← Served with Andy Roddick
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- [00:01]
Kim Clijsters
Support for this show comes from Pure Leaf iced tea. When you find yourself in the afternoon slump, you need the right thing to make you bounce back. You need pure leaf iced tea. It's real brewed tea made in a variety of bold flavors with just the right amount of naturally occurring caffeine. You're left feeling refreshed and revitalized so you can be ready to take on what's next. The next time you need to hit the reset button, grab a Pure Leaf iced tea. Time for a tea break. Time for a pure leaf.
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Sophie
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- [00:35]
Kim Clijsters
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Sophie
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Kim Clijsters
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Sophie
Paint, finish and satin or what that.
- [00:44]
Kim Clijsters
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- [00:46]
Sophie
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Unknown
Was that sort of common with the rivalry that the two of you had that you would kind of psych yourself out before you played her in matches?
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Sophie
Thinking back about how I felt at that time, I know now that I always already lost in my head. Like I already lost the match before I even stepped out on the court. I was so nervous. I didn't really believe that I could beat her. My dad was kind of more there as my kind of mental support, I think, through, through those times and to keep the media a little bit on a distance because that all went really craz for a while as well. Hi everyone. Welcome to the third episode of our Lovel podcast. We're doing a French Open special today because the French Open is on and I'm really excited. I've been stuck in front of my TV for the last few weeks. So Sophie sent out some questions on our social media platform and I'm going to try to answer them as well as I can. So yeah, Sophie let me know what were some of those questions that came in.
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Unknown
Yeah, so I have a ton of questions. What I find so interesting about these slams is sort of what goes on behind the scenes. You have so much experience as a player. You've been playing there since you were what, like three years old? And so I wanted to kind of get some questions about that. And then, yeah, the fans had a bunch too, also about you as a player and about Paris and just kind of the fan experience there. And so I did kind of want to go back to when you first started playing there. And sort of your debut at the French Open, which you were 15 years old.
- [02:37]
Sophie
Yeah, I think. I think I was 15, 14, 15, when I played my first juniors event there. And then, you know, it was back in the day where you had those, you know, little cameras that you roll, you know, those. Those. What do you call it? Yeah, like, you probably can't even know that.
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Unknown
No, no, I do. I do a disposable camp.
- [02:53]
Sophie
So, you know, I used to travel to all those tournaments, and back in the day, I felt like it was a lot easier to get closer to the top players. So I would go, like, on the sideline when Marcelo Rios was practicing and, you know, and Pat Rafter and Arantha Sanchez and. Yeah, so it was such a. An amazing experience to. For me, for the first time, I never went as a kid, as a fan, so for me, as a junior player, to be able to get up close to the players and see Steffi Graf in the locker room under Suzanne Langlen, like, those kind of experiences were so unique and made me even want to be a part of that lifestyle more.
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Unknown
Was that your first time at a Slam ever? Your first time at any Slam tournament when you were 15?
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Sophie
Yeah, it was my first Grand Slam as a junior. Yeah.
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Unknown
Wow. I can't imagine. And what was that run like when you were 15?
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Sophie
Not great. I remember I lost to. You know, who was one of the best juniors at the time was Cara Black. She ended up being a good singles player, but even a better doubles player. But she was. I learned a lot from her. And there's also a big tournament in Belgium in Charleroi, on clay, a junior tournament before. Before the junior start at the French Open. And I remember just learning from her, like, looking at her, seeing how professional she was, seeing the warmup that she would do just on her own. She didn't travel with a big group of kids, and so I think her brother was with her, or he was her coach at the time, but just how locked in she was. And I remember as a young junior, seeing that and kind of taking that with me and learning from those kind of momentums that you pick up and. But I didn't do great at the French as a junior, but I was also a very young junior. Right. I think I could still play under 16s, too, so. But, yeah, it just fed my. My motivation and my hunger to. To be, you know, up there with the pros one day at 15 years old.
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Unknown
I mean, I'm sure most of the viewers can relate. I was, like, getting my braces off and not getting asked to prom at 15, like, listen, I still had all.
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Sophie
The pimples and all that stuff too, like, going through all that stuff.
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Unknown
So were you still at that time, were you in school in, like, were you traveling, doing, like, travel schooling? Like, what was that? Like?
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Sophie
I was in school. So the way that the system in Belgium worked was I was at the federation in Antwerp, where I was in a boarding school training at the Federation. But I was at a stage. My coach was Carl Maas at the time, who ended up being my coach for. For many years and who I'm still close with. But it's school at that point. I was still doing my exams in school. I would miss a lot of weeks because of travel, so it was really hard to keep up. And system wasn't really adjusted to a traveling athlete, traveling student. Right. And I think I had really good intentions to take my math books and my English books and my Dutch to do it all on the road. And there was, you know, I wasn't traveling with a laptop or anything, so it was basically, you know, a big bag of heavy, heavy books. And, yeah, lost interest because I felt like I was in my. On my playground, at the tennis. I mean.
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Unknown
Yeah, sorry, I forgot my backpack. I don't know what to do.
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Sophie
Yeah, sorry. Didn't have time. I was training eight hours a day, which was definitely not true. But it's hard out here, but that's it. And then, you know, once I started having better results on tour, that's when I had to kind of decide and say, okay, like, this is. This does not work for me to do both. And. Yeah. So had to make a decision earlier on in my career to be all.
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Unknown
All in on tennis, which, I mean, obviously worked out. It was, what, two years later that you were in the final at the same tournament?
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Sophie
Yeah, Yeah. I guess 2001. Right. Was my first final where I lost to. It was for my 18th birthday. I turned 18 literally the day before my. My first Grand Slam finals in between the semis and the finals. And it was a big deal. I mean, not just for me personally, but I guess for Belgium too. Just seeing Henin and myself, we played the semifinals for the. In a Grand Slam against each other. And that was probably the only match I won against her clay courts.
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Unknown
What's the French crowd like in that environment? I mean, who do they. Are they rooting for everyone? Like, what's the energy like because we're.
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Sophie
So close to Belgium? There was. I just remember walking out and seeing so many Belgian Flags on. On Philippe Chatrier. And that was like, really, really cool. I do feel like because of her, her native language is French, right. Being from the south of Belgium and that there was more of a connection to a French from the French crowd. But again, it almost felt like playing at home because, you know, it's a, whatever, three, four hour car, car ride, you know, from Belgium to, to Paris. So I had a lot of family members there. It was also the first time for me where, you know, like my favorite singers from Belgium all of a sudden reached out to my dad and wanted to come sit in the box and like be. So it was like a huge deal. And I feel like ever since then, yeah, kind of life changed on tour and the attention and the media attention and the expectations. But I didn't really worry about that too much. I think I was too young, too naive to let that all matter too much. Yeah, yeah.
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Unknown
So you beat her in the semi final and then you play Jennifer in the. Two days later.
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Sophie
Yep, two days later. So Justine and I played on the Friday, it was my 18th birthday on Saturday and then, yeah, we played. No, the other way around, I guess. We played Thursday, my birthday on Friday and then we played on Saturday. We played the finals and lost to Jennifer Capriotti had chances to win. I think I was two points away from winning. It was a very close three sether. I think it was like 10, eight in the third or something like that.
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Unknown
Very, very still one of the longest matches in French Open history, right?
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Sophie
Is it?
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Unknown
Yeah, I don't know. Yeah, it's like 2 hours, 2 hours, 21 minutes, like something like that. A really long match.
- [09:19]
Sophie
And it was really cool for me to get to play against her because I growing up like, loved watching Jennifer play. Also my dad was a like a soccer player, soccer coach in Belgium. And I used to get some like Diodora gear because his team was sponsored by Diodora. And then Jennifer was like wearing all that Deodora gear. So whatever she was wearing, you know, I would like once in a while get a couple outfits and I felt like it was like the greatest thing in the world that I got her, like same same outfits and all that stuff. So to be able to play against her. And I remember at one point I think I was two points away from the. From. I think it was like 15:30 on her serve in the third and she was serving sustain the match. And all of a sudden, like I see in the hallway, like on the back of the court, I see all these people like getting Ready to set up for the ceremony. And I see them, like, the trophy is there, and I'm like, oh, my God. Like, it. All of a sudden, like, it just hit me and my arm. I just felt like. Yeah, I couldn't focus anymore on what was happening, like, on the court, so I got so distracted. Yeah, it is. But I guess, yeah, I had to learn it.
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Unknown
Had you gotten to really talk to her before that match or after? Like, had you guys gotten to kind of interact afterwards?
- [10:35]
Sophie
For sure. We used to practice a lot. We had. Yeah. She was one of my favorite. You know, there's a couple of, like, hitting partners or not hitting partners, but, like, girls that I. You love to hit with players that you just say, like, hey, listen, like, let's get a real, really good practice session in where we hit a lot of balls, where we, you know, players who don't worry too much about you hitting winners early on. Like, you accept it from both sides. Like, there's some players that, you know, feel like you need to hit the ball to them and. Yeah. Where you can't really play your own game. She was not like that. Like, she. I love practicing against her. My dad was traveling with me a little bit. My dad was not my coach, but he was there kind of as a. As a dad. Her dad was always there. They got along really well. And so we. Yeah, we used to. Yeah, it was, like, a really fun practice, and we always kind of left the court feeling good and ready to kind of start our tournament. Played her, I think, at the Masters in LA a couple of years later, or. Yeah, one year later, I think, when we played at the Staples center. And. Yeah. So, I mean, she's one of the players that I would love to, like, see again at the. At the Legends tournaments. Right. Like, I'm. You know, when you play at Wimbledon or. Or matches at the US Open or, like, she's definitely one of the players that I would love to see out there again and see, you know, just hit tennis balls.
- [12:03]
Unknown
Have you guys gotten to see each other at the hall of Fame or anything?
- [12:06]
Sophie
Not yet. No. Not yet. I haven't seen her for a long time. We've been in touch here and there a little bit, but nothing consistently. So we're manifesting. It would. It would be great. Yeah. Back on the tour a little bit.
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Unknown
Now that we've said it. It'll happen. So you play Justine in the Simmies, Jennifer Capriotti in the finals.
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Sophie
Two.
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Unknown
Two huge matches. What was your run up to those two matches? Because a question that one of the listeners asked that I thought was interesting was, do you find that it's best to kind of ease into the tournament and play maybe a qualifier in the first round, or do you like to hit it head on and play kind of more top ranked players right from the jump, or is it kind of better to ease into it?
- [12:45]
Sophie
I never really thought about it at that stage of my career. I was just super excited to play anybody. Everybody was higher ranked than me most of the time anyway, at that stage of my career. So I felt like I was the underdog. I felt like I had nothing to lose. Clay, although I grew up playing on Klei in Belgium for six months out of the year, everything else was indoors, sometimes hardcore, sometimes an indoor carpet clay wasn't my favorite surface to play on. But I. It's really hard for me to get back to your question. Like, it's really hard for me to remember a lot of matches. I remember my feeling more than I remember score lines. I remember opponents. So I just remember feeling that I wasn't playing my best tennis and then all of a sudden I'm in the final of the French Open. Like, I remember feeling like, yeah, but I, I can still do much better. Like that's how I felt. And. Yeah, do you still feel that way now? Your own kind of criticism that's in there? Right? And, and yeah, because my team would say like, no, but you know, looks like you're moving. Well, it looks like you're, you know, I was early on like making a lot of unforced errors still where, you know, I just wanted to go for my shots and really didn't think too much about strategy or reading your opponents and. But yeah, I just remember feeling that I felt like I could, I could still play much better and I had played so much better before, so. But which on the other hand also was very motivational. Right. Because I was beating good players. But yeah, I don't know, I. Maybe Mike can help with looking at some of those pre matches or those earlier on matches. I think I played Puchek. I think she was one of the players that I played. Yeah. One of my favorite stories is one of my best friends now, Mark Marek Hermans, who was a triathlete in Belgium. I met him there for the first time. He had a tragic accident where he broke his back and he came to watch me play at that French Open for the first time. So it was a. Yeah, a. Yeah. Sad but also really nice moment that I was able to connect with him at the French Open.
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Unknown
But, yeah, it's nice that you look back on those matches and. And you don't think so much about who you played or the match specifics, and you think about it as more of, like, a feeling. And I had this nice moment with this nice player. Like, what a great way to look back at your career.
- [15:07]
Sophie
I mean, I think so. I mean, when I hear guys talk or, you know, women even, but I think it's more men, where they look at statistics and results and names, and I think, like, wow, I wish I had that. Like, I don't recall a lot of things. Like, I hear guys talk about certain points at, you know, in the five hole in the fourth set. Like, I don't have that at all.
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Unknown
Yeah, but it doesn't. It doesn't matter. I mean, obviously, like, I'm a woman, too. I probably would have had approached it from the same. The same lens. But, yeah, that doesn't matter nearly as much as, yeah, I had this great moment with this new friend of mine or I got to build this relationship with this person. Like, that's lasting stuff.
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Sophie
So, yeah, that way. I mean, that's, I guess, just how I am too. Right. It's like, those are. Yeah, those were important moments and. And that probably stuck out more than winning, you know, the third match against so and so. I don't know who that was.
- [16:00]
Unknown
Yeah, totally. Do you look back now and still think I wasn't playing my best tennis, or are you like, well, I made the final, so I. I kind of was playing my best tennis.
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Sophie
I think now I look back to it and think I was good enough on the day to beat these players. I didn't have to play my best tennis back. When you're younger, you think, like, all these top players, they play their best tennis all the time. And that's something that I learned as I got older, is that that's really not what you have to try to achieve, is you want to play perfect tennis. But there's not many matches in my career that I can say, like, I, you know, that you can say, like, I almost played with my eyes closed. Like, I could hit the ball wherever I wanted to. It was landing perfectly. It. Most of it is being good enough on the day and trying to find ways to. To just be a little bit better than your opponent. And that's how I feel about it now. But at the time when you're in the middle of it, you know, you always want to. You don't want to make the errors, you don't want to make the double folds. You want to be, you know, the aggressive player. Don't, you know, let your opponents push you back and start defending too much. So you want to do all that, but. But, yeah, you just learn as you get older that you. You just have to be good enough on the day, and your confidence and your level will grow by kind of, you know, playing with that mindset. And obviously, you have to put in the work and all that stuff, but, yeah, it's just a different mindset as you get older.
- [17:21]
Unknown
Yeah. I mean, I think the reason that people maybe have that misconception of why they're always playing their best tennis is because you guys are in your heads. But we're watching it going, wow, they hit the ball exactly where they wanted to hit it. It looks so easy. And so that's just a testament to how, you know, even when you're in your head thinking, I'm not doing my best at all, it looks like absolute magic out there.
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Sophie
Yeah. Yeah. When I looked at other players, I always felt like that, too. Right. I was like, wow, they hit the ball so hard there. They move so well. They. And then I had moments, you know, when I would play against somebody, I was like, oh, that ball is not coming off their racket as hard as I thought, or, you know, they're not. Yeah. I feel like if I can move them a couple of times side to side, I can. Yeah, they can't. They can't keep that up or whatever. Like. Like, so it's. I think I. A lot of. I'm not going to say I overestimated, but I think I underestimated myself, which a lot of times was also good because I didn't take any opponent for granted or I didn't just assume that I was going to beat anybody before the match. Probably the opposite. Was always very much focused on, you know, a match starts 50, 50. Right. And you have to try and just be better.
- [18:32]
Unknown
Is that something that your coaches tell you, like, your matches start 50, 50, or. Or is that something like, do some players go in going, oh, I. I got this. Or do they tell you, like, you try to keep it kind of, you know, you never know how it's going to go.
- [18:44]
Sophie
I think it was a combination of, like, how I was brought up. I think, you know, just put in the work and. And I heard something on. On. I think it was like the NBA now with the. With the playoffs and everything. You know, players talk about, like, how, you know, throughout the season, there's. There is. Yeah, they're not defending as hard or they're not, you know, really pushing, you know, their opponents and, like, just not being as physical and things like that. And I'm like, wow. Like, can you imagine if, like, a tennis player would think like that? Like, oh, I'm not going to try for certain amount of matches or certain amount of tournaments. And I just couldn't, like, can, like, understand that. I understand it from a physical side and it is such a different sport, but just, yeah, I couldn't, like, my competitiveness could not deal with, you know, not giving it my all wherever I play. Like, it's. It didn't have to be a Grand Slam. It doesn't have to be on a big show court or anything like that. Like, whether I was playing a small tournament in an indoor facility with 30 people watching or, you know, Roland Garra's final, like, my effort was always the same. It wasn't my. My level wasn't always as good, but my effort, I always tried to, like, that was really push, I think, from my. My coaches, my team growing up, my parents, is, whatever you do, like, mistakes are fine, but your effort is something you can control, and that's what you have to put out there and show. And. Yeah, and I think that was a little bit. You know, my mindset that I kept throughout my career is, yeah, it's the same. I mean, I hear my parents speak to me when I talk to my kids now, right, when they're playing sports, and when I talk to Jada, when she goes and plays, it's. It's effort. That's what you can control. There's a lot of things you can't control, but effort, you definitely can. And, yeah, so that's my parents talking.
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Unknown
To me, I guess, and then talk to me. I mean, moving forward after that, after that match in the finals, you played up until 2012, were you @ the French Open kind of every year? Was that a tournament you played?
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Sophie
That.
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Unknown
Maybe a dumb question.
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Sophie
Most of. Yeah, most of the time. I'm sure I've had a, you know, a few injuries where I wasn't able to make it, but I lost in a final to Justine Hennan. I lost to her in three out of my four Grand Slam finals that I played prior, winning my first one at the US Open in 2005. But I lost to Justine in 2003 in my Roland Garros final. And thinking back about how I felt at that time, I know now that I always already lost in my head. Like, I already lost the match before I even Stepped out on the court. I was so nervous. I didn't really believe that I could beat her. You know, she was like the, the clay court specialist. Right. Like she had the, the, you know, the best mover on that surface. She had the hands, she had the variety with that beautiful one handed backhand. She could, you know, have the variety with the slice. Yeah, just a really hard player to play on, on that surface. And I just didn't believe that I was good enough to beat her.
- [21:55]
Unknown
Was that sort of common with the sort of rivalry that the two of you had that you would kind of psych yourself out before you played her in matches?
- [22:02]
Sophie
A little bit. A little bit. I think especially early on. Although I beat her in the first time we played at the 2001, at the 2001 role on Garros. But then over time, like she became such a. Yeah, a well known clay court specialist at that, you know, on Philippe Chatrier, like she did so well there. So, you know, I'm sure I was not the only one that, you know, was not looking forward to playing against her. But it also taught me a lot of things, right, to be better and to become a better clay courts player and to learn to use my slice better and to move better on, on the surface. So, you know, there's pros and cons to it. I guess the biggest con is that I never was able to beat her on that surface, but then over time I was able to beat her, you know, which gave me a lot more confidence on the grass courts, on the hard courts and so that helped a lot. Yeah. But on clay court, she was definitely almost unbeatable for many years.
- [23:10]
Kim Clijsters
Support for this show comes from pure leaf iced tea. You know that point in the afternoon when you just hit, hit a wall. You don't have time for self care rituals or getting some fresh air. So maybe you grab a beverage to bring you back, but somehow it doesn't do the trick or it leaves you feeling even worse. What you need is a quality break, a tea break. And you can do that with pure leaf iced tea. Real brewed tea made in a variety of bold and refreshing flavors with just the right amount of naturally occurring caffeine. With a pure leaf iced tea in hand, you'll be left feeling refreshed and revitalized with a new motivation to take on what's next. The next time you need to hit the reset button, grab a pure leaf iced tea. Time for a tea break. Time for a pure leaf.
- [24:01]
Sophie
Fox Creative this is advertiser content from Adobe as the church chief marketing officer.
- [24:07]
Kim Clijsters
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- [24:09]
Sophie
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- [24:30]
Kim Clijsters
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- [25:03]
Sophie
To create on brand content. Learn more@adobe.com Express Business.
- [25:14]
Unknown
I kind of, I want to go behind the scenes. A lot of the listeners that, that wrote questions and had questions kind of behind the scenes of the logistics of the tournament. But before we do that, do you have a match? I know there's so many notable matches from the French Open tournaments. Do you have one that's your favorite that maybe is a little bit of a, a lesser known match or a lesser known even experience of the French Open?
- [25:35]
Sophie
I mean, I would have to say like my favorite French Open match is my final against Jennifer Capriati. Just because of the moment that, you know, the moment in which it happened in my career. It was so unexpected. The fact that I was able to play against Capriotti was, was so much fun as well. Yeah. So I think that if I have to pick one match that's. Although I lost it, a few of my favorite matches have actually been the ones that I've lost, which I don't know what Seth, but yeah. But also they were like I was playing against my idols, playing against people that I looked up to. So yeah, I would pick that one for sure.
- [26:13]
Unknown
Good. And then as you, as you kept coming back to the tournament, I'm sure your team grows the more that you kind of like when you're 17, you're traveling with, I assume your parents and then who else are you traveling with at such a young age?
- [26:28]
Sophie
So I was still, you know, traveling with my coach Carl at the time. He was, my parents would be there, but my dad being an at like a former athlete in soccer and everything, knew that it was so important to not kind of like he wasn't a tennis coach or Anything like nobody in my family, you know, played tennis or for fun maybe here and there, but my dad was kind of more there as my kind of mental support I think through, through those times and to keep the media a little bit on a distance because that all went really crazy for a while as well. And so he was kind of my protector a little bit from all that. But for me, yeah, I just kept my, you know, it's not like it is now where you hear about, you know, these people having, you know, six, seven, eight kind of team members and it was basically just me. I would use the physios from the WTA and from the French Federation that are downstairs in the locker room. And also, you know, this is kind of the first time where you're making a little bit money where you, you know, up until then, you know, having, you know, a full time coach, physio trainer, like that's almost at that stage of your career impossible to be able to, to afford all those things. And so yeah, just used all the facilities that the tournament provides, that the WTA provides at the itf, the French Tennis Federation provides and they were some of the best people that you could have. Sometimes there was a little bit of a wait. If I signed up for a massage and I finished my match at 3pm and I wanted to have my massage after my media at 5pm Sometimes that slot wasn't available so I would have to wait till 7pm so that wasn't ideal because I wanted to go to dinner and so. But you deal with that early on, right? You don't worry about waiting for two hours or at least I didn't. So that's how it goes in the beginning. And then over time as I got a little bit older, you can afford expanding your team and you know, a little bit more about, oh, what do I like when I'm playing and do I want my massage therapist there so that I can literally, you know, only spend 30 minutes after I'm done practicing and maybe have some lunch. And then I'm going to do my rehab in my room in the hotel because I want to get away from the craziness and the hecticness of, of being at the, you know, at the facility and, and being around your opponents and being around people, you know, when you walk around asking for autographs and pictures and it's not that it's bad, but it just takes a lot of energy. So yeah, you decide to kind of, you know, step away from, from the tennis and do your business when you're out there playing and practicing and then everything else. I just try to, you know, do most of it, if possible, in the hotel room and. And have my. My people, you know, there. And then my coach would, a lot of times stay around, watch my opponents. So he would scout.
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Unknown
Nice. You've got eyes.
- [29:32]
Sophie
Yeah. Yeah. Nice. And. And then I feel like towards the later stages of my career, when I had a daughter, that definitely was not the easiest part. Right. Is finding the setups in the French hotels are also not always as convenient, I think, so to have a little girl traveling with you have a nanny there. So you want to maybe connecting rooms or have. So it just. Yeah. Just different than what you're used to. So you have to look for maybe different hotels. And. And. But now I think, you know, I'm talking about. This is a long time ago, like, I'm talking. Yeah, well.
- [30:13]
Unknown
But once you reached a high, like, once you did get a little bit older, even maybe after you did have Jada, and you've kind of. You've been to the tournament a few times, you know, what works for you, what doesn't. Did you find that you kind of like to spend most of your time in the hotel room? Did you find that you could decompress in Paris, go to parks? I think IGA said in an interview a few days ago that she likes to play early matches so she can go home and build Legos, maybe hit a park, but, like, not do very much. And then some players, I think they like to go to nice dinners and stuff like that.
- [30:42]
Sophie
Dinners is something that we would do early on, you know, of that we always kind of did throughout. There was, like, routine. I was very superstitious. There were different. I stayed. Early on in my career, I stayed in this hotel called Hotel California. It was just off the Champs Elysees, a small little side street. So it was like a very easy kind of walk to, you know, good restaurants and. But then the superstitiousness kind of kicks in, too. And you, you know, pick your. Your same restaurants on your days off. You pick your restaurants like before match days because you don't want to risk, you know, certain things and getting sick or trying new foods or anything. So I was kind of probably pretty boring, but I just also wanted to rest. Like, I just wanted to, like, put my legs up, you know, watch a lot of tennis on tv. Like, I've always watched a lot of tennis. Yeah. And that's basically it. I would walk around, you know, if, you know, my mom and dad were there or something, I would walk around and, and yeah, visit, you know, I mean it was never long. It was like a 30 minute walk just to be outside for a second. And yeah, that's. But no crazy. Didn't do much actually.
- [31:51]
Unknown
What were your boring, what were your superstition meals or some of them or favorite restaurants?
- [31:56]
Sophie
Well, so they're obviously different in each place. I think early on at the French Open, there was an Indian restaurant just at the bottom. It was called Annapurna and they were literally a two minute walk from the hotel. But after a while they just knew what we wanted to eat. And it was plain chicken, tandoori, some rice, a couple of vegetables and that was it. Nothing too crazy. But after a while those people, they support you, they follow your results and they cheer for you. And so it becomes like people that are there to treat you well, but then also they want to be a part, they want you to come back in two days. So being in the quarterfinals, so you create this energy that was just a lot of fun. And you get to do that in different parts of the world too. So. So those were a lot of times really fun, really fun connections. And to that restaurant, actually a few years ago I took a few of my girlfriends to that restaurant and the same people still work there. So it was really nice to. Yeah, to see, to see them again.
- [33:08]
Unknown
I mean, that's what it's all about. I can imagine it gets difficult at times when you're traveling that much. So to be able to create what is really a family in different little pockets of the world is so cool. And I think you hear a lot of players that have that exact experience where they're eating at the same restaurant, the same food. And of course, like from my perspective, I'm like, but you're in Paris, like, are you eating. I know, croissants. And are you visiting? But of course it's not like that, that's not realistic.
- [33:35]
Sophie
But the thing is like, you do get a taste of it, right? Because when you are, doesn't matter what hotel you're in, like the breakfast, like the French breakfasts are so different than what it is, you know, in any part of the world, right? So you do get the croissants and the, the chocolate, you know, the pain, chocolat and you get all those kind of things there. But it's. Then it's a matter of like, that's also part of growing up is okay, like I'm going to wait until I'm done playing before. And that's how I was, right. Like I Didn't want to eat those things because, you know, and that's the kind of, that, that hard kind of, you know, everything has to be perfect if I want to, you know, achieve good things. And I wanted to not, you know, not. I didn't want to eat them because I thought like, if I eat this, that's not going to give me good energy. I'm not. So I would kind of, that would be like the treat at the end of the tournament if I, when I was done.
- [34:24]
Unknown
Did you find. If you had a little pocket where you weren't playing as well, your superstitions kind of changed from like, okay, well, I can't do that anymore because that's not working for me. I got to kind of switch it up or does it stay pretty?
- [34:34]
Sophie
And you start looking at the things like, oh, what should I have done differently? And it's, that's not just the on court stuff. Right. Like a lot of times, you know, I felt a lot, a lot of confidence kind of in my shots because it's got it. That had gotten me to that point. Like, I would maybe tweak a couple little things here and there, but never, I would never really change my technique too much or, but it was a lot of those kind of things. It was, oh, what could I have done better recovery wise? What could I have done better, you know, mentally? Like, what, what, you know, why was I so nervous? And what, you know, just to learn to talk about those kind of things. That's another thing that you don't really do a lot is, you know, talk about. Now it's a lot more common to talk about your emotions and to talk about your fears and, and a lot of the negative things, you know, you kind of push aside because you don't want to look weak and especially on the tennis court. But yeah, but once I learned to do that and one of my favorite people that I've ever had on my team was Sam. He was my trainer, my osteopath. And from the moment that I laid down on the table, on the massage table, he was. That's when everything. I would start talking and I would talk about, he never played tennis, but I would talk about my timing was a little bit off with my forehand or why am I late? And he didn't know how to react. But just from him not being a tennis player, it just gave me a different view on things as well and how the brain works and how focusing your attention on some of the negative things just to get through that. And it's all a learning process. The tough thing about tennis is we can practice our forehands and our backhands and our serves, and you can do anything you want on the practice court. But. But there's the mental side and dealing with emotions, the extra pressure that comes on playing on the big stadiums, seeing the trophy on the sideline and knowing that that could be yours in an hour and a half, like, dealing with those kind of emotions. You can't practice. You can only experience it when you're out there. You only experience it when you're out there. And that was, at times, a little bit overwhelming for me, which was frustrating because I couldn't practice that on the practice court, so I had to relive it. I just had to try to give myself more opportunities to get to the semifinals and the finals and try to beat the players that I lost to prior and try to change some things up here and there. But that's definitely. I feel like one of the hardest things in tennis is that you want to work on your mental side and you want to become stronger mentally, but you can only practice or only learn as you're going through it in matches. And. And did you find that it did.
- [37:23]
Unknown
Get easier the more you played? I mean, the more.
- [37:25]
Sophie
Yeah, yep, it gets easier. It gets easier with life experiences that happen off court as well. You know, you. You. You learn to kind of. Yeah. Have just a different perspective on it all. And it's not so black and white. It's not just win or lose. It's. It's. Yeah, it's getting older. Maturing, knowing the team that you have around you, being very consistent with the work that you're doing, that gives you a lot of confidence, too. And I feel like being strong mentally, for me, meant also knowing that I've put in all the work on the court, in the gym. I did all my recovery. And that is such a confidence booster on its own. And you carry that with you. And it does help, right? It does help as you get older to kind of learn to not be so impacted by the trophy on the sideline or, you know, just to be like, okay, try to stay really in the moment. And nothing. I think that's the biggest thing that I learned is just to try to stay in the moment and not let the negative kind of thoughts take over and learn to. They're always there. They're there, but you just don't let them take over. Your nerves. Nervous system.
- [38:40]
Unknown
That's a lot to put on. We have so much expectation on these tennis Players to be mentally tough and to go out there and perform at such a crazy level all the time that I even find myself forgetting sometimes, like a lot. These players are like 19, you know, like, we, there's so much expectation on them to be so emotionally aware and mature. And yeah, you can only do so much so to think, like, of course you're gonna go out on the, on the court, see the trophy and freak out, you know, and we have, we have a lot of. What's the right word? Just, yeah, there's a lot of pressure on these players to like, always be on and always be the best and always be mature and always handle things perfectly. When us in our own lives, me at this podcast desk, like, I, I make mistakes and, you know, we, I don't feel like there's a ton of grace all the time for these players.
- [39:28]
Sophie
It's understanding the process, like, and trusting the process. Right. Is trusting that you, that it's going to take time. And that's the great thing about tennis. You know, it has taken a lot of time for any of these players to be in the main draw of the French Open. Like, it's taken a lot of time for them to get there. We have a lot of goals, we have a lot of short term goals, but there's a lot of long term goals that take years to achieve. And for a lot of players, they don't make it either. They all have the goals to, you know, trying to get into the main draw of a Grand Slam is for a lot of players, the goal. And so it's understanding the process and everybody wants to do well. And you know, we have four Grand Slams a year and everybody wants to do, to do well. The good thing is that we have the opportunity that if you don't do well in Australia, literally a few months later, you can try to be better at the French Open. And so it's the process. It's knowing that you have to trust. The process is that you have to be patient. It doesn't change all of a sudden, right? That because you're. Yeah, there's more media attention or people are talking to you about your losses in the media or your wins that automatically will just get better. It's. You have to trust the process and you have to put in the work and you have to schedule your tournaments smartly and you have to tend to like, practice your, or schedule your day, your weeks off in between tournaments when you change surfaces. Like, I feel like that was one of my biggest, biggest strengths was that I was Able to always remember that I had to build in practice weeks, and now I feel like there's a lot of players that just kind of play week in, week out because of whether it's money, reasons, sponsors, points to defend. But I think in the long run, that will have a negative effect on your mental. Mental health physically. So it's important to find that balance that works for you. And I feel like with my team and the people that I had around me early on, I was able to find the balance that really worked for me. And I always felt very hungry getting to the tournaments, and I was so ready to start playing.
- [41:45]
Unknown
Once you had kind of more choice in your schedule and a little bit more freedom, maybe, financially. What did you. What did the weeks or week leading up to the French Open look like for you as far as practice? Trying to get your mental state right? Walk us through, like a week before.
- [42:00]
Sophie
So I dated an Australian tennis player. So I. I did have some struggles early on in my career with my team, with people telling me that I should play this. This tournament because it was better. And I was stubborn, and I was like, no, I want to be, you know. You know, watching my boyfriend play and, you know, like, things like that. I know so real for that. But at the end of the day, yeah, I always like to play. As I got older, I didn't like to play the week before Grand Slam unless I really needed it. I think we saw that with. With Novak playing in Geneva before the French, just because he needed the matches. And he was very open in saying, like, if I didn't feel like I needed, you know, to win some matches, I wouldn't be here right now. And so I also kind of felt like, okay, I want that last, especially the last few days, like, three, four days before you're playing your first round at Roland Garros. I didn't want to. I just wanted that to be my schedule that I like, where I feel good, that I can go to the gym, I can have my treatments. And when you're playing a tournament before, I don't want to rush into traveling from one place to the other and being in a different bed, different pill. All that stuff does have an impact. So I just wanted to stay most of the time, if possible, stay an extra few days preparing myself at the site. But then, yeah, there have definitely been a few cases where I did decide to play a tournament because I just wasn't hitting the ball well. I just felt like my confidence was low or I had an injury prior, and I just wanted to have some more matches. So it all. Tennis is such a, you know, a sport that goes on how you feel. And I think. I mean, for me, it was. That was definitely the case. If I felt good, I didn't feel the need to play more matches. I was ready. I could switch it on when I had to. And so over time, yeah, just learn to understand what works for you and what doesn't.
- [44:12]
Unknown
Did you find it hard on the flip side of the tournament going from. So you made the French Open final going kind of straight to Wimbledon. Was that a harder transition for you because it's so close?
- [44:21]
Sophie
I mean, it's exciting. You know, I just came from this great result, and I got to play on grass, which was fun. And I. Most of the time, I played a smaller grass court tournament in. I mean, smaller, small. I mean, smaller than the French Open, but in Ross Mal and Chertogenboss, which is still around. And it was one of my favorite tournaments because it was an hour drive from my home, so I could go and practice on those grass courts right away. And it was a little bit of adjustment, but that was also the fun about it, right? It was, you know, trying to adjust as quickly as possible. And then, you know, you see Rafa do it literally, you know, from going to winning the title on Sunday on clay to practicing at the Queen's courts the next day, and being on top of the baseline and trying to, you know, hit his returns like, you know, a lot closer. I mean, it's just those kind of things. Yeah, you learn from other people, and you. You observe and you. You. You learn and you just try to push yourself and. And talk to your team about adjustments here and there and. Yeah, and that's the fun part. It's. It's. There's so much variety in tennis. The surfaces, the playing style that you have to achieve on. On those kind of surfaces, which is what I always loved. No, that's a lie. I shouldn't say I always loved that because there were definitely some frustrating moments, but I always loved the challenge, I think.
- [45:49]
Unknown
Yeah, well, yeah, I mean, that's what I think separates the best from, like, you know, finding that challenge exciting is probably what makes the top people the top people, you know, instead of being. Instead of that being so daunting and also understanding.
- [46:06]
Sophie
At the French Open, you know, there's not many, especially not on the women's side. There's not many clay court specialists. Like, there's a lot of players who don't enjoy playing on clay. And I think from the moment that I understood that, and like I said in the beginning, like, just to be good enough on the day it had, doesn't have to be my best feeling, but if I could win my matches where I just had to be good enough on the day, my opponents also didn't like sliding on clay or didn't like that the timing or that there were more bad bounces or the, you know, it was harder to hit the back end, the higher backhands. And those were all moments where. Yeah, that. That made a big difference for me once I, you know, was mature enough to realize, like, oh, my opponents also don't like this unless I was playing Justine or, you know, like, a few players that love loved the clay. But, yeah, that became such an important realization for me, knowing that my best tennis or not playing my best tennis was a lot of times still better than other players who didn't enjoy playing on the clay either. So that comes with that kind of maturity and the more mature mindset. Yeah.
- [47:22]
Unknown
And everyone. Some people are just kind of better at. At faking that. They're also really nervous and also struggling. Yeah.
- [47:29]
Sophie
Yeah.
- [47:29]
Unknown
Some people are really good at putting that front on, and I'm sure that's really intimidating as a player to be playing someone who, like, you're like, oh, they. They're not nervous at all. And they know. They know that they're going to win this versus you, who's, like, quivering and shaking and so nervous on the inside.
- [47:42]
Sophie
Yeah. You feel that. Yeah. You feel that as an opponent. You feel. I feel. I can feel when my opponent is starting to be a little bit more nervous. You feel it with the shots. You see it with the movement being a little bit late, a couple of mistakes that they weren't making up until a couple minutes prior. So tennis is also very much an intuitive sport, and you learn to read energy, you learn to read body language. And so there's so many things like that that you can pick up and that do. Even at times where you're losing, where you feel like, oh, the door is maybe still open a little bit, because you just showed me something that I can definitely use to try and know. Be more consistent or try to break you down a little bit. And I think that's the fun part about the whole mental side of the sport, is that you can. Yeah. Read those things from them emotionally. Well, they do that on their own.
- [48:36]
Unknown
Right.
- [48:37]
Sophie
Yeah, but that's the thing. Like, you crush your own.
- [48:39]
Unknown
Yeah.
- [48:40]
Sophie
Game.
- [48:41]
Unknown
Yeah.
- [48:42]
Sophie
There's never really been an opponent who's crushed Me emotionally, it was my own thoughts that did that. Right.
- [48:48]
Unknown
Was it them doing it. Was it them doing it secretly through like, you know what I mean? Were they.
- [48:53]
Sophie
It's almost like, no, it's like your own, your own insecurities, your own doubts, you're like, they are. That's what gets you down. But yeah, I guess when you learn to not feed into that so much and kind of put the focus somewhere else, you learn to.
- [49:13]
Unknown
That's hard to do. That's really hard. That's a hard thing to learn to do.
- [49:17]
Sophie
It is. But that's just how tennis creates that. You learn that unknowingly. I never consciously was like, oh, let me do this right now. Like, no, you just learn to do that over time.
- [49:36]
Kim Clijsters
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- [50:26]
Sophie
Pro baller. Lonzo ball for buzzballs. Ready to go. Cocktails take 12.
- [50:30]
Kim Clijsters
Buzzballs just dropped their biggest blue balls.
- [50:32]
Sophie
Script says Biggie's blue balls. Lonzo, take 13.
- [50:35]
Kim Clijsters
Blue balls just dropped their biggest buzz balls.
- [50:38]
Sophie
Ugh. Let's try a V exercise. Buzz balls, Biggies. Blue balls. Buzz balls. Biggies. Blue balls.
- [50:44]
Kim Clijsters
Big balls.
- [50:45]
Sophie
Just drop.
- [50:47]
Kim Clijsters
Get blue balls.
- [50:48]
Sophie
This season with buzz balls, please, you're responsibly.
- [50:52]
Unknown
Buzz balls.
- [50:52]
Kim Clijsters
Available in spirit, wine and malt. 15% Alcoa by volume Buzz Balls LLC, Carrollton, Texas.
- [50:58]
Unknown
Kim, I have one of the most. We can edit this question out. I have such an unhinged question.
- [51:03]
Sophie
Oh, boy.
- [51:04]
Unknown
I was watching a documentary. Got it. Okay, I'm just gonna say it. I was watching the Paul brothers documentary. Are you familiar with the Paul brothers, Logan and Jake Paul?
- [51:16]
Sophie
Oh, yes.
- [51:17]
Unknown
Okay, well, they have a documentary out. I was watching their documentary and they were interviewing Jake Paul. Me too. So am I. Okay. I was hoping we would have this little moment because I had. I just had to admit that I watched the Paul brothers documentary, so I was hoping we would get to that moment. I'm a big fan of Utah as well. And they were talking. They were talking to her, and she was saying that before Jake has a match, they don't sleep in the same bed. Because if she gets bad sleep or if she's, like, tossing and turning, she gets nervous that Jake's gonna have a bad match, he's not getting the right sleep, whatever. Did you ever have any weird superstitions like that where, like, you and Brian aren't sleeping in the same bed or, like, something. You're like, stay away from me. I don't want to be near you before a big match.
- [51:59]
Sophie
Not really. I don't think. Not like that. I mean, listen, I can tell you a lot of stories now, but probably for a different. Different type of show. But no, I didn't feel like that at all. To me, having him around was also very relaxing to me. It kept my mind off, you know, what's happening tomorrow or you're playing this big game. Like, no, like, that wasn't the case for me. Yeah, he's like.
- [52:35]
Unknown
It's more of a calming presence.
- [52:37]
Sophie
Yeah, to me, it was that way. But I understand the part where, you know. And I've seen Utah, like, kind of talk about, you know, I need to be locked in, you know, I guess the. The Olympics, the world championships. Yeah.
- [52:51]
Unknown
Same goes for her.
- [52:52]
Sophie
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And to kind of be away from each other. And I guess when you're an athlete, it's so normal. Like, I've seen that, you know, where people ask me, like, how do you do it? Like, when you're away for two weeks? And I'm like, what do you mean? Like, it's so normal for me to, you know, jump on a plane. Like, my husband was an athlete. You know, he. Okay, he played basketball, so he was in one place for a longer amount of time. But it's so normal for us to be apart from each other. I'm sure it's harder for them, I guess, not too long ago, just got engaged, I think, and to then leave each other. And it just takes maturity to understand that you have your goals and she wants to achieve it and there. All the way there to support it. And I want to see her win. Win the gold.
- [53:51]
Unknown
Oh, me too. I'm so hopeful. Oh, my gosh. Especially after watching that documentary. I was like, she has to get. She works so hard.
- [53:58]
Sophie
I haven't watched it hard, but I. I've.
- [54:00]
Unknown
You know, she was the star, in my opinion. Yeah. And she spent a ton of time with her family. She gives a lot of. She's very, very close with her family, and she gives a lot of credit to them for her career. And I think we saw that a lot at the Rawapa ceremony when he was speaking. I'd love to know your thoughts about his speech and sort of how he was so gracious and grateful to his family and his team for the past 20 years.
- [54:25]
Sophie
It was. I really, really loved watching it. The whole tribute from the, you know, the T shirts that they handed out, you know, the things that were written kind of in the, you know, with the people wearing the white T shirts in the stadium, and then seeing Roger and Novak and Andy walk out and. And was. It was so. I don't know, it was just so perfect, I feel like, for him. And. Yeah, and then seeing, you know, listening to his speech and the way that he. Yeah, the way that he thanked his family members. But it's also like seeing. Having seen Rafa around for all these years, like, literally from when he was a little boy, not speaking any English, where you had to translate some of the questions that journalists would ask him to all of a sudden, you know, giving, you know, speaking a little French, doing a lot of it in English, in Spanish, like, and thanking his family. Like, they are so grounded. Like, they're so hardworking, grounded. Good, good head on their shoulders. Professional. Like, you see his whole team, whenever you're at a tournament, shake hands with. With the people from transportation, with the people that worked at the practice desk, like, always saying goodbye to everybody, very, you know, open. You can connect with somebody like him. Very professional. And then, yeah, to hear. To hear him talk about his family members and how much. How much they've meant, and you can. Yeah, you just always felt that. Right. Like, he's had such a long relationship with every family member, obviously, but also his team members. And. And, you know, the relationship that he had with Carlos Moya and with his. With his uncle and. And just the impact that they've all had was just really beautiful to witness there. And. And. And, you know, there is ups and downs and there is struggles, and there's a lot of things that go on privately that you don't know or that the people don't know about, but it does. That means that makes the connection to those people even stronger when things do go well. And. And so for. To see their son there, you know, was so cute and Just, it just makes me feel like. And I had the same with, like, with Andy even, Right. Like, like to see, you know, growing up, playing juniors together and then seeing him get married and have kids, it's like you're like, oh, yay. Like, you know, he's in this next stage of life. Seeing Serena, like, like, like there's so many fun, like, amazing stories about having these long careers with people and then seeing them move on and, you know, be well in life. And that's all you can hope for. Right. And that makes you really excited to see that. Yeah. Life is. It's not always easy to. When you've been such a professional, like a high level professional athlete and a very intense. To see it all kind of fall apart. But I just felt like this. Yeah. Was like the perfect tribute. And I feel like, yeah, the French and Amelie Mourasmo. Seeing her there, it was just a really nice, perfect, personal, deep kind of tribute. And I can't wait to kind of step on center court and see the plaque that they've put next to the ball boy at the net. So I, I want to see that in person.
- [58:05]
Unknown
That was amazing. I don't know, I. I wasn't expecting it.
- [58:08]
Sophie
I was.
- [58:09]
Unknown
I was already so blown away by the whole ceremony itself. And then. And then they swept away the clay and show the plaque and I was done.
- [58:15]
Sophie
Right. And it's like he didn't realize that it was like a forever thing, whereas he thought it was just for the day or it was just for the tournament this year. But then when he found out that it was, yeah, there forever, that was. Yeah, very nice. And you can see that he was really kind of touched by it. And so, yeah, who knows, maybe in the future when we're all a little bit older, they might name one of the courts after him or. That would be. That would be really cool, too.
- [58:43]
Unknown
Yeah, that would be very fitting.
- [58:45]
Sophie
Yeah.
- [58:45]
Unknown
That whole ceremony, I mean, it really takes all of the people that he thanked to build someone like that that is so lasting. And that humility just, like, showed in the moment. You're just talking about where he. They sweep away this clay thing and he just thinks that's there for a day and he's crying about it and he doesn't even understand, like, really the impact that he's. That he's had. And, yeah, the whole thing was just. Was beautiful. And to have everyone there supporting him was just amazing.
- [59:11]
Sophie
It was kind of the perfect day for it. Right. And seeing them together, those four, it was just really. Yeah. Seeing them hug each other. And then, I mean, I cried a lot when Roger said goodbye at the, at the Laver cup and, and hugging and holding hands with Rafa and all those kind of images that you have from that day to seeing it now kind of being reversed towards Rafa was really nice. And you can just see these guys are. They outgrew the sport in a sense. And so to see what they'll be doing in the future and hope that they can still play some exhibitions and that we can still, you know, it doesn't have to be the highest level, but just with their presence and their energy and is what I look forward to watching. And, yeah, I can't wait to see what they're going to do with all the other things that they're doing in life. So, yeah, it was a nice ending to his connection with Roland Garros.
- [60:11]
Unknown
All right, Kim, thanks for sitting down with us and chatting. It's always good when we can catch you back at home. Where are you headed to next?
- [60:18]
Sophie
I'm home. And then our next trip will be I'll take Jada to Europe where she will prepare with her Belgium national team under 18 and they'll train. And then the middle of July, she'll play in Spain. The European Championships are in Gran Canaria, so I'll be. I'll be there.
- [60:38]
Unknown
Wow. Good luck, Jada.
- [60:40]
Sophie
Yeah, thanks.
- [60:41]
Unknown
Always rooting for her and that's so exciting. How long are you guys going to be gone for?
- [60:46]
Sophie
It will be about 10, 10 to 12 days in Spain, but we'll be in Belgium for preseason and things like that. And then we come here because she has more tournaments in the States right after. So, yeah, a lot of basketball. When the weather's nice, I'll be in some indoor facility and, yeah, watching more basketball. I did find a little new little trick that helps me because I don't know, for some reason like the loud noise I don't really deal with well anymore. So I take my earplugs and I just put them. You know, it's the whistles, it's the yelling of the parents and it's. I just put my, my earplugs in and yeah, that's it.
- [61:25]
Unknown
Kim, thanks for sitting down with us. Enjoy the rest of your summer and time with your family. We'll catch you on the next episode and you guys can follow us on all of our socials. Oveallpodcast. Pretty simple. And then you can subscribe on YouTube under served media and we'll see you guys for the next episode. Thanks for listening thing.
- [61:42]
Kim Clijsters
Here we go.