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Andy Roddick
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Andy Roddick
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. Sally from Finance loves fly fishing. She used to spend her weekend surrounded by receipts. Then she switched her company to Ramp. Now spend is all under control, all in one place. Her team submits their expenses with a text and she can close the books without all the busy work. So Sally's weekends are all her own, surrounded by fish, not receipts. Switch your business to ramp.com and love finance again. Hey everyone. Welcome to Served. I'm Andy. Producer Mike in the house. Techie Sean is here. JW in the house as well. We had threatened to have the IGA Swiatek on for today's episode. Can you guys believe that she's traveling around the world and trying to get some rest? Isn't that the craziest thing you've ever heard? So what's going to happen is today we're going to do a Q and A show mixture of whatever JW wants to do. And you all have sent in a bunch of great questions. Some are about pro tennis, some I've heard are about your tennis and how do we, how do we play well at the chucker level? We're going to answer all of those, all of those questions. We are going to shoot the interview with IGA this week. So that will be out for next Tuesday's release, which will be awesome. I cannot wait to talk to her. Mike, you had a couple headlines off the top.
Producer Mike
Yeah, there's a few stories have been popping off since the end of Wimbledon. First, 45 year old Venus Williams accepts a wild card into the D.C. open. She'll play Peyton Sterns this Tuesday. So when this episode comes out, she'll likely be playing a few hours later. This will be William's first official match since the 2024 Miami Open and first appearance in D.C. since 2022. Saying in a statement, this city has always shown me so much love and I can't wait to compete there again.
Andy Roddick
Yeah, it's a no brainer. I mean if you're, if you're Mark on and you Own the tournament. And one of the, I always say, like any one namer can probably get a wild card anytime, any place. I don't care if Roger wanted one next week, you let him in. If you're a tournament and you know this is a, this is a win for D.C. having Venus around for one more week. Yeah, we're all going to be watching and say, what level will she be at? You know, anyone coming back after not having played for a year, it's, it's not easy. And especially, you know, 45 turns to 46 turns to 47. It gets a little tougher every year, but it's a no brainer. You know, Venus is not someone who's relied, you know, heavily on movement in the most recent years. Obviously she was a great mover in her prime. She's going to come out and try to beat the crap out of the ball and I don't care if she loses. You can save all your. She shouldn't get a wild card. If you won five Wimbledon, seven majors, and you're part of the most iconic tennis family in history, this is a win for the tournament at Washington, D.C. the city of Washington, D.C. jW, why am I wrong on this one?
JW
I would say wrong. I would say exactly. This is like exemptions in the pga. You win seven majors, you do whatever you want. I do wonder, would you feel differently if this were a major? I mean, you go to D.C. it's July, it's fine. They could use a big name. It's great. Would you feel differently if this is. If she asked for the same thing at the US Open?
Andy Roddick
I have a feeling we're trending towards that. I don't, I don't know why you play Washington all of a sudden if you don't have the intent to play the US Open. And you know, and this is, I don't know anything. I haven't talked to anyone close to the situation. But it would seem like DC will lend itself to another event. And I'd say, John, if those go okay, then I don't have much of a problem with the uso. But I think wild cards should be used for, for a couple of things. Right. You add value to a smaller event without losing, without losing credibility. If you have a seven time major champ, you either have someone who you want to give a boost to on the way up or a champion that is either saying goodbye and, or trying to claw back something. This qualifies under all of those things and there's no doubt that it adds value. Not only on court, but off the court, having Venus talk about it, all of a sudden, DCs in the, in the press cycle this week. So there are a lot of factors. If she plays fine and is, is generally competitive. You know, basically what we're asking is, is she going to be better than some 15 year old who gets a direct exemption from winning a junior tournament? She's probably just as good as that. Absolutely. So it doesn't offend me.
JW
Two side points. One of them is, I always feel real kinship with the Williams sisters because they sort of started when I started in our careers. I love the fact that they started so unconventionally. Remember, they didn't play junior tennis and they have this brash dad and she enters this event in Oakland, California as this sort of novelty act and hey, she's beating players and taking sets off. I love that they started unconventionally and at least in Venus's case, wow, is she ending unconventionally. I also sort of smiled at one of Richard Williams sort of talking points in about 1999 was enjoy my daughters while you can because they have so many other interests, they're not going to be in tennis long. If you told him in 2025 his older daughter would still be unretired, I think we'd all get a laugh out of that. But no, it's great again. Is she going to win majors? Is she going to win an eighth major? Probably not. If she still finds any source of enjoyment and fulfillment and challenge, whatever it is, we should be happy she's still interested in tennis and not second guessing. Wild cards.
Andy Roddick
Yeah, I mean the wild cards are there to add value to the tournament, not lose credibility. No credibility is lost when you have a five time Wimbledon winner in your tournament to help someone on the way up to throw a lifeline to someone who is either on the tail end and or coming back from someone. This qualifies for all of them. I hope she plays well. Peyton Stern is not an easy draw. She's going to have to make a lot of balls. And Peyton Stern will be looking to excel, extend that match and test the fitness level of someone who hasn't played on tour in, in a while. All right, what's up? Yeah, that's right.
Producer Mike
Sticking with news out of dc, Holger Rune was spotted working with Andre Agassi. The Dane said that he reached out to the hall of Famer some months ago. Holger is quoted as saying, I thought this was the right time to get some extra input. It's not anything magic, but he obviously had some Very wise words I can use. Holger's obviously gone through some coaches recently. You know, what is your guys take on this?
Andy Roddick
The number one reason why I like this is because Andre doesn't need the job. And every other person who has kissed Holger's ass and asked him for a job has needed that job. Right. I think you're going to get honest feedback at an inflection point in someone's career who obviously has the talent but maybe lacks the consistency that he might want. I'm sure this isn't. I'm sure they didn't sign a two year deal. I'm sure it's like, hey, let's get some input. Let's see if we can't. Course correct. Let's see if, you know, you can't tap into my experiences, the things I did right and the things I did wrong, which are sometimes more important. And Holger is going to listen to Andre Agassi now. I don't know if it works. I don't know whatever else, and I don't know that that's always been the case. Number one thing, Andre doesn't need this job. So I think what he says will maybe land with Holger Runo a little bit more.
JW
Do we just put the whole Andre Novak Djokovic that just go down a memory hole? I feel like nobody talks about that, that brief coaching relationship, but no, I mean Andre, you know, he helped with Grego D. I mean the players who went to that Adidas outfit in Vegas and worked with Gil Reyes and I think Darren was there. They said, listen, Andre would pop by and in 10 minutes he would like have me completely reassess my game. It was just brilliant. I would also point out Olga Rune was born like within a week of Alcaraz. Right. 22 years old now hasn't quite matched the heights of Carlos. Gee, I know another 22 year old who was twinned with a rival and didn't quite meet expectation. And there were questions about whether he had that missing ingredient. There's some real symmetry here and. No, I think, I think it's what you said too. I mean, look, I don't think Andre is going to travel 30 weeks a year to be Holger in his coach. But I think it's kind of a win. Win.
Andy Roddick
Yeah, let's, let's, let's make this very simple, right? What's the downside? If it doesn't work, you're no worse off and the upside is significant. Right. If the downsides. And also I'M glad you brought up kind of Andre and Gil and the whole Vegas situation. Andre's worked with a lot of players under the radar in Vegas. We don't know all of the names. I know a lot of the names. But he's been an open door. Right. He's happy to give access to, to his brain if someone wants it. He picks up the phone, looks like he did again. And we'll see. Holger Runa is not going to be worse off for having long, introspective conversations with Andre Agassi. There's no downside here. This is a win.
Producer Mike
Also, last headline here, Carlos Alcaraz joins the list of sinner, Novak, Draper and Sabalenka in electing to skip the upcoming Canadian Open. Carlos is believed to be back on court for the Cincinnati Open ahead of the U.S. open. What's your guys take on this many stars skipping this event?
Andy Roddick
Yeah, it's certainly new. This is not. But also, I know that this is now we've added a week, but they combine them into three weeks. I do think this is one of the problems with playing every event over the course of 10, 12 days. Right. Is like it's easier to commit to two weeks, Cincinnati and Montreal. And if you play well in one of them, then great. And coming over weeks earlier than you were supposed to, you're seeing a general trend of everyone loading up during the clay court season, playing a bunch on grass, which they should. Something's got to give at some point. And when you extend the Runway further into the summer away from the US Open, I think it makes it an easier no. For some of the top players that have had success recently, you can, you.
JW
Know, there are a lot of things we can tinker with. There are some immutable forces, right. Gravity, time, the bond market you cannot make. These players are not robots. And whether or not they get fined and whether or not it gets dressed up in a press release and whether or not it's a real injury versus a bogus injury, they cannot play at the pace that you're asking them to play. It is just science. It's just a force that you can't mess with. And we can overlap these 10 and 12 day masters events. Keep in mind too, I mean, it's an ocean away. It's brutal conditions. If you lose early, you're marooned in some Marriott for 12 days before, no offense to Mike and myself, you get to go to, you know, to Southwest Ohio. I mean, it's just not what we're asking of these players. You're begging for this, and it's really disappointing if you run the Toronto, Montreal tournaments. But I don't know. I mean, you're sort of. I don't know what people expected to have happened. So, yeah, now we have this Masters 1000s event. It, man spreads over almost two weeks, and we're not going to have a. You know, Taylor Fritz might be the only top five player. Great job, guys.
Andy Roddick
And you just spent however many weeks at Masters 1000 in Europe. Like, it's just. And also, like, we need to be careful with the term bogus injury, because what's an injury? Something that doesn't feel great. I guarantee you every name on that list has something because they've played the most in the.
JW
What about fatigue? I mean, some of them. What about. I think. I think a legitimate injury is like what we said about IGA before. No, I'm just coming off a major on a different surface.
Andy Roddick
Like.
JW
Like, I've got to play the US Open. No, I'm tired and I'm not going to have an MRI to show you, and I'm not going to have a sling. I'm just frigging tired. And that's legit.
Andy Roddick
We don't get to see MRIs. Like, that's not something we get to see. And it's going to be like a lesson learned. I mean, the trend seems to be the people that play great in Roland Garros, that play deep in Wimbledon, need a soft landing. They need a reset before getting into the last half of the year. And what's going to go. It's that first 12 days that you're demanding of my time, where I actually need that 12 days to get ready for the tournament and then get ready or get ready for Cincy and then get ready for the US Open. I think it creates more interest in Cincinnati, and I don't think this is the end of this trend. For the front side of this tournament, you got to be careful what you wish for. You want more days, you're going to lose more players.
JW
Something's got to give.
Andy Roddick
Yep.
Producer Mike
Cool. Well, that's. That's all I got from the headlines, guys. So maybe let's take a quick break and we'll get back. We'll knock out these fan Q and A's.
Andy Roddick
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Andy Roddick
All right, everyone, welcome back to Served producer Mike we got some questions from.
Producer Mike
The Chuckers from our Checkers club members. We appreciate all of the submissions. We got it. We got a ton of them and we kind of sifted through and we picked a handful of the best ones. And so I think we'll, we'll try and get to four here on the regular show and then maybe if we still have some time, we'll grab some other ones and put them up just exclusively for our Chuckers club members. So if you want to check out the extra questions, sign on up and join the club and, and the link will be there. All right, guys, first question is from Jesus Corona. Do you think if grass season is longer, there could be better predictions for Wimbledon?
Andy Roddick
Well, one, it can't be longer because they've already added a week and grass there are only so many places that have good grass courts and once you use them after about two weeks, they're pretty much unusable. But to answer the hypothetical, absolutely. I don't know that there are many things on earth where if you give us a larger sample size, the ability to process that data doesn't lend itself towards more accurate results. And that can be whether it's in tennis or whether it's in anything else. But yeah, I mean, the reason why we say Wimbledon is so unpredictable is because you don't have that six weeks on clay going into Roland Garros where the predictions kind of feel a little bit easier. Also when players are going to kind of get grass. Right. I think it's the longest one to feel comfortable on. But then when it clicks, it can click very quickly. IGA Witek might agree with us.
JW
JW oh yeah, that's a good point. And I think, you know, it's a little strange that we have this, this pinnacle event played on the most Aberrant surface of which, you know, there are entire US states that don't have a single grass court. I wonder if there, and this is just more a thought exercise, do we think there is some sort of stand in for grass that would help us finding some predictive value? I don't, I mean your record on fast indoor court or your wingspan or whatever, just birth order this were the NBA they would be looking at like hand size as a predictor for grass court success. I do wonder if we could drill down a little deep and there's some sort of correlation in addition to grass court matches. But yeah, I mean whatever. If we had 100, if every player played dozens of matches on grass, it would help us predict that can't happen. I do wonder though if we can all put our heads together and maybe there is some sort of fill in that would help us predict more accurately.
Andy Roddick
Yeah, I mean, so the problem with the fast indoors is that it rarely exists now. It's all that they bring in these courts that are like, if you rub your hand on them, they're kind of like sandpaper and those are the ones that go between. So we don't actually get many, you know, many tournaments that are fast indoors. And also the only other hole with that is we have to value current form when making predictions. Right. If someone hasn't won a match in eight months, that affects what we think they can do in a first round. Right. Like Krit Chicovo is fantastic. She is an amazing player. She's great on grass, defending champion. And also we have to question her, you know, does she have enough matches, is she fit enough to play an extended format, seven matches in whatever. That all factors in the fast indoor court results that we normally get are from October and November of the previous year. There is a lot of time and space between the indoor season and when it, when it comes back around to grass. So I think there are predictors. One of the couple of things that that need to just go out the window is big servers just do well on grass. No, you have to have quick twitch muscles, you have to have shot tolerance, you have to have kind of a low ish center of gravity. If you're straight up and down and like a weeble wobble, you will get exposed because the game is so fast now. So there are some kind of antiquated predictors that somehow in some way people still attach themselves, you know. So I think you have to have that kind of quick twitch muscle thing. Obviously if you have a great ship, if you have a lot of Things, but just the, the, the tall scarecrow, big server. I, I think that ship has sailed with Luxel on with how good people are at hitting returns now. But yes, we would, we, we would have better predictions if we had a larger sample size.
Producer Mike
Just to follow up this on, out of my own curiosity, how much does your strategy change as the court wears over the two week period? Right. Like you go there and you start everything's all green and grass and then by the end it's kind of a sand pit.
Andy Roddick
Yeah, I mean I, it's, I think it favors certain players if it firms up, you know, someone who wants a higher, you know, ball flight. I don't think ego is super disappointed that on top of her back in, by the way, we need to start talking about her back in as one of the best in the world. It never gets mentioned. We like longer, you know, more, you know, but her back in is amazingly effective and if we don't mention it on the top three of every backhand conversation, we're dumb. But the forehand, she was actually able to get a little bit of shape and a little jump because the weather was warmer. So it does matter. I don't know if it's a full strategic overhaul, Mike, as opposed to this weather might complement what I already do. And I'm not sure you're going to make wholesale changes once it gets warmer and you're in the quarter semis. Something's already working by the time you've gotten there.
JW
That, that's a really good point. And I don't know if I brought this up on any of the shows we did from over there. I talked to one of the, you know, the, the groundskeepers and he said that because it was so hot, they have this measurement, this index. It's almost like they drop like a shot put onto the grass. It's like a.
Andy Roddick
Literally.
JW
Yeah, exactly. It's like a step meter.
Andy Roddick
It's like a stint meter in golf. Like that where you gauge how fast the greens are, they'll get a take for how fast the court is. Go ahead, jw.
JW
So listen to this. By the last weekend, the courts literally had half the give they did when the tournament started. So it's not just that the grass is getting trued up, but it's that the. I don't want to play horticulturalist here, but literally like the surface didn't give nearly as much. A completely different playing surface from day one to day 12. And yeah, I mean players have to, I don't know if they change their strategy Obviously it's opponent dependent. They, I think bake in that there are going to be a couple of bad bounces. But just to be clear, I mean those, those courts, your first round match are not at all like the courts if you're lucky enough to be a semifinalist or a finalist. And not just because they're chewed up.
Andy Roddick
And it doesn't mean that it's faster or slower. It means the ball like thuds. So balls stay down a little bit. If it's, if it's really moist and rainy and green, it kind of has the thud situation more. So like my mind goes to Mike, as opposed to hitting a volley through the court, you hit that like Borg esque volley that like you dump it over the net and it barely bounces. Right. The ball height of the bounce and how firm the cord is, that's the biggest difference. So your adjustments would be okay. The short chip on a really lush green court that's a little soft, kind of tumbles and rolls a little bit more as opposed to when it firms up that, that ball will sit up a little bit more. So maybe adjustments, but. But not wholesale changes? I wouldn't think so.
Producer Mike
Is there any opportunity for like a synthetic technology that would allow people to play more often on it? I mean, as John said, right, there's, there's not a lot of grass court opportunities here in the States.
Andy Roddick
I don't know why you would do that. I think like I used to go during Wimbledon just to get kind of a rhythm because it's not always easy to rally, especially when it is raining and the ball is just kind of thudding. I would go hit on fast indoor courts just for kind of that, that feedback. I don't know that you would want to revolutionize the entire thing. I think a fast indoor court that bounces a little bit lower and skids is probably the closest thing that you would get to an actual grass court. But um, you know, I don't know that you try to find a full synthetic thing for like the 12 people that play on grass consistently every year on earth.
Producer Mike
All right, next question is from Julie Almond. She says, hi Andy and the whole serve team. My 14 year old daughter saw you were doing this and really wanted me to share the following question in her own words. She has played tennis year round for about three years and does junior team tennis and L7 tournaments. She gets super frustrated because she plays really well in clinics but struggles to close out points when she competes. Here is the daughter's question. How do you keep nerves from Affecting your play, especially when people are watching. I let nerves get to my head and try and do too much with my shots, resulting in me eventually giving away the match.
Andy Roddick
Yep. So this at every level, every single level is. Is. Is a big deal. And one, don't treat nerves like they're the ender. Everybody is nervous. Everybody Sinner's nervous. He doesn't look it. We're all nervous all the time. So don't treat the word like. Don't treat nerves as if it's like a cuss word. Right. We need to acknowledge it before we can improve upon it. I'm nervous. Let's take some deep breaths. I can play great today. All of those things, they matter. I'm big on rituals, right? So all of these things, you can't control who's watching. Your heartbeat all of a sudden becomes faster. Let's go to the towel. Let's reset each time. There's little control mechanisms between points where it's like, let's create a ritual set where when things feel like they're getting out of control. I know that I can control this 22 seconds. But between points also, it's. Some people go more aggressive when they're nervous. I tend to say, hey, listen, let's keep taking aggressive swings, but let's take them to bigger parts of the court. This is the old Anacone thing, right? He preaches this. And so instead of going for lines when you're getting a little shifty, let's take bigger swings to bigger parts of the court. I always shifted to, okay, if I'm nervous. Your footwork is the first thing to go all of a sudden, instead of those quick, light steps that create a little bit of rhythm, and you kind of get that ebb and flow. It gets locked in cement, right? So make sure that your feet feel light. Make sure that your. Your breath is still going, Whether that's a grunt, whether it's a hard breath. You don't want the, you know, like you see on in club tennis, where it's like, you kind of have that. That halted breath. So ritual, find your breath, find your footwork. Aggressive swings. Make sure that pinky's a little loose so you're not giving it the death grip. Go to bigger parts of the court. Instead of, you know, getting mad at people watching, just ignore them. Focus your eye. Glance if it's your mother, if it's a coach, if it's a friend that you feel comfortable with. Find that one person who you actually like, the look on their face when they're when they're watching you, that's good.
JW
Let me ask you, was there. That's really good advice that I think people at, you know, my level and that's would help recreational players too. Was there one thing that you ever could pinpoint that triggered your nerves that was sort of beyond just competition and scoreboards and fans? Was there? Was there. Did you ever sort of dig down and say what is there one specific trigger that's making me nervous?
Andy Roddick
Yeah. Mine was more like if I, if I didn't feel when I was really prepared, really fit, had put in the work, I always felt pretty good. I was more nervous for, you know, sometime the US Open a moving dates. So if your injury isn't great going in, you kind of just have to deal with it sometimes. And it's that offset between I can't push too hard, maybe I, you know, I don't know if I can play a four or five setter. So when I was kind of unprepared, I would get more nervous in a first or second round. By the time I'd gotten to like quarter semis, I would be nervous still. I was always nervous before every match. The biggest duds I ever played in my life were ones where I was worn down and cared less. Right. Like when I had nerves, I was like, okay. The upside, I. I felt like for me to play my best, I had to be a little jittery and then adrenaline kicks in and then maybe you can find that, that second level. For me it was just a lack of preparation. I remember playing one of the matches, I remember being the most nervous ever. And I had been in that situation 17 million times was I lost second round of Wimbledon one year to tip Saravich in 08. And I was coming back from a shoulder injury and couldn't put in the time. I knew I wasn't that fit and I felt like I was going to vomit every time I had to serve, which was like insane for me at that moment in time because I'd already played in, you know, a bunch of Grand Slam finals and Wimbledon second rounds. So for me it was more about preparation. And the other side of that was I knew if I was fit, even if I wasn't playing great, I could run balls down, put them in the court, use my legs, find the biggest parts of the court while actually still defending. But I mean, we were talking with, you know, Lindsay Davenport, way better than I could ever be as a tennis player. But she got bothered by the amount of people in the stands. I never once thought about that. That didn't bother me. I was too busy freaking about, freaking out about my own game. Whereas, you know, Lindsey's game was great, and so she found other things to freak out about, apparently. But it's. There's just, Just no. Tell your daughter, and hopefully she's listening. There's not a player on earth that doesn't deal with nerves. She is not strange because of it. A lot of players feel comfortable in practice. You'll hear pro players say, I've been practicing well, but that's good. But it's not the ultimate predictor of how you're going to feel once you. Once you play matches. And also, if you find yourself playing matches once a month, play more. The more you're exposed to tournaments in those uncomfortable situations, the easier it gets, right? The more you do something, more immune you become to the scariest parts of that thing.
Producer Mike
All right, let's keep it rolling. Next up, we got a question from Henry. Andy, you've spoken about how the game has evolved with former players like Darren Cahill and Andre Agassi. How do you think tennis will evolve on the men's side in the next 20 years since Alcaraz and Center are such complete players?
Andy Roddick
I'm still waiting for the serve bot that's as fast as Alcaraz, like, at some point. And it's kind of where it's going. Everyone, everyone's, you know, Alcaraz is the outlier to the trend of everyone being taller and still being able to move. He's not a hugely tall person, but he's like the fastest person we've ever seen and, like, the most athletic body we've ever seen. So there's, like, it has to be, like, almost like a general generational offset for the trend, being bigger, stronger, faster, faster, fitter, you know, whereas if you were 6, 7 back in the day, it probably meant you couldn't get in and out of the corners as well. So you were kind of full speed ahead towards the net and just make yourself, you know, big and weird looking at the net, you know, So I don't know, are we going to have eventually someone who's as tall as Isner but can move as well as Sinner? I would have said that's almost impossible three or four years ago, and now, I just don't know. But I, I, you know, maybe we get that, that person like LeBron who's bigger than Karl Malone but also runs faster than, you know, a point guard in the 90s. So maybe we're waiting for that, that kind of level of physicality where I can serve like Isner, but I can move like Alcaraz. I don't know. It's, it's. What I'm seeing now is just absurd.
JW
No, no, I mean, this is the beauty of sports, right? I mean, who could play basketball at a higher level than Michael Jordan? And then here comes Kobe and LeBron and we've got, you know, your tennis example. We've got Wemby, who's 73 and can dribble and shoot threes. What about, do you see anything coming on the technology front? I mean, I guess Lux. I don't know if Luxalan. Did Luxalan sneak up on people or were people murmuring that, hey, there's this cheat string that holds the ball and it's going to completely change tennis? I mean, do you see anything coming?
Andy Roddick
I think there are versions. I don't. I think you're not seeing a ton of the old school, like really, really thin frames that people needed for gut to kind of control it. You're not seeing the thin Sampras frame, right, where it's like this big or like the old Prince graphite and then cinching it up at like, at like £80, where it's like a, you know, a brick. People are going looser. The wide body frames seem to be taking over because everyone can control the power of the wide body frame with the Lux. So you're almost like seeing a combination of factors going on. I, I don't know of anything past that. But also, listen, the these, you know, the racket rons at Wilson and everyone else whose job is to kind of peek around the corners, there will be more. And as the players become bigger, stronger, faster, they're going to be able to control what they couldn't control in the 80s 90s with, with gut. Like, you can't create the spin profile that you're creating today with gut. You can't take full swings on returns unless you're like Andre Agassi with full gut. Right. So we're just going to get more and more. There's going to be more ball control with more power and, you know, it's just bananas, like what we've been seeing recently.
JW
And it's great, right? I mean, I think we should take a step back when we have these discussions and like, yeah, you know, four minute mile used to be this, this was front page news when, when Roger Bannister broke the four minute mark. And now they're college runners that can do that. That's great. That's progress. We would expect that if with sports, science and technology, like sports weren't evolving, something would be really weird. The only thing I always feel like if you gave Martina, Chrissy, Roger, Rafael, Pete, Andre, whoever, if you gave them all of these advantages, they would adapt. So I hate it when people are like, I watched Chrissy and Martina and it looked like they were playing in slow motion.
Andy Roddick
I'm sorry, you know what?
JW
So go ahead, take the baton.
Andy Roddick
I'm sorry. Chrissy missed one ball a decade when it was your. Your. The head of your racket was like, as big as the hat on my head. And the gut, you kind of had to like, like, lay it off like Connors, Chrissy side spin. And she still didn't miss. You can miss me with, with the looking backwards and saying, oh, they were hit. I'm sorry, the ball control. She could literally land it on a dime and not miss for days.
JW
What were we just talking about? We were talking about getting nervous and mentality.
Producer Mike
And so.
Andy Roddick
So you're telling. You're telling me you give her all the advantages of accuracy, margin that is now created. She would. She would never, ever, ever miss. And I'm sorry, Martina Navratilova, how athletic she is. Miss me. She will figure it out. Don't. Like all the great players would figure it out. Well, Rafael couldn't go back and use wooden gut. Well, he didn't have to. So obviously that. So obviously that wasn't going to be the output. Like, what, he would be an idiot if he was growing up and going, you know what? I should probably have strokes for wood rackets. Get out of here.
JW
You see these articles from the 80s, and they're like, Martina Navratilova used a supercomputer to look at the tendencies of her opponents. She was the first person to use analytics. You don't think Martina Navratilova in 2025 would use every possible advantage that she could get her hands on? So, no, this is. This is one of the great things about sports, though, right? They get better and better, and we think we've seen it, and then it gets eclipsed. But let's not do that at the expense of denigrating what came before.
Andy Roddick
Oh, great. Great players would be great players. Maybe they. Maybe they would have won two slams less. Maybe one would have won three slams more. Great. Will be great. Will be great. Will be great. They would figure it out.
Producer Mike
This is good. I actually have something at the end of the show that I wanted to ask you, Andy. That was about somebody answering a challenge that you had. And some of it is about, you know, you talked about athletes and LeBron playing and all that. And, you know, we'll wait to the end of the show that I'll play a clip for you and hear what you have to say. But last question we got from I.
Andy Roddick
I don't know what it is. I accept. If it has anything to do with, if I have a tennis racket in my hand and they don't, I accept. Yeah, yeah, I don't know what it is.
Producer Mike
I'll play for you at the end of the show. Last question from one of our chuckers, Carol. What is your opinion on adding best of five sets to women's Grand Slam quarterfinals and up? There's some buzz around making it more competitive.
Andy Roddick
Buzz ain't going anywhere. That's just, that's just chatter. I don't like starting a tournament one way and then changing the entire dynamic of the tournament seems crazy. At a panic. And also, I think John gently went there. I think we've gently gone there. There are things that women go through and most likely a lot of them are going through at some point over the course of a two week event that men don't have to go through. Okay? So very simply, that gets left out of every argument. And rolling the dice on when that happens is, is insane. You throw in best of five and there's some contrast, overlap with what a woman is going through at that time. It just seems. I, I don't like it at all. I don't like starting a tournament in one format and finishing it in another format. I didn't like in the Masters 1000s on the men's side where you'd get to the final and the, they go, oh, well, you know, I know you've had a long week, but fuck it. Here, let's play, let's play seven hours before we go to a Grand Slam. I don't like starting a tournament one way and finishing it another. I think that doesn't define the best players. I think it completely changes the dynamic of what has already been accomplished in that Slam up until that point.
JW
Do we really think this is a problem? I mean, I'm making these numbers up, but the bear is eight episodes and White Lotus is 10. Like, I don't know. I mean, they both work. I don't think it's, I mean, I don't think it's a huge crisis that men and women are playing different durations of different sizes of set samples. I don't know.
Andy Roddick
We're having to suspend matches now because.
JW
If everyone played best of five. Yeah, if everyone played best of five, these would be five week events. Yeah, exactly.
Andy Roddick
We got to move on.
JW
Yeah, we got to move on.
Producer Mike
Well, that's. That's it. That's all I had for the regular episode of Chucker's Question. I can throw one more in there unless you throw one more in it.
Andy Roddick
I have one, but go first. I have one from my friend Jeff and I want you all's input on this, but go ahead.
Producer Mike
Okay, so I think the last one, it's a softball, but I think it's worth talking about. Curious about. This is from G bags. Curious about your take on the rise of paddle and pickleball.
Andy Roddick
Does tennis need to evolve to keep up our numbers? Like, there's a. There's a way to sell certain things, right. If seven people play something, you can quickly become the fastest growing sport on Earth by having 14 people play it. Right. If you look at the ratings of tennis, our dumb little show did tens of millions of views in the last month. And that's not because we're anything great. It's because the product that is out there for tennis right now and the way that it is having a moment. I don't know that we've been more pop. Culturally relevant since the early 80s in tennis. So no, we don't adjust to things that are starting out. Other racket sports adjust to us. It's that simple.
JW
How does tennis manage to convert all these athletes who are understanding now what it means to hit a really nicely placed slice and what touch comes from hitting a drop volley? I mean, to me it's like an opportunity for tennis. Nothing to fear and nothing to adjust. It's sort of, hey, there's a whole new cohort of recreational athletes that are discussing that are they're experiencing how cool it is to, you know, hit a ball with an implement. How do we get them to come to Cincinnati? That, to me, is the question.
Andy Roddick
I'm for all of it. And. But I will say, like Padel, from what I've seen, everyone's looking this way at pickle. And I don't. I would be stunned if their viewership on what's being placed on TV has changed at all in the last couple years. I'd love to see the data on that. Maybe it's grown incrementally, but Padel is extremely watchable. How do we consume information now? Right. It's in small pockets. Our attention spans are about three seconds long. You put the best padel rallies on Tick Tock. Holy. They're insane. People are flying everywhere. That is athletic, right? So I like Pickle for the parti. The best parts of Pickle are also the worst parts of it. Everyone can do it simultaneously. The best and worst parts of it. The best for participation, the worst for watching it on. On tv. Right?
JW
Have you played Padel? Have you tried that?
Andy Roddick
No, and I want to. It's insane.
JW
It's fun.
Andy Roddick
I've heard, like, every great, like, really good tennis player who plays Padel says it's awesome. Every one who, like, goes to Pickle, unless they're getting paid for it and have to have a certain narrative is, like, it's fine. Yeah, it's fun. It's good. But I think Padel's legit. But also it's like, listen, tennis versus Padel. Like, we're Michael, they're Tito.
Producer Mike
Well, yeah, I don't. I don't know why one thing has to be. Get the other, right. I think at the Miami Open, right, they. They had a big paddle. They had a big paddle event, and they had a big paddle event outside the Miami Open at the same time. It's. It's kind of a bon. It's kind of a bonus, right?
Andy Roddick
Tennis. Tennis numbers are doing as well as they've done, and I don't know how long everyone has a streaming deal. Everyone is pop. Culturally relevant. The biggest athletes on earth are like, people can't get enough of the Alcaraz and the Sinners and the Cocos and the Igas and the Sabalenkos and, like, the whole thing. We're in a great spot, so we don't need to adjust. We need to keep on keeping on.
Producer Mike
Well, that's. That is it for our fan Q and A's. And after the break, Andy, I have a good question. I have something to play for you.
Andy Roddick
No, no, no. Don't you. Don't you. Don't you. Don't you force me into a break that you don't. You don't. You don't control me. All right, here we go. I got one for you. Important training. This is from a buddy of mine who I played.
Producer Mike
You got one more question?
Andy Roddick
I got one more question.
Producer Mike
Just. Yeah, it's.
Andy Roddick
Yeah, just. I just want your opinions. Everyone jump in here. Important training question for you. Big match in NYC in 10 days on grass. However, the night before, I'm going to a cocktail bar, a ball or dinner with a wine pairing and another cocktail bar. So the question is, do I not drink and train as Much as possible between now and then, or do I crush drinks every night to prepare my body for what I will do to it? A real conundrum.
Producer Mike
So basically the question is, does he maintain a full cycle knowing that that's what his 48 hour cycle will be ahead of his event? So he trains at altitude, essentially, but trains at alcohol.
Andy Roddick
Are we. Are we focusing the training on tennis? Are we focusing the training on being the best hungover player and preparing yourself for that if you have a big match in 10 days, or is it some sort of hybrid? I'm open to suggestions. Don't know, guys.
JW
Is there an itia, Is there a WADA component to this? No, because an IV might. An IV might help him.
Andy Roddick
Everything's on the table. No testing.
JW
Think you got a rally. What do you think?
Producer Mike
Yeah, I.
Andy Roddick
Here.
Producer Mike
I think you're. I think you're training. Training hungover. I think you're. You're going hard.
Andy Roddick
No, no, you guys are wrong.
Producer Mike
You think?
Andy Roddick
I think you go three days off. Three days, peak training, diet tight, one day big. And then force your way through two hours. And so you get a couple of sample runs. But in the middle, your body's peaking. I think you gotta. I think you gotta. I think you gotta go stagger training on this one. I think you gotta go, my body is a wonderland for like three days. And then I think you gotta let a rip, tater chip. And then know what you're dealing with. Maybe mess around with a morning IV like JW is talking about. Like figure out peak performance. But then the offset of recovery that morning in a panic when that headache creeps in about, you know, and you get the wine, sleeps. And they creep in about 4:30am, right?
JW
Gonna be sweating alcohol.
Producer Mike
I mean, age is a factor in this. How old is this person?
JW
Yeah, right, right.
Andy Roddick
He's. He's old, but also he knows his way around the bar. No, he's not. He's older than me. Is that. He's not. He's not 32 to your point. He's like the rest of us. That's why I'm asking you. He's like us. Yeah, it's like, you know, he wants to be as good. As good once as he ever was. You know, that type of thing, you know? Anyways, I thought that was.
JW
That's a good hypo.
Andy Roddick
Great question.
Producer Mike
Can we track his training? Should we. Should we throw a camera with him?
JW
I was going to say we need to. Can we sponsor this guy? Can we?
Andy Roddick
But we should have him on for a segment and see what he actually ended up choosing and how bad it got. Hey, Mike. Yeah, now we can go to break. We'll see you after that one. Hey, guys, it's CD Lamb, wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys. I'm partnering with Abercrombie this season to tell you all about their viral dental. All you need to know is denim should fit like this. My jeans need to check a lot of boxes. Fit first, trend second. They need to go with whatever I'm feeling and Abercrombie Denim has it down whether I'm throwing on a tee or putting the whole fit together. Shop Abercrombie Denim in the app, online and in store. This episode is brought to you by Stay Farm. Knowing you could be saving money for the things you really want to like that dream house or ride is a great feeling. That's why the State Farm personal price plan can help you save when you choose to bundle home and auto bundling. Just another way to save with a personal price plan. Prices are based on rating plans that vary by state. Coverage options are selected by the customer. Availability, amount of discounts and savings and eligibility vary by state. All right, welcome back to serve producer Mike, you got something up your sleeve? What are we doing?
Producer Mike
I mean, this is nothing I created. This is something you created by talking about tennis players being the greatest athletes, which I think we all agree what.
Andy Roddick
Sports coming for us on what. On what. On what sort of who wants there's going to be. This is my prediction. There's some sort of matrix between publicity.
JW
Ego and delusions of grandeur.
Andy Roddick
Another former athlete of some in some way shape or form.
Producer Mike
I think it's what it's our friends over at Gill's arena, our friend Gilbert Arenas, you know our buddy Josiah Johnson, host and he, he teed up your commentary about answering what Gilbert was saying about, you know, basketball players and tennis players not being the best, that they could all do it. You obviously answered by this challenge, which we'll, we'll play the clip here real quick.
Andy Roddick
I'll throw out a challenge. I'll play them left handed in tennis and they won't get a game.
Producer Mike
All right, so Andy, you obviously challenged him to a match where you would serve underhanded and then you would play left handed. You would do no spins or anything. Josiah played him.
Andy Roddick
I didn't say I would do no spins. I said I would serve underhand and that I would play left handed. I can't help if the ball comes off spinning on the left handed side.
Producer Mike
You're not going to like Hit him with like a weird.
Andy Roddick
No overhand. I'm just going to feed it. I'm going to feed it in and then if he accepts this, chop city. Left handed.
Producer Mike
Okay. And so then. Then our friend Josiah obviously played him this challenge. And. And the rest of the guys on the show, Kenny Martin wanted to point out that he was on your side. He wanted to make sure that was a fan officially in the record. But Gilbert Arenas had eventually, eventually had this to say.
Andy Roddick
But let's get back to Andy Roddick's challenge real quick. Would you play Andy Roddick? No. If you play left hand served.
JW
Right hand.
Andy Roddick
I want to serve.
JW
So he got to start.
Andy Roddick
Left hand. So Andy Roddick, I heard him. He. He snuck it in there. I get to serve underhanded with my right. Yeah. Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah.
JW
Let me serve first.
Andy Roddick
Okay. Let me serve and I'mma beat him. Challenge accepted. Oh, hey, that was real right there. I'll say it one more time for the ISO cam. Get one more time for the ISO. Challenge accepted.
Producer Mike
All right, Andy, there you have it. Challenge accepted. What. What are you. What are you thinking?
Andy Roddick
I mean, this is gonna be. What. What did. Remember when they asked Mr. T in the Rocky movie for a prediction? Do you remember what he said?
JW
Pain.
Andy Roddick
He looked into the camera and he said, prediction. Pain. That's what I think. That's what I think's gonna happen. This is gonna be a mess. It's gonna be a mess. I can't wait. Let's do this.
Producer Mike
I mean, they talked about maybe. He said maybe playing two v one, even two. If it could be two of them versus one of you. He's like, oh, they do that. I'm like, I feel like we have to work it out. I feel like that's all gonna be negotiated in the contract, huh?
Andy Roddick
Yeah. I mean, if these guys don't play. Like here's my point and here's the overarching point about tennis players is if we took every neutral sport, right? We could take them like tennis, left handed. I'm going to chop them up. That's fine. The next one is like if we went to a batting cage or like home run derby. Tennis players, I'll put them up against it. Golf, I'll put it up against it. You know, all the hybrid throwing a football, I'll put them up against it. Like, those are all the things where tennis players, I think, translate very easily. But yeah, tennis, tennis. Bet. Let's do it. They could have three people on the court. Let's roll.
Producer Mike
J.W. would you participate?
JW
I would happily participate. And I would say broadcast rights still available. It's slow. It's summer. We're all waiting for the NFL to start. This sounds like the kind of thing I would watch as well.
Andy Roddick
Hey, listen, if they get like three points, you never know, they might get a. They might be given a wildcard somewhere to create some interest.
JW
I don't know what you're talking about.
Andy Roddick
They should set their sights higher. You know, if we play well, who knows? JW could be your shot, buddy.
JW
I know my. I know my limits. I respect the levels of the game.
Andy Roddick
Mike, we got anything else? Or are we gonna. We gonna end on that carnage of a challenge?
Producer Mike
On that carnage of a challenge, I think, you know. Be sure to sign up for our newsletter. Follow us on all the socials Join us Hit subscribe Join Join the Checkers Club. We're gonna do a couple more questions just for the chuckers here once the show goes off. Aaron we'll share those with those folks.
Andy Roddick
Yeah, I just want to say thank you to everyone listening numbers and the players, by the way, because we're just reacting off of the product that the players put out there. So the players creating record setting matches, record viewership playing at, you know, such a high level. We all benefit. So thank you players. Thank you listeners. Our numbers in the last month have been crazy. Please keep subscribing. Please keep telling us what you want to hear more about. We appreciate you taking this ride with us and we'll see you next week with IGA Svadek on Survival.
Served with Andy Roddick: FAN Q&A Summary
Episode: FAN Q&A: Handling Nerves, Longer Grass Season, The Future of Tennis, & More
Release Date: July 22, 2025
Host: Andy Roddick
Guests: Producer Mike, Techie Sean, JW
Network: Vox Media Podcast Network
Discussion Highlights: Andy Roddick and his co-hosts delve into the news of Venus Williams accepting a wildcard entry into the D.C. Open, marking her first official match since the 2024 Miami Open and her first appearance in Washington, D.C. since 2022.
Notable Quotes:
Insights:
Discussion Highlights: The team discusses Holger Rune's decision to work with tennis legend Andre Agassi. This collaboration is viewed as a significant step for Rune, seeking guidance from a seasoned veteran.
Notable Quotes:
Insights:
Discussion Highlights: Carlos Alcaraz joins other stars like Sinner, Novak, and Sabalenka in opting out of the Canadian Open. The conversation explores the implications of top players skipping this event.
Notable Quotes:
Insights:
Question:
How do you keep nerves from affecting your play, especially when people are watching?
Andy Roddick’s Advice:
JW’s Follow-up:
Touches on personal triggers for nerves and the significance of preparation in managing anxiety.
Question:
Do you think if grass season is longer, there could be better predictions for Wimbledon?
Discussion Highlights:
Insights:
Question:
How do you think tennis will evolve on the men's side in the next 20 years given players like Alcaraz and Sinner?
Discussion Highlights:
JW’s Perspective:
Draws parallels with other sports, suggesting that tennis will continue to evolve with advancements in training and technology.
Insights:
Question:
What is your opinion on adding best of five sets to women's Grand Slam quarterfinals and up?
Discussion Highlights:
JW’s Take:
Suggests that differing match lengths between men and women are not a crisis and that both formats can coexist without overshadowing each other.
Insights:
Question:
What are your thoughts on the rising popularity of paddle and pickleball?
Discussion Highlights:
JW’s Input:
Emphasizes that innovations and new racket sports present opportunities for tennis to engage with a broader audience without feeling threatened.
Insights:
Discussion Highlights:
Notable Quotes:
Insights:
In this episode of Served with Andy Roddick, the hosts navigated through pressing tennis news, from Venus Williams's comeback and Holger Rune's mentorship with Andre Agassi to the evolving landscape of the sport with players like Carlos Alcaraz. The fan Q&A segment provided valuable insights into managing on-court nerves, the implications of extending the grass season, and the future trajectory of men's tennis. Additionally, discussions on the rising popularity of paddle and pickleball highlighted the sport's adaptability amidst changing recreational trends. The episode seamlessly blended serious analysis with entertaining segments, offering a comprehensive and engaging listen for tennis enthusiasts.
For more insights and updates, be sure to follow Served with Andy Roddick on YouTube, Instagram, X, and TikTok.