andy ([47:09])

• On the American Men’s Narrative:

  • “We need to kind of have a sober view. I just get how I get mad for these players and how good they are and how flippant this thing gets thrown out, you know?” — Andy ([62:48])

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Key Timestamps for Reference

• Alcaraz's performance, match breakdown: [01:17] – [07:44]
• Alcaraz vs. Sinner rivalry/adjustments: [07:44] – [13:00]
• Post-final reflections (PR, post-win experience): [14:17]
• Sinner’s self-assessment, rivalry as driver: [19:43] – [22:13]
• Sabalenka's progression, women's recap: [33:00] – [40:58]
• Locker room stories/pre-match atmosphere: [26:02] – [29:46]
• Trump visit/security chaos/fan impact: [47:09] – [58:18]
• American men’s tennis narrative: [58:28] – [64:01]
• Gratitude for USTA’s leadership/closing thoughts: [64:17] – [66:27]

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Additional Micro-Topics

• Nadal Academy’s Tennis Pipeline: (JW, [31:41])
• Nike’s careful spending on rising tennis stars: ([32:04])
• Bracket Challenge banter: ([42:27])
• Locker room celebrity run-ins: ([29:45])

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Tone & Language

Andy is candid, irreverent, and often self-deprecating, mixing expert technical analysis with humor and locker room storytelling. JW provides a journalist’s perspective, zooming out to the macro context of the sport, while Mike keeps things light with data and friendly ribbing.

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In Summary

This episode is a thorough, entertaining, and insightful post-mortem of the 2025 US Open. It celebrates the sport’s current thriving rivalries, notes the evolving tactics and mindsets of Alcaraz, Sinner, and Sabalenka, and tackles the big-picture stories and sociopolitical swirl around the US Open’s biggest moments. Andy’s frankness about his own legacy and the state of American men’s tennis, as well as the team’s unfiltered reactions to behind-the-scenes chaos, make this a must-listen for any tennis fan seeking both expert commentary and authentic personality.

Transcript

[Andy Roddick]

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[Andy Roddick]

Hey everyone. Welcome to Served U.S. open recap edition. Gosh, it's good to be back the studio, I'll tell you, we're back like traveling, but it is good to be back in the studio where I don't have to worry about messing up the temporary setup that Sean put in my room.

[Mike]

No more late nights and early mornings. No more sweet visits and dingles games.

[Andy Roddick]

Neck pillows, getting locked down in hospitality areas. None. None of that. We are, we can do whatever we want here. This is, this is great. The overnight. So we had asked if we thought that, I had asked you guys yesterday if you had thought that this was Carlos's best tournament. He said it was in his press conference, pretty hard to argue. Lost one set. You're looking at the scorelines too. Breaking sinner twice in a set, first set, third. Like that's, that's not something that's happening at all now. Like center didn't serve well during the U.S. open. I think that's probably the biggest thing they're going to say, okay, how do we, how do we course correct. Obviously, you know, Alcaraz was on our serve and you know these adjustments to many adjustments, to many adjustments. But like, I'm having a hard time not being hyperbolic about the level of Alcaraz. JW Yeah.

[JW]

And I think it's telling that he is having a hard time not being hyperbolic. I mean, I spoke to him on the court like half an hour after the match and he just sort of unbidden basically said, yeah, this is probably the best of the six majors I've won. I played the best here. One, one break point he faced in that final. It was ironically converted, but the serving was off the charts. You Know what stat jumped out at me, by the way? 242 for a major final that went four sets. I mean even when he lost that second set, it was not a real sense of, oh boy, Sinner's going to make this. Here we go, we got a classic on our hands. It was more like, oh, I see, let's see if Carlos can get it back. And he quickly did. Broke in the third and just 242 for a rivalry match. Given what happened, especially in Paris, I just thought that that was really a comprehensive match to cap off a comprehensive tournament. I don't know, I mean Sinner was sort of to his credit, center's like, this is a guy who, bear in mind, won the last major. He was number one 24 hours ago. He's won whatever it is, 27 of the last 28 matches played on hard courts at majors. And after the match he's boy, like we got to go back to the drawing board because my, my best isn't going to get it done against this guy.

[Andy Roddick]

Something that Carlos, I was thinking about it last night, something that he did in the final yesterday, which you see people do things and you wonder if it like changes shit forever. Like you see Becker when he comes along and he's serving, you see like the T2000. It's like, okay, this is going to be different. You see Rafa in the spin and you see Roger being able to control a one handed return and you know, chip it off of, you know, any speed. And there are all these little things. It's funny you mentioned like the adjustments made and you know, apparently Carlos said he went to like a two week training block where it was basically center centric. And what we had to do, jw, he was taking, he was coming in off balls that weren't approach shots. So normally when you're playing, you bleed someone. Shortball comes and then there's like a natural transition shot where you go to the net, right? And that's when you approach. And so it normally the reason and like kind of the sober thinking is Yonek center hits it so big, where am I going to find space to take that on and try to get to the net, right? Carlos Alcaraz kind of flipped it like I don't know that I had seen it. We've obviously seen people sneak in, but I think his speed is different than anyone else we've seen. I think his ability to inject pace off of, you know, hit one chip and then inject pace really quickly off the next one. All in real time with like no decision to be made, he would inject pace to a corner. As soon as he saw kind of the side or back of sinners front shoulder, he was just, you know, screw it, I'm in. I'm, I'm like sprinting forward and even if he gets caught with his hand in the cookie jar, he's such a great volley and he, I, I'm just saying like he's. His volleying over the last two or three years has become more than elite and you don't again, I'm fighting being hyperbolic, but the stuff that he's able to come up with. So even if he gets caught and has a bad read on, if the guy's bled out enough, right, if he's extended enough, can he poke a passing shot? He'll pick it up off a shoe tops. And he still has a 50, 50 shot of fighting it off just with athleticism. This changes a lot of things. It's not like a chip in charge where it's like a scripted play. It's not like, okay, earn your approach, take your approach out, which is like the basis of every two on one that's ever been done in training. This is like, I'll hit a short chip, he comes. I already know in the next one I'm just going to inject pace deep and I am flying in like speed with which we, we haven't seen before. And I'm either going to get a look at a volley and I can do it, or if I get caught, there's half a chance that I can pull off something miraculous off of my shoe, tops. It's not a standard way to come to the net. It's like a bulldozer, but you need so many skills working at the same time with this burst of speed to make it happen. And that's your 2:42 timeline, right? The fact that he's able to take it and shorten the points off of sinner's pace kind of whenever he chose, you know, whenever he saw half of a chance, that's your 242 versus 545 right there. JW.

[JW]

What you're describing, and then add two words, let's just reinforce this against Sinner.

[Andy Roddick]

That's it. That's the whole thing.

[JW]

He is coming in. I mean, it's just. And the other thing too is he was hanging in the rallies as well. It wasn't as though he had to take these crazy chances and up his risk profile. He was hanging in the baseline rallies as well. Again, I really read a lot into Sinner's reaction. I mean, sometimes you say, well, too good, Roger, and here's my runner up trophy. Sinner was kind of sort of in awe. I mean it wasn't dour, but he was just sort of dumbfounded and basically was like, shit, I gotta come up with something because I was comprehensively outplayed again. The guy who was ranked number one 24 hours ago is left to sort of say, boy, we gotta go back to the drawing board. But that's, you know, that's great. This is what rivalry does, right? I mean it's you, you elevate your game. And we are, we are very fortunate to be in the place.

[Andy Roddick]

And the adjustments mid match from both of them were, were pretty intriguing to me. Right. We saw Alcaraz, he was hitting that short life Federesque slice cross court. Dimitrov was, was using that play against center with some success at Wimbledon. And then he would kind of hit this fade away backhand. So he was just like when you have to, you know, his, his fastball is 99 and his change up is 85. And then he can throw a curve like, it's just, you don't know, you're, you're almost like, it causes almost like a stutter of a decision when you have to like actually go up against it. And he was kind of hitting that little fade away backhand up in the zone to center and center was kind of like searching for it. In the first set. Center all of a sudden said, as soon as I see him lean back, I'm going to try to gain one or two feet. That started working the second set and then Carlos started flipping it with coming in. It's like once he solved one problem, it's like, okay, screw it, I'm not doing that anymore. I'm, I'm, I'm going to kind of pound the corners and, and, and break your rhythm again. Like it was all these mid match adjustments, but it, it felt like Carlos had so much clarity about this two week training block. Whatever him and Ferrero are talking about, they had plans to. Plans to plans. Mike, you have, you, you have some, some sound.

[Mike]

Yeah. So speaking of Juan Carlos and Alcaraz, in the post game, they had this to say.

[Andy Roddick]

How would you describe what you saw in Carlos performance today?

[JW]

It's difficult to say.

[Yannick Sinner]

I think we, we prepared the match very, very good.

[JW]

Watching some matches and see the specific details we have to play and Carlos D 100%. It's easy to say and very difficult to do it.

[Andy Roddick]

The performance today was perfect.

[JW]

I will say that the match was perfect for Carlos and the performance was unbelievable.

[Mike]

Yeah, he's right.

[Andy Roddick]

I think I played perfect.

[Mike]

I played perfectly. So, I mean, I gotta say that.

[Andy Roddick]

If I want to win, you know, the US up and if I want.

[Mike]

To beat Gianni, I have to play perfect.

[Andy Roddick]

And I think he was right. Yeah. One the press conferences for coaches thing I can get with that.

[Mike]

I love it.

[Andy Roddick]

That. That is something that I want to hear more of. Also, slowly, Carlos has just started calling Yannick Johnny Yanni, which is. Which I also love the. Carlos is lying about. Oh, we're seeing each other a lot. I see you more than I see my family now. It seems like they have a nice. A nice camaraderie, but it's. It's just fun because they're in the middle of it. Both are obsessed with greatness. Both are obsessed with improvement. Both know the challenge that the other one presents and it totally different thing, right? Yannick better than Carlos for most of the French Open final. Carlos is like, all right, let's get to grass. It's a surface I'm more comfortable on. Yannick puts it on him in. In the. In the Wimbledon final. Kind of overcomes exercises the mental demons from Roland Garros. This thing ain't stopping. There's going to be a. I mean, this thing is just going to go back and forth. Curious to see what. And you also have. This is not a small part of it. The coaches behind these players that are driving the decisions and having the sounding board of a former world number one and Juan Carlos Ferrero and then Darren Cahill is one of the best coaches of all time. Like, this is fascinating stuff. The players who have the ability to say, okay, Juan Carlos Ferreira is going to tell him stuff that he could never do. And I say that respectfully. You know, I mean, I respect everyone who's gotten to where Juan Carlos got. But okay, let's just like make approach shots out of nothing and sprint your ass forward because you're. You're like as fast as Russell Westbrook.

[Mike]

It's like he gets to play like the ultimate, like, video game character. Why don't you try that?

[Andy Roddick]

Then he doesn't. How much fun is that? It's like, I couldn't do this, but it. I got someone who can. This is great. What do you think, jw? Can we.

[JW]

Are. Are you with me on this too? I. I find myself really coming around on coaching. I. I used to be pretty opposed. And it's one on One. And let's let the players. Problem solving is so key. I think this really adds an element. And, and I don't think Juan Carlos Ferrero is ruining the experience by suggesting where to serve. But you hear analysis like that, it's also, I mean, just kind of take a step back here and you know, the Roland Garros final is one of the great matches of this century. At Wimbledon, Jannik takes down the defending champion. At the US Open, Carlos takes down the defending champion. I mean, we were talking to players, legends during this tournament, who the day before the tournament couldn't figure out who they favored in the final. This is really razor thin margins.

[Andy Roddick]

You, you look so. I liked Sinner the entire way. Obviously, we did our bracket challenge and that was a dumpster fire. We're going to announce to all you guys who are way better than JW and I, we're learning we're not losing. I was Sinner. And then after faa, I hate switching midterm, but after faa, real concerns about his first serve percentage, like that was. That was a huge thing we did. You know, I did the roadshow with Tracy where we're going in and people are like, what's your prediction? I'm like, in my, My line was, you're asking me to predict a coin flip with confidence like that. They were just guessing. Like, there's, there's no way I knew. Like, that's disrespectful to someone. Like, yeah, that's disrespectful to one of the best players in the world. I just knew it. It's like, no, you, you guessed and you got it right. Like, you know, give me a break. But, but I didn't see that. I didn't see one way traffic. I didn't see it in the Wimbledon final. I didn't see it here. You know, it's just amazing to see. And to your point, yesterday from our, our airport show, it's like the margin for error with, with these two when they're playing each other is so razor thin. It's. It's like you're taking. I was, I was talking to Trey. You're. You're taking like half chances, right? Like, I'm. I know that I have to go when I see Yannick in any defense and I have to take my shot, even if it's a little reckless or irresponsible. You know, Yannick, the last game, I mean, Carlos, the game that he played to finish this match off. Yannick was hitting the ball harder than maybe anyone. I've ever seen. I mean he, the first point, he was like, let's, let's, let's empty the canister. He was roping the ball and Carlos just stayed there and then got back to deuce and hit, you know, monster serve on match point. Like these things are hard. They make it look easy. They're so hard.

[JW]

Let me, let me ask you a non exit and O's question. Sometimes we are lucky enough to get the, the winner of these big tournaments on the podcast and Carlos is, we gather, headed back, back to Europe despite this Davis cup announcement. We can talk about. Anyway, go back. What is it? Go back 22 years, man. You're, your title's like old enough to get married, but go back 22 years. What is this day like? You empty the bucket, you win this major. Granted, Carlos hasn't done it for the, you know, this is, this is number six. But what is the Monday like after you've expended everything and been successful? What's, what's this experience like the day after winning a mate?

[Andy Roddick]

Different because Carlos, Carlos is already one of the biggest sports stars in the world. So I don't know that like doing Conan is going to matter for him really. Like, I don't know that. There's really not much else to be done. It's not like, it's not like he can have more endorsements or really like more well liked or like smile more. You know, it's just, it kind of is. So mine was very different. Mine was first up, you know, I forget what exactly I did that day. I remember it was, I actually, I remember leaving the, the party for the US Open, which is awesome, you know, de facto 21st birthday party because I was like, I just want some quiet. And I ended up just like kind of Irish goodbye ing my own thing. Woke up early, did the entire car wash, did back like TRL was the thing. I remember like being on tv. I remember being in Time and we're dating ourselves. It's like, yeah, exactly. This is like every person my age is gonna go, dude, this is cool. I'm like in Times Square doing something for someone associated who know. I don't know what. It was just a car wash of a day. Carson Daly riding down through Times Square going, yeah, man. Like, I don't know, it was just a, a weird thing. But mine was probably a little bit more necessary if you wanted to squeeze the juice out of the pr. I had a clothing deal expiring in a year and a half. So like those are all things that you're thinking about in that moment, it's like, okay, can we squeeze? You're basically using that day. You know, PR is basically an avenue towards money if we're being honest about it. And so I squeezed a lot of juice that day, like so. But that was it. Carlos, from our understanding, we asked and he was so gracious, he said today show and I'm getting on a plane. I'm, I'm done, finished. He doesn't really, he doesn't need to do anything. Like, he doesn't need to improve the way the public views him. Everyone loves him. He doesn't need to be more famous. Everyone knows him. He doesn't, he doesn't need to train a media narrative. Like he just is who he is and, you know, the charisma like jumps out of his body, you know. So very, very different scenarios. My car wash was a lot different than anything that Carlos Alcaraz, having won six slams by 22 years old, needed.

[JW]

I just can't imagine we're all exhausted after this, after these three weeks, happily exhausted. But I can't imagine we. I won zero sets and I'm ready to like take the week off. I can't imagine winning the title, having all that emotion. Staying up late, you're celebrating and then four hours sleep, you got to go. I mean, replay the match less so.

[Andy Roddick]

Than like the day because you can get through like a 10 hour day of stuff, right? It's the Davis Cup, Laver cup number one. It's going to be the, the fallout of the next three months, right? And Carlos, you know, like, you can't say anything negative, but it, it's always looked different at the end of the year, like kind of getting to the finish line. The indoor circuit. He hasn't played well in World Tour finals. It's hard. I had a hard. I was someone who prided myself on showing up in my lunch pail every day and like actually going to work. I struggled, I still tried my best, but it wasn't like I woke up, you know, and jumped out of bed to finish out the year in, you know, stadiums where you're underground, you know, the, you're, you're traveling somewhere you want. There's no major for four months. You're not building towards something. You're just trying to like kind of pick up scraps along the way till the end of the year. The number one thing is going to make a big difference, you know, that's going to be a thing. But yeah, I mean that, that was my crash, was Securing number one. And then it was like I'm toast. I was still in the, in Masters cup, but it was like I got to that number one spot and I just had, I felt like I was a zombie. And so the next three months is the concern for Carlos Alcaraz. Not six hours of firing off a smile today. He's good at that.

[Mike]

Yeah, he, he only leads number one by some 800 points. Right. It's not like it's. He has a massive lead on it.

[Andy Roddick]

Deceiving a little bit just because sinner won World Tour finals. Those, those are coming off. He won, he won on the trot. So the reason it flips so quickly here at the US Open, obviously for those who kind of need the quick explainer, it's a 52 week ranking system. Center wins last year he can't gain a point going into the US Open this year on ranking because all he can do is defend a win. Carlos lost second round. There's close to 2000 points available to you know, 2900, 28, 50, whatever it is or sorry, 1850, whatever it is. So a little deceiving. He's only ahead by 800 but if you kind of look at points available, he's got a pretty good shot at the basket. And also needs to be said center didn't play for three months like that, that that's a significant factor in this, in this race for number one. But center has a lot more points that he has to defend than, than Carlos to the end of the year.

[Mike]

You know, we talked a lot about Carlos's mentality coming out of this. I want to, I want to talk about sinners and hear your guys thought on that. And we have, we have this bite from his post game press conference.

[Yannick Sinner]

I didn't make one certain volley, you know, I didn't use a lot of drop shots. I didn't. And then you arrive to a point where you play against Carlos when, where you have to go out of the comfort zone, you know. So I'm gonna, you know, aim to, you know, maybe even losing some matches from now on. But you know, trying to do some changes, you know, trying to be a bit more unpredictable as a player and because I think that's the what I have to do trying to become a better tennis player.

[Mike]

I mean reactions to that, I mean awesome. I mean it's breaking down his own game and saying he needs to add more layers.

[Andy Roddick]

I'm just like the level of self awareness unreal right after a match is absurd. Like getting to that level of Self awareness. When you're, when you're, I guess, one, two and you've been one and you've won four majors in the last two years, not a lot of people would think, you know what, this is what I have to do to change things.

[Mike]

Might lose some matches figuring it out.

[Andy Roddick]

He's not wrong. He's not. I mean, Carlos essentially said the same thing. He ended up, you know, rip city and did well. But yeah, I mean, these guys are so like, it's not different than when. If you haven't listened to the Cahill interview that we did on the show where he talks about the mentality of Sinner, this is. This is it. This, Darren wasn't lying to us. This is it.

[JW]

When we talk about the rivalry, being the rocket booster of sports, I mean, Carlos takes a two week break and basically focuses solely on how do I execute this takedown of the guy ahead of me. And you notice that sinner wasn't really talking about his game. He was just sort of in respect to Carlos. What do I have to do to crack this riddle again? This is a guy who played in the finals of all four majors and won two of them, and yet he's reassessing. This is the multiplier effect. This is the beauty of rivalry right here. But yeah, you get the feeling he sort of knew what was going on during the match. If you saw him afterwards, he wasn't despondent. He was already thinking, boy, I got to replay that, figure out what to do. You get the feeling he read the stat sheet in between the match and the press conference, and then he went in there and gave this very sensible, logical explanation of what he has to do.

[Andy Roddick]

I, weirdly, it was so, it was so emphatic of a victory. It was such an emphatic victory for, for Carlos. It's almost sometimes, almost easier to deal with. Like, I lost a straight sets in a, in a Grand Slam final against Roger at 05 Wimbledon. And I walk off, it's like, okay, I'm disappointed, but I don't think it was like a decision I made that was tortuous on, on a break point. It's like the guy ran me out of the room. Like, and I'm not comparing myself to Yannick or Carlos at all, but I'm just saying certain losses where someone comes out and just beats the shit out of you, like, you got to go. You have to wonder. It's like, oh, okay, well, we got to work. Like, this is. This wasn't even. This wasn't close. It's not as if I have to tweak, right? Which is where I'd be if I was Yannick. But he, this is why he's him and I'm, we're. I'm a podcaster. Like, you know, he, it's, he has to get the serve was, was as bad as it's been probably in a year since they, since they made the adjustment and it massively improved. But something wasn't quite right with the serve. That's, that's number one. He said serve and volley. Tough to serve in volley when you, you're, you're making 40 something percent of your first serves. Like, that's, that's a tough one. Like it's tough to commit and adjust and do all that. Maybe show it early and counts, right? Not wait till, like Carlos did a great job of being proactive with strategy, not playing his base and which I think was kind of what Yannick was alluding to. He kind of went out there with his, his stock game. And obviously you apply your stock game to, I can't even say deficiencies of your opponent because these guys don't have any. But apply what you do well to your deficiencies and then you have this kind of like, okay, if I have to get extreme with adjustments, Carlos almost came out in the extreme, right, as a. I'm going to slice, I'm going to play up, I'm going to play like there was no kind of rhythm making for, for Yannick. When Janik gets into where he can click, click, click, click, click, he becomes a robot, you know, so he didn't let him get into that thing where he kind of knew what, what, what pitch was coming. And maybe Yannick has to be a bit of a psycho at the beginning of matches. Maybe he has to throw in two serving volleys. Maybe he has to do something where Carlos is like, oh, okay, I can't just like, you know, maybe he has to just, you know, you know when someone yells at you and you just go crazy and yell louder. I don't know. Maybe there's a bit of that support for this show comes from ServiceNow who are enabling people to do more fulfilling work, the work they actually want to do. There's a lot of talk about AI out there right now, and a lot of times the AI you hear about feels like it's hard to grasp. But ServiceNow is here to work with, with people and tackle the boring, busy work that always gets in the way. The stuff that slows you down and keeps you from doing the Stuff you actually want to be doing. And they do it with their AI agents. By being built into the ServiceNow platform. They automate millions of repetitive tasks across it. HR, customer service, and more. You can automate any process with AI powered workflow generation. That means you can build workflows with reusable components, configurable playbooks, process mining, and advanced decision support so your people can focus on what really matters. And that's putting AI agents to work for the people. Find out how to get [e-mail] AI agents.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

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[Andy Roddick]

Womp, womp, womp.

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[JW]

Let me ask you this. For everything at stake, right? Number one, ranking this major race head to head, $5 million on the line. You. You saw these guys before the match did not sound like they were drowning in tension.

[Andy Roddick]

I'm, I'm like stunned. Like I was. Roger was really, Roger. Roger was really relaxed before matches and it was intimidating, but it wasn't like he was, you know, like performing a stand up set.

[Mike]

He was still like in, in the zone.

[JW]

Yeah.

[Andy Roddick]

He was like, hey man, how's it going? He was relaxed and it was like, gosh, this guy's really relaxed and calm.

[Mike]

Got it.

[Andy Roddick]

Welcome to the training room. Yesterday I walked in there, I was in there early and Carlos is the only person, he said, hey man, what's up? How's it going? I looked, I literally made a joke. I was like, hey Carlos, what are you doing today? Like, it was just so. It was so relaxed. And then it's weird because you can tell when you go into a training room if someone's playing, if they're like, good morning, it's like, oh, let's get the fuck out of here. Like, this person is not like, give him the space. You always def. Every has been that walks into a locker room is. You have to be deferential to the energy that whoever actually has to do the work is creating. Like, that's just the way it works. I mean, it was so inviting and like the vibe like all of a sudden, I don't know it's three, four hours before the match. Car's getting some work done. It's like Lend's in there bullshitting. He, by the way, he like won. He won. He won some US Open for pickleball. Like over 65 or some something crap. Like, he was talking about it and he showed me a picture and the pickleball trophies next to the US Open trophies. The US Open. A pickleball for over 65 is next to his. I'm like, never stop grinding.

[Mike]

That's hilarious.

[Andy Roddick]

Mack was in there, Ferrero's in there, and everyone just kind of like. It was like a 15 minute and Carlos was like, I wouldn't have been able to tell you who had a match.

[Mike]

That's wild.

[Andy Roddick]

Like, it was, it was a number one. It was absurd. And then I heard Butterack said that I kind of just. I was also doing, doing this clinic on Ash and was supposed to go to 11. And then the guys had the, the warm up times from 11 on. And so I get this text from Eric is like, well, we got to do 10:30. Carlos or Yannick wants to warm up at 10:30. I'm like, yeah, so obviously we're gonna get off by 10:27. Like, you do not want to be the person that interrupts. He kind of casually strolls out. 10:35. Apparently, you know, I was in a hurry to get off because I'm like, you do. I will not be the person that's here when Yannick walks out. And like, there's lingering and loitering on the court. Apparently Mac and Connors were catching up quickly and he just walked over and like joined their conversation for like five minutes.

[Mike]

That's amazing.

[Andy Roddick]

Before.

[JW]

Yeah, that's what. Wait, I'll tell you a quick story. I had to do a corporate thing with Connors and he said, you know, I was talking to Sinner and said, oh, you got to make it a street fight. And I was like, oh, when did you come, you know, thinking, when, when did this conversation. Oh, that was a couple hours ago when he was about to practice. Jimmy Connors is yucking it up with Yannick Sinner before. Before a major fight.

[Andy Roddick]

Even better. Because Jimmy, Jimmy's not around. He was around the last four days and it was brilliant. Like, there's no one that deserves to be in the US Open of things more than Jimmy Connors. He was one of the guys who just catapulted it into mainstream. But it's, it's so fun. Like that locker room when you're just Seeing who's walking around. The only person has people have access to it are the people in the. And like past champions. And so I'm like casually walking through to, you know, I went to take a whiz and went back to my locker and like, I'm walking down the hallway and I see Eric Buterak go, oh, here, Carlos, come with me for one second. And I watch him like I watch Connors meet Alcaraz for the first time.

[Mike]

That's awesome.

[Andy Roddick]

It's so cool. It's the coolest. And I'm like, I get to see this. It's the best ever. It's amazing.

[Mike]

That's so cool.

[Andy Roddick]

Just, you know, it's almost as great.

[JW]

Like Courtney Cox. Courtney Cox reuniting with Springsteen.

[Andy Roddick]

But that's pretty cool, too.

[JW]

Anyway.

[Andy Roddick]

That's pretty cool too. Okay, jw, not to blow smoke here, but here we go. Your 50 parting thoughts that you do on, on, on si. On Sports Illustrated is like, even before we were. We. Before we were in business together, I read it after every slam. I think there are some great takeaways. Macro micro, what are we not looking at as a storyline coming out of this, this US Open that's in your. Your mailbag, if you can take some from it and share it with our listeners.

[JW]

Man, you want to go big or go small? One thing that I'm struck by, here's what I'm struck by. That Lou Shearer sort of ran the, you know, this guy was the chieftain chief executive of the US Open. Leaves of the USTA leaves goes to the Mets. All of this this year, everything from three weeks to the mixed doubles to the honey deuces to the visit from the president that we may or may not want to touch on. All this was being done with essentially an interim staff. The ATP doesn't have a CEO yet. The WTA doesn't have a chairman yet. The ATP doesn't have a coo. I mean, there are a lot of huge, huge openings and this sport rolls on and we have this wonderful rivalry. We haven't talked about Sabalenka yet. We'll get to her. She solidified herself as number one. All this is going on and there's a huge leadership vacuum in this sport. Let's see. I don't know. I'm. I'm picking at random. Nice turn. You know what a good tournament a the Nadal Academy, which has really. Sometimes these academies are basically, you hang up a banner and it's, it's a branding exercise. This has really become. It's It's a great store. Maybe Tennis channel should do a feature. This has really become the go to spot.

[Mike]

What are you doing here on Served?

[JW]

This is it. Yeah, exactly. Why didn't serve do a feature? The Nadal Academy has really established itself as this great talent incubator. Nice tournament for Nike, all these other brands. Did we talk about this? I mean, I heard that this Vori deal that Jack Draper got, he will make more money from this Athleisure wear brand than from prize money. I mean, this is a big, big deal.

[Andy Roddick]

What about the Y3 collaboration that Mike kept saying looked like someone spilled Bolognese on a shirt?

[JW]

Yeah, no, I thought it was the Yale class. It was the Yale class of 03.

[Andy Roddick]

Do you know what that, by the way, it's a.

[JW]

You know what that is?

[Andy Roddick]

I mean, vaguely. I don't want to say it out loud. It's a idiot.

[JW]

It's like a ds. It's a collaboration, but a collaboration with a Japanese designer like they did with Pharrell. But no, you know, in the end, Nike, the OG kind of scaled back their tennis presence. They had all. All four finalists. So Nike may not be the player it once was in tennis, but boy, did they choose what. What money they are spending and concentrating on certain players. That's good. Good tournament for the old swoot. Been a rough few years for Nike, but they. They hit this one pretty clean. We can talk, I don't know, wherever you want to go with this. We can talk Trump, we can talk calendar. We can talk about Taylor Townsend.

[Andy Roddick]

Taylor Townsend was awesome, by the way.

[Mike]

Taylor Townsend was awesome. I think. I think we should. We should talk about Saba link extending to world number one and then Anisimova jumping from nine to four.

[Andy Roddick]

Yeah. I mean, I think the thing with Sabalenka is are always perfect in the biggest moments. No. And you hear players say. And a lot of other people ignore the. You put yourself in those situations enough and you're going to figure it out when you're that good. Right. So, you know, the narrative is, you know, last year she can't lose and you know, coming into this year, favorite in every tournament, which she is. And I've, you know, luckily I picked her in three events and then didn't pick her in the one she won or go me. But you put yourself in those positions enough, you're going to figure it out. It doesn't mean like it. There's this. There's this weird narrative around sports where it's like you're. They're so clutch or you're not and there's like no middle. Like, yeah, you're, you're clutch most of the time. And this is fucking sports. Like, it's imperfect. It's matchups. It's wind, it's. It's Roland Garros when it's blown 40, it's Madison Keys that didn't see a forehand. She didn't hit for a winner. It's, you know, I get nervous because I haven't won Wimbledon and I play this big hitting in a Samova and then I go to New York and I probably have more question marks than when I enter any other event for the entire year. And obviously that means I'm going to win in clutch up in the final. No, no. This is why sports is amazing. Sabalenka continues to put herself in these positions and if you do it enough, people are going to remember your wins. They're just going to jw. What am I missing?

[JW]

But you know, I was actually going to go in a different direction. We end up in the same spot, but I was going to different perspective. This is like Peter Schrager and Ryan Clark. This is the non athlete talking. Did you catch that reference?

[Andy Roddick]

Never. I don't literally don't know anything besides her dumb podcast.

[JW]

No, it's a good. Google that one. No, I, you know, Sabalenka, what was the book on her? I think she was one. Don't, don't. I'm doing this without. I think she was like one in six in her first six. One in five in her first six semifinals. And it was sort of like big slugger, good athlete, no margin, no game plan, no plan B. And she has completely changed that. And we talk about clutch and it's, it's hard to measure and it's a bit artificial. 19 straight tiebreakers. That's margin built into your game. I mean, look at her results over the last two years. That's insane, right? So I'm thinking not only is her margin now built, you know, she's got more shape on her shot. She also knows that she can play a few loose games, just get to six all. And I'm running home with this thing. Her last six results at the hard court majors. So Australia in the US Open. Four wins, two finals. She got to the Roland Garros final, she got to the Wimbledon semifinal. I mean, she's playing deep. She's so consistent to go deep. And then it's, you know, sometimes she wins, sometimes she doesn't. But we talk about clutch and we Talk about how artificial it is. She's nails. And that tie break record is. I mean, 19 straight tiebreakers, is that not a record?

[Andy Roddick]

Yes, for both Tours.

[JW]

Record. Yeah.

[Mike]

Both Tours.

[Andy Roddick]

Is it really? Look that up. Most tiebreak wins in a row ever. The shot that, like, you talk about the adjustments and the shape on the shots. Jw. The shot that won her this match, right? That set the patterns that let Anna Samova know what she couldn't get away with. Anisimova goes big outside return straight through the middle. Sabalenka has this like outside the ball. Like, you know when you're trying to throw a 710 split and you kind of ha. Kind of work outside and then in that shape straight away to the open court to get Anna Samova on the move, where it's not this flat ball, she's not falling away, it's this kind of ball that she spun to, to her forehand. She hit it six or seven times in like super clutch moments, right? I'm. It's 15, 30, 30, 15. But the pressure's on. The crowd's getting loud. That was the silencer. And it's weird when it's not some big powerful, you know, grunty situation where she's screaming at the end. It doesn't grasp our attention the same. We're not really great, believe it or not, at like noticing nuance. But that ball is a shot that I don't think she had three years ago, right? She could win slams with what she had before because she was so dominant. But that ball where the. It's. She's almost like diffusing power but still redirecting with that like center spin mechanism and margin. I don't know if she works on that specifically. I don't know if it was a game plan, but like, sure as shit, Ana Samova back in. Unbelievable backhand outside, bang middle. Sabalenka, you know, not flat margin, gets her moving right away, doesn't let her hit the second ball set in the same spot, right? So, you know, I don't. It's. She's just fantastic. And by the way, we don't mention it enough. She had full blown serving yips three years ago.

[JW]

Wait, keep. She's had big picture on this. So the serving yips, which ought to give Coco Gauff sidebar some real source of encouragement. This is something you can overcome. She had full blown serving yips, right? She had a. You know, there was the Belarus Russian ban at Wimbledon. She had an injury that kept her out. There's a lot Here. And for her to have that kind of consistency with so many variables and so much static in her life as well, this is a real tennis treasure we are witnessing. But yeah, I mean, what she has done with her serve, that ought to give every player some real. Starting with Coco. Some real.

[Andy Roddick]

When she's going through it, we obsess over it. Like we are with Coco, and rightfully so. And then when she fixed it, it was like, oh, great. No, not all great. That takes so much work. Like, that's so hard to do. It's the mental, it's the physical. It's not like, oh, yeah, she fixed that. Like, fuck off. That's so hard.

[JW]

When a normal person too, even a year later, you double fault and miss your next first serve. Three serves in a row and you're thinking, oh, shit, here we go, it's coming back. I mean, what it must take to keep that at bay, to root that out of your thinking, even if mechanically you're back to being structurally sound. It's. She's underrated at number one at the same time.

[Andy Roddick]

So. Good. Such a good point. We're going to put a bow on this, right? And especially when do you think, if you had had full blown serving yips and you had corrected it, when do you think that would rear its ugly head the most? Maybe when the score is close, like tiebreakers. Unbelievable effort. And you could see too, and we said this, I said this in the women's recap in the final. But you could see it this one, the way she took her time and she was more emotional. It was more relief and pride than it was like just out and out happiness. Right. You could see that. Like she took the moment and it gripped her and it meant more to her. That's because it didn't come easy for her this year. It didn't just happen. She didn't start in Australia and like, okay, clicked it off major this year. It was hard. It was grit. She was gutted a couple of times this year. That's what makes the moment sweeter. I was happy to see it for her. We appreciate her more.

[JW]

You're here, sports man.

[Andy Roddick]

Yeah, Mike, I see you clicking away over there.

[Mike]

Yeah. Was she just confirming that she is 19 is the most consecutive ever? Apparently it broke yours of 18 consecutive.

[Andy Roddick]

Really?

[Mike]

That's what it says.

[JW]

Whoa.

[Andy Roddick]

Hello.

[Mike]

According to the Internet.

[JW]

I didn't know that.

[Mike]

I've asked it to confirm multiple times because I don't believe in myself.

[Andy Roddick]

I don't believe. I now I no Longer Believe in AI since 2007.

[JW]

You're okay. You're okay losing that record.

[Andy Roddick]

Oh, I don't. It's easy to say goodbye to a record that you didn't know you had.

[Mike]

Much like other things you wish you could say goodbye to.

[Andy Roddick]

Yeah. Are we supposed to go to break anytime?

[Mike]

We can go to break right now. And when we come back, maybe we'll talk about the winners of the faithful bracket challenge.

[Andy Roddick]

Oh, me and jw.

[Mike]

Oh, no, other than us.

[JW]

But find out someone other than us.

[Andy Roddick]

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[Andy Roddick]

All right, welcome back to served, guys.

[Mike]

Big stuff.

[Andy Roddick]

It was. I'm sad.

[Mike]

Why?

[JW]

Why is that?

[Andy Roddick]

Because we have to read the bracket challenge results.

[JW]

Let's go to break.

[Andy Roddick]

And I know we got our asses kicked, Mike.

[Mike]

Yeah, well, so in the full brackets, you know, this. This was good. Andy, you won the men's bracket over just John. You weren't even close to the field.

[Andy Roddick]

What are you talking about?

[JW]

How bad? How many breaks are served?

[Mike]

1590 in points. John, you had 1490. So it was fairly close. But our winner was. You know what? We're just going to put it up on screen because I don't know how to pronounce this. Surgeon with 2070 points, green and fuzzy by. By just 30 points. Yeah, yeah. So that would be. Wait, who was second place, green and fuzzy. And then in third and third there was David. Just David. There's a sushi rose. I'm wondering if that's my wife, by the way. And then WTA. John, you're the big winner over Andy with 1300 points. 1330. And Andy, you had 1140.

[Andy Roddick]

It's not great.

[Mike]

Winner was Paulita at 2010, winning also by about 30 points. And then in our combined overall, John, you are the winner over andy by just 90 points with.

[JW]

But I think, I think my audio is not bad. Could you, could you say that again? I missed that.

[Mike]

What he said. His audience wants me to say it again. John, you beat Andy. And then the winner overall was King ll Night or King King. All 19 with 3760 points edging out number two by just 10 points. And it actually came down to. I don't know if you saw on social media. You didn't see. It came down to the last match. Two people had everything picked.

[Andy Roddick]

Those are the only people. Those are the only two people still listening to the show.

[Mike]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely. And then we'll. We'll put up the rest of the. The results for the redraws and everything. We had a bunch of people actually get perfect redraw brackets. You guys did not. And that is, that is where we're at. We're going to send and check your emails. We're going to send you guys some served merch packs as a thank you.

[Andy Roddick]

So there's, there's, there's. I have three points of contention.

[Mike]

Okay.

[JW]

Okay.

[Andy Roddick]

The combined scores, that's like getting extra credit for winning a set. Seven six over a six three set. Like who gives a. It's one one.

[Mike]

If you would have won it though, would you be.

[Andy Roddick]

No, because I in my. Which leads. Which leads me to my second. Which leads me to my second point and my third point. The second point. Like we, the weighting system. We got to get better before next year. We just have to.

[Mike]

All right. Yeah, I agree. I agree.

[Andy Roddick]

Not one is one is one is one is one. You can't any risk if that's the case. You just can't.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Andy Roddick]

Okay. 2. This is like I'm now starting to get a little pissed and I think, I think that I get. I mean I know it's entertaining when I can't look at the draw. Also, I can't be having John doing eight hours of research before we come in. Now I'm just. Now I'm starting to get a little competitive and it's so much good. I'm not sure I can keep losing for the entertainment value of our audience.

[Mike]

Got it. Got it.

[Andy Roddick]

So those are my three things that I want to see. Congratulations all the winners. We suck.

[JW]

Have you.

[Andy Roddick]

Wait I'll give.

[JW]

I'll give you three A. Have you ever seen a competitive athlete still have his competitive streak extend to other into other spheres?

[Andy Roddick]

B.

[JW]

What do you mean it's like saying how could you give me a science grade and a math grade and combine it into a gpa? Like what's, what's wrong with the combined personally. But yeah, me too. The other point is look at it this way. Wait. We have, we have very saving for 60 minutes. It's a 52 week rolling ranking system and we don't have much to defend going into Australia.

[Andy Roddick]

Look how we can agree on that.

[Mike]

Well speaking of bitter, a lot of.

[Andy Roddick]

People.

[Mike]

A lot of people apparently were upset with how long it took to get into the matches. My sister ended up going out earlier because I gave her a heads up but she had some friends that took them until 2.

[Andy Roddick]

The President being at the start and people.

[Mike]

And obviously you didn't really see much of it but from the outside, you know it was all over the Internets and everything. What was it like?

[Andy Roddick]

You were all over the Internets or the Internet Internets. And there were multiple Internets.

[Mike]

I mean there, there are many webs.

[Andy Roddick]

Okay.

[Mike]

There's world wide Webs. And you guys were both already kind of inside because you guys had to be there.

[Andy Roddick]

It was on all of the Internets.

[Mike]

What. What was it like?

[Andy Roddick]

Kind of we have the best Internets.

[Mike]

What was the process like? That stadium's already pretty hard to get into.

[Andy Roddick]

Ok. So it was like and we're not going to make this into like a political discussion so don't take every negative thing I say about the day and what a clusterfuck it was yesterday as like whatever I'm pretty clear about.

[Mike]

I think this would have been hard with any president showing up. I think it's just an overall commentary.

[Andy Roddick]

Correct. I mean I do. They said Bill Clinton went in 2000. I was there. I don't even remember it. It Right. So like just level set that maybe that's just my, my issue. I, I got you arrived yesterday. Everyone's in a panic the day before it's like we don't. It's like oh yeah, you can't really bring bags. I'm like well I have to go to the airport and I have a locker. So it's like. So I ended up putting my bag in a trunk of a car in lot A so I could go in with just a backpack. They said I could leave my tennis bag overnight. Like we didn't know like do a lot of corporate work for Chase. Their team didn't know if they could leave laptops over. Like it was just. There was no, no one knew what they could do and what the operating procedure was going to be for the next day. So a lot of those questions going all over the place. I get there at 8:20am because I have to do a clinic and it's like full Secret Service dogs going around vehicles. You know, actually getting in wasn't a big deal. But like you walk into the locker room and there's like this lounge area with, with TVs and stuff. And you walk in and it was obvious that these, these, these guys from the Secret Service have been working their asses off all night. Like they were like almost like asleep in the area. You could tell they had been in the locker room a lot. You walk in and there's hundreds of, of cubby lockers. I've never, it was like eerie. No one's in there yet. I'm the first person in there. All the lockers are open and they had all been like swept, right? Like they're. Every locker was open and I get to mine and mine's the only one that has like anything in it. Like it was, it was just eerie. You go upstairs, walk up to a player's lounge, go get coffee and it's like I'm third in coffee. You know, I'm waiting for my coffee and two dudes, just nice guys waiting for their coffees. Except they have massive four foot long guns on their backs. Like it was just where like US Open has been this thing where it's like tennis and it just felt like you were a guest at the US Open yesterday. And it was, it was. You couldn't go the routes and be like, don't go there. I'm like, okay, okay, I won't. You got it. Like it's like the place where you know like the back of your hand where you move hallways easily. It was just strange. There was, we were doing hospitality and we got locked in for a little bit because that was a route and there are these black drapes up everywhere. So you. It was just, I don't know, it was, it was just really strange. Like I'm sitting in the hospitality area overlooking and these, you know, SUVs pull up just to scour and these guys jump out with like tactical vests and like these long range guns and snipers and it just, it was like, it was, it was crazy. Like I've been at that tournament since I was 15 years old, 16 years old. I had never seen anything like it. I mean. And then you match gets delayed. We have to go visit suites to say hi to people. No one's getting in. So it's like we're delaying that. And you know, the hardest part for me was the match starts. And by the way, me doing any of this stuff isn't to say like I would, I wasn't inconvenienced. I had more access than anyone. I could still, I could still come and go. I just had to go a different way. It was just, it was more like it was, this is so weird. This is really, really weird. So we're doing sweet visits and there's this one part we have to kind of go around the outside of the stadium and go down and I'm looking out onto the, the promenade where a lot of the aerial shots were. This is. The match has been going on for 45 minutes. People aren't being let, like they're not in.

[Mike]

Yeah, it's just moving slow.

[Andy Roddick]

I mean, in my mind automatically goes to like the most heart wrenching thing. It's like, okay, what if you're a parent, what if you're bringing your kid? What if you're overextended financially? But it's like, you know what? I'm gonna take my kid, my father, my. This is gonna be our la. I go to like all these sentimental places. It's like I can't actually get in to watch a third of the match.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Andy Roddick]

And I don't know what you do if you're the usta, like, you can only let people. It's. It can't be a free for all. That's not what the protocol is. It's just not.

[Mike]

Well, there's only one gate in.

[Andy Roddick]

Yeah. I mean, and then like, it's kind of out of your hands. Rolex invites the president and then it's like you're just in fucking scramble mode for two days. And you know, my mind went to, gosh, I just hope people get enough value for the people that can afford it. And it doesn't matter. I, you know, that sucks, but it's an inconvenience. I know there's hundreds of stories about people that were overextended, wanted to see this match, moved heaven and earth to try to make it happen. And then through nothing to do with tennis, it's like they can't see their heroes play. I don't know. Jw, what was your experience?

[JW]

Well, I'll start on a light note. My first year, I think, covering tennis full time in 2000 when President Clinton came, Saw Venus. It was not nearly the scene, but Saw Venus won. And Venus's response was like, lower my taxes. That just shows we were in a different era. Then no, I mean I do have a little bit of grace and sympathy for the usta. He was a guest of Rolex.

[Andy Roddick]

Totally.

[JW]

We can talk about why. I mean this is a whole.

[Andy Roddick]

Because there's a 40% tariff in Switzerland. They're trying to knock off two points and be the best deal ever.

[JW]

Right, Exactly. Yeah. I mean if Rolex can get the tariff knocked down because he got to watch Carlos Alcaraz, great. So I feel, I do feel like the USTA at some level and I talk to people and you know, different employees had different takes, but basically the tournament was a little bit blindsided. He was not a guest of the tournament. I was really offended. And this is not a left, right Democrat Republican mag. I mean I thought the censorship memo that came out on Saturday was really deeply offensive. Basically. Basically the USTA released a statement saying don't show any reaction or any response from the. From the spectacle. And they said, yeah, but you know what? They Then they had another statement saying despite the hundreds of millions we make, we have tax exempt status as a nonprofit and we don't want to antagonize the federal government. No, I'm kidding. What they really said as a statement in response to that was I have it here. We regularly ask broadcasters to refrain from showcasing off court disruptions reactions. Are you kidding?

[Andy Roddick]

Every celebrity point of the U.S. yeah, it's all stuck.

[JW]

I saw a tailor. Taylor Swift had a honeydews once. Maybe you saw that any of the 50,000 times that was posted. Simone Biles congratulating Coco was literally like the. A square on the US Open website. I mean we don't show reactions and disruptions.

[Andy Roddick]

What about the person that glued their stuff to the ground and they kept shooting that for the entire time?

[JW]

I never saw that a fist fight in this. I mean it's. That was just preposterous. And I thought really.

[Andy Roddick]

I agree.

[JW]

And this is again not as a political statement, but just as you're a.

[Andy Roddick]

Media journalist like you report news. Exactly.

[JW]

Right. I mean also just the notion that the president would go to the US Open and you wouldn't want to see how he was received. Good, bad cheers booze. I thought that was really shabby.

[Andy Roddick]

They did say you couldn't. He was going to be shown during the national anthem. Which home of 9 11. You don't really boo during the national anthem. That was probably coincidence.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[JW]

You know what? At the end of the day, I mean I had a ton of people. First of all, people were sending me videos. You too? With a served account. I mean There were a lot of people. And I agree with you wholeheartedly. I mean, you and I are lucky enough to have badges and credentials. There are people who spent a lot of money. Again, 242 was the time of match, so if you missed the first hour, just sort of do, do the math on how many thousands of dollars you were out. I really felt for the fans that were standing there in line waiting to get in. I do notice that by the end, by about 5:30, my whole feed was Carlos Alcaraz is amazing. Who's going to be the career slam winner first? When will Yannick figure this out? I mean, at the end of the day, Jannik and pun, pun notwithstanding, Jannik and Carlos sort of trumped everything else. So that was sort of happy we got our focus back on the sport. But yeah, this, this was not a proud. The USDA had a great tournament. They did a great job. I, I think they don't get enough credit for so many things they do. Well, this was, this was a fail. Some of it not their fault, some of it entirely sort of self directed.

[Mike]

I do have to say, put a button in this. Clinton did go in 2000 and he was with Donald Trump. Oh, that's nice.

[Andy Roddick]

There it is.

[Mike]

Yeah. And Clinton, they were, they were together in a suite.

[Andy Roddick]

Research Diddy in the background.

[Mike]

Dude, did you see the other photo that the last time Trump was there, Diddy was in the front row of his suite.

[Andy Roddick]

I have so many. I can't. This is not the play I have. Okay.

[Mike]

He's a big tennis fan. I think it's great to be fair.

[Andy Roddick]

Yeah. I mean he had a box, he had a box of the U.S. open for two decades before he became from.

[JW]

The, from the 80.

[Mike]

I mean, this is from.

[JW]

Yeah, I mean, I think it's, yeah.

[Mike]

The president coming to your sporting event is a big deal no matter who's in office.

[Andy Roddick]

It's what I, it's like I'm just going and I'm, I'm like a tennis perspective. I understand there are bigger things and you know, tennis is not as important. You know, I understand that. And also what a dumpster fire of preparation for the, for, for Carlos and center. Like you have it down to like when you eat, when you hydrate, when you warm up. Carlos or Janik warmed up at 10:30 thinking this is the thing. And then they don't get on for till an hour later. 250, that all matters, man. Like that's a big deal. Like this is not like the start time of a Match isn't a sideshow.

[JW]

That's the show for a major fight.

[Andy Roddick]

Correct. So I understand the moving parts completely out of. Completely out of the USTA's control on short notice. It's not as it like Rolex makes this move and then they're having to react nonstop.

[Mike]

Yeah. They're like, hey, Stacy, on your way out, by the way, can you scramble to make this the most secure place?

[Andy Roddick]

I mean, it was like I was. I was having conversations in real time. And I love Michael Fiore, I love Booty, I love Stacey Alistair, who we'll get to at the end of the show. But I don't know where the win was here. I mean, the censoring thing was like, that was bullshit. That's like my one point of complete disagreement. Beyond that, it's like, what do you do? Yeah, you know, what. What do you. What are you supposed to do? Yeah, you know, One, don't. Don't tell us what we can talk about. Two, fuck. I don't know what you do with the rest of it. It was. It was like. It was insane. I mean, it was just. I'm looking out a window and you see stuff you never thought you'd see in your life. Like, it just. It was crazy to see. Crazy to kind of be a part of walking in the locker room, every locker open. I mean, it was just crazy. And to think that that happens somewhere every day. Yeah, like it's. That's. It's an operation, that's for sure.

[Mike]

Well, I think to close this out, though, maybe we wanted to get. You know, we've been talking a lot and hearing a lot about the state of men's. US Men's tennis, you know, and where we sit. You know, a lot of people always bring up, you know, that you were the last man to win a slam, let alone the US Open, you know, and John, I think you had something to say about it, you know, when we were doing the live show. I mean, can you remind me kind of what that thought process is?

[JW]

Yeah. I mean, first of all, this is a global sport, right? I mean, we all love tennis in the 80s, but there were not necessarily a lot of players from Hong Kong and what was then serving. I mean, it's a global sport, so bear that in mind. Amanda Anisimova was the fourth American woman in the seatings. And in the men's, we have this unprecedented level of talent, at least in the last 10 years. I'd say, on balance, American tennis is doing quite well. Your thoughts, sir?

[Andy Roddick]

Yeah, I won at this point. I hate talking about it too. I hate that other players have to talk about it. Three, I hate that like Johnny Mack has to talk about it. Like for fuck's sake. Like he won a lot. Like I won one. Right. It just happened to be the last one. Like it's a total. Just coincident. I mean it's just stupid. I just need to say because I get asked about it all the time and I try not to grandstand on it on the show. I'm not the 72 dolphins. I'm not. I don't pop champagne when the perfect season's gone. I want this so much. Probably out more than anyone outside of the people that actually are going to be the ends up are going to end up winning it. Right? I. And also the thing that never gets said, which to me is just lazy. I was a fucking part of it for 10 years of the 22 year streak and I didn't win again. I didn't win again. I could have won in 09 and it would have been a lot less dramatic. It couldn't legally drink if I went in 09. Yeah, it's not 22 years. It's a lot less. Like I'm a big part of that. Like I failed too, you know. And also just this narrative of like now we've gotten into this thing where it's like a pass fail and it's like, okay, if you don't beat Sinner and Alcaraz, then it's just the same. It's not the same. It's not the same as 10 years ago when the number one seed, the highest ranked American was like 25 in the world and there were seven in the main draw. We have to, we have to be able to think in a sober way about progress. Like if we can't celebrate progress, then we're just lazy. There's 23 men in the US Open this year, highest number in fuck knows how long. Like a long time. We have four current American players that made that have made the semis of a Grand Slam. Tommy Paul's made it. Francis has done it twice, Ben's done it twice. And some quarters on top of that. Taylor Fritz is now a finalist, a regular quarterfinalist, a semifinalist at Wimbledon. This isn't the same conversation that it was 10 years ago. It's just not. And I understand that they have to deal with this hangover that they had. They had no drinks and still have a hangover. I don't like it, it's not fair. And I understand we have to talk about it. It's so boring at this point. To me, I mean.

[JW]

Yeah. It also flies in the face. Right? Only no matter how much you like a player, how much only 10 guys can be in the top 10, only 4 players are winning majors every year. Some of this is just about probability.

[Andy Roddick]

I mean, I had. I'm sorry to interrupt. I heard, like, a very prominent commentator who's like, well, I know one person who's happy about this. And it's like, me? No. Fuck, no. Miss me? Not even close. Wrong. And screw you for assuming. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. I'll be the first person to pop a beer with whoever does it. Guaranteed. Guaranteed. Sorry, jw, you're going. I'm just. Sorry.

[JW]

No, no. Have your beer ready. Because a. You get the feeling it's a question of when, not if. And also, I just think. Take a step back. Women is a smashing, dynamite success. Men's tennis. In American. Men's tennis. Doing just fine. Just everyone sort of everyone back up.

[Mike]

Six players in the top 35, six.

[Andy Roddick]

Players on top there. I mean, it's phenomenal. 23 people. There's a hundred. There's a. There's 128 people in tournament. 23 were American. That's a massive number on the men's side. Progress, if you're gonna make the comparison, don't do it to one afternoon, one Sunday afternoon in 2003. Do it to eight years ago. Do it to 10 years ago. Let's actually track progress, right? We're not gonna go back to Mack and Connors and Agassi and Sambras and Chang and Currier and, like, my golden childhood of fandom. Right? But, like, let's have a sober view of what progress looks like. Progress looks like Ben Shelton before he hurt his shoulder winning a Masters 1000. Progress is Taylor Fritz fighting his ass off and taking on the chain. Not hiding from this narrative and this hangover. Tommy when he's healthy. Francis lighting up New York. I mean, let's just. I'm sorry. It just. We need to kind of have a sober view. I just get how I get mad for these players and how good they are and how flippant this thing gets thrown out, you know? Anyways. And also, like, I just happened to be the last one. Andre won in January of the year that I won.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Andy Roddick]

I just happened to be the.

[JW]

Pete was Pete. Pete won the year before that. Right.

[Andy Roddick]

And then I had 10 years to do it again, and I fucked it up. Anyways, thank you for listening to serve like uso Try not to end on like angry note.

[JW]

Yeah, I was gonna say let's go.

[Andy Roddick]

Out on another gratitude. Gratitude for Stacy Alistair.

[Mike]

Yep.

[Andy Roddick]

Friend of the show. I'll text her a tough, like a weird tough question. Straight at it. Never really have to wonder what she's thinking. Never did in, in, in her tenure as term of director. I mean this term is not like it was even 10 years ago.

[Mike]

It's.

[Andy Roddick]

It's bananas. The amount of interest that surrounds and takes over New York City, this is, this isn't Albuquerque. This is New York City. And everywhere you go, there's a tennis ball hanging in a business. There's a hotel lobby with tennis stuff in it. There's people walking around with us open hats. Every seventh person you see in New York City. Stacy, thank you for your leadership. I know it's not easy. I know you're dealing with a lot of moving parts. This job, as I've gotten to know you and see kind of maybe a more sober, less player centric view and kind of insulated view of what all goes into it is amazing. Wish you all the happiness in the world. Kind of curious to see who takes your place, but you've left some large shoes to fill. So cheers, Stacey, Alistair, thank you all for watching served. And we won't see you tomorrow morning. We will see you next week. Nap time. Thanks to ServiceNow for their support. ServiceNow wants to help people do the fulfilling work they actually want to do. Work like hosting this podcast. You know what people don't want to do boring, busy work. Now, with AI agents built into the ServiceNow platform, you can automate millions of repetitive tasks in every corner of your business. It H R and more so your people can focus on the work that they want to do. That's putting AI agents to work for people. It's your turn. Get [e-mail] AI agents.

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