FAN Q&A: How Players Get Paid, Best Volleyers, & Friends w/ Dumb Questions

Summary

Served with Andy Roddick – Episode Summary

Episode: FAN Q&A: How Players Get Paid, Best Volleyers, & Friends w/ Dumb Questions
Date: September 30, 2025
Host: Andy Roddick (with producer Mike)
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Overview

In this episode, Andy Roddick and producer Mike dive into a lively and wide-ranging fan Q&A, answering listener-submitted questions on tennis myths, money in pro tennis, stats, the art of volleying, and more. Through candid stories, playful banter, and deep-dive explanations, Andy brings listeners behind the scenes of the sport, blending technical insight with irreverent wit and real-life examples from his own career.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

[00:01–07:00] – Warm-Up, Family Anecdotes & Recent Tennis News

• Tony Godsick Episode Reschedule: The planned Federer/agent episode is postponed due to Andy’s charity event. Tony will return next week.
• Family & Music Stories: Andy and Mike gush about their kids’ budding music fandom, taking them to a Runarounds concert (“Our kids, bad parenting, we let them play hooky for the first, like, two hours of school today. We did it...” – Andy, 02:28).
• Snack Banter: Maria Sharapova sent them Cleo Bars, leading Andy and Mike into a running “snacky poo” joke.
• Alcaraz Ankle Scare: Brief concern over Carlos Alcaraz’s recent ankle twist is discussed; Andy explains how, for pros, repeated sprains can actually reduce injury impact.
  • “I got to the point where I had done it so many times that like everything was loose in there. So I would turn it more, but it wouldn’t be as bad...” (05:13)
• Post-Slam Tennis: Remarks on Daniil Medvedev’s renewed form post-Grand Slam and the “post slam apocalypse” time in the tennis calendar.

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[07:19–15:39] – Q&A Pt. 1: Tennis as a “Country Club” / Soft Sport Stereotype

Fan Question from Dave (Minneapolis): Why does tennis have a reputation as a country club/soft sport?

Andy’s Take:

• Origins: The “country club” image comes from decades where American tennis was closely tied to clubs with high initiation fees and stereotyped attire.
  • “I think we’re like a caricature of like the 80s in wardrobe. Right. And also when people’s social tennis experience...comes with an initiation fee, you start playing into those tropes.” (09:30)
• Pro Tennis Reality: Top players don’t fit the stereotype—examples of pros from humble backgrounds (Venus & Serena from Compton, Novak from Serbia, Agassi’s family struggles).
• Physicality: Tennis is misunderstood; extreme heat, long matches, immense physicality.
  • “Yeah, okay. But you also don’t play five hours in 115 degree weather.” (11:45)
• Culture & Media Representation: Lack of gritty movies or documentaries focusing on the struggle in tennis compared to other sports:
  • “There’s iconic movies about baseball. And then when you look at tennis...there’s not a lot...that shows the grind.” – Mike (13:29)
• Cost/Accessibility: Tennis no longer more expensive than other junior sports; cost stereotypes are “outdated.”
  • “Don’t hit me with like, well, 1979. Great. I give you that...Our biggest champions of the last 30 years have completely flipped that on its head to the benefit of tennis.” (15:08)
• Humorous moment: Andy pokes fun at modern “softness” stereotypes—“all of our listeners are an angsty 10 year old after not enough sleep at a rock show.” (06:09)

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[16:08–24:22] – Q&A Pt. 2: How Do Players Actually Get Paid?

Fan Question: What’s the process for tennis pros getting their prize money?

Andy’s (and Mike’s) Detailed Breakdown:

• Timing: Prize money is paid at the end of the tournament, not round-by-round.
  • “You do not get a check every day. You do not get—that would be a nightmare for tournaments...” (17:13)
• Methods: Used to be checks, now largely direct deposit. Also, agencies may receive the funds depending on representation.
• Amateur Exceptions: In the past, amateurs couldn’t accept prize money but could be reimbursed for expenses.
  • “So, when you turn pro...when you’re not pro means you can’t accept money...you used to be able to keep receipts and you could get reimbursed...” (17:26)
• Agency Structure: Agencies sometimes take a cut based on long-term investment in young players.
• Coaching/Team Payments: Individual contracts, often base salary plus incentives (e.g., percentage of prize money, bonuses for big results).
  • “My contracts for my coaches had a base and then they had incentives...” (20:38)
• Predictability & Life-Changing Money: Only top 100 or so players (those making Grand Slam main draws) have financial security.
  • “The goal is top 100...when you start getting into main draw of Slams then you can basically bank.” (23:05)
• Big Checks: The cheque presented on court is just ceremonial—“even the ones that are presented to the winner, they’re not real checks.” (19:15)
  • Notable exchange:
    Mike: “No big checks. I’m team big check.” (24:22)
    Andy: “So am I.” (24:28)

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[25:47–37:42] – Q&A Pt. 3: Tennis Stats vs. Other Sports & Would Andy Write a Book?

Complex multi-part listener question—covering:

1. Why do non-fans equate tennis serve % to basketball free throw %?
2. Would Andy ever write a book?
3. Statistical oddities—like Pegula dominating on serve but losing.

Would Andy Write a Book?

• “I’m not Andre [Agassi]. I don’t have that story...It’s tough to have a greatest hits album when you have like four hits.” (27:37)
• Might consider a book of funny anecdotes or behind-the-scenes stories, but not a straight autobiography.

Tennis First Serve % vs. Free Throw %

• Dismisses the comparison entirely—explains the lack of nuance in the analogy.
  • “The question is based in such a lack of understanding and nuance that it’s hard to even make it real.” (30:01)
• Free throws are static, serve percentage in tennis is dynamic, changing every point with opponent, score, etc.
  • “A free throw, you step up and just shoot it...That is not the case with serving.” (32:21)
• Serve as Pitching Analogue: First serve percentage is more like baseball pitching—strategy shifts based on opponent.
  • “It’s more about pitching a ball game...Ohtani changes what you do.” (30:58)
• Notable quote: “It is brain dead to think that it’s the same as a free throw. It’s out, it’s brain dead. It affect, it affects every part of, of the game.” (34:31)

Statistical Oddities in Tennis

• Unique scoring means stats can be deceptive (e.g., Pegula loses barely any points on serve but still loses the set; game-based, not cumulative like other sports).
  • “It’s just a scoring system and it’s great in tennis because you can’t run out the clock.” (34:35)
• Style analysis: Some players (e.g., Sabalenka) win serve games easily but are aggressive on return, which leads to “streaky” results.
  • “Sabalenka, let her rip, tater chip. She goes big.” (35:16)

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[38:23–48:10] – Q&A Pt. 4: The Greatest Volleyers in Tennis History

Fan Question (Andrew): Who are the greatest volleyers of all time?

Andy’s Top Picks & Analysis:

• Women: Martina Navratilova (the dominant GOAT answer), with high praise for Gigi Fernandez, Lisa Raymond, Jess Pegula, and others.
  • “You’re going to get Navratilova on the women’s side more often than not.” (39:31)
• Men: Deep list—John McEnroe for creativity and feel, Stefan Edberg for crispness, Pat Rafter for athleticism, Sampras (athleticism and net coverage), Leighton Hewitt, Federer (“Fed’s a joke. He’s good at everything.”), and others.
  • “If you look at the greatest volleyers, like McEnroe as far as creativity, artistry, feel...” (40:31)
• Aggressive Net Play & Movement: Emphasizes that top volleyers were also elite athletes.
  • “There are no slow guys who are great volleyers...singles, no.” (41:15)
• Modern Era: Carlos Alcaraz is a rising elite volleyer—may redefine the art for the next generation.
  • “Carlos is a, is an elite volleyer. Like, give him time. But he might enter this conversation...” (42:42)
• How New Styles Emerge: Describes “copycat league” effect—how novel strategy (e.g., Medvedev’s new positions, Alcaraz multi-phase attacks) force the whole field to adapt (44:36).
• Volleying as Art: “Great volleyers...it feels like the ball melts into their racket.” (45:37)
• Memorable quote: “Navratilova on the women’s side is the best I’ve ever seen. Just total package. Men’s side, it’s like you kind of have some more options.” (47:46)

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[49:00–57:37] – Upcoming Episodes, Storytelling Season, and Tennis Philanthropy

• Next Guests: Tony Godsick (Federer’s agent) next week; recap of Rolex Masters; then Rick Draney (wheelchair tennis legend).
• Storytelling Season: Upcoming episodes will focus on behind-the-scenes stories (“how an agent acts,” “the politics in tennis,” “how schedules are built”), rather than just match recaps or interviews.
• Wheelchair Tennis: Pledge to bring in experts for a deep dive (“these athletes are so good...I want to get smarter about wheelchair tennis” – Andy, 50:50).
• Player Advocacy: Discusses rumors of top players writing letters to Grand Slams about increasing prize money percentages; Andy wants to get a letter-signer on to discuss.
  • “If you look at percentage of revenue that is put towards prize money, it’s nowhere close to other sports.” (54:01)
• Philanthropy Episode Announced: Plans for a special show highlighting charitable work in tennis, timed with the Andy Roddick Foundation Gala.
  • “I want to brag on tennis and how great the champions have been.” (55:34)
  • Shout-out to inspirations like Agassi, Billie Jean King, Venus & Serena, Federer, Nadal, and their charitable work.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• “I think we’re like a caricature of like the 80s in wardrobe. Right. And also when people’s social tennis experience...comes with an initiation fee, you start playing into those tropes.” — Andy Roddick, [09:30]
• “At the highest level, [the ‘soft sport’ image] doesn’t really exist...Our biggest champions of the last 30 years have completely flipped that on its head to the benefit of tennis.” — Andy Roddick, [15:08]
• “You do not get a check every day...You get paid at the end of the tournament.” — Andy Roddick, [17:13]
• “It is brain dead to think that [first serve %] is the same as a free throw. It’s out, it’s brain dead.” — Andy Roddick, [34:31]
• “You’re going to get Navratilova on the women’s side more often than not...The best of all time.” — Andy Roddick, [39:31]
• “Fed’s a joke. He’s good at everything.” — Andy Roddick, [43:23]
• “Navratilova on the women’s side is the best I’ve ever seen. Just total package.” — Andy Roddick, [47:46]
• “I want to brag on tennis and how great the champions have been. We’re going to do a philanthropy episode also in our storytelling season.” — Andy Roddick, [55:34]

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Important Segments & Timestamps

• [09:30] – Origins of tennis “soft/country club” stereotype
• [17:10–19:58] – How prize money is actually distributed to pros
• [27:37–28:31] – Andy on the prospect of writing a book
• [29:06–34:31] – Debunking serve % = free throw % analogy
• [39:31–47:46] – In-depth discussion of greatest volleyers in tennis history
• [50:34–52:36] – Announcement & preview of upcoming storytelling episodes / wheelchair tennis spotlight
• [54:01–54:23] – Player letters & advocacy for more equitable prize money
• [55:33–56:38] – Tennis philanthropy & Roddick Foundation

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Tone and Style

Andy’s trademark blend of technical wisdom, sharp humor, honest storytelling, and gratitude for tennis’s community shines throughout. Listeners are treated to candid asides, passionate tennis analysis, and gentle ribbing—making complex issues like prize money, athleticism, and on-court tactics accessible and engaging for fans and newcomers alike.

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Summary

This Q&A episode is a masterclass in tennis real talk, debunking old myths, lifting the curtain on player finances, and exploring technical and historical intricacies of the sport—from the grind faced by pros to what makes a world-class volleyer. Andy’s personal stories and off-the-cuff wit, paired with producer Mike’s friendly curiosity, creates a show that is as insightful as it is entertaining, leaving fans feeling like insiders and promising even deeper dives for the “storytelling season” ahead.

Transcript

[Andy Roddick]

Support for the show comes from Nutrafol, the number one dermatologist recommended hair growth supplement brand. One and a half million people have tried Nutrafol, including me. I've tried it before myself. It's been great. For a limited time, Nutrafol is offering our listeners $10 off your first month subscription and free shipping. When you go to nutrafol.com and enter the promo code served that's spelled N u t r a f o l.com promo code served nutrafold.com promo code serve support for the show comes from Mercury, the banking product that helps entrepreneurs do more with their money. Mercury knows that to an entrepreneur, every financial move means more. A credit card on day one means creating an ad campaign on day two. And a business loan means loading up an inventory for Black Friday. That's why Mercury offers banking that does more all in one place. So that doing just about anything with your money feels effortless. Visit mercury.com to learn more. Mercury Mercury is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided through Choice Financial Group, column NA and Evolve bank and trust members fdic. Hey, everyone. Welcome to Served. Got producer Mike Techie Sean. I messed it up, guys. Straight away, I messed it all up.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Andy Roddick]

Yeah. We. This was. Some of you might be tuning in, being like, oh, we're gonna have Tony Godsic on. We're gonna hear all about the world of Federer and Uniqlo and on and labor all that. I messed it up, guys. It's gonna be fine. It's all gonna be fine. But I. Tony was gonna come on. He's still gonna come on. We're gonna do that show. He's the best. Total mensch. And also, I booked him the same time that I forgot I was going to play in a charity event for our friend Jimmy Johnson.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Andy Roddick]

So I messed it all up. So we sent Tony a text and said, can we move? Can we blow the ocean? Can we make this all work? And he said, typical. No problem. We'll do it next week. So here we are. We did get some great questions from fans for Q and A. So that's what we're going to do today. We went to a good show last night, Mike.

[Mike]

It was awesome.

[Andy Roddick]

Yeah. You know what my. One of my favorite things about our kids is? It's like they're really into music.

[Mike]

They are super into music.

[Andy Roddick]

And our kids, bad parenting. We let them play hooky for the first, like, two hours of school today. We did it, but we went to the Runarounds, the band. My wife was in a Show on Amazon prime right now called the Runarounds.

[Mike]

And it's an awesome show.

[Andy Roddick]

Even if I wasn't married to her, I would be telling you that this show is awesome. Yeah, it is. The band is sick. Our kids know every song. It was our daughter's first concert. Just Rip City, dude.

[Mike]

That was her first concert. That's awesome.

[Andy Roddick]

That was Stevie's first concert.

[Mike]

Yeah, Hank's had a great run too.

[Andy Roddick]

Hank did Kendrick last year.

[Mike]

He's.

[Andy Roddick]

Hank's all over it. We did Kendrick. He's gotten the Runarounds. He just things. But anyways, we. We had the best time ever. They played hooky little. Little rough sledding this morning getting him out of bed. And Hank was. I think we've entered the zone where I literally had this conversation. Mike. Hey, buddy. What do you want for breakfast?

[Mike]

Oh, no.

[Andy Roddick]

I was like, all right, man.

[Mike]

Well, my four year old's already like that. She's harsh, bro.

[Andy Roddick]

I don't believe you.

[Mike]

Yes, she is.

[Andy Roddick]

She's an angel.

[Mike]

Unless it's candy.

[Andy Roddick]

She's an angel and I blame you.

[Mike]

You know what she does like for breakfast, though?

[Andy Roddick]

Crunch.

[Mike]

Cleo bars from our good friends.

[Andy Roddick]

Yol Sharapova came through. Wasn't a hollow offer.

[Mike]

Dude, no joke. These showed up.

[Andy Roddick]

And that rustling you hear is. That's like a moth to a flame. That's Mike with some snacky Poo.

[Mike]

This is already open because a four year old with her little tiny hands ripped it.

[Andy Roddick]

Just ripped it like a raccoon.

[Mike]

It's so good. My wife's like, you're gonna bring those back, right? I was like, oh, they're for the staff. And she's like, oh, for the staff.

[Andy Roddick]

Staff of one. Yeah.

[Mike]

Thank you, Maria.

[Andy Roddick]

That's cool.

[Mike]

These are awesome. Nice.

[Andy Roddick]

When someone says that, like, I love people like that. I'll get you some snacky poos.

[Mike]

Bam, bam.

[Andy Roddick]

Snacky Poo. Snack time.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Andy Roddick]

Snack attack.

[Mike]

And they are delicious. Like five boxes of it.

[Andy Roddick]

Are they? Yeah. And she's done her. Listen. That's why she's the.

[Mike]

We'll leave some for. For Hank for breakfast.

[Andy Roddick]

Why? It's just stone. I don't even know. I don't even know what to say. Um, I mean, but also the pitch of them is like, okay, we gave a little. Cleo. Okay.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Andy Roddick]

I don't know. You'll do anything for a snack.

[Mike]

I love a good snack.

[Andy Roddick]

Yeah.

[Mike]

Oh, gosh. Shameless.

[Andy Roddick]

Like, if you could look at. Mike is really excited. Like he's got a final year to year for A snack.

[Mike]

There's nothing more I like than snacks. Than free shit.

[Andy Roddick]

Combine the forces and all comes together. We were a little worried. The other thing that happened this week was we were for a second we were worried about Carlitos's ankle.

[Mike]

I mean it was like. It was nerve wracking.

[Andy Roddick]

Yeah.

[Mike]

And then all of a sudden he was like, just kidding.

[Andy Roddick]

Well, I mean, listen, it is when you, when you go over on an ankle, unless it's like really bad and you're tearing tendons and stuff. But like I got to the point where I had done it so many times that like everything was loose in there. So I would turn it more, but it wouldn't be as bad when I did turn it. Right. So like those first, that first like three steps you take afterwards, you kind of know whether it's just going to be a little sore and if it's a little sore, you're fine. But yeah, good thing he did. He avoided any long term situation. Like that would have actually kind of sucked with this year. Like the race for number one ended with an ankle.

[Mike]

Yeah. Ended with him stepping out.

[Andy Roddick]

Yeah.

[Mike]

Now we get a rematch of him and Fritz.

[Andy Roddick]

It would have been a little, A little messy. Yeah. This is gonna be interesting. I kind of like that they're playing and this is. We're shooting this on a Monday for Tuesday release as we always do. So I'm sure you're gonna be listening to. Well, they already played, you idiot. Yeah, no, we get it. But I still think it's cool that maybe. Why do I make everyone sound that way?

[Mike]

Because it's accurate.

[Andy Roddick]

They could have just said, oh, they actually finished that match. But oh no, I'm turning everyone into my son this morning. Yeah, all of our listeners are an angsty 10 year old after not enough sleep at a rock show.

[Mike]

Yeah, it'll be playing. It will be over by the time this show is released. Is it playing at like 1:00am or. No, I'm sorry, it says 5:00am so it'll be going on when the show's released. I think the other, I think the.

[Andy Roddick]

Other thing that's interesting from this week as we get lost in kind of the post slam apocalypse of, of tennis where it's going on everywhere but we need to kind of catch our breath. Met, he's playing well. Maddie's playing well. Beats Vera. 3 and 3, 3 and 3 on a hard court. A fast hardcore. That's. That's real stuff. Met, he's playing well again. All of a sudden. He just needed to blow off some steam. Guys.

[Mike]

Just need a little shake up.

[Andy Roddick]

Just needed to lose it for like a year straight. Go nuts. All right, so on the other side, we'll do some fan Q and A. When is the can you set us straight with when Tony Gods is coming on? When?

[Mike]

It'll be next week and then we'll lay out a schedule at the end of the show.

[Andy Roddick]

Okay, cool. All right. So on the other side, some fan Q A. They were our fans have good questions. Yeah, we'll see them on the other side. Support for the show comes from Nutrafol. Nothing beats the ego boost that comes with a good hair day. So if you want a whole body approach to tackling hair issues like shedding or thinning, give Nutrafol a try. Nutrafol is the number one dermatologist recommended hair growth supplement brand trusted by over one and a half million people, including me. I've tried Nutrafol before myself and it's been great. In just three to six months, you can go from a HA guy to a hair guy with visibly thicker, fuller hair and improved scalp coverage. Nutrafol Men is clinically tested to improve hair growth and quality, so hats off to great hair. For a limited time, Nutrifol is offering our listeners $10 off your first month subscription and free shipping. When you go to nutrafol.com men and enter the promo code SERVE. Find out why Nutrafol is the leading hair growth supplement brand on the [e-mail] spelled n u t r a f o l.com men promo code served. That's nutrafol.com men promo code served. Support for the show comes from Mercury, the banking product that helps entrepreneurs do more with their money. For entrepreneurs, your banking transaction history is like a scrapbook of important moments in your company's history. That deposit isn't just a deposit, it's the first batch of seed capital. Sure, business is business, but to entrepreneurs, it's also personal. Mercury is the banking product made by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs. It's meticulously designed with your needs in mind to make managing managing your business's money effortlessly simple and streamlined. Here at Served, Mercury has been a game changer when it comes to organizing our invoices, tracking our billing, and most importantly, being sure we take care of the people that make this show possible. With on time payroll banking cards, spend management, invoicing and more are all in one place. With Mercury ready to see what powerful banking can do for your business, visit mercury.com to apply in minutes. Mercury is a financial technology company, not a Banking services provided through Choice Financial Group. Column NA in Evolve bank and Trust members fdic. All right, everyone, as promised, let's get to the Q and A portion of the Q and A. Oh, yeah, show. I haven't heard these, but let's go. Hey, Andy. What's going on? Dave here in Minneapolis. My question is, where do you think tennis gets the preconceived notion from that it is a. A softer sport or a country club type sport? You know, I grew up playing a lot of different sports, basketball being my favorite, but became a recreational tennis player older in life. And I found out that it is extremely physical, extremely taxing. Where do you think that comes from? Where does that kind of that preconceived notion come from? Thanks. I think we're like a caricature of like the 80s in wardrobe. Right. And also when people's social tennis experience, you know, for a certain block of 30 years, especially in the states, comes with an initiation fee, you start playing into those tropes. Right. Like you start playing into those things. I think we have to separate, you know, people and I don't know how to say people playing like club doubles and doing it socially and staying for a meal afterwards versus like pro tennis, traveling around the world, living out of a suitcase, can't pay your bills. The top players in the world coming from war torn, you know, grow up in a war torn. That becomes Serbia. You know, you get Venus and Serena from Compton, you get. I've talked about Andre and his dad working the door at Caesars for tips. I think at the highest level, that doesn't really exist. Even if you see someone that comes from money, Jess Pugul and Emma Navarro, it doesn't mean they didn't put in nine hours a day. And like, obviously they had, you know, some advantages of training and everything. But listen, what was isn't always what is now. Right? And I think the fact that, you know, especially in America, it's like you guys are, you know, because you don't get hit. I'm like, yeah, okay. But you also don't play five hours in 115 degree weather.

[Mike]

Yeah. When it's one of those sports isolated, it's one of those sports, I think you don't realize how hard it is, like he just said, until you start doing it, no matter. No matter what, until you're out there in the heat trying to do it. It's.

[Andy Roddick]

It's also one of the pros make.

[Mike]

It look so easy.

[Andy Roddick]

Well, and it's also one of those things where the Better you get at it, the more physically demanding it becomes.

[Mike]

Interesting.

[Andy Roddick]

When I go do customer tennis clinics or, you know, whatever else. I could do those for 18 hours because it's like one ball in, one ball, screwy magoo, one ball in, miss one. And that's not physical. Now you go and play someone who's play points with someone who's 40 in the world who doesn't miss, and your legs are engaging every single point. It becomes a lot, a lot different. It's like playing half court basketball against your accountant and then all of a sudden running five on five with, you know, guys that were D2 players.

[Mike]

Yeah, right.

[Andy Roddick]

It's, it's completely, it's a completely different thing. I do think the narrative is quickly changing. Right. Like, we, we had our best athletes. I had my rant and the pushback wasn't like, this is ridiculous. It's. This sport is hard. Also, you know, there wasn't a lot of sarcasm, but I remember when I was, when I was playing in the mid 2000s, it was like I could never wrap my head around, you know, it's like, you're a loser. You lost in the finals of Wimbledon. I love college football. My team is fourth in a conference that's regional with non professionals. And I'm going to grandstand on my fandom against your loss in a Wimbledon final where you're the second best player on earth. I'm like, what are we doing?

[Mike]

Yeah, can I have a quick follow up? Do you think some of it is, is cultural context too? Like, when you think about other sports, there's these movies and docs that celebrate the grit and how hard it is. And there's NFL films and there's, there's iconic movies about baseball. And then when you look at tennis, it's. I like, googled, like top tennis movies, right? And it's like King Richard, you know, it's match Point. Woody Allen movie. It's Wimbledon, which is a love story. Like, there's not a lot of, like, stuff that' and then there's great rivalry docs, but, but there's nothing really that shows the grind. And even what Netflix tried to do was it felt puffy. Right.

[Andy Roddick]

They were.

[Mike]

Yeah, they didn't show the grind. Like, we talked to Baratini and he's like, dude, they didn't show half the stuff that was real. They just showed me and my girlfriend.

[Andy Roddick]

Well, King Richard did a good job.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Andy Roddick]

Of, of, of countering this narrative.

[Mike]

Yeah. And that's the number one movie, right?

[Andy Roddick]

Yeah. But, but it Was a real story.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Andy Roddick]

But I do think there's something to nostalgia. Any old footage is like people wearing pants to play it.

[Mike]

Oh, interesting.

[Andy Roddick]

You know, it's like, okay. You know, Even through the 70s, it's like we're wearing all whites. And, you know, it's. It's. It looks very different than. Than Alcaraz coming out, then Novak breaking stuff, then six hours of Rafa. Like, those are very different things. So I think it exists because it's an easy. It has been an easiest stereotype in. In this country, specifically. I think you pay an initiation fee. It, you know, instantly feels elevated. I think there weren't a lot of places to. It used to be like, oh, it's expensive to play. And I'm going, I'm sorry. Have you. Have you tried to play junior sports outside of tennis now? Like, what's that cost?

[Mike]

It's absurd.

[Andy Roddick]

But it used to be one of the ones that was more expensive than other sports. I don't think that's the case anymore. I don't think that's the case. Are we. Is it a constant fight, public access versus private access in tennis? Yes. I think that largely leans into the lazy stereotypes of what the game is now. So don't hit me with, like, well, 1979. Great. I give you that. No problem. Completely understand it. And our biggest champions of the last 30 years have completely flipped that on its head to the benefit of tennis.

[Mike]

I'm pretty sure Sean and I would get smoked by anybody playing in 1979.

[Andy Roddick]

So I don't know what that has to do with.

[Mike]

I'm just saying they were still better than everyone else.

[Andy Roddick]

I gotta be honest. We did that serve thing. Yeah, the ServiceNow fan zone thing.

[Mike]

Oh, God.

[Andy Roddick]

That was. That was tough to watch, you guys.

[Mike]

It hurt my shoulder and my pride.

[Andy Roddick]

It hurt my soul. Next question.

[Mike]

Sean was ripping it. Next question.

[Andy Roddick]

I don't know if 72 miles an hour is ripping it, but.

[Mike]

Next question.

[Andy Roddick]

You can throw it harder.

[Dave]

My question is logistical. I'm really interested in behind the scenes of tennis and how things work. And I want to know about money. I have often watched tournaments. Someone has a breakout run at a tournament, they win three rounds, and you hear the announcer say, this is more money than they've earned in their entire career. This is life changing. I want to know how quickly that happens. Do they get paid the day that they finish playing the tournament, or do they get paid each round? Do you get a check for round one, round two, round three? Is it just the lump sum? Some after you're done, and how quickly after you're finished playing that tournament, do they actually get the money? And then secondly, how do they get the money? Is it a check like we see in the award ceremonies at the end, or is it direct deposit? How does that happen?

[Andy Roddick]

I love this question.

[Mike]

I hope it's like Happy Gilmore.

[Andy Roddick]

It's. There's one part of this I know for absolute certainty without any. You know, I'm sure people probably get it different ways. You do not get a check every day. You do not get. That would be a nightmare for the tournaments to have to, like, pay out every single day and keep track of that. You get paid at the end of the tournament. Now, does it go to your agency? Does it go to direct deposit? Used to be able to get a check. There was, like, an actual bank that. That probably doesn't work that way anymore. I doubt that's still an option. But you used to be able to get, like, a check. You used to have to. Used to be able to get. So when you turn pro, that basically when you're not pro means you can't accept money. I'm sure this has changed with Nil, but I remember back in the day, you used to be able to keep receipts and you could get reimbursed so that playing in the tournament shouldn't cost you money, even if you couldn't make money as an amateur. So if you won, like, a match, you'd be going out to some great dinners. It's like, you're 17. You win a match, it's like, oh, I can't. I can't take the money. But since I won that match. We won a match in doubles when I was 16 or 17. It's like, I don't know what it was. It was probably, you know, it was enough to go out. It's 7, $8,000, which at that point, it might as well have been a million dollars. And just ripping receipts. It's like, we can't take the money. We can't touch it, but we can get reimbursed. So we're going. But it would be. I love the question. Thank you so much for asking. You get it at the end of the tournament, and it's just a matter of how it's set up. You know, some. Some players have deals with their agencies where their agencies get 10% based on a previous investment. Right. I paid you when you were 13, and there was no upside. There was no money coming in. And so I get. Max talked about this when he. When he Came on. It's all structured a little differently, but the tournament will pay you at the end of the event. It's definitely not round by round. You definitely do not get Happy Gilmore checks. And even, even the ones that are presented to the winner, they're not real checks.

[Mike]

Oh, man.

[Andy Roddick]

They'll do the thing where they give an, like an envelope. Envelope. What do you say?

[Mike]

Yeah, Sabalenka did that.

[Andy Roddick]

Yeah, an envelope.

[Mike]

Envelope.

[Andy Roddick]

Why am I going to you for.

[Mike]

Pronunciation complete horrible decision by you.

[Andy Roddick]

But there's nothing even in the envelope. It's not as if there's a check in there.

[Mike]

Like, got hers and she was like, can somebody take this?

[Andy Roddick]

Like, oh my God, she just blows into it. There's nothing in there.

[Mike]

But.

[Andy Roddick]

Great question. You get paid at the end of the event.

[Mike]

Is it the end? So you lose third round. Is it? You then get paid like the next.

[Andy Roddick]

Day or next day, two days, whatever they're processing.

[Mike]

I'm sure it's different.

[Andy Roddick]

I'm sure it's different on a Saturday Slam.

[Mike]

You don't have to wait another 10 days.

[Andy Roddick]

It's not like a 30 days. You're trying, you're chasing down your prize money each time.

[Mike]

Okay.

[Andy Roddick]

I mean, I think generally tennis understands that. She mentioned so, so rightly in, in her question. It's a life changing amount of money. You need your life to change. If you have that money, right, that could cover expenses. That could cover, like, the sooner you have that money, it could affect where you go and play the next week. Right. So you need the money quickly. It's not during the tournament.

[Mike]

Can I follow up to it? You talked about expenses then. What's the schedule to pay coaches, trainers, hitting partners, those all individual deals? Or is that when, especially when you're starting out, Is that just like a.

[Andy Roddick]

That's a contract.

[Mike]

Let's give it, let's give it a go. And if I can make this much money this year, you get paid that.

[Andy Roddick]

Much money or a lot of it. So if you don't have, if you can't afford a salary, a lot of it would be incentivized. Or you're using a coach with the help of your federation or an individual sponsor or whatever that is. And those deals would be worked out individually. Like my contracts for my coaches had a base and then they had incentives. Right. You know, is, is the incentive when I'm already three in the world, if I win a 250? Probably not. I feel like I could do that with, with anyone. So I value that less than like a Slam final if you win a Masters 1000, if we hit a certain ranking number then, then we're all incentivized. Right. So I, I wanted to always feel like there was a benefit for a big run and so I, I structure my contracts that way. But the payment schedule would be whatever they wanted. I mean it's, it's money going out either way. If it's you know, quarterly or monthly, you know, it would be teach his own and what's better for, for, for whatever person as long as it didn't matter much and the agency would probably keep, keep tabs of that.

[Mike]

Could you imagine like a running backs coach needing to wait to see if his like running back rushes for 120 yards in a game to decide if he gets paid or not?

[Andy Roddick]

Could you imagine sir, could you imagine if tennis players could negotiate long term contracts. Oh so that they had a salary.

[Mike]

So then there'd be security and so.

[Andy Roddick]

Then you, you could actually make that joke a realistic thing. So therefore we would actually know what we were making two years from now and then cover the running backs coach and so he wouldn't have to wait. So different layers with an individual versus a team. I would have been happy when I was two or three in the world to project forward what max value of that salary would be. I don't know how you do it. Every single conversation we have will lead back to the broken up factions in tennis. And some ways it's different here, some ways it's different there. We're considered an independent contractor when it's convenient for the powers that be and then they don't want you to be that Sometimes also when it's inconvenient, when you have a bunch of different power players, everything's pretty confusing. But it is not a check. It is not a big Happy Gilmore check. That would be, that would suck. How do you fit that in luggage? How would you to get that on the plane?

[Mike]

So kind of weird for like, for like a lower level tournament that doesn't have qualifying to get in or some version of qualifying.

[Andy Roddick]

They all have qualifying.

[Mike]

They have qualifying. If you make the main draw you are getting a guaranteed base something but.

[Andy Roddick]

Like the difference going to like life changing money. That happened that happens in tour events like the Challenge. Your money. I'll get it wrong slightly hasn't really gone up. It it's it not and not even based on like inflation. Right. It hasn't gone up right or very minimally right. You're, you're literally just trying to make it. I mean I always when people ask about like who's making money and I said the goal is top 100 or 104. When you start getting into main draw of Slams then you can basically bank. And we talk about predictability. This is the only financial predictability is if you're in, in slams you're getting six figures four times a year, right? And then it's a 52 week rank. So you have to watch that because maybe at the end of that year if you don't do your job, but you're also having access to tour events where you are making thousands of dollars. Even if you lose first round challengers, you'd have to win a lot of challengers. You're not going to change your life financially long term. Now maybe if you win one it's like that's great. I can cover one or two months with the $7,000. I wanted a challenger, right? But as far as life changing, like actually affecting life and like the way you live it happens on tour.

[Mike]

Fascinating. So many layers. No big checks. I'm team big check.

[Andy Roddick]

So am I.

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[Andy Roddick]

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[Listener with Tennis Questions]

Hi Andy, huge fan of the show. So when I was introducing some of my non tennis friends to the US Open, some of them were asking about or discussing about how first serve percentages are equivalent to being a free throw in basketball, maybe. And how if that was the percentage of someone's free throws that ends up being like pretty bad for a player versus in tennis, it doesn't seem so. Even though I don't necessarily believe that they're equivalent or the same, I couldn't really give a good reason or explanation why that's the case. I kind of talked about first serve versus second serve, but I'm really curious to see all of your thoughts about tennis statistics and maybe the breakdown of that. And I also feel like in general we get some crazy statistics like just Pegula only losing four points on serve and still somehow losing the entire set and match. And so I feel like this is a really interesting like statistical point in tennis, which I know that we get so much data about players and their game, especially live during the match as well. So that was my first question. And then my second question was I just finished reading Andre Agassiz's open book and I was wondering, would you ever write a book? And if you did, what would be it be about? So would you choose more of your own experience and stories and how you got into tennis in your career? Or maybe it could be like a more general tennis breakdown, introduction, introductory book maybe? Just curious. Thanks.

[Andy Roddick]

Okay. I hope I'm keeping up with this.

[Mike]

Maybe do the second question first because that just seems like it's so much of a conversation to that one.

[Andy Roddick]

The book is like, I'm not Andre. I don't have that story. Like, I don't, I don't care about, like, it's tough to have a greatest hits album when you have like four hits. Like, I mean, what are you gonna do? I don't have interest in like a biography or anything like the ABCs of tennis or telling funny stories or having something that's like an easy page turner without being like super self indulgent, I think is, I don't know, I've never. It's not a passion of mine. It's nothing I've ever thought about. I've been approached and I just don't think there's a story there, frankly. So I'm not that interested in it if there's served something or if there's like funny stories where it's like each chapter. I mean, I'm not saying this is going to happen. I'm just saying I'd be more attracted to something where it's like six page story, anecdote, funny, maybe some explanation of why stuff is fine. It would not be like A my story.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Andy Roddick]

And then. Okay, so let me get this straight about the percentages. So your parent, your friends don't know anything about tennis, but yet they're certain that first serve percentage equates to free throw percentage? When it's like they have nothing to do with each other, it sounds about right. So they. I. I'm learning, but we're also adamant. Okay, so is it just because you get two free throws a lot of the time, is that like the basis for it? Maybe you don't have, okay, just level set. You don't have Anyone who serves 92% first serves?

[Mike]

No.

[Andy Roddick]

Doesn't happen very rarely. So like, that's not, it's just. Even on a percentage basis, it makes no sense. First serve. And also free throws are this isolated experience. Right. You make one or you miss one. The next play you're running a full court, the defense can set. Like it doesn't affect, it's not like you're going to ever fast break out of, out of a free throw. Very rarely. Like, it doesn't really affect the next. The next thing, especially off of free throw one, it's just over. It is what it is. And then first serve percentage affects every part of what happens during the point afterwards. Right. And it's not as if you can go bigger on a free throw and it affects the percentages.

[Mike]

Yeah, you're like breathing the hoops sitting there. Yeah.

[Andy Roddick]

Really threw that one hard.

[Mike]

Yeah. You're not changing the way you're shooting it. The whole goal is to look like shit.

[Andy Roddick]

It's like, it's the, the question is based in such a lack of understanding and nuance that it's hard to even make it real. Which is, I think, is what you're, you're getting at. Like there's no way to affect the next set of a game based on how you shoot. Shoot a free throw. I mean, the only way I can think of it is if it's desperation time and you clank one on purpose because you need to get the rebound, you know, scoreboard. Free throws are a little bit different in the last minute of the game because you can miss one on purpose. That's like when you're already down out, it's. You're looking for like a fluke. It's like a Hail Mary. It's not like a Hail Mary is not like an actual thing that affects the game or you set precedent or it's not part of the chess match until it's like desperation time. Well, you, you, you talk about how the serving is always in reaction to who's on the other side. So if someone's good at one thing, you're serving a winner. But a free throw, it's just you, it's, there's no one on the other side of a free throw that you're.

[Mike]

Trying to throw between your legs because you're, you don't know what you're doing.

[Andy Roddick]

First serve percentage is more along the lines of a. More if you want like a sport to sport comp. For people that are trying to understand tennis, it's, it's more about pitching a ball game. You see a great pitcher against some teams, they're going to throw strikes, they're going to, they're going to pitch to contact because maybe that team isn't great. Against Ohtani, are you going to throw four fastballs in a row? Nope. He forces you to throw secondary, you know, secondary and third pitches. Because if he knows what's coming, you're dead. Right. I'm going to look down the barrel right here. Okay, So I make a first serve. It's way more rare for someone to square up a first serve return than it is to be aggressive on a second serve return. So Carlos Alcaraz, if he squares up a first serve return, he's still two or three feet behind the baseline. So we're probably neutral. Right. If I hit a second serve to him, he's three feet inside the court and I'm on my heels because I'm expecting him to kind of to blow it back a little bit. So therefore off of a first serve I'm looking for either a weak return or maybe they foul ball. It, maybe it's a volume, but I'm inside the court and all of a sudden I can distribute 15ft this way, 15ft that way. The return is automatically in a defensive position. Most of the time if I make a first serve, right. Second serve, all of a sudden my first step is back. So we're looking at a 5 to 6 foot delta on average. That is massive. Massive. It's like starting your drive in football from the 45 yard line versus the 15 yard line. It affects everything, right? It's like a punt return. If you have a great punt return, you reel off 25 yards, you have less work to do, first serve percentage and then you. That's before you go through to Sean's point. Am I going to go with the kick out wide more? Because the guy is a one hander and I want to get it out of his zone and that's My way that I get a foul ball or he doesn't move well to his right. So therefore I'm going to set the deck and create the real estate here. It's like a pitcher right off balance. Can I throw the toughest serve in a three, two count? Am I going to. Do I have to take risk because of who's on the other side? A free throw, you step up and just shoot it. You, it's, it's the same every single time. That is not the case with serving. I've never seen someone look into the sun on a free throw.

[Mike]

Yeah, the, I was just, I was just looking some stuff up and it says Feliciano Lopez is considered amongst ATP veterans to have the highest career first serve percentage at 69.1.

[Andy Roddick]

Yeah, you know, and, and the offset is generally that's, that's an unbelievable number for a big server. Now you had someone like V. Lander, I think in one French Open final you serve like 90 something percent. That's that. But that's probably because he didn't want someone attacking his second serve, you know, against a John McEnroe. Right. Who's going to come in on your second server at least did a lot of the time you're going to want a higher first serve percentage because you want to keep him off the net. The way you can do that is because he has to respect the fact that you can go big on a first serve because so he can't fully sell out like he's going to come in on a first serve. Right. So all of those things go into it. It is brain dead to think that it's the same as a free throw. It's out, it's brain dead. It affect, it affects every part of, of the game. I would play this for your friends and then never talk to them again.

[Mike]

All right, our next, our, our last question.

[Andy Roddick]

She, she did have one question that was like talking about the. Just. Yeah, it's just, it's just a score, it's just a scoring system of tennis. You can lose a set, seven six, you can win the net six, six. Next set six one and it's a draw. Right. I held serve in 09 at Wimbledon for four hours and 40 minutes and broke serve and lost. Like that's just the way it goes. Like it's just, it's just a scoring system and it's great in tennis because you can't run out the clock. You get up 30, you still have to, you still have to win three sets no matter if you're up two sets of love. You still have to win. It's not as if you can run up the shot clock. There's no four corners offense in tennis, which is great. It's. It's fantastic. Pegula, that stat, it's just unlucky, right? But also it's, you know, Sabalenka, you rarely see that against someone like a Roger who was a volume returner. It was in every return game. Made a bunch of. Novak makes a bunch of returns. Murray makes a bunch of returns. It's rare that you see that offset Sabalenka. Let her rip. Tater Chip. She goes big. Andre goes big. Andre, you'd get through. You would get through service games. Sometimes, you know, he would look for a pitch, he would sell out one way. And if, if he read it, Andre would have hit 60 homers in major League Baseball because he was looking for pitches. Right? He wasn't like a guy. I mean, he was good at all the other stuff too. But, you know, you have some guys who are looking to make contact and you have some guys who are looking to go big. Sabalenka is looking to go big. So you might get through most of your service games easier. Doesn't make her a less effective returner. It's just stylistically, all of a sudden, she pops off three or four and the threat is always there because she goes big.

[Mike]

Oh, that's interesting. So like, the comparison for baseball would be like somebody hitting.250 average, but they'd had 48 runs.

[Andy Roddick]

Correct.

[Mike]

Got it.

[Andy Roddick]

Versus, you're looking at a. You're looking at a, you know, a player. I mean, everyone goes big now, but a Bobby Witt Jr. Who affects the game every single at bat. But to this season, he has 23 home runs, 97 runs, 83 RBIs and 37 steals. He's five category guy, right? But he's not going yak every time. Just selling out on one pitch. Right. So not that I. He's on my fantasy team and I don't know every one of his stats every day a little bit. Hey, Bobby. Love you. Nerd alert. Love you. Little bit Royals fan. And also, like, I'm glad you're hitting your stride the last two months. What? Next year I'm going to draft you. And like, don't be scared to do it in April. Knowing that the person's a big returner, does that change the way you serve at all? 100%. Like, is there like a you knowing that you need to prepare? I don't know. You can Explain it better, obviously. But what. What changes? I liked guys that went big because I was a power server, so it was tougher for a guy like, you know, taking massive swings on my. I. I could basically shrink the amount of time that they had. So the players that bothered me more, aside from Andre, is the outlier to everything. Yeah. Because he was a pain in the ass no matter what he did, but he would sell out. Like, he would. He would look for a pitch and, like, move.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Andy Roddick]

I didn't like the guys who had those, like, soft hands, weren't taking big swings, and could, you know, gently, like, float one to my backhand, and then we're starting over. The Murrays, the. The Federers. Hewitt wasn't a power returner, but he made everyone in the. The flight. The ball flight on his return was like, you were hitting it below your waist. Right. It was down. You were always playing up on the next ball. Those bothered me more. But that's purely style, right? It's purely style. I. I didn't mind if people were selling out and taking huge cuts on my serve because I could. I could throw it.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Andy Roddick]

Interesting.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Andy Roddick]

All right, last one.

[Mike]

Yeah, this one's a quick one. So give a listen.

[Andy Roddick]

Who do you guys think are the best foliars of all time? Hell. Okay, hold on. Phil. Guys. Phil.

[Mike]

Phil. Thank you, Andrew. Thank you for the question, Andrew.

[Andy Roddick]

Great.

[Mike]

Phil and everybody else, feel free to send in your questions in the future.

[Andy Roddick]

Like, subscribe.

[Mike]

Like, subscribe. All the good stuff. Andy, is. For all those people on the radio. Andy is jotting down notes right now.

[Andy Roddick]

Panicking Radio.

[Mike]

Yeah. If they listen to it on the.

[Andy Roddick]

What radio do we have audio?

[Mike]

Podcast Audio. Yeah.

[Andy Roddick]

Okay. I mean, we were radio at. At Labor Cup.

[Mike]

Yeah, There you go.

[Andy Roddick]

We were.

[Mike]

Yeah, yeah. We were radio members.

[Andy Roddick]

That's what my credential says.

[Mike]

Our credentials.

[Andy Roddick]

Oh, well, that's another conversation that we should have at some point. Like, we don't know what we are.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Andy Roddick]

It's like, wait, we're. They go, radio.

[Mike]

What aren't we.

[Andy Roddick]

I. We're not radio. They're like, yeah, no, we don't know what you are. At the US Open, it was like, you're. Can we get a media credential? No, you're not media. It's in our name, what we're doing. What.

[Mike]

Who's the best baller.

[Andy Roddick]

You'Re going to get? You're going to get Navratilova on the women's side more often than not. But this. This is, like. This is hard because it's It's. I want to explain this, and I want. I want a second Navratilova. My mind goes to, like, Gigi Fernandez was, like, in. Like, I was watching her at the hall of Fame last month doing clinics, and it's just. It's so much fun. I'm not an. I'm obviously not a natural volley. Like, obviously, that's. I suck at it compared to pros. Lisa Raymond was amazing. Doubles player, single, like, she. She was amazing. Jess Pugula is really good now. Great racket control. Towns in Irani are fantastic on the men's side, the ones that kind of rip off first Mac as far as feel. But it's weird because the outside of doubles, where. And I want to say Gigi and Lisa are double specialists, because I've said this before, double specialists used to mean you were better at doubles than you were at singles, but you were still top 20 in the world in singles, so let that live on its own. But if you look at the greatest volleyers like McEnroe as far as creativity, artistry, feel, how to float the ball, pacing, how to knock it down versus give yourself time to get back. Edberg, as far as, like, crisp, classic, like, what you want to see. The sound rafter. All these guys are elite. 12 out of 10 athletes, movers running to spots, coverage. Nadal was a great volleyer, One of the best volleyers that I've ever seen. That doesn't get enough is Leighton. Hewitt is unbelievable. But again, Nadal's like, one of the greatest movers of all time. Hewitt's one of the greatest movers of all time. Sampras is in the. Sampras was like, if you had, like, doing volley drills, he's like, he would have been great. You add in his athleticism and his ability to burst to a spot and create power off of power from the net. It's like it changes everything. The fact that you couldn't lob him, like, you had to hit such a good lob to get it over Pete Sampras, like, you take that athleticism. There are no slow guys who are great volleyers. It just. When we're talking about singles. Doubles, yes, singles, no. But, I mean, Navratilova has to be Billy Jean. Anyone? Anyone? Any top player on earth who played before 1985 is a great. Is a great volley, like, fantastic. But the best of all time. Like, you take Navratilova and how she volleys, and then you throw. You layer on top the physicality and the ability to cover spots right? So when you come in, if you hit a slice, tougher to lob off that you're charging forward, especially with the technology back then. But you can shrink the amount of space. It feels small with great volleyers. Like, you're hitting a passing shot and you're trying to pick a spot to hit it, and they make that lane feel so small because they're coming in.

[Mike]

And closing your angle down. But also their hands are so ridiculous.

[Andy Roddick]

So volleying aside, just crisping a volley is something a lot of people can do. You have to be able to cover ground quickly. Decision making, your tennis IQ has to be through the roof. Your speed. Like we, we saw and Carlos change some shit in the final of, of the US Open. I mean, we came on afterwards. I'm going, I might have seen something that is quickly changing, especially in that matchup against, against Jannik. I think Carlos is a, is an elite volleyer. Like, give him time. But he might enter this conversation, but he wasn't scared to take his shot from the baseline, come in off something that wasn't really what we think about as an approach shot. Like, he was just hitting a ball. Janik was stretched. He knew he was going to be there. Carlos was happy. Okay, if it works and I get a volley, great. If I don't, he's fighting. He, he's like, he's playing like street ball. He's fighting it off his shoe tops and just using his athleticism. And he's like, you know, the net. Net of this decision is if it works, great. If it doesn't, I'm so good and fast and my hands are so good that I'm happy playing defense and, and trying to like, just scramble. Right. I don't, you know, it. And he's coming in on things like, he doesn't need an approach shot. He doesn't need an invite. He doesn't need to earn his invite into the net to just burst. Right? But all of the, the top volleyers of all time, I mean, Fed's a joke. He's good at everything. Like, it's just. But can I ask you, like, kind of a.

[Mike]

Because obviously now, the modern Fed talked about it when he was on the show. Right? You know, it's a, it's more of a baseline game now, and everything's kind of speeding up back from the base. But as we see these bigger, taller guys, you know, and even some of the women are getting taller and bigger, lengthier, does that create a. Does that create a system where they aren't going to be Physically as able to do volleys the way somebody that is, you know Carlos's size.

[Andy Roddick]

They're going to figure out a way to do it though. Like if you give up. But it's all an adjustment, right? So you come out, Medvedev starts doing what he does, right. And it's, it's like a copycat league for the first two or three years is like, how do we solve this guy? And now you're seeing it. Guys are serving and volleying against Medvedev all the time, right? All the time. Because it's like, what are my options? I'm going to come in, I'm going to shorten the points one. I don't want to do this long slog, 25, 25 ball rally every time. So it's, it's a copycat league. So if someone like Carlos comes and is able to like turn and jump, there's going to be someone who comes along. Like Ben Shelton comes to mind. He's so fast and big and imposing. Now. Does he have the racket work to do? We'll see. But he's. I guarantee you he clocked it.

[Mike]

That's interesting.

[Andy Roddick]

It's like, I'm a big body, I'm fat, I'm an athlete. Like, it's going to be a copycat league. And it's like, it doesn't look like it makes sense. Carlos was deciding to go in irresponsibly. Like, no one else will do that against center dude.

[Mike]

It's like, it's like the emergence of Steph Curry.

[Andy Roddick]

So do we value. Even if his volleys aren't as. Oh, Tim Henman. God blessed. You talk about someone that can create like off a slow ball, can create pace on a volley. Oh, as solid as you've ever seen the greatest voliers. I was watching rafter doing clinics during the U.S. open. Think of Henman. Great volleyers. It feels like the ball like melts into their racket. Whereas chuckers like me like hit the volley. They can when they have time, but when it's quick, it's. There's no wasted motion. It like, it like melts into the racket and it's like the ability to redirect and know where the face is. You know, if you're off by this good volley, this, as I'm holding is gone. Like, imagine that coming off of something where someone's hit 100 mile an hour for you and you're redirecting body control. So I don't know that I'm answering your question. Navratilova on the women's side is the best I've ever seen. Just total package. Men's side, it's like you kind of have some more options. But like, even watching Gigi hit like volleys in this. These dumb. Not dumb, but like these clinics with amateurs and how easy it is for her, like to just lazily.

[Mike]

Even now, even she just is like.

[Andy Roddick]

Mike Bryan, talk about technically sound athleticism. You talk about Bob being 6 foot 44 and like crossing like a psycho. I talk passionately about this because it's not a skill set that I have. And so it's like admiration, I think, just falls out of my brain when I think about it. But all of those names, I don't know how you part. And they're all. Can we do this in the. Like, in the comments, Andre talked about the difference between. Was it Edberg and Becker? They both come in, they're both imposing. He talked about Edberg, Becker, Rafter. I think great volleyers serving volleys, very physical. But how they did it differently with shading, with when they sold out, with what he had to think about when he was hitting a passing shot. Like, maybe we can put that in the comments with this segment. I don't know how it works. You guys are the tech people. But that conversation, if you're curious about this and the volleying and the nuances of great volleyers, you know, he'll say it better than I ever can, but I don't know. Hopefully you got an answer in there somewhere. It's. You could say. You could literally say 10 names on the. On the men's side and no one would be mad at you. I think the conversation almost starts and finishes with. With Navratilova on the. On the women's side.

[Mike]

I gotta say, if. If it's a copycat league and more up and coming players are going to copy Carlos Alcarez. I'm pumped.

[Andy Roddick]

Yeah, but you have to. How do you copy his athleticism? So I'm still.

[Mike]

Still pumped about it.

[Andy Roddick]

I think people. Yeah, fine, whatever. That doesn't change my enthusiasm.

[Mike]

All right, little brother. Probably will do.

[Andy Roddick]

Yeah, exactly. Gosh. Can you imagine another one coming along? The rest of the tour just quits Mass. That was a mass retirement on tour today. There's another Alcaraz. Do we have any more questions or are we getting.

[Mike]

That's it. Thank you, chuckers.

[Andy Roddick]

Awesome questions. You guys with the video and the audio with the questions now.

[Mike]

Just doing our best.

[Andy Roddick]

Look at you guys.

[Mike]

I'm just trying.

[Andy Roddick]

This is amazing.

[Mike]

I'm gonna give everybody a little bit of light to shine.

[Andy Roddick]

You know, give some dirt, some water, and it just turns into a flower. Look at it.

[Mike]

This is just.

[Andy Roddick]

This is great. Let's talk about. We got. Okay, so we're at the point in the season we were on a. Our group text this week, and from Monte Carlo. I don't know. You just. You're reacting to news and you're getting great interviews. History make is being made. Ego wins Wimbledon. It's like, that would be an awesome interview. Let's. Let's get that. That's exciting for me. Recap shows. Let's tell you what happened. Let's tell you why it happened. Great. I think that we built this show early on, telling stories that weren't obvious. Trying to get IGA on after Wimbledon is. Is. I love doing those interviews. It's an obvious thing if you can get it right. Right. I think we're in storytelling season. We're mapping out the next, you know, two months to finish out. And there's not an obvious thing. It's not like there's all eyeballs on the US Open. There's tennis going on, there's team competitions going on, there's world tour finals, and there's not a slam until January. I do not want to lose the fabric of what we started this with. Right. We need to tell stories, whether it's a money episode. How does an agent act? Like, let's go through all of these different things. The politics in tennis and how the ebb and flow when you're scheduling. We talked to Eubanks about how he schedules when he's in the challengers and when he's on tour based on ranking. I don't want to lose those conversations. So we do have some ideas for shows coming up, as long as my schedule doesn't mess up.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Andy Roddick]

Another week like I did with Tony this week.

[Mike]

Yeah. Well, we do have Tony next week. Tony's coming on, and it's going to be just as fantastic as it would have been this week. Yeah. Following that, we'll. We'll recap the Rolex Masters on October 14th. But then we got Rick Traney joining us talking some wheelchair tennis.

[Andy Roddick]

And if you don't. Rick Draney is a legend and icon of wheelchair tennis. Got into the International Tennis hall of fame in 2023. I. This is a show I've been wanting to do for a long time. You've heard me talk about it on air in passing. More along the lines of go see wheelchair tennis if you can because these athletes are so good. So good. I want to get smarter about wheelchair tennis. I want to know the history better. I want to know the strategy of it, how it differs. I want to know all of it and I want to do a long form interview. I got to spend some time with Rick Draney this year at the induction ceremony. Sat next to him the night before the induction and just really had a nice time. He has a very, very kind, amazing way about him. I want to talk, you know, through his journey. He had an injury which, you know, led him to wheelchair tennis. I want to get into all of that and I want to get a little bit smarter. I want to know what he thinks about this young phenom.

[Mike]

Takeda Oda.

[Andy Roddick]

Oh, this guy.

[Mike]

Golden slam winner at 19.

[Andy Roddick]

This guy.

[Mike]

I mean, he's. He's fun to watch.

[Andy Roddick]

I mean, he's like. He's the. He's the alcaraz of this sport. Right? He's like the phenom. I want to know if we've ever seen anything like it. I want to know who the comps are. I want to know why. I want to know if his game is comparable to the great wheelchair players of the past. I want to know. I know how the bigger, stronger, faster has happened in tennis. I want to know what that acceleration has been since Rick played. I want to know all this stuff. So we're going to do a wheelchair tennis episode. I cannot wait. Thank you, Rick Traney, for agreeing to. Come on. That'll be in a couple of weeks. I don't know. Mike keeps track of that.

[Mike]

Shit. Yeah. And then, then we've also. We're tracking something for the end of the month. Towards the end of the month. It's a story we've been tracking for quite some time. So that's in the works, but there's nothing cemented yet on when we'll be doing anything with it.

[Andy Roddick]

Yeah, we, we. It's a, It's a show that we did a last. A while ago and there's just, you know, I think it's one we wanted to follow up on. And we'll see.

[Mike]

There's a lot of new players involved.

[Andy Roddick]

Yeah, let's see if. Yeah, let's. We think there's a There. There, but we'll, We'll. We'll see what. We'll see what happens. The other, you know, the other thing I want. Mike and Sean, we've been talking about, we're hearing these stories of the letters being written by the. You covered it in the five Setter. I know the top players apparently sent a second letter to the slams. The rumors are. And listen, I'm regurgitating news. I'm not creating news. I don't have an understanding more than you do. The goal is to remedy that. I don't know who the person is. I would love to in the next two to three weeks and I'm going to try to work on it. Hopefully someone will come on and talk about it. I'd love to get one of those players that have put forth the letter. I like to know the sequencing of events. I'd love to know what the ask is. It's obviously more money. And if you look at percentage of revenue that is put towards prize money, it, it's nowhere close to other sports.

[Mike]

Right.

[Andy Roddick]

Not to say. And you're, you're gonna say, well, the winner gets. Sure. We play a game for a living. We understand the privilege in that. And also on a percentage basis, can we use some of it to trickle down to challengers? We talked about how that prize money hasn't changed. Should only 100 players make a living playing tennis?

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Andy Roddick]

Those are all conversations. I'd like to be a little smarter on this scenario. I'm just reading and regurgitating information. I'd love to get one of the players who actually was a part of the letter. Top 10.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Andy Roddick]

On either side to come on and maybe explain it a little bit better. And, and let's get a little smarter on that. So I, I'll, I'll try to get that figured out.

[Mike]

Well, no better season to do it than our storytelling season.

[Andy Roddick]

I like storytelling season. That's the point is that I like storytelling season.

[Mike]

And then, and then through the November, we, we obviously have the WTA and ATP finals. So we'll, we'll have some stuff mixed with that Davis cup finals. We'll, we'll do a special top 10 episode around Thanksgiving. And then through December, we have season recaps. We have some other special guests, hopefully we're gonna do here in, in Charlotte in December.

[Andy Roddick]

I hope so. That'd be sick.

[Mike]

And then we'll do our, our end of year, you know, recap of the top 20 WTA, top 20 ATP.

[Andy Roddick]

We're still organizing, so it's certainly not a guarantee. I, I do think it's going to happen. We're gonna do the episode, but I think it might be a live show in Austin. The episode I want to focus on, I want to storytell how great tennis is with philanthropy.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Andy Roddick]

And what the greats have stood for. What Their projects have been kind of shine a light on it. We're going to lead that into the Andy Roddick foundation gala that we do every year, November 10th. Please come by a table if you'd like to arfoundation.org we do great work in the Central Texas area. We impact 45,000 kids there. But also, I kind of want to brag on tennis and how great the champions have been. So we're going to do a philanthropy episode also in our storytelling season. That will be fun. We're going to do a live show venue tbd. We're working on it. Hopefully we'll have that wrapped in the next couple of days, but that'll be fun also. Yeah, it is cool.

[Mike]

Yeah. I mean, philanthropy wise. I mean, it's. Last year we went to the gala with the USTA that celebrated your achievements, and I thought was really cool was how your inspiration came from Zondrix of others.

[Andy Roddick]

Yep.

[Mike]

Right. And how that's passed down and hearing stories about people coming up and playing clinics at, like, Chrissy's clinics and what she gave back as such a young player, like, it's, it's. It's systemic. I believe in 110 to have philanthropy. Well, I think it's cool.

[Andy Roddick]

There's also. Listen, this started because I had access to Andre at 17. He used me as, like, a practice partner, so I'd follow him around and be available when he wanted to. There's a lot of car rides. There's a lot of plane rides. There's a lot of, like, time where you're just observing your hero. So much of his time was on the phone, building his charter schools, changing an entire area of Las Vegas, Nevada. And his story is one of many antennas. Billie Jean and what she spent her time on Rosie Casals alongside Billie Jean undertold story. Right. To get the prize money where it needs to be. And like, all of these stories are so inspirational. As much as we talk about them, it's not enough. What Venus and Serena have done with literacy, what Roger does with building, like, it's just Rafa and his foundation. We talk like it never ends, and it's always the top players leading the way. I want that's a dedicated episode. So that's what we got coming down the pipeline. Storytelling season, folks.

[Mike]

Oh, I'm fired up.

[Andy Roddick]

Storytelling season. I like interviews. Love interviews. Want to do all of them?

[Mike]

We'll do a couple of this. Yeah, we got some lined up.

[Andy Roddick]

I want to do those. I like. I like recaps. They're fun. We got to know what's going on. Let's peel back the curtain. Let's celebrate this great game. Thank you for watching. Served. Are we done?

[Mike]

Mike? That's it.

[Andy Roddick]

That's it.

[Mike]

That's it. Subscribe check out our newsletter if you want to Links in the bios descriptions, all the things so bossy.

[Andy Roddick]

This is served. Dude, did you order the new iPhone 17 Pro? Got it from Verizon, the best 5G network in America. I never looked so good. You look the same. But with this camera, everything looks better. Especially me. You haven't changed your hair in 15 years. Selfies check, please. New and existing customers can get the new iPhone 17 Pro. Designed to be the most powerful iPhone ever. With eligible phone, trade in and unlimited ultimate any condition guaranteed Best buy route metrics data United States 1H 2025 all rights reserve trade and additional terms apply for all offers. See verizon.com for details. And Doug Limu and I always tell you to customize your car insurance and save hundreds with Liberty Mutual. But now we want you to feel it. Cue the emu music. Limu. Save yourself money today. Increase your wealth. Customize and save. We save. That may have been too much feeling. Only pay for what you [e-mail] Savings very unwritten by Liberty Mutual Insurance Company and affiliates. Excludes Massachusetts.