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John
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Mike
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JW
Hey, everyone.
John
Welcome to serve. Brought to you by Mercury. This is going to be a painful one. I just. We have to try not to cuss as much. What I want to say is we're gonna eat some shit, but instead I'll say we're gonna eat some manure. We. I will say one thing before we get to. And I'm gonna spend the rest of the show making fun of us. Right. And fully leaning in because there's no other way to do it if, you know, we're gonna have to be accountable to our guesses. But I will say it's probably not a lot of people walking around that. That are like, crushed this bracket. Nailed it. Nailed it. So if you're one of the ones who is just as bad or worse than us, shut it. Yeah. I mean, you can still have your way, still make fun, but just, you know, just. Just a little acknowledgement. Wait, let me ask you this before we.
JW
We have no rundown, which is both the appeal and danger of the show. So I'm out of me here. But before we go further, serious question. And then we'll. Then we'll joke about how bad we were.
John
Yeah.
JW
What do you attribute this to? I mean, is this parody? Is it the quirkiness of grass? Is it just the law of averages imposes itself? What do you. What do you say about this?
John
All right, so here's what happens. So when the Surfaces I called the mono surface, right? When the surfaces are all kind of similar, let's call it. I don't know what the, what they use. I don't know what the like, the equivalent of like a step meter is for, for, for tennis. But if it's 0 to 100 in the 70s, 80s, 80s was all kind of fast. 90s was kind of fast. Early 2000s was like you had some really slow ones. You had some really fast mid to late 2000s. Everything kind of slowed down. They wanted to get away from that. No, I don't think anyone admits this, but 100% they wanted to get away from the Evenizvich, Becker, Sampras, where people were just walking back and forth on aces because it was so fast. When you have a mono surface and it's all pretty consistent, guess what's also going to be more consistent? The results. Right? They're all going to be a little more consistent. Let's rewind back all those years ago to before the Big three, right? It was not crazy for Pete Sampras to lose in the fourth round of a major. It happened. He won one or two. He won one a year. He won two a year. He still won all the time, won five or six times a year. But he would lose like third round. He would lose the US Open. He lost a Jaime Isaga. He would lose to Peter Korda, he would lose to Magnus Larson, he would lose to Wayne Ferreira at the US Open. I mean, these are, it's just a start. He would lose the French Open to what's his name, Cedric Kaufman from Kentucky, who was like a qualifier. He was playing in college like three months earlier. So it used to happen before. One, the Big three came and changed every single expectation that we have. And two, sorry, this thing moving across is not a ghost. It's my wife. We're packing up, trying to leave for tomorrow. So this thing, as techie Sean put it before we got on, he goes, it looks like the ghost of good picks, which I thought was, was, was accurate. But I, I think, I think the W when the surfaces are slower, jw, it allows a similar playing style to happen. When it's super fast like this, guess what? Works a little bit, right? The movement's a little off. You have to move not just fast, but in a certain type of style. Like we just saw center. And we'll get to the match against Dimitrov, which was act like heartbreaking for, for so many reasons. But Yannick doesn't get out of the corners on grass like he does on other surfaces he tries sliding, but he has to like finish the slide and then get back quickly. It doesn't look natural, right? So it's not just, I mean, we know what a great mover he is on every other surface. But then you have those light movers who kind of glide the, you know, Pete, Roger Edberg, Carlos does it. Now Novak has figured it out where he has that kind of like gentle speed that you need on grass to navigate around. So I think as the playing services have, have gotten crazy and I think when something becomes fast, I think it exposes certain playing styles that much quicker because Coco's never practiced for fast courts in her entire life, right. Like she, they, they've just kind of been this mono surface for so long. Therefore, she has to change everything that she's ever learned for this three week season. And even for superhero avengers like Coco Golf, that's hard, right? And there's always been outliers at Wimbledon. You've always had, you know, crazy semifinalistic. You know, it just has worked like that over time. So I'll tell you this before we get into the draw show guys at dinner last night, just a great little, little spot with, with some friends. And I think I've been starstruck. Like dead starstruck. Like knock me down with a feather starstruck. I can remember twice in my life before last night, all right? One was my favorite baseball player. I used to hunt down all of his cards and collect them nonstop. Was, was Cal Ripken Jr. Okay. And they're always unexpected. Like if I know that someone's going to be somewhere, if I can meet someone or like, luckily in this life, this crazy life that we've lived, you meet some really cool people. When it's unexpected, it floors me. Cal Ripkin Jr. One time in Baltimore, I finished playing a thing with Andre for Pam Shriver's charity Shout Out. Pam and I go into the locker room. Andre's still out doing stuff that world number ones at the time do. And I was just the guy that was on the other side. And I hear a voice go, oh, sorry, I can get out of here. And I like kind of turn around and I go, oh my God. I literally said these things out loud. I said, no, please never leave. It was Cal Ripken Jr. So that was one another time I was at Marty James and that whole Florida crew when I played, they lived at a place called Avila. And I left. I just before I even played golf. And Marty wanted to play and I just kind of wanted to hang out and going back to a green where I left a club and guess who walks over the top with my club in his hand and goes, you left your club on the green. Ar. It was Michael Jordan. And I lost my mind. I couldn't even speak.
JW
Oh, that's cool.
John
Third time in my life. Last night at dinner, like we're at a sushi place and you look across and it was like a sushi bar. Guess who walked in and just stone cold stopped me. I love this woman. I love her music. I love Janet Jackson. Walked in, stop me in my tracks.
Andy
Yes. No way. Really?
John
And I'll tell you, she sat down with her son and we were across the way, obviously. Didn't say anything, didn't bother. Would never think of it. The most loving, like 40 minute meal with her son, who I assume is her son. No fanfare away from everyone. And I just saw. I was like, I started. I was like. I know she caught me for a second before I regained my composure, but that. I was. I was stunned. That's a big one.
Andy
That's cool.
John
Go up.
JW
You haven't seen that documentary. Watch it. She's.
John
What is it?
JW
Complicated Woman.
John
Oh, I should watch it. I'm a huge fan. Like she's anyways. But that, that stone cold stuff.
JW
That's a good one.
John
Anyways, I'm obviously just procrastinating the pain.
JW
I was gonna say.
John
Let's.
JW
Can we get to the tourniquet portion.
John
Of JW after tourniquet. After spending 16 hours a day waiting around for interviews, do you want me to tell any more stories that have nothing to do with your life?
JW
I like this. I like the. The Blur background. Like in honor of one of the great British fans of Blur. Yeah, yeah. That's pretty cool.
John
Yeah. The great British bands.
JW
Ye. The ones that feel like we're procrastinating the inevitable.
John
All right, well, woohoo. Let's get to Mike. Are we going to start with men? Women?
Andy
I think, I think honestly, can we. Can we just start with center and just.
JW
That's good.
John
Yeah, yeah.
Andy
Level set there.
John
Yeah. So we're watching in our hotel in London. We're flying. Flying back tomorrow. 1. Grigo was just completely outplaying Yannic and there's just no chance that Yanik would tell you anything differently. One of the things about this surface is you can neutralize power with a slice. It reminded me of Roger on this surface where it's not slicing on defense, it's not slicing it. It's. It's like a weapon. And Grigor. This might be the last surface where it actually works as effectively as. As it was when Grigor Dimitrov is landing first serves at a high clip. He's very hard to beat. A lot of his results are directly linked to his first serve percentage and whether or not he's having to defend his second serve. Which basically means is he hitting that first ball in the front foot where you can hit that chip, get in, run around a forehand, distribute, or is someone able to take second serves and pound that backhand side early? Right, that's overly simplistic, but it plays a massive part in anything Dimitrov does. One of the most well liked guys on tour, one of the most respected. I haven't seen the other side of it, but has a reputation as an incredibly professional hard worker. I think that's why you're seeing the reaction. We've seen a lot of people get hurt before. One, you don't see it when they're two sets up a lot. But we were on, we were on a text and he kind of started and then he hit. I go, guys, this is over. Like, this is, that was instant. And you can't hide from like a pectoral muscle on a serve. You literally, when you reach back, you kind of have to, kind of have to let it rip from there. But listen, he's not, he's not young anymore, right? It's, it's, he's, he's had to retire in the last five Grand Slams and he has, does not have a reputation for being, you know, quick to, to, to shake hands at all. And it was just heartbreaking for, for many reasons. One, the opportunity of not getting to finish off the world number one on the greatest court in all of tennis and the greatest venue in all of sports.
JW
Right?
John
Like, he's at the point where he wants that last big moment. And two, it's, it's a torn, it's probably a torn pack. This is me playing doctor and I'm not. Best case scenario, it's a poll. Worst case, it's a tear. That's not a quick thing to get over, right? Like, that's not something that you can hide from as a tennis player. You could see it on his face, I guarantee. I, the last time I played Wimbledon, I didn't know if I was going to retire. I didn't know if I'd be back. But it crossed my mind for the first time. I was, I was walking off and no one else knew this, and I didn't get hurt. But like, I guarantee you, that's a thought for him. This is a bad injury. I've been going through a bad run of injuries. Will I be back here? Is this the way my Wimbledon story ends?
JW
Especially the context, as you say, he was a few games away from one of the real signature wins of his career, playing great big opportunity, five straight majors where his bodies let him down. I'll give you. Ironically enough, the last player to beat him outright at a major was Jannik Sinner. I also, I don't know if you guys. Did a little part of your minds go to Novak Djokovic as well?
John
No, I went to Ben. I went to Shelton first. But no, that's interesting.
JW
Yeah, we were talking before about how Novak needed some help from the draw gods that would help him along, and suddenly you think you might have Sinner eliminated. And suddenly not only is Sinner not eliminated, but he didn't have to go through the emotional and physical grind of coming back and winning a five setter. I mean, that, that tournament really had a pivot point moment about half an hour ago.
John
Well, listen, you don't want to. What I don't want to do is kind of maybe overanalyze the. From here on out when I think the main thing is, is, is, is Dimitrov. And also we have a responsibility. The whole point of the Redraw show is to eventually project forward to the, to the rest of the tournament, right? And so this isn't us glossing over and not being sympathetic to Dimitrov. I mean, I don't think anyone who has a heartbeat didn't feel for him in a massive way in that moment. And my mind went to a million places, right? It's like, oh, okay, maybe this is the last. Like, maybe this is the thing that starts my last run. Maybe I can get back to the top five. Maybe I can make a. I've never made a Grand Slam final. Maybe this is the time where I can do all of these things. And then just like that one serve, the mind goes, will I play here again? And maybe that's hyperbolic, maybe that's part of the moment, but is there a 2% chance that can cause emotion? Right? That's a big thing. I'm not saying he's never going to play there again. I'm saying that thought crosses his mind. That's what you see. The emotion when he was crying, the crowd support, the love, all of that wraps itself into. There's no teammate to lean on. And by the way, Yannick sinner, 12 out of 10?
JW
Yeah. How about center?
John
I mean, going over to the other side, you know, almost like where I was listening to the British broadcast and Tim Henman was like, well, is it weird that sinners listening to like the diagnosis of, of this thing? But at that point, I mean, I texted you guys, I said I was quick. I'm like, this thing's over. Like that, that, that, that flinch when he's looking at it and he kind of hacked that volley and then he went back and he was playing and then the first serve, I'm like, we're going to know here. As soon as he hits the serve, we're going to know. And you know, unfortunately we, you know, we, we knew that it was, it was, it was curtains, but it just sucks, you know, Grigor, well, he just does right by everyone. He doesn't really have any enemies. I hope he gets better. I hope it's better than it looked. It looked like a tear of a pectoral muscle.
JW
Which also heard, I heard sort of. Roger gave him a bit of an up, you know, an off season pep talk I heard in the Middle East. So Roger, Roger being. I mean there's so many elements this. And I also think I'm glad you brought up Sinner too. I mean there are a lot of moments that athletes can prepare for in their press releases or someone whispers in their ear that they're gonna. This was completely impromptu. This is probably the last thing Jannik Sinner ever expected to be dealing with about 30 seconds before it happened. That was just impromptu. Goodness. You really saw someone sort of mensched them some, some humanity. But yeah, that was, that was a rough, rough watch in so many ways. Grigor's sort of reputation, he deserves better than this. Yeah, just being one part of it.
John
Sports, sports. Doesn't care about sports, doesn't care about how you've done it. It's like your body is going to do what it does. One of the other things, like the minor details, which is something we, we like to talk about is BBC interviewed Sinner and he basically said what he said. He's like, I didn't win that. This is like. He's like, basically he's like, I don't deserve any. What My heart goes to Grigor. That's the only thing I care about. He answered one question and didn't wait any. And he was brilliant because he kind of trained. You could see him on the away camera on BBC, they don't. They never just ask one question. Like if anything, those interviews go on for too long. It's four or five questions after a match. Like it's kind of you're repeating the same things. He answered it and casually walked around off mic and the interviewers stands 10ft away and you could see they as soon as he walked they panned out and he walked up to the interviewer. I'm sure he said I'm not going to answer any more questions, but shook their hand and was basically like that's, you know, in a classy way like there's, there's nothing else to talk about here tonight. But listen, that, that's, that's sports. It's, it's equally inspiring. It's equally worry of celebration and it's, it rips your heart out sometimes and it's, it's, it's unfair. But those are all the reasons why, why we watch it. It causes emotion in the best ways, the worst ways. But here we are. Sinner is through Mike what what, what part of the draw do you do you want to talk about? Support for the show comes from Mercury, the banking product that feels extraordinary to use. If you run your own business, you probably had the experience of Jerry rigging a financial workflow just to make ends meet. Using one app to send money, another to track transactions, and then a random PDF somewhere in there. Enough of that. Try Mercury instead. Mercury can flex to fit your needs no matter your business. Whether you're a funded tech startup looking for a way to pay contractors and earn a yield on idle cash, or an e commerce brand that needs to stay on top of cash flow and access capital, Mercury can be tailored to help your business perform at the highest level here at served, Mercury has been a game changer when it comes to organizing our invoices, tracking our billing, and most importantly, being sure we take care of the people that make this show possible with on time payroll. Visit mercury.com to join over 200,000 entrepreneurs who use Mercury to do more for their businesses. Mercury Banking that does more Mercury is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided through Choice Financial Group, Column NA and Evolve bank and Trust members. FDIC Mercury treasury is offered by Mercury Advisory LLC and an SEC registered Investment Advisor in a wholly owned subsidiary of Mercury Technologies. Important information and disclosures@mercury.com Treasury.
JW
Fox Creative.
Hiro
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John
Ew.
Hiro
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Andy
Yeah, we'll continue on down this, this thread then because both of you guys had center moving through to the semifinals so that that stays intact now due to the unfortunate circumstance. But who he will be facing in the quarterfinals now is, is Ben Shelton. That was the first split that you guys had. You had Nakashima, Andy and John. You had, you had Musetti, which he made it not very far losing the first round.
John
So you're saying, okay, this is like, this is like disgusting because we can't even take the person that is through that were right about center because that's like, you know, he was even like each other. Yeah, he was getting, you know, he was getting, he was getting worked. Let's, I mean, I guess we'll, we'll, let's go to the part where Sinner and Ben Shelton. I will say this because I'm going to spend a lot of this podcast telling you why I was wrong. Some of it is like, you know, you'll hear me say, I'm sure at some point I'd bet against. I'd bet the same way again tomorrow. It just doesn't work out, you know, the way you think it will all the time. Ben Shelton looked bad at Queens and he looked bad in Mallorca. Props to Ben. Props to Brian Shelton. Whatever happened and maybe, and I always say grass is the toughest surface to feel comfortable on the first time and the quickest when it happens to build momentum on it can happen in two matches.
JW
Right?
John
Pete Sampras hated grass until he didn't. Right. I hated grass until, you know, I didn't. And you know, it happens very quickly. Props to Ben. He looked like lost in Mallorca when he was, when he was playing there. He's played great. His angles to the shots are better, his shot selection is better. His insistence on running around everything is less. He's learning how to pitch a ball game a little bit better, use the spins a little bit better. I Did not see the course correction for Ben Shelton happening this quickly based on what I saw in Queens and what I saw in Mallorca. So we need to give props there. It's still, at this point, even with Dimitrov exposing Ben. Yeah, sorry. Exposing Jannik in that match, it's still tough because the thing that was working the best was neutralizing center off that back inside with that chip, center would go big, big, big. And Dimitrov would just kind of drop the bottom out of. Out of a slice to get neutral and get in. I don't know that Ben has that shot yet. I'll tell you, two weeks ago, if you would have said this match, I'm like, oh, center all day. Ben's got a puncher's chance in this, in this match. I can't say he's going to beat center three out of five at a major yet. But also the other thing about Ben, he is three times the player, which is a great thing in the longer format. Three out of five sets is records and slams versus, like weird losses when it's two out of three sets. He finds comfort in the longer format. In about 3% of Earth can say that. Right. So there's a lot of positives going for Ben. I still think sinner gets through. But I've been so impressed with the progress of Ben, you know, from two weeks ago, three weeks ago, to where we stand currently, JW, this is, this.
JW
Is his 12th major and he has made the fourth round or better at half of them.
John
Amazing.
JW
This one included. Yep. What you said about best, best of five. He's a different player. I also think he, he's just, he's looked organized. Remember he had like the crazy match where he was one game away from winning and he had to come back the next day and he's had to play or he played a lucky loser. But today he played a game opponent and there's just, he, he's looked very composed. Not just sort of in terms of nerves, but he's. He's managed the match well. I don't know if this is. I mean, and, and you know, we're. We're half an hour off the center match. He hasn't gotten a press, but, you know, he was holding his elbow big time.
John
Good point.
JW
He got treatment, so I don't know what kind of shape he's going to pull up in in 48 hours, but yeah, I, I mean, I think you and I both were a little bit nervous on Shelton because of his grass play coming in, but he's, he's been terrific and I, I think, I think he's got a real chance to against center. Especially if this, this arm injury is a thing.
John
Well, one other thing to mention. Well one you can tell immediately like Grigor, he hits one shot and it's like, it's. It literally the sound effect would be an electric guitar just being clawed by like a 6 year old. Like that's the feeling that you see center. It's not like a torn tendon in the elbow or it's not like something that, like he was still hitting serves. It was uncomfortable, maybe bruised. But you can't serve 137 with a tear or a pull or a whatever in your elbow. So if you're sinners camp, you're hoping it's a bruise. Now jw, he fired a large part of his staff before this tournament. Physios, fitness, there's a whole thing. And now he's here with an elbow issue. Does that matter?
JW
That thought crossed our minds as well. Yeah. I mean I was told, oh, don't worry, there's someone from the Italian federation. The tournament has their own physios. Look, how many players don't. Can't afford a physio. We're not going to let them basically that there, there's reinforcement here. This is not just a team that's there for support and for rhythm. They know his body really well. So we talked before the tournament. Strange, strange move to fire your two members of basically your medical staff on the eve of a major. And now we're in week two and there seems to be an arm injury. Might that decision backfire? We shall see.
John
Yeah. Do you take in Ben? Are you taking Janik?
JW
I guess. I don't know. I mean, you know what I mean? Darn it. Say, I'm trying not to curse as well.
John
Yeah.
JW
You know what? I'll. For the sake of Morgan Stanley, I'll. I think Shelton, I think, I think Sheldon's got a real chance. I mean he's really impressed me and go, go look at his serve staff. It's not like, okay, I'm going Sheldon. Combination of factors. But I think Shelton will jump the gun here. Well, forget it. Let's, let's. You want to go down to the next. The second half?
Andy
I mean, like, I assume you're taking center.
JW
You're taking center.
John
I, I'm, I'm taking center. And it's not because I haven't been super pumped about anything that Ben's done. I, it's just I'm not going to let two sets erase a guy who's going to be one of the best of all time. Like, I'm not going to be a victim of the moment here. I don't like the sliding. I don't like the sliding at all from Yannick. I don't. I don't think it helps his movement. I think he needs to run through that forehand side. I. The. The ice skates thing. I don't. I'm not really a huge fan of. We'll see if Ben can bully him enough to. To. To make that happen and if he can stick enough returns. If. If he comes out and he's seeing Yannick serve. Yannick hasn't been serving great. He's been throwing in some doubles. I mean, we even said the other day when we did quick served, after I watched Janik from the royal box, I said, yeah, he. He went right through the guy, but he's missing some shots. The sir. I was like, everyone's like, he's playing great. I'm like, he's playing okay, but it was a little inconsistent. And there was more of that today. So there's concern. But he's still Yannick Sinner. He's still the number one player in the world. But I don't. I'm not. I'm not offended by the Ben call at all. Caboli and Novak. I am taking Novak.
Andy
I took you guys. You guys.
JW
Yeah, Seriously, we got to get you.
Andy
Guys both that Draper through.
JW
Yeah. Right.
Andy
To play Novak in the quarters.
JW
Yep.
Andy
And I think you have Mensik through Pascoboli, but yeah, so right now you have. You. We have Kaboli versus Novak. You guys both had Draper versus Novak. And then in the semis, actually, John, you had Draper beating Novak to make the semis and eventually making the finals. Andy, you have Novak in the semis and eventually making the finals.
JW
So I'm going to eat a. I'm saying I ate British breakfast food on that one. I'm not going to curse, not going to say what I ate. Bangers and beans on that one. Can I tell you a quick one on Caboli? First of all, he's awesome. We've had him a few times in studio. He's really fun. He sort of volunteered how nervous. Very game and very fun kid. English still. Still work in progress, but he's getting there. But he was volunteered how nervous he was and volunteered how badly he played against Novak the last time they played. This does not have the. The makings of a particularly competitive quarterfinal. I Hope the kid comes alive and keeps his play up. But anytime you volunteer how nervous you are to play against your next opponent, I'm not sure it's a great tell.
John
This is the Redraw show. So you no longer have Novak losing in the quarters, jw, Like a idiot.
JW
Who did I have beating him just for. Just for. Just for kicks and giggles?
John
Draper.
Andy
I mean, yeah, Draper in the finals.
JW
Oh, how'd that work out?
John
Oh, no, you don't even.
JW
Who knew Marin Chillich came alive?
John
Oh, by the way, like, we need to give. We need to give Chillage props, by the way.
JW
Totally.
John
Like, game is just game is game. Like, he's recovered from injuries. He's not as good as, you know. What's the song? I'm not as good as I once was, but I'm as good once as I ever was. Like, that's Chillich this tournament, right? Like, yeah, there you go. By the way, guys, I still have Sinner and Novak in the semis, just with all the chaos.
Andy
So, John, John, John, I assume you're gonna have Novak move forward to the semis now in your. I do.
JW
Yeah.
Andy
Okay.
John
So I'll. I'll do this. I still have Novak through to the final. Do you have center or no. Or do you have Ben Shelton or Novak in the final?
JW
Jw, I have Novak Djokovic making yet another Wimbledon final.
John
Okay, so Novak for both of us, next match. Fritz hatching off. I'm pretty sure I had. Did I have any. I don't think I had any of these in there.
Andy
You guys both had Medi going through over Fritz, and actually, this is the. This is the first round train wreck. And then you guys both had Zverev going through. So you guys had a quarterfinals of Zverev and Medi, and they. They both.
John
Yeah.
JW
Anyone bored or anyone bored in the 90s? I'm done back. It's a whole decade. Yeah.
John
Blame. Blame a generation, jw. I will say, like, this one, obviously we messed it up, and obviously we're wrong. And also, I think I actively hated trying to choose this section during the show. During the. During the draw show. I didn't like any of it. I just figured I'd go with whoever had performed well and Holly and whoever had, you know, a couple semis in a row. Fritz is as. As looked really professional. Guy plays a lot of tennis. And, you know, his. His thing of playing the week before Slams is strange for a top player. I like him over hatching off, but we always kind of forget about hatching off. By the way. And he almost beat Bublick and holla. He's been playing pretty well. Kind of a similar game. They're both big. They like to stay back. They like to hit it flat through the court. I like Fritz in this one to make his first Wimbledon semifinal. It is his third quarterfinal.
JW
Jw, I like Fritz to make his first Wimbledon semifinal. It is third quarterfinal.
John
Okay, there we go. Nori and Carlos. I know we didn't have Nori, but props to him.
Andy
You both had.
John
Yeah, I get. Yeah.
JW
Oh, my gosh. That's Matteo Bellucci. Wow. That's all right. Yeah.
John
We're obviously experts and not just guessing.
JW
About Nick Jari, man.
John
Yeah. Oh, yeah. I was so happy for you that Nick Jari made a fourth round a year and a half after you took him at Roland Garros one time. That was amazing.
JW
He's had a. He's gone through a lot.
John
Yeah, it was. He was mad. Just don't bounce the ball before your second serve when you're playing him because that sets him right off.
JW
Sets him off.
John
That is. That is unacceptable in these parts. Props to Cam Nori, semi finalist at Wimbledon before someone who doesn't serve massive serves effectively, doesn't hit his forehand massive. Hits it effectively, that backhand. The shot trajectory doesn't come off the ground. He just knows how to get wins. He knows how to put it in the butt. He's like Cedric Saballos, right? You don't see him and then all of a sudden you look at the box score and he's got 26 points, right. He just knows right there. He knows the game. It's a hell of a reference that four people got exactly while listening to this. But he's just a really good tennis mind. Tennis iq, I think, is. Is through the roof. And I'm going to take Alcaraz.
JW
I like Alcare to beat Corey McGetty.
John
Okay.
JW
Yeah, I think you're right. I mean, you know, Nori is really. He knows how to play on grass too. And I, you know, all credit to him. One of 17 college players, former collegiates in the men's draw. That's more than any one country, I'll have you know. But I like Carlos.
John
Carlos and Fritz. I like Carlos just because he's Carlos. Nothing against what I've seen from Taylor. I just feel like the variety of Alcaraz can get kind of Fritz moving up, back, side, side. He's not a sideline to sideline expert. He's really good at ball striking. He is really Good at controlling the middle of the court. I think variety is something that can cause him stress. And I don't know that there's anyone on planet Earth right now that's capable of more variety than Carlos Alcaraz. Are you gonna Fritz Alcaraz? Yeah.
JW
I mean, I think that the movement could be a difference. Fritz would just have to serve out of his mind. I like, I mean, I, I give Terrell Fritz a lot of credit. I mean, you look at his draw and then you also look, he survives those two big servers and then it's kind of look, look what he's been through and look at how his game has stayed elevated. I give him a lot of credit.
John
I did the, the old hedge bet during the live draw show with, you know, I like all of these play Medvedevs, Vera, Fritz, kind of all the same in that section, but just based on having to play Pecci, Paracord and Diallo on the surface. I took the others and I said it during the draw show. It's like he's the least likely to get to the fourth round, not because of ability, but because of the draw and who he, what he has to deal with early on. So props to Taylor Fritz. Nothing but respect. Carlos Novak, final. Oh, it's weird, you know, Wait, don't.
JW
Look like we've done this.
John
No, wait, Mike.
Andy
Did, Did. I think somebody picked up.
John
Did, did someone. Did. I think, I think it, I think.
Andy
It was, I think it was.
John
Sorry, I'm frozen. Sorry. Sorry. I was freezing. Did I pick that?
Andy
I think it was Andy Roddick.
John
Oh, I think andy Roddick. Good. J.W. and you're.
JW
That's, that's the irony. Can we, can we just point? I mean, we did terribly. Let's just come clean. But for, for the record, I, I think both of our winners are still, you know, it's just the other 125 or so players.
John
Don't, don't. Both of our winner.
Andy
John, you, John, you go the fourth round. So once we add up these points, at the end of all, this is.
John
Going to be a bloodbath. I don't care what point system you use.
Andy
Beating Fritz in the second round.
John
Oh, my God.
JW
He took him to five sets.
Andy
Horseshoes and haggernades. Right?
John
All right. I still have Carlos Alcaraz winning this tennis tournament.
JW
Jw, I, I, that's going to negate all of these disastrous early round picks. I still have Carlos winning for a third time. Great.
John
That means I can't lose to you. Perfect. See now if you were hedging and going for points. Then you probably. Whatever. All right, next one. Top quarter of the women's bracket. I had Sabalenka.
Andy
Let's take a break first.
John
Fine, whatever.
Mike
You're basking on a beach in the Bahamas. Now you're journeying through the jade forests of Japan. Now you're there for your alma mater's epic win. And now you're awake.
John
Womp, womp.
Mike
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John
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Andy
You guys both had Maddie Keys advancing forward obviously third round, but you had her in the quarters.
JW
We say, dudes, Sigmund had two. She's 37 years old. She had two Wimbledon wins for her career coming in. So it's not as though one of these, you know, Tatiana Maria, another German 37 year old, that would have been acceptable. This is just, I mean, good for her. All credit to her. But. And beating keys and straight, I don't think she's. Laura Sigman hasn't lost a set, but that is just a baffling quarter finalist, to be honest.
John
Yeah. And I watched a lot of the keys match and she just, there's a, there's a huge kind of movement in play of just playing people in and out when they're ball strikers from middle of the court like Sigmund was, was hitting drop shots regularly on second serve returns for Matty Keys, like just making her first movement sideways and forward, but not set. And hit right and she just kind of put her eggs in that basket. And they had a close up of Bjorn for Tangelo talking to Matty Keys and was basically saying the drop shots coming on the very next ball and sure as shit next time. But then it's a little uncomfortable. The movement's not sure footed. It's not as if she's played great in these matches. Right. It's not as if she's only won two matches ever. She's 37. It's not. She. There's no chance. She's just doing the same thing. Right. She's playing these weird shots and they're not going to work against Sabalenka. I don't think I have Saba through still. I mean, we're ripping on it, guys. I think I'm on fire. I mean, I think. No, maybe not. Anisimova, Pavli Chenkova. I know that I had an over in the quarter.
JW
We did. Well, that's a good call.
John
Give us. You guys had.
Andy
You guys both had. And a Samova. And then on the bottom half of that you had Andy, you had Schneider and JW at Ostapenko.
John
I had Anna Samova in the semis. Right?
JW
Correct.
Andy
Correct.
JW
Wait, did I, Did I. Do we both.
Andy
That I don't know. I didn't have yours written down. If I didn't write down a difference, if I didn't write down a difference, then it was. Then you guys, you guys both had animus. You had it through to the semis. There's no chance.
John
We both took it a SEM. You took Simmies too, beating off Topangu.
JW
Well, we knew he did. Let's just say yes. But you know what? For the sake of argument, let's just say yes.
John
No, you did. Sean's. Sean's giving us.
Andy
Sean's shaking his head. Sean didn't send me your picks all the way through.
JW
Yeah, yeah, you did.
John
You had her beating Ostapenko.
Andy
Wow.
John
Guys, are we. Sorry, are we. Are we.
JW
Are we?
John
I was gonna say, are we geniuses. Look at you guys. Wow. Okay, so wait, so just, just, just to look.
JW
Well, victory lap.
John
Just a level set.
JW
I'll be back. I'm just going to go for a.
John
Little lap around going to say this because it feels good. We still have Sabalenka and a Samova in the semis, obviously. Wow.
Andy
It's just the fact that you guys picked Schneider in Austin, Panko on the other side and I just. I just need. I just need.
John
Why are you always.
Andy
There's other ones I'm not bringing up.
John
Why are you always so negative, Mike?
Andy
Just trying to keep you guys level.
JW
The delts are flame like that.
Andy
You go.
John
All right. Not here to talk about. I'm not here to talk about the past.
JW
Yeah, right.
John
Andrea and Benich. Who do we have there, Mike? I. I didn't choose this one.
Andy
You guys both had Pula facing Andrea.
John
Oh, God. And then have Haley Baptist.
Andy
Oh, you had Haley Baptiste. John, you had Haley Baptiste. Yes. You had her taking down Maria. Andrea. And, and doesn't.
JW
Doesn't fortune favor the brave? Didn't I read that somewhere?
Andy
And Andy, you had.
John
I had Pula in the semis.
Andy
You had Pagula facing.
John
This is where it gets bad. No.
Andy
Yeah, but you had Kurdjikovan making it through. Oh, that's crazy.
John
Okay, well, wait. This is a. Oh, yeah. This. The entire bottom half, this quarterfinal.
Andy
Completely wrong.
John
The reason why I took the victory parade after Ana Samova is because I knew that it was a toaster. All right, Andrea Benjet. Props to Belinda Bench, by the way.
JW
Yeah.
John
Coming back, being a mother quarters of Wimbledon. Check out the Love all episode with Kim and Social Sophie when they interviewed Belinda Bench. It's just. What a pleasure to hear from. Who do we like, Andrea or Benich in this one?
JW
Jw, I like Andrea, who. She just has. First of all, she's served. Look at her serving stats. And you, to your credit, which I hate to do, but this was like six months ago. You were like, check out the serving stats on Andre. She, she. I don't know if she's. She's grown or, or changed. I don't think she's changed her motion, but she's turned into a really formidable server. And I, I mean, the way she took care of business against Emma Navaro. I like Andrea a lot, and I, I'm not sure she's ready to win this major, but I think she's ready to win majors. I think she gets by Ben very much the same way she did Emma Navaro. Just a little more notch of power, a little more gear, and she'll move just as well off the ground. I, I think Andreva is the real deal and I like her to.
John
It's.
JW
Yeah, I think, I think I take her to get to the finals, to be honest. But let's say semis for now.
John
Yeah, I, I. Similar to. I didn't like what I saw from her coming into the tournament. It looked like she was a little lost on grass, but she's flipped it like Ben flipped it Right. There was nothing that they were doing besides reputation and, you know, their talent. But as far as like transition to grass, there was nothing they were doing before this tournament that would inspire confidence in them going into this tournament with anything besides lying to themselves for confidence. And she's flipped it. I mean, she's put some score lines on people the last couple of rounds today with Emma Navarro, I like her bench. It's though can take time away. She will not go behind the baseline. And Andreva plays the ball, likes to play the ball lofted on the forehand side. I look for her to challenge that forehand side because she's going to like that ball flight coming in where she can take it kind of maybe at her shoulder, at least above waist level. So we'll see she's going to attack that side early. We'll see if it, if it holds up or not. But Andreva, her, she's a really good spot server. With her serve, she can hit all four corners. When you serve well, two spots on fast services, your serve gets better as opposed to slower surfaces like clay where people can. She's not beating you with 124 gas, right. She's hitting spots that works on fast surfaces, less effective on slow surfaces. But no surprise that serve as it's. It's a really, really underrated web.
JW
And I.
John
It was. She was. When she was playing in the Middle east in February, I really watched a bunch of her matches and I'm like, why does no one talk about her serve? Her serve is really good and it has been this event. I. To get to the bottom of the draw. I'll take Andrea over there, but bottom of the draw. I was at the IGA match against Danielle Collins. She is not trying to run around and hit forehands. We talked about it during the draw. By the way, she's. You guys see where the press covers. We say she listens to served.
Andy
No, did the best.
JW
I love.
John
But she's. She's not trying to like play the way she does on clay. Her back end so good. The stroke production is actually really good for grass. It's a short take back. She can play it line. She can find space even from the middle of the court. She can create as much angle from the middle of the court. So for you chuckers at home, when someone plays middle, the more centered you are on the court, the tougher it is to create angles. If someone pulls you outside of the sideline on the backhand side, you're more likely to be able to pull the Ball back outside the sideline. If you hit it cross court, right. Iga. Swiatek is very good at taking a ball that's like left, center, middle with the backhand and still getting it to cross the sideline before it crosses the baseline. Very underrated skill. Like, she's very good at it. That's a very hard thing to do. She's not trying to get as many forehands as possible. She's using the backhand, and she can actually distribute better off that side. The stroke production is better because the grip's not as extreme, and she can hit it both ways. I love the way her backhand is looking on grass. I like the fact that she's trying to find more of them this tournament. I like IGA in that one. I like iga. Going to the finals.
JW
Go.
Andy
Are you just trying to blow past. Are you guys trying to blow past the picks that you made? Are you just trying to ignore.
JW
All right, go.
John
I'm trying to. Trying to get to sleep before my flight, but. Yeah, but, you know. Okay, Drag us through the mud. Go.
Andy
No, no. You guys had Rebakina, which now we obviously have iga, But, John, you had Samsonova. Where. Exactly where she is. Yeah, but, Andy, you.
JW
Oh, do you have coke?
Andy
You had Coco?
John
No, I didn't. Did I?
Andy
Yeah. No, I'm sorry. The other way around. Just kidding.
John
Yeah, I had. I was about to say that's.
JW
I was gonna say this doesn't ring remotely familiar, but I'll take it if you say so.
Andy
Just kidding.
JW
You had. Wait. Andy had Simpson.
John
Yeah, that's right.
JW
That's good.
Andy
Yeah.
John
Wait, can I tell you, this isn't as bad as I thought. I gotta be honest.
Andy
It's really not as bad.
JW
It's not as bad.
John
I mean, mine's not as bad. John's is terrible.
Andy
Andy, you had Coco losing in the third to Kenneth.
John
And I also. I wanted to. I was this close to pulling. I. Yeah, I almost.
JW
You're gonna have her the first you call.
Andy
You. You did. I have it written here.
JW
Fortune favors the brave. Wait, I tell you a funny one about Sam. Son. First of all, she's. I don't. I don't think I'd ever spoken with her. She's awesome. She. She's really cool. But she would not. There was one condition for the interview. Anybody want to guess? She did not want to hear the name of her next opponent.
John
Oh, she flies blind 26.
JW
Yeah, exactly. And I said, well, when do you know? She's like, well, I stay off Social media, like, the night before, you imagine that you're playing a major quarterfinal. And as of now, we know who Ludmila Sam. Son of a. Plays. And she doesn't.
Andy
So wait, she just shows up to the court and she's like, oh, night.
JW
Before, night before, her coach tells her. But I'm like, you practice with a lefty, you know.
John
You know what's strange, though? Like, imagine doing that. Imagine doing that and then being like, shit, I haven't seen Coco or Bakana in days.
JW
Yeah, exactly.
John
It's not them.
JW
I was like, you know, Serena Williams.
John
Is Pula still here? Exactly. She's got. She's gone too. Well, this is getting good. That's funny. That's funny.
JW
Don't tell. So don't tell. Sam Son of a. But she plays iga. I think Lindsay made this point about iga. I'll credit Lindsay. I think it was her on tennis. She said, you know, she used to come here. She. She'd win Roland Garros, and everybody would say, again, she consolidate all the pressure, the channel, Double blah, blah, blah. She's almost freer now. She didn't win a tournament more than a year, and obviously Roland Garris was not. Did not result in her taking the trophy. She seems more liberated and more free now, and it's gotten as far as she ever has at this tournament than she did when she came in as the world number one player who just won the previous major. Make of that what you want.
John
She's also.
JW
You, like, eager to the final?
John
I do. She's also. She. She'll have a little bit more time against Andreva. Andreva is perfect at switching directions. She's great at mixing up spins. Eagle will have some time, though. I. You know, I. I'm not confident in that pick. Like, I'm not sitting here like, Eagle's gonna win for sure, I'm guessing. But I was just so impressed. And she might lose to Andreva, and I will still have been so impressed with what I saw of her in person. It was really fun to watch. And I don't know if this was just because she followed Pedro Martinez when he played Novak, but she was popping her serve like she hit the first couple, and it was like, 116, 118. I feel like she's taking a more aggressive mindset with her serve, taking the ball more on the back inside more often and not being in, like, a rush to do something right. She's kind of letting the game come to her a little bit more and trusting the Weight of shot. So maybe I'm putting too much stock in something just because I saw it with my own eyeballs up close. But, yeah, I. I think so. And I still Sabalenka. I still have Sabalenka winning, so nothing's changed there.
Andy
What about.
JW
Same thing. Remember how, like, in high school, who do you take?
John
Andreeva and iga? You take Andreeva, by the way. You're questioning my ego.
JW
Yeah, I take Andreva.
John
Okay.
JW
I take Sabala. To beat Andreva. I think it would be really funny. It would be. Now I'm jinxing it, but it would be really funny if we got the respective winners, given the various missteps along the way, starting literally, literally the first hour of the tournament, we were already in a hole, so.
John
So two things can be true, right? Like, people often forget that two things can be true. We made some dumpster fire picks, and that might be offensive to dumpster fires, right? So there's that. And also, pretty sure we're the only one that picks every match. We literally have like a 64x like, amount of things that could go wrong in. In our picks. Most people just pick the semifinalist and they miss one, they're like, oh, see, I'm pretty great. We just, we. You can just see our carnage along the way.
JW
Right?
Andy
It's pretty impressive, though. You guys had. I mean, Andy, you had Saba and Anisomoba. I mean, you guys were just both completely wrong on the other side.
John
It's really wrong. It was so bad. I need to. I love Jess Pegula and it's like, I just can't quit her at Wimbledon. It's lost. Two years have been rough.
JW
She was out by literally by like one o'. Clock. And I mean, she was out by the first day. But can we, can we use this? I was thinking about this. Can we use this occasion to sort of give praise to the players? Like all these cliches about thin margins and about a deep field, like, it really is, and they're really good. And sometimes one player has a good day and one player has a bad day, and they're variables, like, you know, tweaked injuries. Like, I. I think in some ways this is actually a real validation of. Of tennis. And I don't know, I mean, if you, if you had Laura Siegman beating Madison Keys, God bless you.
John
Yeah.
JW
Don't think. With a few exceptions, I don't think there are any crazy, stupid picks. And somebody.
John
I don't know. Should we.
JW
Should we.
John
Should we give credit to professionals of which there are like a hundred money making jobs from earth in this sport or should we just kind of go with with status quo when talking about things on television or the Internet as an expert and just pretend anyone who's not Rafa, Roger, Serena, everyone else sucks.
Andy
Exactly.
JW
I don't know what you're getting at. No, I mean sometimes it's like you picked red but the roulette ball landed on black. You.
John
I'm gonna say. I'm gonna say something. It's. It's. I'm gonna say something here and it's. I. I can already see the comments. This is not self serving.
JW
Right?
John
It is possible that people are absolutely great at what they do even if they're not Yannick, Sinner, Sabalenka or Alcaraz. Crazy thought if you Mike, if you had like an injury and the 12th best doctor on earth was going to help you, you'd feel pretty. You would call. That's a. You'd say you're great at what you do.
Andy
Yeah, for sure.
John
We don't do that enough in tennis. To John's point. This is served Brought to you by Mercury I can't wait for the rest of this tournament. Support for the show comes from Mercury Business Banking, complete with credit cards, invoicing, bill pay capital and and more. In other words, Mercury brings all your money processes into a single product that is glorious to use. No more toggling between a dozen apps and services to keep your finances straight. Now you can send money, pay bills, create and send invoices, issue reimbursements, all easily and quickly. The best part? You can apply online and get started in 10 minutes or less. Visit mercury.com to join over 200,000 entrepreneurs who use Mercury to do more for their business businesses. Mercury Banking that does more. Mercury is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided through Choice Financial Group, Column NA and Evolve bank and trust members FDIC.
Mike
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Served with Andy Roddick Episode Summary: 2025 Wimbledon Re-Draw Special | Andy Roddick & Jon Wertheim Re-Pick the Winners! Release Date: July 8, 2025
In this special episode of "Served with Andy Roddick," host Andy Roddick teams up with Jon Wertheim to navigate the unexpected twists and turns of the 2025 Wimbledon tournament. As the season progresses with surprising upsets and unforeseen injuries, Andy and Jon delve deep into re-picking the winners to reflect the evolving dynamics of the championship.
The episode kicks off with Andy expressing the challenges of re-picking tournament results without a structured rundown, humorously noting, “we’re gonna eat some manure” as a stand-in for facing the pain of inaccurate predictions (01:13). Both hosts acknowledge the difficulty of predicting outcomes in such a volatile tournament, setting the tone for an engaging and candid discussion.
A significant portion of the conversation centers around Grigor Dimitrov's unfortunate injury during the tournament. John elaborates on Dimitrov's playing style on grass, noting how the "mono surface" of Wimbledon has led to more consistent and predictable results. He reflects, “when you have a mono surface and it's all pretty consistent, guess what's also going to be more consistent? The results” (02:23).
Jon Wertheim adds emotional depth to the discussion, emphasizing Dimitrov's professionalism and the heartbreak of his untimely injury: “One, the opportunity of not getting to finish off the world number one on the greatest court in all of tennis... It’s a torn, it's probably a torn pectoral muscle” (11:05). They both express sympathy and hope for Dimitrov’s recovery, highlighting the physical and mental toll such injuries take on athletes.
Andy and Jon analyze how the consistency of the grass surface has favored the emergence of dominant players like Novak Djokovic while also exposing weaknesses in others. John remarks on how the surface “exposes certain playing styles that move much quicker” and discusses the repercussions for players like Coco Gauff, who had to adapt rapidly for the three-week season (02:23).
As the discussion shifts to re-picking the men's bracket, the hosts acknowledge their initial inaccurate predictions. Jon notes, “this is going to be a bloodbath. I don't care what point system you use” (35:11), humorously admitting their earlier misjudgments.
The women's side of the draw receives extensive attention, with discussions about top performers like Aryna Sabalenka and emerging talents like Iga Świątek.
Interspersed with analytical discussions are personal anecdotes from the hosts. John shares memorable encounters with sports legends like Cal Ripken Jr. and Michael Jordan, adding a personal touch to the episode: “I was starstruck... I couldn't even speak” (07:17). These stories underscore the camaraderie and mutual respect among athletes across different sports.
Towards the end of the episode, Jon and Andy reflect on the inherent unpredictability of tennis. They commend lesser-known players for their outstanding performances, arguing that even those outside the top ranks can deliver exceptional play: “I think pretty sure we're the only one that picks every match” (50:08). This segment emphasizes the depth and competitiveness of Wimbledon, celebrating both favorites and dark horses.
In their closing remarks, the hosts reiterate their admiration for the sport's unpredictability and the resilience of its players. They express excitement for the remaining matches and look forward to witnessing how the re-drawn bracket will unfold, remaining optimistic about their final predictions.
John on Surface Consistency: “When you have a mono surface and it's all pretty consistent, guess what's also going to be more consistent? The results.” (02:23)
Jon on Dimitrov’s Injury: “This is a torn, it's probably a torn pectoral muscle. That's not a quick thing to get over, right?” (11:05)
Jon’s Prediction Confidence: “I have Novak Djokovic making yet another Wimbledon final.” (29:28)
John on Tanner Shelton's Potential: “I think Shelton will jump the gun here.” (25:59)
John on Iga Świątek’s Serve: “She's hitting spots that works on fast surfaces” (44:00)
This episode of "Served with Andy Roddick" offers a comprehensive and heartfelt analysis of the 2025 Wimbledon tournament, enriched by personal stories and expert insights. Andy Roddick and Jon Wertheim navigate the complexities of re-picking winners in the face of unexpected events, providing listeners with a nuanced understanding of the sport's dynamics. Whether you're a seasoned tennis enthusiast or a casual fan, this episode delivers valuable perspectives on one of tennis’s most prestigious events.