2026 French Open Day 2: Top Seeds Survive, Wawrinka Falls, & Player Boycott Update

Summary

Served with Andy Roddick – Episode Summary

Episode: 2026 French Open Day 2: Top Seeds Survive, Wawrinka Falls, & Player Boycott Update
Date: May 25, 2026
Host: Andy Roddick & Jon Wertheim (with Producer Mike)
Theme: A lively, clear-eyed recap of French Open Day 2's highs, lows, and a deep-dive into the ongoing players’ prize money protest.

---

Episode Overview

Day 2 of Roland Garros brought drama on and off the clay: top men’s and women’s seeds endured sweltering Parisian heat, aging legends bid emotional farewells, American players showed promise, and the player-led movement for increased prize money remained in the spotlight. Jon Wertheim, pinch-hitting as main host, and Andy Roddick provided match breakdowns, context, and brass-tacks insight on one of the French Open’s most politically-charged weeks in recent memory.

---

Key Discussion Points & Match Highlights

Men’s Singles: Grit, Surprises, and Last Hurrahs

• Casper Ruud's Four-Hour Marathon [01:25–01:56]

  • Survived Roman Safiullin in five wild sets despite squandering match points and losing the fourth set 0–6.
  • “He got the win. Not probably the day at the office that Casper Ruud would have wanted.” – John Wertheim [01:56]

• Ben Shelton Steps Up [02:14]

  • Entering his first Grand Slam as a top-5 seed, he delivered a composed straight-sets win.
  • “He looked very good today, winning in straight sets.” – Andy Roddick [02:16]

• Stan Wawrinka’s Emotional Exit [02:41–03:13]

  • Age 41-plus, former champion, fell in four tense sets to Jasper de Jong, the Dutch “lucky loser.”
  • “A nice ovation for Stan Wawrinka, deserving champion.” – Andy Roddick [03:05]
  • “He was not here on a wild card, so he’s still playing competitive tennis. But it did not go his way today.” – John Wertheim [03:13]

• Notable Americans & Draw Shakeups [03:18–03:57]

  • Wins for Brandon Nakashima & Alex Michelsen (who “looked really comfortable on clay”).
  • Pablo Carreno Busta upset Jiri Lehecka, opening up the draw for young Spaniard Rafa Hodar.
  • “It was a big day at the office for young Rafa Hodar.” – Andy Roddick [03:56]

• Inspiring Win: Thanasi Kokkinakis [03:59–04:23]

  • Battled through injuries to win a five-setter, celebrated "as if he’d won Wimbledon."
  • “You really saw a lot of years of struggle from a very talented player.” – Andy Roddick [04:23]

Women’s Singles: Close Calls & Comebacks

• Iga Swiatek Cruises, Other Seeds Shine [04:26–05:25]

  • Iga Swiatek “won quite handily.”
  • Jasmine Paolini, “playing about .500 ball in 2026,” got a “much-needed win.”
  • “Anastasia Potapova, now playing for Austria...only gave up three games.” – Andy Roddick [05:25]

• Svitolina's Wild Escape [05:32–06:01]

  • Against Anna Bondar, Svitolina lost the first set, rallied in a tense third set breaker.
  • “She was just absolutely gratified, very lucky to have gotten through.” – Andy Roddick [05:50]

• Emotional Storylines [06:27–06:29]

  • Queen Nguyen, Olympic gold medalist, lost in tears.
  • “She was in tears in the press conference. She fell 6–4, 6–1 in her match.” – Andy Roddick [06:29]

Heat & Weather: The X-Factor

• “The story was the heat and the humidity.” – Andy Roddick [06:42]
• Extended point: “A player like Casper Ruud...in peak physical condition...spending four hours on your first round match in these conditions...that looks to play a role in this tournament.” – John Wertheim [06:53–07:00]
• Prediction: “It will really help [the top seeds] to play in these night conditions.” – Andy Roddick [07:03]

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Wawrinka Trivia Twist [07:20–08:42]
  • Producer Mike: “Stat of the day...1973: the last time a man older than 41 won a singles match at Roland Garros.”
  • Jon Wertheim: “The mystery man in his mid-40s...was Torben Ulrich, father of Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich!” [07:43]
  • Anecdote: Torben once gave an opponent a back rub during a Wimbledon changeover to help him relax.

---

Looking Ahead: Day Three Preview [08:34–09:46]

• Key Matches to Watch:
  • Sabalenka opens against tricky Spaniard Bousas Maneiro. “That’ll be an early test for Sabalenka.” – Andy Roddick [09:11]
  • Daniil Medvedev, Naomi Osaka (“either 6–2, 6–2 or a really scrappy, dramatic battle” – John Wertheim [09:39]), Stefanos Tsitsipas, Coco Gauff (defending champion), Felix Auger-Aliassime, Eva Jovic vs Alex Eala (“good, tasty match”), and highlight of more American hopefuls.
• Thematic Thread: “The story so far this tournament has really been the heat and to some extent even the humidity.” – Andy Roddick [09:56]

---

Player Protest & Prize Money Update [10:56–20:29]

The Facts

• Top players (Sinner, Sabalenka, Ruud, Gauff, more) staged a symbolic protest: only 15 minutes media time—representing the 15% of gross revenue players get at majors.
• “As a raw number, the prize money was higher, but as a function of revenue it actually went down.” – John Wertheim [11:54]

Context & Numbers

• TV rights surge: “TNT pays $65 million a year...that's more than tripled [previous].” – Producer Mike [14:47]
• Wimbledon’s player share: dropped from 16% (10 years ago) to 12.5% last year.

Analysis & Outlook

• Led by ex-PAC 12 commissioner and tennis insider Larry Scott.
• “This has really upended the ‘kick the can down the road’ strategy... They made a point and it wasn’t great publicity for the tournament.” – John Wertheim [17:04]
• French Federation has scheduled a counterproposal post-Wimbledon, with Wimbledon and US Open also entering talks.
• “It seems to me as though there is some movement here…this is really actually potentially...a pretty significant week for player empowerment in tennis.” – John Wertheim [20:25]
• Special attention to Jannik Sinner's leadership: “He really sort of felt disrespected...He’s spoken up at meetings.” – John Wertheim [18:38]

---

Stat of the Day

• Stat: Last man over 41 to win a French Open match—Torben Ulrich, 1973.
• Trivia: Ulrich is father of Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich. [07:43]

---

Producer Bracket Update [21:41–22:11]

• Bracket Challenge: John Wertheim leads the Serve crew—but it’s early days, with everyone tightly packed on points.
• “It’s 14 days. A marathon, not a sprint.” – John Wertheim [22:02]

---

Tone and Takeaways

• Conversational, insightful, rich with context and light moments.
• Players’ unity and political agency—woven throughout as an emergent theme.
• Unusually hot Paris weather shaping early-round outcomes and future tournament storylines.
• Emotional weight of veteran exits (Wawrinka, potential Monfils retirement), alongside the promise of emergent stars and American success.

---

Timestamps – Episode Roadmap

• [00:34] – Introduction & overview
• [01:25–04:23] – Men’s singles highlights
• [04:23–06:29] – Women’s singles highlights
• [06:42–07:10] – Heat’s effect and conditions
• [07:20–08:42] – Stat/trivia of the day
• [08:42–09:46] – Day 3 preview & matchups
• [10:56–20:29] – Player prize money protest deep dive & outlook
• [21:41–22:11] – Bracket update & closing chat

---

Summary

Day 2 of the 2026 French Open delivered hard-fought wins, emotional farewells, and the first ripples of what may become a seismic shift in tennis labor relations. The weather’s relentless heat is shaping the tournament and may be the great leveler in week one. On the court, veterans like Stan Wawrinka exit with grace, young talents seize their moments, and top stars are still finding their feet. Off the court, the player movement for fairer prize money distribution shows unusual solidarity and is poised to force action from the sport’s powerbrokers.

"This was a really significant week...I think the players—without boycotting—really made a point." – John Wertheim [20:25]

Transcript

[ServiceNow Announcer]

AI is only as powerful as the platform it's built into. That's why it's no surprise that more than 85% of the Fortune 500 use the ServiceNow AI platform. While other platforms duct tape tools together, ServiceNow seamlessly unifies people, data workflows and AI connecting every corner of your business. And with AI agents working together autonomously, anyone in any department can focus on the work that matters Most. Learn how ServiceNow puts AI to work for [e-mail].

[John Wertheim]

Hey everyone. John Wertheim Here it is Day two from Roland Garros. This is Quick Serve is brought to you by our friends at Service. Now Andy is traveling so I am going to run through today's results. We'll have a little trivia, we'll have a stat. We'll spin forward to day three, the last day of round one and then for those who care, I will run through some of this player protest for more prize money. This seems to be generating a fair amount of interest from hardcore fans. I suspect other fans would just rather talk about match results. So you can click out we'll do the match results first and run through today. It was a really hot day. I feel like this is one of those days where the time of match was almost as essential as the tally on the scoreboard. Kind of just a hot, sweaty, sticky day. Some players, Francis Tiafa is one example who actually quite relished these conditions. Other players faded. Let's just run through the results.

[Andy Roddick]

We'll do some matches on the men's side as well. Caspar Ruud, former finalist here twice who

[John Wertheim]

some people Andy Roddick thought would get

[Andy Roddick]

to the final, had a real sc

[John Wertheim]

very strange match for Casper Roode.

[Andy Roddick]

The headline spoiler he survived against Roman Safiulin. He lost the fourth set six love.

[John Wertheim]

So he had match points. He squandered them.

[Andy Roddick]

He lost two sets. He ended up coming back and resetting, winning the final set 6 2.

[John Wertheim]

But that match went four hours bottom line. He got the win. Not probably the day at the office

[Andy Roddick]

that Casper Ruud would have wanted.

[John Wertheim]

Let's just run through scores here.

[Andy Roddick]

Guy Monfis is on court as we speak.

[John Wertheim]

This could be his final match at Roland Garros.

[Andy Roddick]

We'll talk about him regardless tomorrow. I know Andy has a of thoughts. Other matches of note Ben Shelton for the first time entering a major as a top five seed.

[John Wertheim]

Andy and I have talked about how it's been sort of an up and

[Andy Roddick]

down clay season for him, really an up and down season overall. But he looked very Good today, winning in straight sets. Andre Rublev was a winner. A lot of us, me anyway, thought he might have more trouble with Ignacio

[John Wertheim]

Bussey, the talented young Peruvian. But Andre Rublev threw Caboli wins in straight sets.

[Andy Roddick]

Tommy Paul dropped a set against Ricky Hijikata, but he came through. Just running through other matches. One matches that I'll tell you two

[John Wertheim]

that did not involve seeds that caught my eye.

[Andy Roddick]

One of them was Stan Bovringka, former champion here playing for the last time north of age 40.

[John Wertheim]

He will make a return in this

[Andy Roddick]

podcast, if not this tournament because he figures into our stat of the day,

[John Wertheim]

gave a good accounting of himself. Remember, he was supposed to play Arthur

[Andy Roddick]

Feast in that first round match.

[John Wertheim]

And when Fils ended up withdrawing from

[Andy Roddick]

the tournament, Stan got the young Dutchman Jasper De Jong instead, the lucky loser.

[John Wertheim]

And it was De Jong, roughly half

[Andy Roddick]

Stan's age, who was able to outlast him in four sets. A nice ovation for Stan Bobrinka, deserving champion.

[John Wertheim]

I think it's worth noting he was

[Andy Roddick]

not here on a wild card, so he's still playing competitive tennis. But it did not go his way today.

[John Wertheim]

Pretty good day for Americans.

[Andy Roddick]

Brandon Nakashima won. Alex Mikkelsen looked really comfortable on clay. He plays Basfordi next. Arthur Rindernesh won, I would say an

[John Wertheim]

upset to sort of circle.

[Andy Roddick]

Carreno Busta, 34 year old Spaniard, never

[John Wertheim]

won a match at Wimbledon, but he's

[Andy Roddick]

been really good at Roland Garros and he took out Jiri Laheszka. That I think was a significant upset. Laheska playing pretty well in the clay. But also note that really opens up the draw for Rafa Hodar who won handily. Keep in mind too, that is the Taylor Fritz pocket. He was eliminated yesterday by Basa Beretti. So it was a big day at the office for young Rafa Hodar.

[John Wertheim]

The Spanish on the come up and

[Andy Roddick]

then I'm not seeing this result here, but I'll talk about it anyway. Tanasi Kokonakis, if you follow tennis, you know about his talent and you also know about the struggles he has had for years and years and years with injury. He was in the main draw on account of that Australian Open reciprocal wildcard

[John Wertheim]

and he ended up winning a five

[Andy Roddick]

set match against Teres Atmam. Fell to his back.

[John Wertheim]

You really could see, I mean he celebrated that match rightfully so, as if he'd won Wimbledon.

[Andy Roddick]

And you really saw a lot of years of struggle from a very talented player. So Tanasi Kokonakis on Court six, a very heartening five set win. Let's turn over to the women's side, shall we? Where we still have. We had half the top seeds in play. Note that Sabalenka and Coco will play tomorrow. But who did play today? IGA Swiatek won quite handily. Looking very good. It was nice to see Jasmine Paolini who has really been struggling this year, playing about 500 ball in 2026, she got a much needed win. Running through these results, Anastasia Potipova, keep an eye on her. Now playing for Austria, she's been playing very well of late. She won hand, only gave up three games. I think the most significant match on the women's side so far has probably been Alina Svitolina against Anna Bandar. Crazy stat here. They have played at four of the last five majors and Bandar has gotten her a few times. So this is really a competitive match. Bandar won the first set, 6, 3. And you are thinking that Svitolina, a contender in the eyes of many, just came through with that Rome title. This would really have been a devastating loss. Keep in mind too, as we speak, her husband is on court for what might be his last match.

[John Wertheim]

Her in laws, Gaelle Monfiso's parents, were

[Andy Roddick]

in the stands for this. You really had a feeling this would really deflate the tournament if Lena Svitolina had gone out early. She did not. She rallied. She won the second set. There's sort of a crazy match. And then pulled out the third set in a breaker 7 6.

[John Wertheim]

I talked to her after the match.

[Andy Roddick]

She was just absolutely gratified, very lucky to have gotten through. She was really heartened with the way she fought.

[John Wertheim]

I think she also knew it would be a smidge awkward for perhaps for

[Andy Roddick]

her husband's last match if 90 minutes before he learned that his wife had gone out in the first round. But Alina Spinolina survives. Nice to see Daria Kazatkina, a player who's really been hungry for a win, pick up a win as well, unfortunately. Well, let me see what else we have here. Jill Taipan, 1L Jill wins over San Sonoma and Jang. Remember, remember Queen Nguyen who won Olympic gold at Roland Garros less than two years ago?

[John Wertheim]

She's really had a rough go of it. Some injuries.

[Andy Roddick]

She was in tears in the press conference. She fell 6, 4, 6 in her match. But really the story today, Svitolina survives. Stan Bobrinka playing his last match. But really the story was the heat and the humidity.

[John Wertheim]

And I think there was a Sense

[Andy Roddick]

among a lot of players that what did they leave out there on the court? A player like Casper Root, he's in peak physical condition.

[John Wertheim]

Usually a player who handles the elements pretty well.

[Andy Roddick]

But you know, when you're spending four

[John Wertheim]

hours on your first round match in

[Andy Roddick]

these conditions, which don't appear to be

[John Wertheim]

lessening in the next few days, that

[Andy Roddick]

looks to play a role in this tournament.

[John Wertheim]

And for, you know, for players like

[Andy Roddick]

for Novak Djokovic and Yannick Sinner who plays tomorrow night, it will really help them to play in these night conditions.

[John Wertheim]

So so far, the weather a big factor, but a fun day of tennis.

[Andy Roddick]

A full day of tennis. Before we get to the third day

[John Wertheim]

of round one, producer Mike want to give us a stat?

[Producer Mike]

Yes, sir. We got the stat of the day. Brought to you by ServiceNow. And it is 1973. That's the last time a man older than 41 won a singles match at Roland Garros. Which again, it would have been Stanmar Winka who would have been become the oldest guy since 1973. But John, when I, when I brough this stat up, you had a really cool twist to it that I didn't know about.

[John Wertheim]

Who was this mystery man in his mid-40s who won a match at Roland Garros more than 50 years ago in 1973, it was. Drumroll, please. It was Torben Ulrich, father of Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich, one of the great tennis sort of characters, eccentrics. I think we've talked about him on the podcast before. The great. My favorite story is he was playing Wimbledon and saw that an opponent looked a little stressful. So with the changeover, Torben Ulrich walked over to the other side of the chair and gave his opponent a back rub because he couldn't stand to see his opponent looking so stressful. A real sort of a seeker, a free thinker. But Torben Ulrich was that mystery man. When we heard about Stan Wavrica trying to become another player in his 40s to win at Roland Garros, it was. Who knew? It was. I think Lars Ulrich would have been born by then. But it was Lars Ulrich 53.

[Producer Mike]

It was 53 years ago.

[John Wertheim]

So yeah, Lars Ulrichs north of. He would have already have been a father. He's 62.

[Producer Mike]

Yeah. So he would always have been 10 years old.

[John Wertheim]

Lars Ulrichs may even have been at that match. But anyway, Stan unfortunately did not win that match, so it's moot. But good trivia, good trivia. Anyway, let's look at Tuesday, shall we? As I grab my paper with the schedule printed out Irina Sabalenka, the top seed and the favorite in the eyes of many finalists last year. She gets going. This could be a tricky match. She plays boozes Monero, the sort of Spanish grinder who knows her way around a cliff court. It's also had some nice big wins at majors before.

[Andy Roddick]

That'll be an early test for Sabinek. I don't think she'll lose that match

[John Wertheim]

but that'll get her right into the tournament. Medvedev plays as well a player that some people I can't remember. I think I picked him who some people have getting all the way to the final. Naomi Osaka. A potentially tricky match against Laura Siegman. I think Andy said it very well. This is either going to be Osaka hitting through or 6262 or a really scrappy three set battle with agitation and

[Andy Roddick]

all sorts of drama.

[John Wertheim]

Stefano Tsitsipas in action. Coco Gauff, the defending champion kicks off her hopes of repeating and trying to win her a straight match at this venue against Taylor Townsend. We've got Kalinskaya against action set. 22nd seed against Louis Boissa who you'll remember was the semifinalist last year. And then sinner gets going against Taboor, the French wild card Felix Auger. Aliassine, the fourth seed against dangerous Daniel Altmire. Some people even have that as an upset pick. I think I did other matches of note. Eva Jovic against Alex Ayala is a good tasty match against two players on the come up. Good tournament so far for the Americans. Just a theme to keep an eye on. Again Francis Tiafa won today as did Ben Shelton. We have that match between Alex Mickelson and Basa Verretti who suck name Mickelson. He said he's known Bassoretti since he was 8 years old. So a lot of familiarity in that match. But again the story so far this tournament has really been the heat and to some extent even the humidity. These are not conditions. I mean players were saying yeah, we've had hot afternoons before but not day after day after day in this heat. So just keep an eye on that. What else we got? Producer Mike, should we go talk about the players protest and answer those questions

[Producer Mike]

and let people just want you're on the ground there. So you said that you've talked to some people in person and you kind of have a little bit of a fresh take on it, right?

[John Wertheim]

Yeah, I'll just rip through it again. If you don't care about tennis politics and tennis prize money distribution. It's been great Having you listen, enjoy Day three. I do know though, this generated a lot of interest among fans. I mean just on social media and chatter. And I figured I would just kind of go through it and sort of FAQ it. You'll remember that last week most of the top players got together and essentially in a rare show of unity, basically said as a form of protest, look, we're not going to boycott this event, but as a symbolic protest, we are going to limit our media time to 15 minutes. Why 15 minutes? Again, symbolism. By the reckoning of the players, 15 is the percent of prize money that they receive from the gross revenue of majors. I think a little history is important here. Last year a group of players, including Sinner and Sabalenka and Casperood, I believe Coco was part of this, quietly met with the tournament. And what I heard was that the tournament sort of said all the right things and we value you as partners and we'll keep it under consideration. And not only did nothing happen, but in 2026 the percentage of revenue that goes to prize money was actually lower. As a raw number, the prize money was higher, but as a function of revenue it actually went down. And that really sinner spout, I mean, I've been told by multiple sources Jannik, Sinner in particular has felt disrespected by the way this whole thing has gone down. So the players got together and they made this symbolic stand. This was only a one day protest. It wasn't a boycott, it wasn't immediate blackout. But it was a symbolic gesture and I think it showed some unity on their behalf. 15% they would like to get to 22%. They have a plan to graduate that in five years. So this isn't overnight, but sort of at 16 and a half next year and it keeps going up. Why 22%? That is the percent of gross revenue that the players get in prize money at the mixed events. So they sort of thought that was the closest comparison we've spoken sometimes about in the NBA. It's 5050 and that's sort of a tantalizing discussion. But it's really apples and oranges. Players are independent contractors and not employees. Golf is not a perfect comparison either. But the players want to get to 22% of of gross revenue. Again, pause to note that. Yeah, first round losers at majors get six figures. Winners can get anywhere from $3 million to $5 million. That sounds like a lot of money. You're hitting a ball over a net with a stick. Who's complaining? But I think if you look at the hundreds of millions of dollars that these events generate. Remember, we've spoken about the many millions just in honeydew and you figure media contracts and suites and sponsorships. The majors make a lot of money. And the players. I don't think the comparison to school teachers is really what's relevant here. It's a function of the revenue being generated. What percent do the players get? I think part of the reason this is going to be graduated over five years is because there's a lot of curiosity and concern and interest about Wimbledon's expansion. Remember, Wimbledon has had this sort of tortuous. It's been snarled in legal battles, but it does look like Wimbledon's going to expand into the neighboring golf course. They're going to have all sorts of sponsor village and it's going to completely

[Andy Roddick]

change the complexion of that tournament.

[John Wertheim]

It's also going to completely change the financial picture. And I think the players feel if they can lock into some sort of shared revenue before Wimbledon completes its expansion, they will be included in all of this. Upside. Did it work? I think absolutely it worked.

[Producer Mike]

Well, I have a question for you. I mean, obviously, I mean, you're there doing stuff with TNT and not to drag them into it because I think they're doing a great job, you know, But TNT pays 65 million a year. They're doing 650 million over 10 years. Right. I think that more than tripled the NBC rights deal that was previous, maybe based on rudimentary research, but it's a significant increase in TV rights alone. Just in the US market, they're doing 65 million. Right. I just, I struggle to understand how you go backwards. Right. And I think that's kind of what the players are saying. We're not even seeing the cocktail sales and the. In the merch sales and all the other ancillary sales just on TV rights alone. They've tripled in their. In their regressing in percentage. It just doesn't make sense. Is that. Is that kind of like the. What numbers don't they know?

[John Wertheim]

You're right. No, I mean, I'll give you one. I mean, again, I'm getting these numbers from the player side, so. So bear that in mind. I'm sure these can be challenged. But Wimbledon paid 16% of gross revenue 10 years ago. Last year, 12.5. I think it's possible you have these generous raises to the players and prize money is going up 10%. But when it's not framed as a function of gross revenue, you can analogize this to any other Bit business is going like crazy and who among us doesn't mind a, a double digit raise every year? But if the company is growing by 50% and I'm only getting 10%. So I think that's where a lot of the discrepancy is. This is all being organized by Larry Scott, who general sports fans will likely know as the commissioner of the PAC 12 in tennis. He's been an executive at both, head of the WTA, worked for many years at the ATP, also was a former player, which I think is relevant. I mean he sort of has sensed this and this wasn't yesterday, but he sort of knows about the struggle of trying to have a viable tennis career. I was told that he is actually being paid by a pool within the tours. So a lot of people have said why haven't the tours contributed more? Why haven't the tours been more vocal here? Well, it seems like the tours are actually helping to pay Larry Scott a fee. He's not getting some sort of pro rata fee. If I can secure you this raise, I get X percent. I mean it seems like he's getting a flat fee that is actually coming

[Andy Roddick]

from,

[John Wertheim]

is actually coming from a bucket within the tour. So it's been interesting. And his approach, keep in mind. Yeah, it is, right, because I think he's, I mean, and also this is a much different approach to the PTPA which we've talked about, right. Which here comes this organization, it's not really a union and they don't get very far. I mean clearly the playbook for the majors is basically you kick the can down the road and players who have market value retire. And it's sort of, I mean since I've been in tennis, players have asked for more money at majors and why aren't we getting a bigger sliver? And the majors say oh yes, yes, yes, you're valuable partners but nothing concrete really happens. And I think this has really upended the kick the can down the road strategy because what has happened again, this all took place Friday. It wasn't great publicity for the tournament. I mean the truth is I don't think it really had a material impact. I mean I went back and looked at some of these pre tournament press conferences and very seldom did they last more than 15 minutes. And it was only one day, but they made a point and it wasn't great publicity for the tournament. So what has happened since then? The FFT French federation, Roland Garros has put a date down on the calendar. They've essentially said, listen, give us to Wimbledon, let's get through this tournament. Give us a few weeks, but we will get back to you with a counter proposal. The word counter proposal is fairly critical. I think it does a lot of lifting. That implies that there will be some movement. A counter proposal is not, hey, let's meet again and tell you how valuable you are. That seems to imply some movement. Also, Wimbledon and the US Open have scheduled meetings with this group for later next week. Wimbledon will announce its prize money June 10th or 11th. So it sounds like in advance of that, they want to make sure that this kind of a situation doesn't replicate itself in late June at Wimbledon. It seems to me as though there is some movement here. That doesn't mean this 22% goal is automatically going to be met. But I think there is a realization that these majors are growing. That's great. It's great that tennis is this global sport. I mean, there are plenty of sports and plenty of sectors where the vectors and the arrows are going in different directions and they're not increasing revenue, they're not getting triple the television rights. It's good for tennis, but it does look like the players are going to share more in some of this upside. I'm keeping an eye on Sinner. This is not a hothead. This is not someone who likes to create confrontation. And especially before the one major he's never won, the fact that he's been so involved, and I've heard from multiple people that he really sort of felt disrespected. He's spoken up at meetings. I mean, who knows if he wants to. Is Yannick Sinner going to play mixed doubles at the US Open? If he feels like. If he feels like this, he's still being disrespected. I don't know, but there's a lot. I mean, I get it. There are a lot of fans, very understandably. I just want to know who's winning the tennis matches and who's advancing to the next round. But I think if you follow sports and social issues and the culture of the tour and this dynamic between players and big tournaments that are making a lot of money, I think this was a really significant week. And I think the players. Without boycotting. I mean, look, a boycott's never going to happen, and I think everyone kind of sort of knows that. But this kick the can down the road and tell the players to be happy with $100,000 in a fancy gym, that. That doesn't seem like it's going to happen either. So I think this is all quite Healthy. But I think this is really, actually potentially anyway, a pretty significant week for player empowerment in tennis.

[Producer Mike]

We could go much further on this, but I think it's. Any other headlines for tomorrow? Jw, what are you focused on tomorrow? That's. Are you going to see? I mean, the heat's going to hold on for another few days, right?

[John Wertheim]

Yeah. I mean, you look at your weather app, and again, it wasn't like this even a week ago. And I think a week ago you

[Producer Mike]

were saying how cold it was.

[John Wertheim]

Exactly. Players were playing qualifying matches in full sweats. I mean, you'd wake up and it would say, you know, it's 46, feels like 41. So it's interesting from the player perspective that some of these qualifiers were like, wait a second, I was here playing in, you know, a hoodie seven days ago, and now I'm worried about all my hydration. And I think we all want to see how Yannick Sinner, you know, clearly the player to beat. I mean, I've been really impressed by how other players on the men's side did. They just. There's no sugar coating it. I mean, he. He is the player to beat. They know it. They know what's up. And at the same time, it's sports. Nothing is scripted. But let's see how our two number one seeds fare again. Three, three day round one. So at this time tomorrow, every match will likely be in the books.

[Producer Mike]

Can I give you something to end the show?

[Andy Roddick]

Sure.

[Producer Mike]

Right now, in our serve bracket challenge, you are leading by 10 points over Andy, Kim and Blair. Blair, Kim and andy all have 300 points. You have 310. I too have 300 points. So you're. You're doing well on the men's side and shockingly, you're not doing as great on the women's side. Blair is crushing 200 points.

[John Wertheim]

It's 14 days. A marathon, not a sprint. Yeah, as long as whoever at Casper Rude was nervous about an hour ago. But that's. That's.

[Andy Roddick]

This is tennis for you.

[Producer Mike]

All right, jw, go enjoy the end of this Gale Mon feast, and we will see you hopefully tomorrow. This has been served. Presented by ServiceNow.

[ServiceNow Announcer]

AI is only as powerful as the platform it's built on. With the ServiceNow AI platform, your AI data and workflows all work together, connecting every corner of your business. To see how you can put AI to work for people, visit servicenow.com AI agents.