← Served with Andy Roddick
Served with Andy Roddick
2026 Roland Garros Recap: Sinner’s Heat Problem, Sabalenka’s Mentality, Fonseca Arrival & More
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- [00:01]
Mike
Lamine Yamal steps into McDonald's, looks left, sees Pulisic, looks right, sees Jimenez, gives a nod to Ronaldinho in the corner with a FIFA World cup meal. Ronaldinho sees son in the booth. Son finds Beckham going for extra Big Mac sauce. He's got Davies at the table just behind him. Davey's going for his collectible cup.
- [00:19]
JW
A steal by Henry, who pulls his own collectible cup.
- [00:22]
Mike
Collect one of nine legendary cups with
- [00:24]
JW
a FIFA World cup meal at participating
- [00:26]
Mike
McDonald's for a limited time while supplies last. All rights reserved. 20:26 McDonald's at FIFA World Cup 20:26 so good, so good, so good.
- [00:33]
Ad Host
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- [00:58]
Mike
I have my dream job, but even dream jobs have not so dreamy parts. That's where ServiceNow's AI specialists come in. They don't just tell you what to do about your busy work, they actually do it. That way your team can focus on what matters. To learn how to put AI to work for people, visit servicenow.com. Hey everyone. Welcome to Served. Had to train myself not to say Quick Served.
- [01:26]
JW
Oh yeah.
- [01:26]
Mike
After these two weeks, Been a long time. Actual Tuesday release brought to you by ServiceNow. As always, please subscribe. Thank you. For those of you who joined us for the last two weeks over on Quick Served, back to a more regular cadence. Although we're. It's a lot of stuff cooking. We might have. I don't know, we have a lot of stuff. I don't know. We can get it in and just.
- [01:47]
Techie Sean
We got a lot of stuff going
- [01:48]
JW
on before weekly Wimbledon.
- [01:49]
Mike
Yeah, a lot of stuff. John Wertheim back with us. He's had a very quiet week. Nice. No one's mentioned his name for any reasons at all. Everything's fine, right, John?
- [02:02]
JW
Fine. The warm bath of tennis. I don't know what you're. I was just watching matches. I don't know what you're referring to.
- [02:07]
Mike
Yeah, no one does. We'll just. Nothing to see here. Jw. Listen, you were around the grounds quite a lot for the last couple of weeks. I guess just a. Like a lazy question should be better than this with a journalist of your caliber. But like, what were some of your. Your takeaways from the Last couple weeks.
- [02:30]
JW
Pretty standard. Pretty standard. Major. You know, we had a. A poll. We had a woman, a woman from Poland in the final. We had a man from Italy in
- [02:38]
Mike
the men's final, just like I predicted,
- [02:40]
JW
you know, just like I love tennis. And I was thinking, one of the reasons why is just the wild unpredictability. And remember, I don't know, what was it four or five months ago, we came out of Australia and we said, well, the matches were kind of duds, but, you know, at least we got all the stars in the end. And, you know, the semis had Carlos and Zverev and we had Novak beating, you know, Novak beating Yannick and the two best women played. This tournament was the absolute complete reverse. It's like I read a mystery one week and then we switched over to Sci Fi. I mean, it just completely different cadence. The matches were spellbinding and wacky and back and forth. It was hot. There were dozens of five setters. There were. I don't have the numbers in front of me, but there was, I think, a record number settled in a decisive set, tie, break. Men's and women's together. We had seeds. I mean, it was just absolute chaos. And then, honestly, the air, kind of complete reverse of Australia. The air kind of came out of the tournament a little bit on the back end, but, you know, great. We've got teenagers advancing, we've got Brazil as an emerging superpower. I don't know if you want to go here. We can. We can save it, but there was a lot of talk about the grass. I mean, this whole Serena comeback news that we sort of casually kick started with our conversation. I didn't realize it was quite.
- [04:01]
Mike
Hey, hey, dude.
- [04:02]
JW
Controversial, as we thought.
- [04:04]
Mike
Wasn't me. It was you.
- [04:06]
JW
It was us. We're a team. Collective action. We're a unit. It was a podcast. No, I don't know. Honestly, it was. It was really. It was a really, really fun event. It was wildly different than the previous major. Zverev breaks through, Andreeva breaks through. Two different players, different circumstances. Funny. Funny how players like a decade apart can both have a breakthrough, but how the circumstances could be so different. A lot of. I mean, sometimes. I don't know. Tell me if I'm. You have the same. Sometimes majors answer questions, sometimes they provoke questions. A lot of questions suddenly around Yannick Sinner. A lot of questions around iga. A lot of questions around Sabalenka. I mean, I think this Wimbledon is going to be interesting. The great news is that there's another chapter in this narrative three weeks from now. But this was a wacky. I mean, I wasn't around for like, I don't think I was. You were there, but for like Gaston Gaudio beating Korea or Canada. I mean, we've had a lot of sort of consistent winners and this was, this was just a kooky, wacky fun ball. This was, this was a wild event.
- [05:06]
Mike
The, the last time, I think Sinner going out in the way that he did, up two sets, up five, one. And then like as soon as it got to the fourth set, you're like, he has no chance. Like, he's, he's. I'm trying to think of a match that sent a jolt through the tournament that created hope and possibility for the entire field. I'm trying to think of like one like 25 minute section from when he goes, you know, up serving for two, five all. And I don't know that he can make it through this thing at all. And the only thing I can come up with that was maybe as shocking, and I don't think it was, was when Rafa finally lost at Roland Garros to Soderling. And then you're going, all right, is Fed going to win? Is he going to complete the career slam? And he kind of played the role like not to the same effect because it was about a career slam and an opportunity to win at Roland Garros, but not completely far away from Will Zverev breakthrough and win. Like we, like Rafa loses, the focus goes to Roger's quest for the career grand slam. I feel like this entire, this entire tournament shifted, you know, in a 25 minute section of events.
- [06:33]
JW
I think we talked about it. The one irony is that Rafa in 2009 and Sinner this year were the two most sweeping favorites and neither of them came through. I tell you, it went kind of overlooked. You know who else was a game from the finish line and it wasn't heat related and it wasn't a physical breakdown, but Sabalenka. Sabalenka lost.
- [06:53]
Techie Sean
Yeah.
- [06:54]
JW
So you had both top seeds, literally points from advancing and couldn't close and like overwhelming leads. It wasn't like, I don't know, she was, she was up like a set in five, two or something.
- [07:04]
Mike
Five, four, one and 30, love. Yeah, yeah. I mean, it was significant.
- [07:09]
JW
No, I gotta say, I think I feel like Andre, by accident or design, sort of. I don't know if you caught his remarks about Sinner, but I think, you know, a lot of people, hey, you know, what do I Know, I've never played a best of, you know, I've never played a five set match. It's hot out there. Everybody sort of tiptoe. I think a lot of people were like, kind of weird that his body gave out the way it did. Like, yeah, he's played a lot this spring and we know from Australia and everyone sort of suddenly became an expert on pigmentation and hydration and salt sweating, but it was all just speculative bullshit. My joke was you thought Baratini had a HIPAA problem. But no, I mean, everybody was speculating about an athlete's personal health without having any sort of details. But then when Andre came almost a week later and made his remarks, which I'd encourage people to check out, I think that kind of reignited this discussion of was this really a pivotal moment and what the heck really happened? That sort of. On the ground. That remark was everywhere.
- [08:09]
Mike
Yeah. Okay, so I'm texting with Andre. I text all the time. And he said that he actually talked to Darren first because there's like a complexity there with. You don't share a decade with someone, or it's not quite a decade, but you don't share that amount of time with a coach and then blindside them. You just don't do that. And Darren, to your point, he said someone needs to wake up the perceived experts. Right. Like everyone has a theory. But I did say this to Andre, I said yes, and you have the credentials to say it. Not just some blowhard saying something for clicks. And I think that's why it landed. Right. This isn't some person somewhere saying something they don't understand. Like Andre understands what it is to prepare and to be the guy and to have eyeballs on you and all that. And there's like, he doesn't need a job, so therefore he can actually just say it. You know, it was, it was interesting. I said on air the other day, he left me a voice note which I cannot play on air in Australia when it was the Center Spazziri matchup and it was kind of the same, the same thing. It's like this. We haven't. I don't exactly care for standing on the sun if you're an hour and 20 minutes into a match now, I don't. Is that. Do we know everything? Probably not. Is it going to get asked about it? Absolutely. Is it unfair to say that under like any circumstances you should be able to, you know, get through an hour and 40 minutes? Yeah, I think that's fair criticism. I think Yannick would tell You. That was fair criticism.
- [09:56]
JW
I think so too. And I also think it's, you know, we've had players have trouble. We've had rivalries. We'd have players that have trouble with certain matchups. We've had players that are injury prone and then the Delpos of the world who just kick the injury bug. And I can't recall this. And the one thing I think we need to make clear that every. I mean, Jannik Sinder does not cut corners. This is not a guy who's cheating on his fitness. I mean, this is something that a real expert needs to explore. This isn't a case of his being lazy or out of shape or anything like that. But, you know, we said before the tournament what, what could stop Yannik Sinner. And it was, it was a what and not a who and. And the what, you know, without, you know, credit to Surindal as well. But yeah, I mean, it certainly the plot thickens and I think, I think you're total Andre coming in not just with the credibility, but with the Darren relationship. Andre is, you know, on the one hand, yeah, the guy's kind of. He doesn't need to work. He's kind of at a point in his life where he's out of fucks. But he, but he also, this is not a hot head, someone who's just popping off. He's speaking from knowledge.
- [10:56]
Mike
Listen, Andre went away for. We didn't see him for 15 years. He's not in the attention business.
- [11:01]
JW
Right?
- [11:02]
Mike
He's not one of the ones who, you know, needs to be at every match, doing every match, you know, in the mix, you know, never was away from tennis. Like, that's not his, his deal. You know, he only came in for four days, but he, he left a little bit of a trail, you know, But I don't, I don't know that anyone's looking at him and saying like, that's completely out of line or unfair.
- [11:26]
JW
It is the credibility.
- [11:28]
Mike
Well, it's also shocking to see, like, I mean, even. I mean, I said yes, it's. Listen, hot in Paris is different than hot in Washington, D.C. right? So like, we're talking to like, I. One of the days it was like 91, and everyone's like, it's so hot. I'm like, this is every match of the US Summer for five weeks. Like, this is a. This is an off day. So, so sure. And there's not a time, there's not really time to acclimatize like going to the US Summer. You're Getting into that heat a little bit, going to Australia, you should be able to get into the heat a little bit to get used to it. This was out of nowhere after you've been playing in, you know, 60 degree weather in Europe for, for five weeks, and it's just not going to go away if through the first two majors of the year, you were able to survive the Spozieri match. But I think he was. I mean, I said this back then. I think he was done in that match. If he doesn't get the benefit of, of the rule, not some person's choice, the rule that specifically states you have to close the roof at a certain time. So this is, this is an issue that you can't just really like sweep under the rug because it's. I guess it's chronic at this point.
- [12:36]
JW
Yeah, I mean, the flip side is this is theoretically solvable. I mean, Mike, I'm sure you know this. I mean, UFC fighters all the time go to these labs and they get every sort of perspiration test and they get hydration tests and they're. You talked about it with Carlos Novak, by the way, three years ago when he went in that full body cramp and said, listen, he needs to sort of tidy this up. And he did. So I do think this is a solvable problem. I mean, there's sports scientists and clinics that specialize in this, but I can't recall seeing this. And I was thinking, just sort of big picture, we're in this weird spot where center, absolutely dominant player, and he's won, whatever the math is, one of the last five majors. And Sabalenka hasn't lost her grip on number one either. She's like won one of the last six. So you have these two number ones who are very firmly in position. Combine two of the last 11 majors. That's all they've won. So, yeah, I mean, this is, you know, Wimbledon will be here before we know it and we'll have a new set of answers and questions. But yeah, this was. If this was a while the plot writers got a little kooky on this, on this tournament.
- [13:40]
Mike
I'll tell you this. I'd rather have to solve a problem with physicality, preparation, hydration, food, whatever it is. I'd rather have to solve that and know that I'm a dominant player in the world and I'm not. None. Like, the problem isn't my game. It's these things that I have to find to let my game, you know, I, I'd rather be in that situation. Than be fully hydrated and not being able to hit a fucking back end. That's not that. That's. That was ever my reality, but I'd rather be in sinner's position with some, with that to solve than, you know, not being number one in the world, not having won a bunch of thousands.
- [14:26]
Techie Sean
I mean, I think when you, when you think about the rest of the field too, right. They all had to endure this. I mean, through the first three rounds. I think there was something like 20 matches over four hours. I think we ended up with 22 overall and I think something like 32, five setters just on the men's side.
- [14:40]
Mike
Yeah.
- [14:40]
Techie Sean
You know, I mean, so it was, I think that was the over four hour matches. I think that beat the previous record by five. Oh, it was, it was a, it was a war of attrition amongst the entire field.
- [14:51]
Mike
And I.
- [14:51]
Techie Sean
And I don't think we'll see that again, you know, so, I mean, guys were limping into the quarters and semifinal matches.
- [14:57]
Mike
Yeah. I mean, through the first nine days, the narrative of recovery was ever present. Right. And people were doing it. I mean, Arnoldi, I mean, he eventually gave out. It's like, you know, and I, I think we mentioned this. I don't know if not I should have. Like, he plays that much. At some point your body has to give.
- [15:16]
Techie Sean
Yeah.
- [15:16]
Mike
You talked about it, right? Like, you play 18 hours, your body is exhausted, you got nothing left. You're more prone to like viral illness than someone who's played 10 hours and who has been able to completely recover all the time, every day. You know, it's just, I was just trying to like, I enjoyed this tournament just because it was full of hope and you didn't feel like you could skip to the ending.
- [15:46]
JW
Yeah.
- [15:46]
Mike
You know, like I enjoyed not. I enjoyed not knowing how because, I mean, let's be honest, for 25 years, or I'd say since Roger, like in 04, probably it's been outside of the French Open. And that was even when Nadal came and won the French Open the next year. Like, they were kind. Like a lot of the tournaments were, were pretty spoken for. We were all trying our asses off. But like, you know, it took something crazy happening. This felt like the 90s when, you know, Jaime Isaga beat fucking Pete one time at the US Open.
- [16:22]
JW
Sapphires.
- [16:23]
Mike
Yeah, like there were random. Jerome Hanel beats Agassi, you know, too at the French Open, like there was shit would happen sometimes and it would open up entire sections of draws now, you know, don't take that as me. Listen, I want to see Sinner and Alcaraz at their best for as long as we can see it. It's been great. I'm just saying, you know, you drink the same thing every day. It's kind of refreshing when you have something different.
- [16:46]
JW
Yeah, I mean this was the outlier.
- [16:49]
Techie Sean
If I would have told you before this tournament that our two winners would have been first time winners and they would have been born a decade apart, you would have had no idea who I was talking about.
- [16:57]
Mike
I would have said one of them is Vera.
- [16:58]
Techie Sean
One of them was Vera.
- [16:59]
Mike
Yeah, you would have probably. Yeah. I mean, you know, I the Listen, the other thing I'll say and I said it quickly in the recap show and I'm curious to hear. You just finished talking with with with Zverev's team and you've kind of, you're just fresh off to level set. I know you all are listening to this. On Tuesday morning, JW literally went from the courts to his room and we started the recap show. So you're fresh off of kind of the Zverev car wash where they are reacting to his win. I mean they have to be ecstatic and relieved.
- [17:37]
JW
That's the key.
- [17:38]
Mike
Relieved.
- [17:38]
JW
There is a real mix and I have to say, I mean look, let's just. We're truth tellers here. I mean opinions about Zverev are all over the place and we don't invalidate any of them. But one thing I think you got to give him credit for is there was no self delusion here. He knew what the rap on him was. He knew that this was the one missing element. This was his 25th title. I think he went over like $65 million in prize money. I mean this is a player who has accomplished everything but this major. And he knew that his tennis definition was going to be is he, is he or is he not going to win a major? And he kind of leaned into that. So there was this weird mix of absolute joy. We were joking. He fell on his back and usually a guy wins a first guy wins a set. Six one, six love. Even if it's a big title and it kind of, it doesn't quite have the emotional propulsion but he fell to his back. And one of the reasons was this relief and the fact that he knew what the deal was. He knew he'd been in a fit when. I mean, I think something else about this tournament that I wanted to add that kind of fits into this is that all conventional wisdom went out the window, right? So like Min in the second round gets carried off on a stretcher and you're like, he's cooked well.
- [18:50]
Mike
Especially Demon the next round.
- [18:52]
JW
Yeah, exactly. He's playing Divinor.
- [18:53]
Mike
It's like, oh, I wonder if he'll
- [18:54]
JW
even get a set. He rolls through to the sevies and you say, oh, the momentum's all going in the other player's favor. And then Casper Rude is looking great, and then Caspar Rude recovers and wins another five setters. So not only is health and recovery so critical, but the conventional wisdom of who had it and who was going to be beat up and who was. You know, Cerundolo plays a five setter and then he plays another one. And this match had the same thing. This was sort of the perfect capstone match. It was not the greatest tennis. It was batshit crazy. It was drama, it was entertaining. And Caboli stones that volley at set point and then he hits this absolutely brilliant, stone cold winner to push it to a fifth. He leaves the court. That's kind of weird. You'd think he'd want to keep the momentum going and then he sort of hits the wall. And I feel like that was a pretty good metaphor for this tournament. Everybody said, oh, Zverev's in trouble. This match went to a fifth. He was two points from winning a major. It's, you know, the scar tissue.
- [19:52]
Mike
He looked cooked four sets, by the way.
- [19:54]
JW
He looked absolutely cooked. And you're like, oh, the accumulated scar tissue just. And more interest to the accumulating interest. And then he closed it out in like 20 minutes. I don't know what the time of that last set was, but it was barely competitive and it was sort of the perfect encapsulation of this entire event. Not only strange results, but strange process to get there as well. But anyway, to your question that you asked about five minutes ago, before I started filibustering, this was joy. This was relief. Jez Green is there and he's the physical guy.
- [20:26]
Mike
I really. I've always really liked Jez Green, even back when he was with Maria. I just, I think he's like. I think he's great, 100%.
- [20:33]
JW
And this was also a match that showed that when we. It's very easy shorthand to say mental versus physical, but this was as much about sort of keeping the body and dealing with the stress and the stress imposing itself on the body and the mind. I mean, this was really the overlap of mental and physical. And it was, you know, four hours and 16 minutes. There were cramps. There were, you know, I don't know if you caught the. I'm saying, made a big deal out of it. I was watching with Petko. We were like, you can't do that. When Marcelo Melo came to the side of the court and gave him tablets and a drink and some advice, we're like, you know, that was in the rule. I mean, this match sort of had it all. Zverev got it together. There's joy, there's relief. He gets his first major. He didn't have to beat a top 10 player to get there. And you know what? It doesn't matter. He beat the players on the other side of the net. He won seven matches, and his whole career has been redefined.
- [21:24]
Mike
Does it change when Melo gives you something that you're missing? Does the umpire take into consideration that zverev's a type 1 diabetic?
- [21:35]
Techie Sean
He'd already given himself a shot during the match.
- [21:37]
Mike
I know, but I'm just saying, like,
- [21:39]
JW
you can sell the shot, you know?
- [21:40]
Mike
But my favorite part, like, yes to everything you just said, was completely gratuitous. With a shot clock like Zverev. At that point, he was willing probably to take the time violation, which is his prerogative. But in true. Like this tournament form where we're not using electric line calling and it completely fucks Casper Rude in the second set of a match where we're not moving fucking lines. Person things that sit in front of them and players are getting injured tripping over them. I like how you let the clock go to 45 seconds in that scenario. You let Zverev get away with it for 20 seconds longer than the clock. And then right as he's about to serve, you call time violation, which causes us to lose another 20 seconds. Like, what the fuck are we doing? Either do it or don't do it. What are we doing? It was absurd. I don't know. Like, it was just wacky all around. I. I'm happy that you said it. This was a pass fail course for Sverev. There was no, he played hard, played great. He'll take something from this. There was nothing to be taken from this unless it was the big trophy. Like, I don't know that. I remember another scenario in tennis where it was, yes, no, zero room for middle ground. And I don't think that was. And listen, I always try to explain, or at least do my best to explain from the player's perspective and that this sport isn't easy. Right, let's talk about why it's hard. Let's talk about why it's difficult. It's not an accident. I said the other day in a recap show. It's not. It's never an accident. When Kaboli hits three winners and has 16 errors in the set one of a grand Slam final, that's not just nervous and I forgot how to play tennis. It's all because of patterns and how someone else effectuates the rallies and everything else. This was an absolute pass fail course for Zverev. There was no middle ground. Even for someone who's like. Understands it and doesn't like it when people just use things like that, you know? Oh, just flip the switch and play better.
- [23:50]
JW
Okay.
- [23:50]
Mike
Fuck me. God damn it. That's. That's like. You can't really. It's not. That's not easy. But he passed. Doesn't matter who he played, doesn't matter how he did it. Doesn't matter. There was no style points.
- [23:59]
Techie Sean
There's.
- [24:00]
Mike
It's. This isn't up to the judges. This is. Win the last point. This is winning three sets seven times in 14 days. Or Roland Garros 15 days. Got it done and earned it. Did it. I don't care who was in the tournament.
- [24:16]
JW
It's a great point. You're knocking down that free throw or you're not. This is a binary. And sometimes you can say it was Covid and it was wacky. We couldn't find any rhythm because there were no fans. And you can say Carlos was just too good. And you know, on a hardcore center is just too. This was. Listen, dude, you're either walking out with that trophy or you're not. And there's really. And also, I mean, let's. No Carlos, no Janik. I thought a Djokovic getting the crowd and turning this into the 91 open and sort of hijacking the tournament was a real chance. None of those impediments. He played two night matches. He spent less time on the court. I mean, there was just. He woke up this morning and it was basically like, you're either gonna. You're either gonna do this or you're not. And no bullshit, no excuses. And there's no. There's no way to spin this as anything other than success or failure.
- [25:10]
Mike
Yep. Mike, you're gonna be proud.
- [25:12]
Techie Sean
What?
- [25:13]
Mike
You wanna know what I'm gonna do right now?
- [25:14]
Techie Sean
What?
- [25:14]
Mike
Before we come back and talk about the influx of young talent in tennis, we're gonna take a break.
- [25:20]
JW
Yes.
- [25:21]
Mike
We did it.
- [25:22]
JW
Let's do it.
- [25:22]
Mike
Here we are. Thanks for listening to we will be right back. Chukkers. We're coming up on our big trip to London, and as we all know, the tour schedule is relentless. Travel isn't always easy for the fans either. All across the globe, tennis fans are watching the tour calendar and draw releases to plan their dream trips. Here at Served, we're still planning our itinerary in London, but at least we locked in the most important part, our home for the tournament, which we found on Airbnb. Fans like me will be looking for a home away from home over the next few months, whether it's next door to us in London or later this summer in Montreal. Your home could be worth something right now to fans around the world. So become part of the story. You can list your space on Airbnb, give those fans exactly what they're looking for, and even make some extra money while you're at it. Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much@airbnb.com host this episode is brought to you by ServiceNow. Look, I have my dream job. I watch tennis, I think about tennis, I talk about tennis. But even dream jobs have not so dreamy parts. The stuff that gets in the way of the actual work, that's where ServiceNow's AI specialists come in. They don't just tell you what you should do about your busy work, they actually do it. Start to finish, cases closed, requests handled, no extra work for you. That way, you and your team can focus on the work that matters, which for me is explaining at length why tennis players are the best athletes on earth. Sorry, everyone else on earth. To learn how to put AI to work for people, visit servicenow.com you don't
- [26:55]
JW
wash your jersey during a win streak. You don't switch seats when your team's up big, and you definitely don't shave during the playoffs. When things are working, you don't change them. That's why when you drink Jagermeister, you drink it ice cold. Anything else, well, that'd just be bad luck. Drink it cold or don't drink it at all. Jagermeister. Damn, that's cold. Drink responsibly. Jagermeister liqueur, 35% alcohol by volume. Imported by Mast. Jagermeister, US White Plains, NY.
- [27:25]
Mike
Comcast is delivering extraordinary experiences in live sports through the incredible broadcast and storytelling from NBC, innovative and personalized viewing features on Xfinity and Peacock, and the country's most reliable WI Fi viewers can enjoy every game changing play faster and more seamlessly than ever, all in A network built to deliver unforgettable moments as clean, close to live as possible. The ultimate experience for the American sports fan. Learn more@comcast corporation.com sports all right, back to the show. Hey everyone, welcome back to serve. Brought to you by ServiceNow another story of this tournament past the long matches and kind of just the craziness and the chaos that felt like it was ever present. During the first nine days there was a youth movement in a big way and obviously the biggest, you know, kind of bearer of that youth movement ended up winning the tournament. On the, on the women's side, Mira Andreva. It felt inevitable at some point. I don't know that a lot of people had her on like the first three or four favorites for this tournament, maybe in that second pack jw but she was, she was dominant for this, especially during the second week of this event. What did you see from her?
- [28:41]
JW
I signed 19 year old veteran. She was great.
- [28:46]
Mike
Yeah, she was, she was poised.
- [28:48]
JW
I, I, you know you, I give you a lot of credit for this. I, I like it like 18 months ago you texted us and I, I couldn't tell if you were being sarcastic or not. We were like, she's bomb. And that serve as a cannon serves good. I'm like Mira Andreva does a lot of things great and she anticipates and she's very clever but I never, and then her serve, go, go look at her serve stats from this tournament. I, you know, I'm always a little weird. I'm always a little ambivalent about coaching. You know, it's the players out there, it's their ass on the line, they're the ones in it. But I do think like Kachita Martinez should come in for, for a round of applause. But I thought Mira Andreva kept it together. Some of these fits of peak, these sort of, you know, not atypical for a 19 year old but that have crept into her game in the last year. Nowhere to be seen. She won the matches she had to win. She's very comfortable on clay. She was poised, she was, you know, she, it was an absolute banner two weeks for her as well. And again very different circumstances from Zverev but there was a sense Prakash and I talked to her mid tournament and she's basically like, you know, finally, let's see if I can finally get one of these. So get the feeling she, I'm like Dude, you're 19 years old. I think she was getting a little impatient and I just thought she was terrific. I mean imagine going To a, you know, we think of pressure as for all in the final set, pressure is also being an overwhelming favorite. A hundred plus ranking points higher than your opponent to win a major. And she kept it together. She never let said opponent who we should probably discuss as well in the match. Yeah, she was terrific. I thought Andreeva was just a plus. And if the teacher, if Conchita Martinez, you know, gets a tip of the cap, I wouldn't object to that either.
- [30:29]
Mike
Yeah. One of the things that I'm excited to see in Dravo is no notes. She went through, only got better as the tournament went on. Regrouped after Indian Wells, Miami, that was a bit of a dumpster fire for her. Went to the clay, started going to work, had a win early in the clay court season and put up results pretty much the whole way. One of the things that I'm most impressed with is her ownership of different facets of the game already. Right. We talked about her serve two years ago as a liability. I watched that. It was, I remember exactly when I was kind of like, oh shit, she can serve well. Was in the Middle east run where she won in 25. Before she won Indian Wells and she was getting through service, she would have service games where she would click through them. You know, there's this five point service games, she was clicking through them pretty, pretty well. But her ability to switch up ball flights, right. She plays Falinska and you know, she hits lobs and she's happy going and hitting lobs back. And then once one short, she has the toolkit to take your head off too. Right. She can come in, she can hit drop shots, she moves her physicality. In the last two years, I dare you to google her. Two years ago versus now. She is strong, like shoulder strong, leg strong, base strong. You felt like you were watching, I mean like, you know, when, when there's an animal you know is going to be very strong, but they're like still in their infancy, like a giraffe or something where they're kind of a little weak and they haven't gotten there yet. That was a couple of years ago. She's a bull in the best way right now. Like she is very physical, can play different types of games. Those options are going to serve her well in the future and they already are. When she's not playing great, right? When she's not playing great, she's not going through someone. Oh, I can go into defense mode and mix up shots until I find my groove again. She can, she's going to Be able to strategize for different matchups, which she did in this tournament. I think she's only going to get better.
- [32:38]
Techie Sean
She.
- [32:38]
Mike
She doesn't rely on just overpowering someone. So if it's not working, then there's no plan B. She has plan B, C and D. Like she. It's just. It's a amazingly well rounded game. Before you get to the fact that she's 19 years old, remember you old
- [32:55]
JW
enough to remember when people said this sport has gotten so physical. We have seen our last teenage major champion.
- [33:02]
Mike
I wondered it, by the way, I wondered it out loud, very, very, very audibly. I was one of those.
- [33:08]
JW
This is all in spirit of, you know, this is all in service of healthy growth. But, yeah, great tournament for the, you know, we talked about. We can talk about Fonseca, we can talk about Hodar, we can talk about how they endured best of five matches. We can talk about, yeah, you know, our guy. Yeah, I'll give you one. I'll give you two. I'll give you two. Fun notes. One of them, he was younger than the junior champion.
- [33:30]
Techie Sean
Yeah, I saw that. Who was younger than. Pretty good.
- [33:33]
Mike
The junior champion, Kwame. Oh, yeah.
- [33:37]
JW
And also the Brazilian kid, Guto Miguel. Man, Brazil is like the new Italy. I mean, go look at the junior draw and boys and girls, there are a lot of good players from Brazil, but this kid from Brazil is going to be a star. Guto Miguel, like, really smooth, powerful, you know, handsome guy. So I'm hearing my moles tell me he would like to just be known as Guto. Like Neymar or Ronaldo.
- [34:00]
Mike
Like Seal. The ATP done like Seal. Like one name. Like Serena. Keep winning, keep winning. Like McLovin.
- [34:07]
JW
Like all the.
- [34:08]
Mike
All the great.
- [34:10]
JW
How I think that the ATP's got to figure out what to do with that on scoreboards, but I'm all for it. We need a Neymar. We need a single name. Tennis player. Guto. Remember the name. He was great. But yeah, it's. And I don't know, I mean, I don't. I'm curious. You know, we don't have to go here now in a rap show. But I'm curious what you attribute this to. All we hear is this sport's getting harder and harder. It's more physical, the technology. And yet we have this influx of teenagers and they don't. They also, like you were talking about Andreeva, they don't play like knucklehead teenagers who just go out there with live arms and pop balls. There's actually Some, including, including Kwame. I mean, he, like I said, he had more drop shot winners than aces for like a big strapping 16 year old. And they also endured best of five matches. So I don't know if you have a quick and easy answer, but it seems like this. We're reversing our age trends here.
- [35:00]
Mike
Yeah, I wish I did. I was one of them. That was, you know, with as physical as a game's getting, are we going to see 18 year olds, you know, win majors now? Now, I will say there's a difference between Andreva winning at 19 and Hingis winning at 16. You know, I think there's, that there's a lot of space between those two, but it's pretty exciting. Like, it's not even just young players that are doing well. It's young players that have irrefutable star power. Like, you see Fonseca take a swing at a forehand, you're like, jesus, that's. That's absurd. I mean, Kwame looked like he was totally comfortable in his home slam.
- [35:43]
Techie Sean
I mean, he was eating up the crowd.
- [35:45]
Mike
Yeah, but you also have like a group that if you've been watching Roger Rafa Sinner, you know, there's. I don't know, there's like a, there's like a weird lack of ego, but without, without giving up any confidence. Right. There's like the, you know, you feel like, like Andrea lost it in Indian Wells, got criticism, as I do. I kind of laugh when people just snap. But you didn't see a hint of it at the French Open. So it seems like this younger generation, listen, do they make mistakes? Yes. Did I think for a second in that final that Andreeva was going to, like, let it slip and like Indian Wells, it. No, I didn't. You know, she'll do it again at some point and everyone will be like, she hasn't learned anything. I'm like, well, not really. She kind of snuck into Roland Garros when she didn't do it in between. You know, I think these, these young players have the ability to make the space between mistakes larger.
- [36:51]
Techie Sean
I mean, we shouldn't forget about the teenage women that was. There's Imboko and Eva Jovic.
- [36:56]
Mike
Amazing.
- [36:56]
Techie Sean
They have the same kind of makeup. Right. Like you. We, we've interviewed both of them, Yala. And you leave. Yeah. And you leave and you're like, oh, my.
- [37:03]
Mike
Like, they're grown ups.
- [37:04]
Techie Sean
Why are they so much more mature than us?
- [37:06]
Mike
Yeah.
- [37:06]
Techie Sean
And it's just, I think there's something to maybe this generation being eyes wide open about what the expectation is all around.
- [37:13]
Mike
Yeah.
- [37:14]
Techie Sean
In embracing it early.
- [37:16]
Mike
I don't have, like, an obvious explanation for it, but I'm here for it. Yeah. You know, I think. And it's. I also think it's weird that we're getting to the point where it's like, you know, that next generation behind Sinner and Alcaraz. I'm like, man, time doesn't stop for anyone, does it?
- [37:31]
JW
Yeah.
- [37:32]
Mike
Like, we're. We've. We've already skipped to that portion of the show, but I think the. The young groups finished with Andreva. I mean, it was just like, it's just exciting. You know, you can kind of like, I watch myself watching Kwame, and I'm sitting here going, oh, in two years, that shot that he just missed barely is. I mean, he's going to be a step faster. The serve is going to be 15% bigger. The feel is there. His ability to, like, kind of endure pain isn't going to get worse. Like, this is all really exciting. Fonseca, I think he skipped two. Two steps this tournament. I do. I just do. Getting into those primetime matches and delivering not just against Novak the Goat, but then doing it against Casper also. Maybe body gives out men chic. Hopefully this is. This means more consistency and more of that level from him. More. We didn't. We didn't mention him with the young players. He's 20, for fuck's sake.
- [38:24]
JW
Like, yeah, right. It's really aged out.
- [38:27]
Mike
Yeah, it's.
- [38:28]
JW
Don't forget Hodar.
- [38:29]
Mike
Yeah, Hodar. Gosh, thank goodness we finally have a good player named Rafa from Spain.
- [38:34]
Techie Sean
Yeah.
- [38:35]
Mike
My God, that took. That took days. He's legit. I mean, it's. And took pain to won some five setters and some deep matches like this. Did a lot. I know, I know. Zverev. And kind of the. The long game of success is going to be a massive narrative. When we look back on this tournament and for those that remember it really well, it's going to be like, man, this was like gasoline and fire for the younger generation. It was awesome and it got lit. You mentioned the tournament creating question marks. Jw, the women's side going into Wimbledon, Sabalenka Rybakina, Coco. The defending champion, Inga Witek. I think we can say for all of them, there's probably more questions coming out of Roland Garros than there were going in. I know we're going to have a couple of weeks of actual, actual grass court tennis before we kind of prognosticate on the state of women's tennis, but little crazy. Like, they might be a hint of kind of. We need to figure it out in the top parts of the women's game.
- [39:46]
JW
Pegula, name me a top 10 player other than Andreeva who left this tournament saying, like, yeah, I'm okay. I'm all right with that. There were a lot of sort of for a variety of reasons. Right. I mean, Rabakina seven, six and a third. And Sabalenka just the wheels totally came off.
- [40:05]
Mike
And maybe Umboko,
- [40:11]
JW
I can't even remember who Umboko lost to.
- [40:12]
Mike
Keys, Madison Keys. She played five. But it's like. But yes, that's, that's, that's the point, right? Like, that's the example.
- [40:19]
JW
And you know, I keep my joke of the week was like a Polish player got to the final of Roland Garros in the women's side. Well, what kind of odds do you think you could have drawn on that if you said it wasn't going to be iga? But, yeah, no, I think you're right. And I think, you know, the other thing too is these three weeks of tennis really two weeks. I mean, that, that Berlin draw is stacked. Serena's getting all the oxygen in Queens, but there are going to be a lot of players trying to get some form. It's nice. We're resetting, we're moving to a different surface. But yeah, we thought women's tennis had sort of settled into this two players and we had this nice little Sabalenka Rubakano rivalry going and we were sort of finding some form. And then you had the Pula Coco level was just below it. This, this contender list for Wimbledon has now gotten significantly deeper.
- [41:08]
Mike
Yeah, totally agree, Mike. Does this feel like a good time for a break before we come back with it? Does Rafa news? Maybe some Serena chatter?
- [41:17]
Techie Sean
Yeah, let's break back.
- [41:18]
Mike
Getting good at this.
- [41:19]
Techie Sean
You are. I'm proud of you.
- [41:20]
Mike
Yes. Thanks for listening to served. We will be right back.
- [41:27]
JW
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Mike
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JW
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JW
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- [43:26]
Mike
All right, back to the show. All right, welcome back to Served, brought to you by Service. Now, before we get to you, you mentioned Serena taking a bunch of the oxygen, obviously going in the grass court season. Massive, massive deal. I'm so excited, I can't even contain myself. We do need to talk about one story of Roland Garros, which may have been my favorite story of the entire tournament. Fallinska114 through Qualys couldn't afford a hotel room halfway through the tournament before a sponsor came in. This is what dreams are made of, jw.
- [44:01]
JW
Yeah. And this was the story of the tournament. She couldn't quite close the deal and make it. The complete Cinderella metaphors were in heavy rotation. But this was a great tournament. And I think the fact that she did it, I mean, there was the whole backstory and you know, she couldn't. She literally couldn't get her prize money yet. So, you know, something like we basically crowdfunded an Airbnb and there were patch deals and she did. I heard she took someone from the WTA with her back to Poland because she had no one to hand this media crush. We'll see what her wild card status is. It would be criminal if she didn't get one. She was totally cool. You know, she's. She's 24 years old, so it wasn't this teenager that Came out of nowhere. She'd had some mental health challenges that she was very open. Speaking about that, I think waylaid her career at one point. Great story. I liked her game.
- [44:50]
Ad Host
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- [44:51]
JW
Look, I don't realistically, is this someone who's ever going to make the second week of a major again? I don't know. But it was a really endearing story. It was a nice reminder that everyone has a backstory. It's a reminder that, yes, these Bargeons, cliche as it is, really are thin. And it totally changed her life. I mean, she ran out of. I mean, the final, I think whether it was, you know, this would have been her 10th match. The pressure, the overwhelm. I mean, just she was overwhelmed and sort of ran out of gas in the final. Hardly falter for that. But this was a great story.
- [45:24]
Mike
I don't think it had anything to do with G. I think it had more to do with just Andrea matchup. Like, you're just. There's nowhere to go to win.
- [45:30]
JW
Like, how.
- [45:30]
Mike
How does she approach that. That final and go, where am I consistently going to find water in this? Well, And I. I don't think it existed, but it was the best part of sports. We become the most invested when we can relate to something. Right. When there's a human element. Can we relate to Carlos and Janik, Serena, me personally?
- [45:54]
JW
No.
- [45:55]
Mike
No. Any of us? No. Can we relate to, like, a struggle where you want to try something, you want to do something, you want to shoot for something, and it might be in the face of your own finances? Everyone can relate to that. Everyone can relate to that. It's not just the way she plays in this, like, kind of this. This poke and prod and back and forth and finding a way to navigate power from the other person, which was awesome to watch. I mean, she. She made the best players in the world look like they were chasing their tails out there sometimes just with old school nuance, like, it was brilliant to watch. But this lands. I mean, they were saying that the Polish ratings were potentially more than Witek. That's because Swiatek's superhuman. Like, she's. She's superhuman. Especially in her, like, you know, maybe we'll see it again. But in the prime run of Roland Garros, it was like these poor people that have to play her. Not like human, like, this story where it's like, we can relate to having the cash run out and the lights turned off and getting a little help from people. Like, this was fantastic all around. It was fantastic. I mean, I just I couldn't get enough of this story. I thought she handled it, you know, I don't know how she was on the ground. I didn't, you know, see her after matches. It just seemed like class all around.
- [47:16]
JW
She. She said, I. I recognize how extraordinary this is, but I need to stay in the moment. After the tournament, I'll process. You know, we sort of said, how are you processing? Yeah. Said, look, I. I get it. I get how extraordinary this is. I just can't let myself go there now. She. She was absolutely. She was 12 out of 10. Sort of handling the. The occasion as well.
- [47:35]
Mike
Let's move on to people that might have or have learned to accept success in majors. You mentioned Serena, obviously, just my take. As soon as she goes into protocols, you hear some chatter before she goes into protocols. She goes into protocols, basically where you reenter drug testing in October, November. You don't do that unless you want the option of coming back. You just don't do it because you want to play Dingles, right? Then it becomes reality. You have a hard time thinking she's. If she is going to do this and she has been training, grass is, I think, her best place to actually have impact at. In your mid-40s. I can't even believe I'm fucking saying mid-40s, but in your mid-40s. So I don't know that this was completely out of left field. JW got in some trouble, people. You said that there was a wild card situation, and there ended up being a wild card situation.
- [48:44]
JW
How dare you try and advance the story. I think that this. I don't know. I can go 100 directions on this. I think it's very smart. Look, play doubles. She'll play with Imboko. I, you know, I hear she's lobbying. Fuck it. I'll just say it. You know, I hear she'd like to play with Coco in Berlin. I don't know if Coco sort of, you know, Coco's trying to win Wimbledon. It's a big distraction. We'll see if that actually happens. I don't think she has a Berlin wildcard, but I don't think she has a partner, at least at this writing. She's got a huge her. They asked for like 27 passes. There's a documentary unit. I mean, this is a thing. And I think, look, she'll figure it out. And if her body holds up and she feels good about how she's playing, great. She'll probably take a singles wildcard. If not, not or kid. There's no downside. Here, it's fun. It's a jolt through tennis. Her daughter will get to see her. I mean, I think ideally she holds her own. I don't know if you saw the A. They drew the. I can't remember the team, but they drew the third seed in. In Queens in doubles, so they're playing proper doubles team. Also, the weather is crappy, so could you imagine Serena Williams, this is global celebrity, 23 time mayor champion, playing like, her comeback match as some doubles indoors match because they can't spare the grass for, you know, the singles players have priority. So there are all sorts of funky variables here.
- [50:04]
Mike
Just so we're clear, that's not going to happen.
- [50:06]
JW
There are all sorts of wacky variables here, but it's all part of the fun. It seems whimsical, but she's really strategized. That's a good point you raised. I mean, it seems like some kooky, you know, hey, it's just kind of a throwaway. She's really strategized this, and I think what she's doing makes a lot of sense. And if she goes to Wimbledon and gets a singles wild card, it's. That's. That's your week one story, no matter what. So good for Serena. Let's see how she looks and feels and holds up playing doubles. And then I think. I think this is all very tactical and smart, and maybe this is a Netflix documentary down the road. Maybe she gets out there and says, you know what? It was fun while it lasted, but I'm out. You know, whatever the delta here is, is vast and it doesn't matter.
- [50:54]
Techie Sean
I mean, sure, there was an athletic article that came out a little while ago, and it said, you know, she had a quote in there where she said, I don't need to win. I've won more than most people have in their whole lives. I don't have anything to lose. Everything is just a gain.
- [51:08]
Mike
100%.
- [51:10]
Techie Sean
Yeah, go for it.
- [51:10]
Mike
And also, what's.
- [51:11]
JW
What's left to say? Just go for it.
- [51:13]
Mike
I'm sorry. Go for it, everyone. Like, people have these, like, weird opinions about this. Who's losing because she's back in tennis.
- [51:21]
Techie Sean
Not me.
- [51:22]
Mike
Is the. Is. Is Queens Club losing?
- [51:24]
Techie Sean
No.
- [51:24]
Mike
Is. Don't. Don't fucking at me. With, like, the person who's 130 who would have gotten into doubles if she didn't get the wild card. Oh, my God. Kill. Like, don't. Please don't. This is fantastic. This is a dream. Are you kidding me? How do we. How do we maintain attention after Roland Garros.
- [51:44]
JW
That's an idea.
- [51:45]
Mike
I got. I got one. Yeah, right. Fantastic. I hope it goes well. I hope she plays singles at Wimbledon. Put it in my veins. I will. I cannot wait. Even better, I'm going to be there. If I'm not calling that match, if I'm not involved, I am. I want to see it. I want to see the spectacle. I want to see the circus. I want to see it all. No one can do it. Like Serenity Williams. And also for people like, oh, she's taking. She's coming back in Queens club. I'm like, I'm sorry, is she gonna go to Lexington? Is she gonna quietly go about her? But no, that ship has sailed. She hasn't been able to do that since she was 17. Fuck out of here with that. That's not real. Hey, jw, you have to go on a call. I'm watching your clock. We'll finish. We have some Rafa news, but great work the last two weeks. We'll see you when you're back stateside. Safe travels.
- [52:36]
JW
Thanks, guys. Good job.
- [52:37]
Mike
Too bad, Buckson producer Mike, you are not done yet? No, no, we got some stuff. No, we got some stuff. What do we got?
- [52:45]
Techie Sean
So this past week, you were invited up to New York to do what?
- [52:50]
Mike
Yeah, some of you may have seen just a short little clip where Rafa came on our show from, like, a press junket. Anyways, fast forward and we got a request to moderate a conversation after the first U.S. screening of the Rafa documentary. So I got to sit down with Rafa director Zach and basically just ask them about the process a little bit. Rafa's answers were interesting. Zach's. And this is Zach Einsel. He's. He wins awards. He's amazing with everything.
- [53:25]
Techie Sean
He's, like, fantastic.
- [53:27]
Mike
Cream of the crop did a fantastic job, in my opinion. But they invited us up to moderate a conversation. The room was not something we get in Charlotte, as far as who was attending that premiere. Definitely didn't do anything to pour water on the fire of Rafa's star power, I'll tell you that.
- [53:50]
Techie Sean
Definitely not.
- [53:51]
Mike
It was crazy. But we got the footage. And so basically what it is, we're going to turn it into the Q and Andy this week. Is that right?
- [54:00]
Techie Sean
So we, the people, Netflix and Skydance, were so wonderful. And we're putting out a special Q and A, Andy, where it's you guys on stage. It's the full 20ish minutes of that. But we have a little clip here where you had you had asked Rafa kind of why.
- [54:14]
Mike
Yeah.
- [54:14]
Techie Sean
So let's take a look.
- [54:16]
Rafa
For me, the biggest challenge was the decision, you know, because I know myself. And when you decide to do something, or you do it, or you are doing it the proper way or you don't do it, you know, so if when I finally, you know, decided to move on and said, okay, let's. Let's do it, then I do it with all the consequences. Sometimes, you know, that you want to be filmed things that you don't want to, but that's what's happening, you know, and that's the way that. That's. That's probably what Zach was saying before. When you are filming a documentary, you cannot, you know, film only the beautiful moments. I mean, you film the real things. And that's part of the decision. That was the most challenging part. But when I finally say, okay, let's make that happen, then I move it all in with all the consequences.
- [55:22]
Mike
Yeah, it was great. It was a lot of stuff like that. You know, my instinct is that Rafa likes going on this stuff to talk about himself like techie Sean likes getting kicked in the nuts, but good it was. There's. There's. There's a couple parts of the conversation where he just dropped the audience. It was pretty funny. But anyways, I was honored to be asked and happy to do it. And if you haven't seen the doc, it's wildly interesting. Kind of the weaving of past history, results, matches with what was the current set of the current state of him trying to make one last run. I thought was really well done for me as someone, I was close to the orbit.
- [56:08]
JW
Right.
- [56:08]
Mike
We shared the same spaces and locker rooms, and in court sometimes, I never knew what the conversations inside of the room look like with him. So I was curious about it. I thought it was really well done. I was happy to be a small part of it and happy that they agreed to let us use the footage for this Thursday show.
- [56:27]
Techie Sean
Yep.
- [56:28]
Mike
That'd be great. What else? Bracket winners.
- [56:30]
Techie Sean
Oh, bracket challenge winners, baby.
- [56:32]
Mike
Here to accept.
- [56:33]
Techie Sean
Not. Not even close.
- [56:34]
Mike
Okay.
- [56:34]
Techie Sean
Not even close. You barely. You were. You were ranked about 1051 in your women's draw.
- [56:40]
Mike
You were ranked 1000. I was 52.
- [56:42]
Techie Sean
I was ranked 2000, 167. So not great. Not great. But our winners on the men's side was AM99 with 1, 681 points. And they, you know, they did a good job. They picked all the way through. Of course, they had center going all the way through somehow still Won because they had a bunch of upsets.
- [57:02]
Mike
Oh, interesting. Techie. Sean, you're. Didn't you pick Zverev to win?
- [57:05]
JW
I did.
- [57:06]
Techie Sean
How'd yours end up?
- [57:08]
Mike
I did better than all the hosts. Yeah, but just on the men's side.
- [57:13]
JW
The. My women's brackets.
- [57:14]
Techie Sean
Yeah, I actually. I was only behind you by 24 points on the. On the men's side.
- [57:19]
Mike
I don't know how. I'm just. I'm just going to say this. If you didn't beat me, this tournament,
- [57:26]
Techie Sean
Mike, it's never happening.
- [57:27]
Mike
It's not.
- [57:28]
Techie Sean
This never happening.
- [57:30]
Mike
This was. This was. This was Verev when Sinner went out and you choke like a dog.
- [57:35]
Techie Sean
Yeah, the. The. The women's draw was much closer, though. We actually had two people tie for the win. We had Neom h Felicity with 15:30 and fruit vendor with 15:30. And they just edged out number three, who had 15:20. So congrats to you guys. And then our overall winner was jack the snack 21. Good job, Jack the snack.
- [57:56]
Mike
Vegas had him at five to one before the tournament started.
- [57:58]
Techie Sean
30 points and he won. He won the combined by five points.
- [58:03]
Mike
This is great.
- [58:04]
Techie Sean
Yeah. So we will be sending you guys some merch. I don't know. We'll figure something out.
- [58:08]
Mike
Like further winners. If you win the bracket challenge and then Wimbledon comes, do you just go crazy shit again to see if it wins?
- [58:17]
Techie Sean
Yeah, I feel like you have to. I mean, the draw is in 19 days and you can sign up again and you can see if you can win the whole.
- [58:22]
Mike
Oh, nice plug. Never shy. Never shy. In all seriousness, we're amazed anytime, anytime we hear anyone listens to our dumb little show. Thanks for sticking with us for two weeks. Thanks for making this show like an actual real thing. It's never lost on us. We know there's a lot of ways that you could probably spend your time. We're happy when any of it is spent with us. Our pleasure to work these last couple of weeks for you to listen. Sorry our picks weren't a little bit better.
- [58:58]
Techie Sean
We got next time.
- [59:00]
Mike
There's always a next time. There's always another Grand Slam tournament. There's always going to be a first time winner at some point. Even when it seems like tennis is being dominated by the same people over and over again. World's best reality show. Toughest sport in the world. We are served. Brought to you by ServiceNow. We thank you for listening with us. Happy Roland Garros, finally. And it's Wimbledon season.
- [59:24]
Techie Sean
Let's go.
- [59:24]
Mike
We'll see you soon. I have my dream job, but even dream jobs have not so dreamy parts. That's where ServiceNow's AI specialists come in. They don't just tell you what to do about your busy work, they actually do it. That way, your team can focus on what matters. To learn how to put AI to work for people, visit servicenow.com.
- [59:54]
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- [60:26]
JW
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