Jim Courier (2:22)

Yeah.

Chuck (2:22)

You know, he had some positivity to it.

Jim Courier (2:24)

Yeah. And thing that I think people need to understand is the greatest thing about sports is that you. You have to prove it every day. Like Mehdi's proven. He knows he can. We know he can close matches. We know he can win tough matches. We know he's. But like, if you have an off year and you don't make it past the second round of a slam like he did last year, you have to prove it all over again. Like, it restarts. You still have those. You don't, you know, automatically revert back to and just choose to have those feelings from 2020 or 2021. It doesn't work that way. Every single day, you got to do it. That's a big win for him, though. He looked like he was in shape, and I was just amazed that he was not creating, like, that circus atmosphere that he can do sometimes. Zverev goes through Nori. I didn't know that he had. He's been Nori like six or seven times in a row.

Chuck (3:13)

Really?

Jim Courier (3:13)

Yeah. Like, that's. Nori's a tough out. TP6161 against Davidovich Forkina. So that matchup at the Australian Open, specifically, do you guys remember they played last year at the Australian Open? Do you want to know what the score was?

Chuck (3:30)

What?

Jim Courier (3:31)

It was 616161. TP was up 6161. And then Ripcord. Davidovich Forkina with a leg. Upper leg issue. Hamstring. We couldn't really get a full.

Chuck (3:43)

What was it?

Jim Courier (3:44)

John Hammy. Ish. Yeah. Hamstring, thigh injury. Hamstring thighs feel like different parts, but it's a Google said. Yeah. Good upper leg injury, which you hope. You hope he's feeling okay, but he seems to. I mean, 1, 1, 1 1. I forgot. How many ones? A lot of ones against a bit that's. He's playing some ball. He's going to have to.

Chuck (4:06)

Does it feel like Tommy just has his number?

Jim Courier (4:08)

Obviously, like something in matchup, Davidovichina kept serving second serves to Tommy Paul's backhand. And it was like Tommy Paul's back in return. Like, he doesn't. He doesn't need a lot of time. He is a really good, like, punch returner. And he was just starting on the back foot. Every time Serindolo took out Rubles, the old Rublev. What'd he say after the last one? He said, coffee, sleep. Coffee, sleep. Coffee practice. Coffee, sleep.

Chuck (4:35)

Yes.

Jim Courier (4:38)

You know what I want to say, right? I know you want. You do you know what it is now?

Chuck (4:41)

I do. But you can go for it. You can have the honors Coffee, sleep.

Jim Courier (4:46)

Coffee, sleep. Coffee. Flight. Ah, sorry.

Chuck (4:50)

I'm gonna miss him though. He had two great post match interviews. He was looking good. His energy seems good. His attitude seems great.

Jim Courier (4:55)

Like even when he goes, he kind of has the, like, even when he goes crazy. He tells you he's crazy. Yeah, like if someone says it first, I have a lot of grace for that.

Chuck (5:03)

Yeah, I went crazy.

Jim Courier (5:04)

I'm an idiot. It's like, what am I going to say? You went crazy.

Chuck (5:07)

You're an idiot.

Jim Courier (5:08)

Like you gotta, you know, you say it first.

Chuck (5:10)

Lerner TN man bro loves tennis.

Jim Courier (5:14)

God, he's good at tennis. He's just a, he's just, he doesn't, you know what he doesn't do? He doesn't play bad or sloppy points. Like even the ones he loses. He has intent behind him. It's like he chooses the right shot, he chooses the right pacing. He knows when depth is his friend. He knows when widening the court is his friend. He doesn't over like he's just a really, his tennis IQ is really, really high. Really, really high. His fit. Like he doesn't, he doesn't come on the court and you're not like, he doesn't look like the Ferrer where he's like foaming at the mouth and you, you know that he's like just a physical specimen animal. He's just, he's a really, really well coached. I wonder if he's been like that since he was like 11. Like I wonder if he just always been that way. Yeah, I wonder if he just sees it right. But I mean he's, he's super impressive. I mean going through board straight sets and you know, we have now the old rematch from the upset special last year. Lerner TN and Medi again.

Chuck (6:10)

This will be their third time meeting or fourth time meeting.

Jim Courier (6:13)

I know learners won at least two of those.

Chuck (6:14)

He's two and one.

Jim Courier (6:15)

Yeah.

Chuck (6:15)

Correct.

Jim Courier (6:17)

That's going to be fun to watch. That will be really fun to watch. Not a lot of wasted shots and in that match, a couple of really smart dudes most likely going to do really smart things. Really fun. Svitolina rolls golf through. Haley Baptiste is playing great by the way, like props to her Mboco. She wins a lot of three setters, man. She's good at winning close matches. She's really good. She's gonna be good for, for a long time. She's. She keeps keeping your bracket alive. She is. Thank you goodness.

Chuck (6:49)

The teenagers on the women's side are crushing. They're five into the third round.

Jim Courier (6:54)

Crazy And I.

Chuck (6:55)

And I think we're looking at two already through now.

Jim Courier (6:57)

Yep. With another Moohova through, Putsie through Putin, Sava through, Andrea rolling like she's. She's putting some, like, pretty straightforward score lines. 3, 4. Like, she's in win last week, got through the. The weird one first where you have to, like, switch conditions, arrive in Melbourne, do that all in 36 hours in get through the first match. Always going to be a little weird. And then Jovic, man, we've been talking about her beating Paolini in a slam two and six. She's really good. She's really good. I'm curious to see how she deals when someone can knock her off the baseline, because she just sets up shop in the middle and just starts ripping, distributing, moves fast off that line. What I'm curious to see is when she plays someone like a Sabalenka or a iga who can do the same thing that she can do and establish that presence, kind of take that core positioning from the middle quickly. But if you give her time and she's on the front foot, she doesn't let go of the control of that rally. And something else she does amazingly well for someone so young is she realizes when middle is. Is. Is available. Right. So like most young players, you see, they. They go, you know, big, big, big, big. But it's always pushed to the sideline if the shot's not there. She understands the value of, like, deep through the middle and then waiting on that next one and then pouncing. The control of the middle of the court is something that you feel like is learned. You don't see a lot of, like, really young players comfortably know that they can distribute through the middle. She's really good at that.

Chuck (8:42)

So explain that to me a little bit more for a layman like myself, for us chuckers, by controlling the middle, is she able to then push her opponent kind of back off the baseline to where.

Jim Courier (8:52)

Yes.

Chuck (8:52)

Okay.

Jim Courier (8:53)

But also, it's. If the shot's not there, it's basically waiting one. So it's like, it's when you're looking for the uppercut of the body shot and it's not there, and you have a jab to reset, but you're still in control because you landed a jab right. She's going with pace deep through the middle. And the other thing that does is when it's through the middle, if someone pulls you wide, you can create more angles. The geometry is wide, so therefore, you can. You can pull it wide if it's hot. Through the middle. They kind of make you get T Rex arms to where you're, like, shoving it to the corners, but you can't really go big to the corners. So she kind of goes deep through the middle, resets, and then all of a sudden, she's on top of distributing again if someone gives her the space to do it. But her control through the middle is really impressive as. As I've watched her play this tournament and drava cooking. I mean, this is just really fun. Oh, and the. The other thing is, like, Sabalenka just winning breakers all the time. I mean, you have the stats on that.

Chuck (9:53)

It's set a record.

Jim Courier (9:54)

Crazy.

Chuck (9:54)

Yeah. 19 straight slam tiebreakers dating back to Wimbledon 2023, which, sorry, ties one. Novak Djokovic, who did it only in the Slams. She currently holds the women's record for 19 straight tiebreaker wins, you know, consecutive across all events.

Jim Courier (10:12)

She hasn't lost. So let's just.

Chuck (10:13)

Breaking your record very clear.

Jim Courier (10:15)

Oh, wait, do what now?

Chuck (10:16)

She broke your record last year of 19 straight tie break.

Jim Courier (10:21)

Just not in Slams.

Chuck (10:22)

Not in Slams. Just period. And then, yeah, you had 18. Now she has 19 straight in just slams.

Jim Courier (10:27)

Tying the slams one is probably more impressive than. I mean, it's a regular season getting.

Chuck (10:32)

Back to Wimbledon 20, 23.

Jim Courier (10:33)

Yeah, it's absurd. I mean, listen, she's not scared to hit her shot, like, step up and do it. I mean, winning 19 tiebreakers in a row in Slams is. Is absurd.

Chuck (10:46)

I mean, that's just like. It's just doubling down.

Jim Courier (10:49)

She shouldn't have been in a tiebreaker in the second set against. Against Potipova. Wasn't really happy with her forehand. Was kind of like shadow swinging it a little bit. That doesn't change the fact that's almost more impressive when you feel like a set got away from you and you're still able to kind of grind through a tiebreaker. But she's so. She's so good. Just getting Gucci deals.

Chuck (11:11)

It's Gucci.

Jim Courier (11:13)

She got swag, man.

Chuck (11:14)

She got swag. She's wearing, like, Gucci sunnies. And she's like, yeah, I got some stuff dialed up, like, to be able to say, I have some stuff dialed up, some encore collabs for later in the tournament. You're like, oh, you're just. You're just like, oh, later in the tournament, I'll be here to do my Gucci collab.

Jim Courier (11:27)

That's a great point. Never in my life. I'll tell you what I would have done if someone would. I had A. An ad campaign where I lost first round one year at the US Open. And they, like, I was on every billboard in New York, but I wasn't in New York because I had lost first round. To have the confidence to like, like, actually go do it. And the. The. We had the. It was in our text, but we. We sent around the picture of the announcement of the Gucci deal.

Chuck (11:53)

Yeah.

Jim Courier (11:53)

And it's basically just a Gucci Snuggie.

Chuck (11:55)

It. It looks like a very expensive Snuggie.

Jim Courier (11:58)

It looks like an expensive Snuggie, but it looks nice. It looks cool.

Chuck (12:01)

It looks cool. If I walked home and my wife was sitting around watching Real Housewives in a Gucci Snuggie like, that, I'd be.

Jim Courier (12:08)

Like, oh, you'd be stressed.

Chuck (12:09)

I'd be super stressed.

Jim Courier (12:10)

Yeah. That would. You'd be like, where I be like.

Chuck (12:12)

Did you sell your car?

Jim Courier (12:14)

You better have sold your car.

Chuck (12:16)

Are you.

Jim Courier (12:16)

No, I get it. I get it. You walk in. Oh, I get it. You're now a walker. You're one of them.

Chuck (12:23)

I guess. I'm taking the kids to school every day.

Jim Courier (12:25)

Yeah, you are taking them every day. But it's gonna be exciting, though. The Chuckster tp. That's the next round. Buble Demon. That's fun. That's gonna be interesting.

Chuck (12:36)

Did you see. Did you see Demons post match?

Jim Courier (12:41)

I heard someone. Someone had mentioned. Did you have it? Yeah, yeah.

Chuck (12:44)

Your friend.

Jim Courier (12:45)

Yeah.

Chuck (12:45)

Yeah. Sean Plate.

Interviewer (12:47)

We all know how much you want the big wins, but you've already locked in a huge win this year. You and your fiance, you're getting married sometime this year. Congratulations to you and Katie. And it's a simple question. How involved are you planning to be in this wedding planning? Are you going to leave it to Katie?

Demon (13:10)

Are you doubting me, Jim?

Interviewer (13:11)

I am definitely doubting you.

Demon (13:13)

No, this is like a 5050 relationship. Right.

Interviewer (13:16)

So you've not been married. You don't know. You're. You're about to become a 49% shareholder of a really great company.

Demon (13:29)

Yeah. Honestly, the fact that we're both tennis players and we've both got quite a busy schedule, we are doing as much as we can together. And, yeah, I've been involved so far with some of the decisions. I'm sure when it comes to, like, the details of, like, napkins and flowers and, you know, decoration purposes, that's. That's not my forte. I'll leave that to Katie.

Chuck (14:00)

Oh, that's funny.

Jim Courier (14:01)

There's a couple of things there. One demon's great.

Chuck (14:04)

He's great.

Jim Courier (14:05)

Like, are you doubting? Like, he's just a dude.

Chuck (14:07)

He's marrying fellow tennis player Katie Bolton Bolter.

Jim Courier (14:12)

One of the best parts was her look. He goes, I've been involved. And she kind of gave. That was a meme.

Chuck (14:17)

We've all, we've all gotten that look. Yeah, the, like, not really.

Jim Courier (14:20)

Also, it needs to be said over and over and over again. Jim Courier is the best.

Chuck (14:25)

He's hilarious and fantastically detailed.

Jim Courier (14:29)

What he does, I mean, commentary. So the commentary. He. Every time I watch a match that he's on, he's giving you some research stat. He's giving you something that you didn't know and he's telling you why it is the way it is. He's the best. Also, those on court interviews are borderline impossible to make that vibe where it's like, everyone's laughing, everyone's in the joke, everyone's happy. You're not trying to just get clicks. You're, you know, you're. He's just the best.

Chuck (14:58)

It was like a really well timed stand up bit.

Jim Courier (15:00)

Oh, it's great. And then he was like. But also he has the pedigree where he's won there twice and he's been number one in the world to go. Oh, no, no, you don't understand. You're a 49% shareholder. Like, you're. Oh, oh, it's 50. 50. You're obviously not married.

Chuck (15:17)

That was great. Yeah, I wanted to share that.

Jim Courier (15:18)

I thought that was that the perfect delivery.

Chuck (15:20)

That was not the perfect delivery.

Jim Courier (15:21)

Oh, that was just an extra bonus.

Chuck (15:23)

We have a perfect delivery because we want some explanation for Chuckers and us laymans of why something's funny.

Jim Courier (15:29)

Okay.

Chuck (15:30)

Is that cool?

Jim Courier (15:30)

I hope so.

Chuck (15:31)

All right, we're going to play you the perfect delivery from one Ben Shelton, which he posted to his own social media. He's having some fun with a fellow American player.

Jim Courier (15:39)

Yeah. I'm sitting here with Emilio. How do you have 65 winners and 80 unforced errors.

Chuck (15:55)

Match? I mean, like, just clowning him on his IG is great.

Jim Courier (16:05)

It's so good. But that's, that's like, what. The reason I'm laughing so hard is like, I was on a text thread with, with fishy James Blake and Isner yesterday and we're just like, every conversation is just ripping each other like that. Like the entire thing. That's just the way it goes. Like, it's, it's hilarious. I love that he started the video just laughing his ass off. And for those of you who are like why is that funny? Yeah, that's an absurd amount of unforced airs if you think about it. 80 unforced errors in four sets. Yeah, you need four points to win a game, 24 points to win a set. He's literally giving you 20 points in airs per set. What did he say? So he's playing tennis against him. James would light up the air. Unforced air winner count. My winners to errors would be like six, six. James's would be like 42 to 41.

Chuck (16:55)

Oh, my gosh, that's funny.

Jim Courier (16:57)

I mean, basically it's like, okay, but then you're talking about matchups. It's like, are you going to grind? If you're Nava and you have, you know, a skill set that you probably played the right way. Like, you didn't sit there and, like, make less errors than Nori. No. Like, you had to, so. But it's actually funny knowing that he has to play, like, just redline it, like, be super aggressive. And then you walk in, you have 80ers just played like a psycho. Yeah, that's funny.

Chuck (17:27)

I love it. So what's. What's the match you're most excited about today?

Jim Courier (17:31)

I'm excited about a lot of them. Pliskova's comeback, like, that's kind of fun. I'm. I'm curious to see Spaziri against center. Just because it's like, okay, well, welcome.

Chuck (17:42)

Welcome to the show.

Jim Courier (17:43)

You're about to see it. Yeah, I'm not. I mean, but yeah, obviously. Novak Van Sculpt, I think, you know, Van Ven has beaten the Chuckster at the Open, so he's pretty mellow. Naomi Pula and a Samova Shelton Vachero. That's a big one. Ben better hope he doesn't have 80 years and four sets.

Chuck (18:06)

I. Stan the man versus Taylor Fritz.

Jim Courier (18:08)

That's a big one. Chillich and rude. I don't know what to do with Chilich is maybe he's maybe like the hardest person to predict now.

Chuck (18:19)

Okay.

Jim Courier (18:19)

Because his game is so specific. Like, if you can take his pace and bleed him lines. I don't know that he moves well enough at this point in his career. But, like, Casper is going to have to find a way to get control of the points. Like, Chilich is just going to be in. He's going to be in on every return. Casper is not going to have a lot of room to breathe, but it's. Can he take that ball and bleed Chillich lines? That. That's an interesting one. And I don't know what to do with it. I took Mahaj to go deep in this tournament, and after seeing Musetti play the first couple rounds, he's looked really good. I feel less confident about that one. Stan and Fritz is fantastic. I'm kind of interested. I know the big names are like the ones that are like, everyone gets excited about. I get more excited at this point in the tournament. It's like men Chic and Quinn. That's a big match for both of them, right? Like, that's a big. I mean, men chic.

Interviewer (19:07)

We.

Jim Courier (19:07)

We. He wins Miami, but I don't know that he's made a, like a massive run in the slam yet.

Chuck (19:11)

So this is.

Jim Courier (19:12)

He's still building and obviously standing. Fritz, I mean, I got to think Fritz gets through that. You know, he should be the heavy, heavy favorite. Especially with Stan coming off of like a five set win. I mean, that body. I'm 43 and I played seven games of Dingles this morning and I can't walk right now. I'm about playing five sets of real tennis. I think Fritz gets through that one comfortably. But, like, we'll see. I. Nothing would be better than if Stan, like, I'm a Taylor fan, but just for drama, for the sake of drama, Stan wins that first set shot. That's like a shot of energy into the, into the tournament for the day. But like, this is. Everything's getting so good. The matchups are getting so good. A lot of good tennis to watch. Yeah, I've been watching.

Chuck (19:58)

Yeah. Hopefully you have your Disney bundle, unlike Sean.

Jim Courier (20:01)

Oh. The matches I'm most excited for are the ones on ESPN Plus.

Chuck (20:05)

Yes.

Jim Courier (20:05)

Not on ESPN Unlimited. Because why? Because I don't have on ESPN Unlimited.

Chuck (20:10)

What?

Jim Courier (20:10)

Why? It's like an extra 30 bucks. I don't want to pay for that. So.

Chuck (20:14)

Wait.

Jim Courier (20:14)

Oh, this is embarrassing.

Chuck (20:18)

We will pay for it.

Jim Courier (20:19)

Really?

Chuck (20:20)

It's your job.

Jim Courier (20:21)

Okay.

Chuck (20:23)

I'm embarrassed.

Jim Courier (20:24)

I'm embarrassed. You're embarrassed. My name's on the fucking mic.

Chuck (20:27)

I wonder he hasn't been able to give me any good insights.

Jim Courier (20:30)

Just, just, just moving forward. When something costs money, but it's your job and you need it, that expense goes to the company. Oh, we, we couldn't defend ourselves a little bit in our shame, which should be there. We should feel that. But also, I didn't know before today that he didn't have it and he wanted it.

Chuck (20:51)

No. You have a company credit card. Put it on there.

Jim Courier (20:54)

Done.

Chuck (20:55)

There we go.

Jim Courier (20:55)

Don't go crazy. What else can I put on there? That's it.

Chuck (20:58)

That's it. That's it.

Jim Courier (21:00)

That's it. I like it, though. I mean, I know everyone's like, I know people have been going kind of crazy about it, right?

Chuck (21:06)

Yeah. I think, you know, it's just when you start to stack up all the stuff that you have to buy, I think it's a little annoying, you know, the fact that it's in the middle of the night. Like, just put it on regular espn.

Jim Courier (21:16)

Like, is it not on?

Chuck (21:18)

You're like, re air. You're like. You're like re airing like UCLA game from like two years ago.

Jim Courier (21:22)

I have all of the things I don't know when I buy. Like, I'm sure I've overpaid for all of it. But like, through like fantasy league, I'm sure I have like every insider, everything. And I'm just saying, once you get through it, I'm like, I hop around all the matches.

Chuck (21:36)

Yeah.

Jim Courier (21:37)

I get, you know, I. I love clicking on one when it's five. All right. Second or third. Said going over in the set, not watching like the dead times.

Chuck (21:45)

And it works. Really though. The multi box. Everything works great once you're in it. Once you spend $50.

Jim Courier (21:52)

I find myself watching the reruns.

Chuck (21:54)

Yeah.

Jim Courier (21:55)

On. On Tennis Channel. Later in the afternoon too.

Chuck (21:57)

Yeah.

Jim Courier (21:57)

Which I just never do.

Chuck (22:00)

I just wish, like, there was an easy way when I wake up in the morning to just watch like a post highlight package. That it like AO does some cutups, but it's like nothing that's like hosted.

Jim Courier (22:12)

Yeah. I just go to YouTube.

Chuck (22:14)

Yeah.

Jim Courier (22:14)

Catch up. I guess.

Chuck (22:16)

I guess that's why we do this show, actually.

Jim Courier (22:17)

Are you saying no.

Chuck (22:18)

We're the recap show of record.

Jim Courier (22:20)

Yeah. What if. I have a crazy idea. What if someone did a recap show every single day without highlights?

Chuck (22:26)

Holy cow.

Jim Courier (22:28)

Awesome. Thank you for watching Quick serve presented by ServiceNow.