Federer’s Agent talks Leaving Nike, Building a Tournament, & More w/ Tony Godsick

Summary

Served with Andy Roddick

Episode: Federer’s Agent talks Leaving Nike, Building a Tournament, & More w/ Tony Godsick

Date: October 7, 2025
Host: Andy Roddick
Guest: Tony Godsick (Federer’s agent, CEO of Team8)

---

OVERVIEW

This episode of "Served" dives deep into the business and personal sides of tennis greatness—with Andy Roddick sitting down for an extensive, honest, and playful conversation with Tony Godsick, the longtime agent and friend of Roger Federer. They explore behind-the-scenes stories about Federer’s switch from Nike to Uniqlo and his stake in On, the art and stress of building the Laver Cup from scratch, the unique challenges of tennis scheduling, and family life steeped in professional sports.

The episode delivers both inside baseball and touching anecdotes, giving listeners a rare look into the careers of two titans who shaped tennis far beyond center court.

---

KEY DISCUSSION POINTS & INSIGHTS

Current Tennis Storylines and Tournament Schedules

• Shanghai and Scheduling Gripe (02:44–09:39)
  • Andy reflects on the grueling tennis calendar, particularly 12-day Masters events in Shanghai and the challenging humidity and air quality.
  • The belief that “tennis is supposed to be hard” yet calls out how relentless scheduling impacts players, noting fatigue, injuries, and early finishes for women’s tournaments vs. men’s tours.
  • On U.S. women’s breakout performances and opportunity in ATP draws when top players like Alcaraz and Sinner are absent.

“I'll tell you what though, I'd rather do all the work up front for more time on the back end. Maybe I'm weird.” (Andy, 05:46)

---

The Laver Cup: Building a New Tennis Tradition

Event Operations, Challenges, and Vision

• Post-Laver Cup Work & Success (12:15–13:52)
  • Tony describes the immediate, sponsor-focused, and highly detailed debrief after each Laver Cup, touting their 8th consecutive sell-out and crediting Agassi and Pat Rafter for Team World’s win.
• Seamless Event Experience (13:52–14:52)
  • Andy praises the nearly invisible operations—the sign of a truly well-run event.
• Infrastructure Perfection & Roger’s Influence (14:52–16:22)
  • Tony credits their elite events team and Roger’s 25 years of player perspective, focusing on intentional details and not cutting corners to maximize profit at the expense of experience.

“The best thing that you know an event can be is not noticed. Because normally when you notice the operations, it’s negative.” (Andy, 13:31)

“We have a great events team… attention to detail is very important with all of us. But Steve [Zaks] is a micromanager… We invest in this brand because we obviously want people to enjoy it.” (Tony, 14:52)

• Event Planning & Future Growth (17:03–19:23)
  • Laver Cup plans years ahead—already mapping out cities through 2029—and carefully selects venues, prioritizing sponsor relationships and consistently high standards.

Unique Format & Player Experience

• Arena Adaptation & Branding (19:23–21:41)

  • Tailoring each Laver Cup to its city’s logistics, building even temporary stadiums within conference centers if needed, always keeping the TV and fan experience consistent.

• Choosing Locations & Navigating Tennis Politics (21:41–23:05)

  • Tony walks through the “stress points” of scheduling around ATP rules and existing tournaments, collaboration with stakeholders, and balancing arenas' size, location, and financial sense.

• Success & Enjoyment (24:22–26:45)

  • Tony admits stress exists but is also able to appreciate moments of generational connection between legends and rising stars.

“I told Roger a few times, like, this is cool. I never envisioned it would happen so quickly.” (Tony, 24:59)

Tradition vs. Innovation in Tennis

• Andy argues that tradition is earned (“you can’t fake it, can’t redo it”), but innovation like the Laver Cup matters for sport’s future (26:47–28:16).

---

The Federer–Godsick Partnership: 20 Years at the Top

Origins & Dynamic

• How They Met & Early Impressions (28:16–29:26)
  • Tony details first becoming Roger’s agent in 2005 after a post-U.S. Open meeting, describing both Federer and Mirka’s warmth and professionalism.
• Trust, Communication, and Mega Fights (29:37–32:39)
  • Regular communication and mutual respect underpin their decades-long relationship—even surviving “three mega fights.”

“The secret to his success and to our partnership has been the ability to always get him on the phone, always communicate. He has strong opinions. I have strong opinions…” (Tony, 30:34)

What Makes Federer Special As A Client

• Showing Up, Delivering, Overdelivering (32:39–34:23)
  • Roger’s reliability sets him apart—always early, always present, genuinely curious, and engaged with sponsors.

“He always shows up on time and he always stays longer... With Roger, he’s generally enjoying himself when he’s at an appearance.” (Tony, 33:04, 33:36)

• Extraordinary Endurance & Adaptability (34:23–35:44)
  • Roger adapts to even grueling media days with humor and willingness—qualities Tony says are rare in elite athletes.

“He’s like, guys, I mean, what else could we be doing today? We had fun. Whether it’s 1 hour, 12 hours, we're in the city, who cares?” (Tony, 34:20)

Andy’s First-Hand Testimony

• Federer’s Integrity (36:32–37:45)
  • Andy recounts Federer going above and beyond for Andy’s own foundation, showing up after an early loss at the US Open rather than canceling, and setting a tone of adding value to others’ work.

“He goes, alright, so we're here for X amount of time. How can I add the most value to what you do today? I was like, that's like—it's an amazingly intelligent thing to ask.” (Andy, 37:27)

• Tony Confirms Authenticity (37:45–39:08)
  • “That’s regular...But he’s very picky on who he does things with.”

---

The Big Three: Federer, Nadal, Djokovic—Brand Strategy and Differentiation

• Brand Overlap vs. Siloed Deals (39:49–42:41)
  • The “Big Three” each had different languages, backgrounds, and strategies—Roger focused on long-term, global, blue-chip relationships, aided by his Swiss nationality and language skills.

“We had a strategy… Let’s not accept a deal if someone’s going to scratch their head saying I don’t quite understand the association.” (Tony, 40:12)

“I did not think that...three years being retired now, that he’d still have 13 sponsors...a lot of them...over 20 years.” (Tony, 41:02)

---

Behind the Nike Split, Uniqlo & On: How Business and Timing Changed Everything

• Leaving Nike (Or, Nike Leaving Federer) (44:24–49:43)
  • Tony details the difficult effort to renew Roger’s Nike deal—“Nike kind of left him."
  • Despite Federer winning three majors during the negotiation (“he’s giving me all the goods”), Nike wouldn’t match his future vision.

“It was, we were trying to resign and they chose not to resign. He would have stayed...I spent one year…trying to renew it.” (Tony, 45:48; see story 45:46–49:43)

• The Uniqlo Breakthrough (49:43–52:49)
  • Anna Wintour connects Tony to Uniqlo’s founder, Y. Yanai, unlocking a groundbreaking deal focused as much on post-tennis life as on tennis.

“Roger will retire from tennis, but he won’t retire from life. And I was like, yes, that’s the—they finally understand that there’s life off the court with Roger.” (Tony quoting Uniqlo’s John Jay, 52:10)

• On Running: Equity & Swiss Connection (52:49–57:44)
  • The move to On was possible only because of being Swiss and an openness to building something beyond the last chapter of Federer’s playing days; deal structured as partnership and equity, not just endorsement.

“I said, don’t worry about it. We are going to, let’s do something different, something where he can grow with you…” (Tony on On, 54:53)

• Dropping Uniqlo at Wimbledon (57:08–57:44)
  • Roger stunned the tennis world by walking onto Center Court at Wimbledon in Uniqlo—no press release required.

“He practiced and warmed up that morning at Orangi or on one of the side courts in Nike and then walked out on. And people in the locker room were like, what the hell’s going on here?” (Tony, 57:26)

• Lessons Learned
  • Reliability, reputation, authenticity, and “over-delivering” on off-court obligations make these deals possible—not just trophies.

“If you have worked hard consistently... You’re going to get back [off the court] what you put in.” (Tony, 58:28)

---

Family, Tennis & Next Generation

• Tennis in the Godsick Household (59:56–68:34)
  • Tony credits Monica Seles for getting him into the business and even setting him up with his (now) wife, Mary Joe Fernandez.
  • Mary Joe is the “nicest person in the world,” a role model to their kids, as are Roger and Mirka Federer.
  • Daughter Bella (former lacrosse player, plays tennis), son Nico (now Stanford college tennis player), both raised as part of the extended tennis family.

“I owe everything to Monica Seles…I interned at IMG…She introduced me to Mary Jo. We have these two great kids. But then she’s the one that signed Roger Federer for me.” (Tony, 60:49, 62:44)

• On Playing Level in the Family
  • “On Sundays when we play family doubles, there’s a fight between the kids who has to play with me.” (Tony, 66:44)

---

College Tennis: A New Era

• How the Pathway Has Changed (69:43–75:22)
  • College tennis is now a credible launching pad for pro careers, especially with more robust NIL opportunities and top programs attracting global recruits.
  • Roddick and Tony agree the level has jumped, and NIL may uniquely benefit tennis because of the depth, quality training, and career safety net it provides (education + pro option).

“Now it's college, okay? You're going to be in like a slam semi. Like there's a whole new world out there.” (Andy, 75:22)

---

MEMORABLE QUOTES

On Federer, Deals, and Relationships

• On Federer’s character:
  “He always shows up on time and he always stays longer…with Roger, he’s generally enjoying himself…” (Tony, 33:04–33:36)

• Andy on Federer’s integrity:
  “He goes, all right, so we’re here for X amount of time. How can I add the most value to what you do today?...It’s an amazingly intelligent thing to ask…” (Andy, 37:27)

• Business philosophy:
  “If you have worked hard consistently... You’re going to get back [off the court] what you put in.” (Tony, 58:28)

• Switch from Nike:
  “He didn’t leave Nike. Nike kind of left him.” (Tony, 45:48)

On Building the Laver Cup

• On the vision:
  “We want people to turn on the TV… and look at the Black Court and say, ah, it’s the Laver Cup and it looks the same everywhere we go.” (Tony, 20:29)
• On success:
  “I never envisioned it would happen so quickly…” (Tony, 24:59)

---

TIMESTAMPS OF KEY SEGMENTS

| Timestamp | Segment Description | |---------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------| | 02:44–09:39 | Andy on the tennis schedule, humidity in Shanghai, U.S. women’s success, ranking implications, scheduling struggles. | | 12:01–26:47 | Tony Godsick on Laver Cup logistics, event-building philosophy, post-event “debriefs”, growth strategy, venue selection, ATP politics, and emotional payoff. | | 28:16–39:08 | Federer–Godsick relationship: beginnings, communication style, trust, unique partnership stories, God-level reliability. | | 39:49–42:41 | The Big Three’s different brand approaches and how Federer’s Swiss-ness mattered. | | 44:24–59:19 | The full saga of Federer/Nike breakup, Uniqlo and On deals—how it happened, how Anna Wintour connected Tony to Uniqlo, life-after-tennis vision. | | 59:56–68:34 | Tennis as a family sport—the Monica Seles connection, Mary Joe Fernandez as a partner, raising kids in tennis. | | 69:43–75:22 | Why college tennis is now a major pro springboard, NIL’s role, and institutional facilities. | | 75:22–76:43 | Wrap up, Andy’s conversion to Laver Cup, closing gratitude and playful banter. |

---

TONE & ATMOSPHERE

• Conversational, candid, playful: Both Andy and Tony exchange banter, gentle ribbing, and industry war stories.
• Insightful, honest, and occasionally sentimental: Provides a rare window into trust, loyalty, and the behind-the-scenes hustle of tennis as big business.
• Valuable for both tennis insiders and curious fans: Even complex sponsorship deals are made engaging and relatable via anecdotes and self-deprecation.

---

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR LISTENERS

This episode is essential for anyone wanting a behind-the-scenes look at tennis, from world-changing business deals to the emotional glue of lifelong partnerships. The Federer–Godsick stories offer a case study in how to build and preserve a legacy, on and off the court.

Most memorable takeaways:

• How core values, reliability, and “overdelivering” outlast even the biggest wins.
• The importance of tradition—but also the necessity (and reward) for taking bold new paths.
• Family, in all its forms, remains at the center, even for the world’s top players and agents.

---

For full conversations and more insights, check out the full "Served with Andy Roddick" episode on your preferred platform.

Transcript

[A]

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 nutrifold.com promo code server 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 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. We have a fun show for you today. Obviously I messed up everything with scheduling. A couple weeks ago we were supposed to have Tony Godsick on right after labor cup. And so now it's just going to be kind of like right, right after labor cup. Instead, Techie Sean in the house. Mike Hayden's just living that dream, isn't he? I'm so jealous. Producer Mike's just, he's just. I picture him with like a baguette, traveling, I mean, drinking some French wine. We're in a smelly gym still. Gosh, he's got to figure it out. We don't. Anyways, happy that techie Sean is here. We are going to have a great later in the show we have an interview with with Tony Gok that we shot four days ago, five days ago, something like that. It's what we call an Evergreen interview. Doesn't really matter what happens in Shanghai when you're interviewing Tony because obviously it's not match relevant. Normally we shoot on Mondays so we can get all the Sunday's results. It's a little weird when here we are again in a 12 day Masters 1000 for the men. So we don't really. I don't really have much to tell you. Right. Lerner. TN's playing well. Alcaraz is not playing. Sinner had to retire because it's super hot and sweaty over there. Met he's playing well again. He Has a quote that you just played for me. Where is. He's like my game style. I always suffer. It's nice that other people are suffering too. So nice of Mehdi to be so concerned with his, his fellow players.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And it's just in between. And you had asked a question. You can, you can repeat it now about when we came on scheduling with the men. They're playing 12 day event and you had asked. Well, I'm, I'm actually curious about the humidity in Shanghai. Like, what is it like playing humidity? Do players enjoy it? Do they hate it? Some. It comes and goes. Like I liked it because I was trained in Florida, so I was used to it. Right. So it wasn't really shocked on me. I'll tell you something about Shanghai and Beijing specifically. And listen, no one's immediately. Everyone LA has it right. But the worst smog that I've ever played in was in Shanghai and Beijing. Shanghai. I don't know if it was just time of year and it was Masters cup or whatever it was, but I mean, it looked like it was foggy all the time and I had a hard time breathing. I had a harder time breathing there than in extreme conditions. You know, the hottest place is like middle of summer DC to me. Like, it's just smoking hot. Shanghai affected me differently. Like, you're breathing in air that's heavy and if it's humid, it gets sticky. You can't really see off into the distance sometimes if it gets, if it gets really bad. So there's like an added layer. Yes, the humidity sucks and you know, the air kind of sucks at some. Sometimes. Some ways. You know, it's certainly not the only place on earth that's like that. It's just the one that I remember being the toughest to play in that in, in Beijing, but I remember Shanghai being worse. And you know, I'm sure there's smarter reasons for that than I can. I can share with you. You know, the other thing is, is like we can talk about Ana Samova winning.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Which was amazing. And she's up to four in the world and she beat Coco and then she beat no Scovo in the final. And we had three out of four, you know, women from America doing it again. There's a Masters 1000 there. They go straight to another Masters 1000. And your question was, I mean, is it weird going back to back Masters 1000? I mean, it's. You don't see a lot of those, I feel. No, it used to happen all the time. That's all we did one Montreal and Cincinnati in 13 days one time, like, yeah. And your question was basically, is that really. Is that hard? I'm like, yes. And the men are playing a 12 day Masters 1000. You know what I'd rather do in two weeks if I had to spend it at a place anyways? Get credit for 2, get ranking points for 2. Trim a week off of the end of the year. The women finish weeks three weeks before, maybe four. Three or four weeks before the men. Yeah. So is that hard? Sure. Is Animus Ana Samova gonna be having some fatigue? Yeah, probably. Is that a great problem to have? Yep. Is she gonna be happy in three weeks when they're not playing 12 day events? Yep. Everyone likes the, the co ed events. If I was the women, I'd be like, screw the co events right now. Let's, let's, let's get done three weeks earlier. I think they have it right. I think they have it right. If I'm them, I'm going, don't you come near us with that Shanghai co ed bullshit. Nope. We'd like to finish before November. Yeah. And so sure. Is it hard? Yeah. Sports is supposed to be hard. Is it humid? Yes, it's supposed to be humid. Stinks. Tennis is hard. I'll tell you what though. I'd rather do all the work up front for more time on the back end. I'd rather do that. You know, maybe I'm. Maybe I'm weird. Um, but listen, hey, I s. We've talked about it a bunch. We talked about it after Wimbledon. We talked about at the US Open. Anisa Moba wasn't in the main draw of Wimbledon last year. She was ranked in the hundreds. Hundreds. Lots of things to come back from for Anisa Mobile. Played well in Canada last year. Kind of got her ranking back up to where she was in tournaments. She had never been top 20 even before she took time away. So not just come back, but come back way better. Right? Props to her. It's a fun story to watch. It's also nice to see when someone comes off of losing two Grand Slam finals in, in, in a summer or an extended summer. Anyways, by the time the US Open is finished. Get back to work. She's the real deal. She is the real deal. It is fun to watch. Props to her. Coco back in the semis. Jessica Gula always plays well. It is great to watch opportunity knocking in Shanghai. I'll tell you what, there's not a lot of tournaments for big, big, big points where you don't have to deal with Alcaraz or center guy named Novak's in the bottom half of that draw. You think he's not going? You know what, maybe I can slide into the top four seeds in Australia. That matters for him right now. If he can somehow get into those top four seeds. Bump Taylor is Vera about. Zverev has a lot of points, but if he can slide into that fourth spot before the end of the year, that just makes the pathways a little easier for him. And he has admittedly needed that when he gets into the Grand Slam events. You know what's better than playing Carlos in the quarters, playing Carlos in the semis for the first time and not having to go through those two guys to even get to a final. Right. So Novak, I guess the favorite there. What do we know? This time of year is so strange. Like, it's hard to gauge motivation levels. Vera was like, I haven't been healthy all year. You never know what's going on. Sinner. Obviously paying the bill. Alcaraz paying the bill for, for the scheduling. And you know, it's impossible to be physically and mentally perfect week in and week out. Those guys can generally win when they're not. Something's got to give. This schedule continues to suck. It has sucked. It's only getting worse. And who pays the bill? The fans, a lot of the times, like the players do, for sure. For sure. But it's, you have to have a trade off people. Some people are mad that, you know, Alcaraz isn't playing. Center withdrew. It's not, it's not on them. Like you can't do it all the time. January 1st through the end of November, for years in a row. You just can't do it. It's too much of an ask. Something's got to give. It's given. This week in Shanghai, no Alcaraz, no center. Opportunity knocking. On the other side of the break, we have some. So I rarely pre tape, you know, we, we're doing this show on a Monday, but I've, I, I did the interview four days ago, so I know the stories that I'm introducing now. You have to stick around. These stories are gold. Tony tells us. Is Roger really that nice? Is he really that good to deal with the answers? On the other side, Tony Godzik, famous for being the agent of Roger Federer, uh, and the husband of Mary Joe Fernando. Not sure how he did that because she's awesome. Tony's awesome too. I kid. On the other side, Tony Godsick. Tell us all things. Labor Cup, Federer Nico, his son plays college tennis married to Mary Joe Fernandez. Just a life. Oh he he had some really cool tidbits about Monica. Sell us too. Yes, please tune in. He was more than gracious with gave us a ton of time. Hopefully I asked good questions. I don't know. We'll see. Thanks for listening to the serve.

[B]

Foreign.

[A]

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 hat guy to a hair guy with visibly thicker, fuller hair and improve scalp coverage. Nutrif Men is clinically tested to improve hair growth and quality. So hats off to great hair. For a limited time, Nutrafol 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 served. Find out why Neutropol 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 your business's money effortless, 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 bank. Banking services provided through Choice Financial Group Column NA and Evolve bank and Trust Members FDIC all right everyone, welcome back to served. As promised, our friend Tony Gotsik, the guy from Teammate, the agent who has guided that guy Federer's career over the last couple decades. Coming off of another successful Labor Cup. Tony, how's it going? And you finally found a room to film this in?

[B]

Finally found a room. Yeah, we were doing it in the office, but I decided there was too much light, and I had all these strict instructions from your producers on what needs light. Oh, yeah, windows. Sorry. You guys are too organized.

[A]

That's true. If we've been accused of anything on this show, it's being too formal, as I think is. I think where. Where we get lost. So, Tony, I. Let's start with. With Labor Cup. We were on site there. We loved doing our live shows. They were fantastic. The energy was. Was great. But then we leave and it's like, okay, great, let's. I hope we get to do it again sometime. That's fantastic. Labor cup doesn't stop for you. What does the week after labor cup look like on the heels of a successful Labor Cup?

[B]

Well, this one was very unique because this was from all metrics. This was our best one yet. So there was a lot of, like, people coming up to us, like, come back. Come back soon. And we're like, okay, but we're moving on to London next year. I mean, there's a lot of, you know, a lot of work with the sponsors to find out what they like, what they didn't like. You know, talk to a lot of our constituents, a lot of fans, a lot of the players, make sure we get the players off onto their flights to Asia and just digest what took place. I mean, it was really exciting. We had our eighth sellout, which was incredible. We had. I mean, the action was. I mean, no one would have predicted on paper that Team World actually could win. I mean, tribute to and credit to Andre Agassi, who put together. He and Pat Rafter put together one of the most incredible coaching things. But we can get there later just digesting what went on and seeing how we can do better. We tend to. If you wait too long after an event, you tend to forget some of the things that went well, what didn't go well and stuff. So just the whole debrief and then on to London.

[A]

Yeah. And I think most of our listeners probably watch it and see it, and they get. They can see how much it means to the players. From where I sit, and what's interesting kind of behind the scenes is how seamless everything was. As simple as, like, I walk out the front door of our hotel. I am a podcaster at this point and. And dialed right. Let's get you to your spot. We know where you're going to be. Your stage setup is here. And the best thing that you know an event can be is not noticed. Because normally when you notice the operations, it's, it's negative. But was this something that was you guys nailed from the word go or has it been an adjustment? Because from where I sit, you walk in. Whether it's in all of our people set up or whether it's, you know, another sponsor outdoors, whether it's the food offerings, whether it's, you know, inviting idiots like us to do live shows before, before the event. Is that something that was learned or did you get advice going in? How much of a challenge has that been?

[B]

We have a great events team, probably the best in the business. We have, you know, it's a, it's a five session, three day event. This is our eighth one. So we've learned a lot. Steve Zaks, who runs the team, does an incredible job. Attention to detail is very important with all of us. But Steve is, is a micromanager and really looks at everything. I also think Roger, who was the inspiration to sort of get this labor cup going, he spent 25 plus years on tour. There were events that he liked, events that he didn't like, things he liked about events. So that came into the equation I had. You know, I've been out on the tour for over 30 years, so I got a chance to see the things we like. We want to make sure our sponsors, our fans, our players, everybody has a great time. So we make sure we have great transportation, great hospitality and all those things. Attention to detail is very important. We are not. If I wanted to just say how do I maximize profit on this event? Those things you probably wouldn't see. We wouldn't dress back of the house, we wouldn't have 60 cars. We wouldn't, you know, have all the hospitality. Shrimp wouldn't be this big and things like that. So we really invest in this, you know, in this brand because we obviously want people to enjoy it. We're unique. There's no other event in tennis like it. And we want people to feel that. So I'm glad that you felt it when you walked out of your hotel.

[A]

But you say that like maximizing profits, but that's like a year to year opinion. Like Alcaraz isn't coming eight years or nine years after you start it. If the reputation is that this sucks and the shrimp is warm.

[B]

Right, Right. Well, look, we have, we only have 12 players to spoil.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

You know so you go to a slam, there's 128 singles players on either side and then you've got doubles and everyone else. So it's a little bit easier for us to make it work. And we want the players to have a good time. We want them to bring their families, we want them to say, hey, this is a week we look forward to. And we spend a lot of time in meetings throughout the year finding little things. Every night when the players get to their room, there's a new gift and just not a gift you're going to actually leave behind in the room, something you're actually going to take with you. So anyway, it's fun. The other thing is we are having a great time building the Labor Cup.

[A]

Yeah, well, I mean, it's certainly important and I want to get to the, the inspiration behind it. I talked at length with it about it with Roger when he came on the show there, but I have a specific question about that. But as you've done eight of them now, and I assume that any new startup as far as an event isn't a profit center right away. How do you measure success, like personally, professionally, and how far in advance do you plan? Right. I, I know the next year's in London, two years, if I'm not mistaken, hasn't been named yet. But are you working backwards from like a four or five year plan on improvement or is it like, hey, let's get the next year dialed and then we kind of worry about it from there?

[B]

No, we're looking at, we're looking at 27 and 28 and 29 already. We have to, you know, sure. Success for me is I want to make sure that the houses are filled with which they've been every year. We want to make sure, you know, we had six sponsors in the beginning. We had 22 sponsors this year. So I want to make, make sure that we're, you know, bringing in some really good sponsors. Not only sponsors that obviously pay us money, but that can actually elevate our brand. And so we have a lot of those that help. You know, I mean, just having Rolex as your founding sponsor to like start the thing is incredible. And you know, UBS and Mercedes Benz, I mean, that's really important for us obviously being profitable, which we are. We had a really successful year. This year is important. But we're investing so much back in the business. You know, luckily our ownership group, nobody's saying, hey, you know, let's take bigger distributions. We have distributed money the last couple of years and we will continue to do it this year, but for us, it's more important to build it. And we want to make sure that, you know, we learn from others, and we want to make sure that the next one's better than this one. We have the opportunity, Andy, to go Back to the O2. It's the first. First time we're going back to an arena for the. In a city, for the first time. You know, the O2 is an incredible place. We were. That was our most successful labor cup to date before San Francisco. So we knew. And AEG actually wanted us to come back really badly, and we've got a great partnership with them, so we decided, let's go back. So we want to. Now we're planning to see how. What was great in 2022, obviously, we can't replicate. We can't ask Roger, can you come back and retire?

[A]

Literally, what I just put down, I'm like, all you gotta do is get Roger to get active and then retire again.

[B]

Yeah. So maybe we can get him to unretire and then retire again there next year. No, but. So we're gonna try to see how we make that better. And that's the fun, as I said, about doing this event is we really. It's a. Every year, it's a white canvas. I mean, we've got our sort of. Our form that we need to put into each. But that's the challenge, too, Andy. Each arena is different. You know, explain.

[A]

Explain that to our listeners. Like, I understand what you're talking about, but explain, you know, the seating, the lights. I mean, you guys do this thing. No other venue does. You know, one side of the arena is the colors of one team, and one side's the colors of the other team. And it actually switches with the players. And I wish TV actually captured that a bit more, because I watched on tv, I was like, this is great. I love tennis. The best players are playing. Roger's involved. Great. You know, I kind of have been a convert over time with. With this event. But then you go and you see it. You guys were nice enough to invite me to Bost, and I went and sat and experienced and like, oh, I get it. So. But actually explain how the arenas act differently.

[B]

Yeah, well, for example, in San Francisco, at the Chase center, it's a newer arena. We didn't have to bring in as many lights. And they had probably not. Probably. Definitely the greatest scoreboard that I've seen in an indoor facility. Maybe short of what goes on in Dallas, you know, at the Cowboys, where The Cowboys play, but this thing was huge and the lighting was already there. But in some places that are older, or take for Geneva, for example, which was just a conference center, which we actually had to build a stadium within it, we actually have to hang all those lights. So every arena presents a challenge. But again, we want people to turn on the TV or streaming and look at the Black Court and say, ah, it's the labor cup and it looks the same everywhere we go. In some cases it's going to be less expensive because they have the equipment already in the arena. And in other cases it's going to be a lot more expensive. But we're not going to cut costs. We're going to do it. But then the seating, we had great seating at the Chase center for the Chairman's Reserve, but in other places we actually have to take out the existing seats, bring in our old seats that we have stored or we rent and just to fix it in such a way where we can accommodate the Rocket Club and the Legends and different things like that. So it's very complicated. Our production team is really first class and we want people to leave the experience saying, wow, that was the same as it was in Berlin, or the same it was in Chicago or whatever it might be.

[A]

What's the tail and what's the dog? When you're deciding where to go, obviously and explain kind of the moving parts of that, right? Like, okay, go to Asia, because we'd love to take this to Asia. And yet you have, you're still quasi beholden to a tour that exists in an ecosystem outside of Laver cup. And to get commitments from players, it has to fit schedules. So kind of just walk us through what leads, what's prioritized and if that kind of just completely changes year to year based on circumstance.

[B]

Yeah, so that's a great question. So Steve and I and the board and the ATP were an officially sanctioned, you know, member of the ATP tour. We try not to go to cities that have an event sort of right around that neighborhood. In terms of a timeframe. We actually have rules and regulations in terms of before and after and where we can go. If there's a place we want to go that actually has an event, we'll talk to the federation or that tournament. Are you happy that we come or not? We can get sort of, you know, permission from stakeholders, but we want to make it easy for the players while balancing, making sure we get great arenas. You'd be surprised. In Europe we're starting to run out of like really first Class arenas that actually have the size, you know, we try to go for 16,000 or more, which starts to limit us. And now we're looking at Asia at some places, and they have some amazing arenas that are too small. They have some amazing brand new arenas that are too big. So the question is, if you go to the two big ones, the one that's too big, we're gonna actually have to build something within it. And now you start saying, okay, do we really want to go somewhere we're gonna lose money just because we've got to build. So it's really hard. But we work with the sponsors, we work with the ATP, we work with our board, we work with players, we get some feedback and we try to find the best. The best place.

[A]

So these are. These are kind of like stress points maybe, but they're things that need to be dealt with. Now, if you would have kind of. If you could go back in time and someone promises you in 2016 that, let's say the inspiration is honor. Rod Laver. One Connect generations right to where Rocket is watching Fonseca, who was born six days before his captain stop playing, right? So you. You've kind of check, check, check, check, check. And you would go, oh, my gosh, that would be a dream. That would be amazing if we did that, are you able to actually enjoy that? Right. The fact that you have kind of done the things that were the motivating factors, or are the stress points so significant that you don't actually understand it and realize it in real time, or is it some mixture of those?

[B]

Good question. I think it's a mixture. This year in San Francisco, I saw a lot of visuals that really got me excited about what we all created. To see Andre back out there coaching, to see Roger meet Fonseca for the first time, to see Pat Rafter leave the island to come over here and start coaching again, he doesn't do that very often. Yannick Noah to see. I mean, where else would you have an opportunity to have Rod Laver sitting there watching Andre and Yanni coaching? You're out there doing your thing, Roger's doing his thing. I saw Charlie Passarel. You know, we've got this Fonseca, you know, coming up. We got Alex Mickelson, then you've got Carlos Alcaraz, the biggest star in the world. They're all together in this one event. And I got. I was pretty. I told Roger a few times, like, this is cool. I never envisioned it would happen so quickly, but we. The format, you know, when we create it. We're like, this might actually be great, but we went to Prague. We didn't know how it would work. The format is, like, perfect. It really. It just. It allows you to have this exciting weekend, which we saw obviously take place in San Francisco. So. But there's. There's a lot of stress, you know, good stress, though. I mean, I don't. It's not lost on me that very few agents and players have an opportunity. You know, we started this when Roger was still active. You know, it was 2017, the first one, and, you know, he had a resurgent year in 17, winning two majors, but we started it in that year. He was still active. And, you know, it allows us to. You know, I think this year we will have paid. We have written checks to Roger's peers. Let's just say, okay, he's retired now, of over $50 million. I think there's very few players who have created events who can say they've written checks to other players in the amount of 50 million-plus. And we're just getting started. Not necessarily in terms of the money, but just creating something that's super cool. So it is fun. But, you know, the tennis world, Andy, probably better than I do. It's just so political. And when you have something really cool that you're creating that's fun and amazing, there's a line out the door of people who want to see it not succeed. But. But we're well past that now. But it's.

[A]

It's.

[B]

It's an interesting sport.

[A]

But we. We can get more into that in a moment. I always have, I say, at, like, ad nauseam on the show, you know, everyone is like, well, that's the way it's always been. I'm like, okay, if you're Wimbledon, like, if you have that gravity, but you can't recreate tradition. Like, you just can't do it. You can't fake it, you can't redo it. But I also. I'm like, listen, that's the way we've always done it. We also used to go to Blockbuster, right? Like, stuff needs to change. Like, it's not. It's not. It's. It's just. Anyways, we can get into that at a whole nother point. I do want to take the opportunity. Obviously, you and Roger have built this. This great thing, and it's kind of, you know, the. The tennis event that we can see past the business of Roger that still is applicable to a calendar year in tennis. And people show up and. And. But Talk about kind of your relationship. And I don't want to make this question too vague, because that wouldn't really put a pin in what I've seen between you two personally and the relationship that you have. But how it's kind of gone from, listen, I signed this kid, I'm his agent. I'm getting to know him. Oh, he's one of the best ever. You know, it's growing. Let's break through to, you know, mainstream, where he's the guy on Madison Avenue as well as maybe that's. Maybe that's a three or four slams and just talk about kind of the progressions of, of that relationship that's led to a place where at this point, you guys are like, if you broke up now, it'd be a divorce instead of, you know, a summer fling. And just how that's kind of developed over time.

[B]

Look, I think it. It takes two to tango. I got so lucky to be put in a position to start managing him back in 2005. Kind of just. We just actually, I don't know if you want to say celebrate, but we just had our 20 year anniversary after he beat Andre in the finals of the US Open, I met him, sort of. He had already been in touch with Monica Seles and Ted Forsman and decided he was thinking about coming back to img. And so I met him in the referee's office after he won. And I heard Mirka speaking Swiss, German, something, something, something, Tony. So he came over to me and he said, hey, I, you know, about what's going on, I might come back to img and I think you're going to be my agent. Why don't you come to my room tomorrow at the hotel and then we'll talk about it, because there's a bunch of things we need to talk about. So I said, great. I got to the hotel, got to their room, and the first thing Mirka said to me was, do you want some coffee? And I ordered some cookies and something, you know, for you guys to drink, but if you want a cappuccino, let me know. And right from the beginning, I knew these people are so nice. And so I got really lucky to, like, meet a really nice person who literally was in the finals of, like, every Grand Slam for, like, the first four years.

[A]

And so that was like. That was. He was really a dick in that time frame to me personally. Yeah. But yeah, that's. That. He. I can confirm in the. He was in the finals of Evergrande Slam at that point.

[B]

He had. I Went to Switzerland. I met his parents, and they were super wonderful. So right away, we sort of just developed a bond, and, you know, Mirka was an equal part of it. So, you know, I was like, sort of, in a way, I had a relationship managing sort of the two of them, because she was not only the coach at the time, but also the manager and the press and media person. And she was fully engaged. Her goal was to make sure he got as good as he possibly could and sort of all the sort of obstacles got out of the way. And so I just bolted onto an existing kind of structure that was pretty well oiled from the tennis standpoint. His father always makes a joke because his dad was doing the appearance fees. Oh, I did such a bad job. And I said, robby, when you look back, you did a great job. He did a wonderful job. So I kind of just took over what Robbie was doing, took over what Mirko was doing from the business side, and we were off to the races. But he communicated, Andy, so much. Like, I could get him on the phone all the time when I went out on the road with him, we'd have dinner every night. He wanted to participate in his business. And I tell you, the secret to his success and to our partnership has been the ability to always get him on the phone, always communicate. He has strong opinions. I have strong opinions. We have got a lot of people around us. I mean, Mary Jo has been sort of along for the ride, and my kids have been along for the ride, and I had a great team around me. I have a great team around me now. And then Roger did as well. So it all kind of worked. He did winning. We had a lot of fun doing it. He wanted to make sure. And it's one of the reasons he stayed as long as he did out on tour. Andy. He wanted to make sure he had a great time out around the world. So he stayed at nice hotels. We always went to nice restaurants. We did cool things outside of tennis, and he always would include me. And so we got to know each other. You know, there have been. People think that it's been wonderful. We do this, but it lasts. I think we've had three mega fights.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

What does that look like?

[A]

Tell us about a mega fight.

[B]

Yeah, he's. He's very strong willed. Very strong. He's got a strong opinion.

[A]

Does he yell?

[B]

He raises his voice.

[A]

Yeah. See, he thought about that too long. He rolled it. When people look up into the left, that's. So the answer is yes. He yells yes.

[B]

He actually doesn't yell. He holds it inside. He's very pragmatic. He's a great communicator. And so we sort of work the things out. But they're over stupid things. Most of them are not over business, probably over scheduling or not getting an answer or him making me wait for a very long time on something that was so easy to answer. But no, he's been a dream to work with. And Andy, he shows up too.

[A]

Yeah. Yeah.

[B]

So if I say to him, listen, I'm trying to make a deal with these people, could you not just join me for a dinner or whatever? And I promise you, with all the contracts that we've done, we never look at the agreement, like, how many appearances, whatever you guys need another appearance. Great. If Roger needed something for his foundation or for an event, we would ask them. They say, great. So it was really easy. And he was always on time, super loyal. So it made my job fun and easy.

[A]

Speak to that, though, because, like, I know in my universe isn't your universe, but in my universe, it's basically, is this predictable, Right. Is the person going to show up on time and can they fake energy even if they don't mean it like that? That's kind of the basis. And I can sweep up 90% of my deals just because the only people that I would be competing against for said appearance might not show up on time, might have an attitude or might cancel two days before.

[B]

Right. So he always shows up on time and he always stays longer. So that's amazing. You. There were. I won't name any names, but there were people over the years that I, you know, that I saw out in the tennis world who you could tell visibly didn't want to be in a room with sponsors or whatever it might be with Roger, he's generally enjoying himself when he's at an appearance or he's. That's the commercial shoot.

[A]

That's the annoying thing that I think is true because I can fake it. Well, sometimes he actually. I think he actually likes it.

[B]

He does. He likes people. He asks a lot of questions. He wants to know where they're from. You know, he's a real. He's into different cultures. So, yeah, he finds enjoyment out of anywhere he goes, but his. His endurance is just insane. We can start shoots. There's one sponsor now that seems to always love starting commercial shoots at like 5:30 in the morning. It's always his team, including me, that's like, wait, timeout. Know, can we make it six? You know, I need that coffee first. You know, but he's like, ah, let's just start. And then they always know, you know, it's sort of the Bane switch. Okay. If we get him earlier, we know he stays longer. So we can actually turn an eight hour day into a 12 hour day. And then at the end, you know, our team's always a bit disappointed. He's like, guys, I mean, what else could we be doing today? We had fun. Whether it's 1 hour, 12 hours, we're in the city, who cares?

[A]

That's before he discovered golf.

[B]

Yeah. Oh, this is true.

[A]

That's before. He just goes for, I'm not just.

[B]

A tennis agent, I'm a golf agent now. And you know that. I know, like managing a guy who plays golf four or five hours a day, it's crazy at the range. I can't sit at the range for that long.

[A]

I can't. I mean, like the last thing I want to do is the process of like grinding and being mad at myself for not getting better again ever in my life. Like that ship has, has completely sailed.

[B]

He, he never understood why I loved playing golf in the last 20 years. You know, on weekends and stuff there. By the way, working with Roger, there's no such thing as a weekend. Not only was he playing on weekends, he didn't know what a weekend was. So when he wasn't playing and I was maybe at home in that rare opportunity home out on the golf course, and he'd call and he'd call. Why aren't you answering? I finally had to tell him, listen, the golf course is actually my sanctuary where I go to get away from you and the phone, you know, and so don't bother me. And now he gets it, does he? It took 20 years.

[A]

Did you? Before he knew much about golf. Did he think every round was 36 holes for you?

[B]

Yeah. I don't know. Look, we got a lot of etiquette, a lot of stuff to still teach him. Andy, you and I have a lot of stuff like putting on a belt.

[A]

I'm definitely the guy for etiquette to check in for, for, for Federer. I will tell you though, because you, you mentioned this stuff and I know some people are going to be like, yes, that's why we love him. And some people are going to go, yeah, but that's from Tony. Is that real? Like, listen, no one or I would say very few have as could have as much motivation to not buy into the, the ecosystem and the bullshit around Roger. Right. Than me. Right. The guy ruined me for a decade. I'LL tell you a very, very specific example of the year that Roger lost to MILLMAN at the U.S. open, right? And it was earlier than he thought. And he was going to come do a talk, a speaking event for my foundation in Austin, Texas, right? So he loses, and automatically you go, ooh, that's like an awkward timeline. It's not like he's going from New York on a Sunday to Austin on a Tuesday. Like, that's not. There's an awkward amount of time in between, which is normally a death sentence, right? It's nine days. No chance. Like, we're already going through contingency plans anyways. He shows up. And then most people, when they show up, and this doesn't mean that they're wrong, because I do it. I probably did it just as much before I saw this. And I always say a measure of someone's social intelligence isn't what they say, but it's the questions they ask, right? So you guys land, walk off, say hello, haven't seen him in a while. Catching up. And we're driving into the city from the airport, you know, for whatever the first thing is, and it's not, what time can I get out of here? What are the expectations? Which have all been extremely rational questions to ask, right? He goes, all right, so we're here for X amount of time. How can I add the most value to what you do today? I was like, that's like. It's an amazingly intelligent thing to ask, right? It's like. It basically set the tone of, like, you name it, tell me, this is your crowd, these are your donors. What can we do? And then you guys got delayed leaving for, like, four hours. I remember that night. You were on the way to Labor Cup, I think, in Chicago. Maybe I'm wrong about the. And delayed. Nothing shows up. He's still in a good mood. He's delayed for three hours. Like, it was. It was. I was. My mind was blown. I felt so bad about myself. Like. But is that. Is that regular?

[B]

Yes, that's regular. Well, no, he doesn't do too many events for people, but with. For Andy Roddick, he does. And I think he also likes Brooklyn, so I think that that was helpful. And then, no, I mean, you. And you're one of the few people that make him laugh. You're like that first real funny, sarcastic American that he really got to know really well. So he's. He's got a special place in his heart for. For Andy Roddick, for sure. But, yeah, he wants to make sure that if he agrees to something. He's, you know, making sure that they're happy and he, and he helps you do whatever you were doing that night to raise money and he would do it again. But he, he's very picky on who he does things with. But, you know, I remember that. I remember I was kind of getting antsy because it was our second Laver cup in Chicago at the United center, and I was with him. I probably should have been in Chicago because I wanted to come to your event too. And I remember getting all twitchy that the plane might. It was broken. They had to send another one, and then he might not get there till the next morning. And he was super relaxed. But to be honest, too, going back to what it's like working with him, there have been so many times in all aspects where he has just been just so calm and the whole team, he makes the whole team relax. And he should be the one that's uptight. But that's, that's Roger. It's probably the Swiss thing in him a little bit. And who knows? But yeah, I'll never forget. That was a. It was a good event.

[A]

They will forever be linked together, the big three. Right. Obviously, they, they redefined what history looks like. It's not fair to anyone coming up because they all get asked if they're going to win 20 plus slams. Like, it just. They've renegotiated the entire conversation about greatness. But from a business perspective, was there. Were they. Were their brands so different that the conversations weren't overlapping with, with, with deals with those guys? Or was it like, okay, we're going to beat each other on the court and then our value add to the companies are similar and we're fighting for the same deals. Or were they extremely siloed with, with what they were offering brands?

[B]

They were three. You know, the three guys were completely different. Roger's obviously a little bit older.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So I, you know, I always say he, it's his, his generation really wasn't Nadal and, and Djokovic. It was you and, and Safin and Albandian and, you know. Yeah. And Leighton and these guys. So. So they were completely different. I think the language thing helped Roger a lot. You know, you know, Roger speaks perfect English, obviously. He speaks German, French, you know, so. So I think that helped. And that was different. You know, Rafa, you know, Roger had, we had a strategy to every single thing we did. We thought like, okay, let's not accept a deal if someone's going to scratch their head saying I don't quite understand the association. And that's one strategy. I'm not saying that's the right strategy, but that was our strategy. Others had strategies where if it was a really great deal and it made sense, but you know, from a financial standpoint or time management standpoint or whatever it might be, let's just do it. And that's a great strategy too because you don't know how long the career is going to last. And that was really, that was very interesting with Roger. He wanted a few select partners that he could sort of grow with for a long period of time. You know, I did not think that, you know, basically three years being retired now, that he'd still have 13 sponsors. And a lot of them have been, you know, contracted for over 20 years. I mean think of the likes of Rolex and, and Mercedes and Credit Suisse, which is now UBS and you know, lint and I mean these are. They keep renewing. And so we chose the let's first class blue chip global brands that we could grow with and they would become part of our family. It just wouldn't be a, you know, a contract and we show up and do it and it's over after three years that we would become part of the family. And that's what's happened. And in some cases it gets kind of sad is he outlives some of the management now at some of these brands which, you know, is you spend all this time getting to know some of these wonderful people and they retire or whatever it might be. But they were just different, came from different places. I think Roger being Swiss, I said this once years ago, and I'll say this again, one of the greatest things about managing Roger, was he Swiss. I mean just think about it. Rolex, you know, it was easy to get Roger over to Rolex because Rolex is a Swiss brand. He was number one in the world. They were a Wimbledon sponsor. He was holding up the trophy. And so that was, you know, small country, eight and a half million people, but big brands. Lindt Chocolate, obviously the on story, you know, that was a Swiss brand. I think that played a big role. So they were just different geographies. And Roger loved going to China too. You know, Roger was one of the few people that sort of opened up sort of that part of the world for the ATP Tour. And he was very comfortable traveling all around the world, which helped as well. So they were just different. But they're all great.

[C]

Let'S be honest. Are you happy with your job? Like really happy the unfortunate fact is that a huge number of people can't say yes to that. Far too many of us are stuck in a job we've outgrown or one we never wanted in the first place. But still, we stick it out and we give reasons. Like, what if the next move is even worse? I've already put years into this place, and maybe the most common one. Isn't everyone kind of miserable at work? But there's a difference between reasons for staying and excuses for not leaving. It's time to get unstuck. It's time for Strawberry Me. They match you with a certified career coach who helps you go from where you are to where you actually want to be. Your coach helps you get clear on your goals, create a plan, build your confidence, and keeps you accountable along the way. So don't leave your career to chance. Take action and own your future with a professional coach in your corner. Go to Strawberry Me Unstuck to claim a special offer. That's Strawberry Me Unstuck.

[A]

Avoiding your unfinished home projects because you're not sure where to start. Thumbtack knows homes, so you don't have to. Don't know the difference between matte paint finish and satin or what that clunking sound from your dryer is. With Thumbtack, you don't have to be a home pro. You just have to hire one. You can hire top rated pros, see price estimates and read reviews all on the app download Today. I want to get to kind of your family. And you're not the only tennis person in your family, obviously. Mary Jo Fernandez.

[B]

I'm the worst tennis player in my family.

[A]

Oh, for sure. For sure you are. Yeah, but Bella, Nico, I want to get to that. I do want to focus. You mentioned the Uniqlo deal or, sorry, the on deal and the Uniqlo deal. And I'm fascinated by, by those two deals specifically because there aren't a lot of players who sign a max long term deal with, I don't know, two years left in their career. Three years, four years if we max it out. That normally doesn't happen. And it normally doesn't happen that you leave Nike and something better happens. It's normally like you go away from Nike and you're trying to salvage one more deal on the way out. Can you talk about kind of that moment in time where Uniqlo hits, where you take an equity position in, in, on, and then all of a sudden, you know, I won't, I won't go through the numbers. You can Google them, but they're, they're astonishing.

[B]

And so I think it only could have happened to Roger just because of his reputation and you know, how global he was and how successful he was on the court and what his reputation was off the court because by this all sort of went down when he was, first of all, he didn't, you know, I said this before to someone recently, he didn't leave Nike. Nike kind of left him. You know, it was, we were trying to resign and they chose not to resign. He would have stayed. That was, you know, is that true.

[A]

Or is that just a good story?

[B]

No, no, it's true. I mean, I spent from 2017, the contract was ending in February of 2018, a 10 year deal. We started in 2008. I spent one year from the beginning of 17 all the way till when it ended, trying to renew it. Now, yes, I understand it's hard to decide to place a value on someone who's already branded, who's 36 years old. You know, most people don't play, you know, past 30 or whatever it is. And so here he is at 36. But we had history and we did a lot of great things together. And I, you know, so I show up on campus at Nike early January of 2017 to try to begin what is in essence a 13 month process to get a new deal. And I remember and I knew that he hadn't won a Grand Slam for four years or excuse me, he hadn't won a major. We gotta be very careful because no one's won a Grand Slam since Rod.

[A]

Since rod Laver in 1969.

[B]

Right. So he had to run a major for, for four years. So I went up there and I said, listen guys, we need to redo this contract in a way that rewards him for having the most grand slams at that point in history. And you guys, he's auditioned for you already. You know, he's a wonderful guy. He's global, he can go all parts of the world and help sell Nike product. But he's into fashion and it's not a fake. You know, you see him at all these fashion shows, he's always in Paris, in London. He's very close with Anna Wint. He knows all the designers around the world and he and Mirka genuinely love fashion. So let's come up with something. And I said, let's go after Stan Smith. Let's go after the Stan Smith silhouette and make a lifestyle shoe. So we actually did create the RF1, so. But you know, it was. Okay, great. And I remember meeting with A big bunch of, a big group of people there. And so then I went back and then two weeks later, he wins the Australian Open. So I'm like, wow, he's giving me the goods here. You know, I'm trying.

[A]

They're going, oh, shit.

[B]

Yeah, I'm sure it's a game. You know how this plays, Andy. You, you're not just a player, you understand the business. So anyway, so I'm like, this is great, this is going to be easy. And it wasn't. And we kept going and going and then what does he do? He shows up in SW19 and he wins Wimbledon. So all of a sudden, here we go, I've got two on the books now. This, you know, and it just, they were presenting us with stuff that I was just like, guys, come on, that's like 10 years ago. We gotta, we gotta, you know, let's do something bigger. And so it just, it was a grind and I was starting to get a little bit nervous, you know, and a little bit, you know, just a little bit unsure of myself because I'm like, this can't be that hard. And I remember they had, they had, we owned his logo. You know, everyone said they own the logo, we own the logo. They just had the right to hold it for two years post the termination or the end of the agreement. So they figured, okay, here's a 36 year old guy, let's not negotiate against ourselves. Let's, you know, let's, if he thinks he's worth something, let Godsick go out and find a deal. So anyway, I don't, I don't talk to anybody else because I figure I have to get this done. And so show up at the Australian Open, the deal's up in a month. And what does he do? He wins the Australian Open, 2018. So we go from winning no majors to winning three. While I need to negotiate. So he's giving me all the goods. I can't get it done. So literally, the contract. I go up to campus on the last day of the contract and at that point I'll leave what happened in the meeting to what happened in the meeting. But I left Beaverton, went to the airport without a deal. Super, like, super upset. On a flight through Minneapolis back to Cleveland. I remember walking in, in the airport in Minneapolis, like, just really, like, I cannot believe this. I'm going to go down as the agent who could not renew, not only the greatest guy, but the greatest Dennis player in history. Most people can't renew his dental.

[A]

And he won a bunch of Majors recently. What a loser. Tony.

[B]

He gave me all that. So anyway, so I went out and I called him. I remember when I got back to Cleveland, I'm like, it's not as, you know, because I had called him from when I left the meeting, it's not going down, so let's go out to the marketplace. So I went out to the marketplace. Everybody was like, yeah, right, no, thank you. And I remember one brand said, you know, he's already branded Nike. We're not interested. He had a headband on with a swoosh. And another company said, we would like to do it, but we got to wait till next year because this is the year of our founder and we don't want to dilute his. So anyway, I didn't go down. I'll never forget, I tried to get to meet Mr. Yanai, the founder of Uniqlo. And remember Novak had been with Uniqlo, so they were already in tennis and I couldn't get to Mr. United. Anna Wintour, who I owe a tremendous amount besides being one of my favorite people in the world. She was actually, I remember having breakfast with her at the Mark Hotel in New York City in her table, table 21 in the FAR right corner. And I said, I need a favor. Do you know Mr. Yanai? I can't get to him.

[A]

Is this a real story?

[B]

This is a real story. You think I'm making up the table number at the market?

[A]

That'd be amazing. I don't want you to let the truth get in the way of a good story, but this is great. Yeah, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. You're on a heater. Let him cook.

[B]

You wanted it. I say, this is the place for it. So anyway, so I. She sent a note and then I don't know, 12 hours later I had a message back from the assistant of Mr. Yanai saying, Mr. And I understand you want to meet with him about Roger Federer. Can you come to Japan on this day and meet him for 30 minutes? So I call Roger, what do I do? He goes, you go to Japan, of course, you know, so. So I went and anyways, a great meeting and I explained in the situation and he was, he knew what was going on. The first thing he asked me was, who else are you here to see in Japan? I told him no one else. And so he said, we'll give you more time than 30 minutes. But then he asked a really good question, which is, are you here to use me? You know, And I said, what do you mean? He goes, well, we had Another athlete from Nike whose contract was over. They came down and, you know, they. We made an offer and then Nike matched it. So are you here to do the same thing? And I said, well, if you sort of meet the terms of what Roger wants to do and the vision that we have and aren't concerned with him playing, you know, for too much longer and we can do the fashion stuff, then it's up to you. So anyway, we ended up working together. We put an offer together, and as you know, a lot of these deals, Nike has the right to match, which is. Which is why they didn't want to assume their strategy. And to. To this date, I still don't. You could do that with everybody else. I don't think Roger was the right athlete to do it with just because there was 24 years of history and he's such a good guy. And I'd like to think that I was a good partner of theirs as well. So, anyway, we got this deal together and then gave it to Nike and they had sort of certain amount of time to match and, you know, a week or whatever it was, and, you know, they took the week to decide, but were never going to match. The best part of the deal was they didn't make shoes Uniqlo. So for them to match, that deal was it was not only in length and obviously financially you could still sell.

[A]

One of the biggest targets on as well as having that deal that Nike didn't match.

[B]

Yeah, well, anyway, I. So it was hard for. For us, but we were super excited to go with. With Uniqlo. They had this vision. There's a guy, one of the senior creative directors at. At Uniqlo, had a great line, and I wish I had known this at the time. I might have used it with. I mean, in hindsight, I'm glad I didn't have it because, you know, everyone looks back like, are you upset with Nike? And we're like, no, we're. We're happy with Nike because if they didn't let Roger, if they didn't behave this way, Roger would still be there and it would be different, but. And they probably still would have done a good job. But I'm not sure we'd be, you know, having this. The Roger silhouette. But anyway, we can get there later. But he said, the guy from Uniqlo said, john Jay, Roger will retire from tennis, but he won't retire from life. And I was like, yes, that's the. They finally understand that there's life off the court with Roger. And I wasn't able to commit. And I get. Nike's got 750 plus athletes. They're all about the moment, the state. So I get it. And so anyway, so that happened. And then I had gotten to know these on guys years before in 2016, and they would always ask, would there be ever, ever a chance to do something with our homegrown favorite? Because they're a Swiss brand, Roger Federer. And I would always laugh at them, like, no chance. You know, these, you know, he's going to be with Nike forever. Are you kidding me? There's Jordan, there's Kobe, there's all these incredible athletes and he's going to be one of them. And then sure enough, in 2018, when this Uniqlo stuff, I met with the guys and I said, ask the question. And they're like, okay, can we do anything with Roger? I'm like, yes. They're like, what are you talking about? I'm like, he doesn't have a shoe deal. This is. He's going to sign with Uniqlo, walk out on court. And they were like, oh, my gosh, we're too young. We don't have enough money. I said, don't worry about it. We are going to, let's do something different, something where he can grow with you. We can attack, you know, the lifestyle shoe. We can develop a tennis shoe. That was right around Covid started coming so they could start developing a shoe.

[A]

We've, we've got our cash handled. Just recently with Uniqlo, we can, we can be creative.

[B]

Yeah, exactly. So anyway, that was just, it was just again, going back being Swiss, if this was a brand from a different country. And you know, Bernard, Olivier Bernard, who's the founder, he was a triathlete, a Swiss world champion triathlete. He and Roger hooked up right away and sort of got along. And then Casper Capetti and David Alleman and Martin and Mark, these guys, it just, it worked. Everybody got along and we figured out a way and we came up with a very constructive and creative agreement which, which Roger was equity based, but Roger, if they did well, then Roger was going to do well. And so we just were lucky that these guys executed. They had an amazing product and, you know, the rest is history. But, but yeah, the, the Nike thing was hard, was hard for us, but in hindsight, not, not that hard.

[A]

Isn't it strange, like, for our listeners? I, I can already see the commentary from, like, imagine the position from I'm leaving Nike. I have Roger Federer, who's in form and winning again. Right. And I'M the guy that couldn't deliver a deal to Roger to now outside of a pre established, like a Jordan brand thing, right? Outside of like two new deals at the finish line of a career, you know, close to the finish line of a career. How stuff turns that quickly on like a 30 minute meeting. It's just absurd to me. Like what has to happen, you know.

[B]

Like, well, you need, you need a product like Roger. Honestly, it goes back to, you need a guy who's got a global reputation where no one was going to say, oh no, he's not a nice guy. Number one. He, you know, he did big Swiss, obviously helped. I have great partners. So as I'm putting this deal together, you know, I've got great partners at Team 8 and you know, obviously in Roger and Dirk Ziff and Ian McKinnon, we were, you know, we all put our heads together and said, okay, how do we make these deals sort of different and how do we make it where everybody feels like they're winning here? And you know, we found a company in Uniqlo, Andy, that wasn't just. Actually, they didn't. They made tennis clothes for Kanish Shakori and Novak. But they were about, you know, fashion, lifewear.

[A]

It was like the tennis was like branding play for them at that point.

[B]

Right, exactly, exactly. They put the Uniqlo. And we didn't have a press release. Our press release was him walking out on center court at Wimbledon, which I'll never forget. He practiced and warmed up that morning at Orangi or on one of the side courts in Nike and then walked out on. And people in the locker room were like, what the hell's going on here? He was nervous. I was like, I walked, I'll never forget, you know, the pathway. But I walked past the Royal Box and I went to the seats and I'm thinking to myself, oh my God, what did I do here? You know, this is Mr. Nike, he's about to walk out. And so anyway, but these are all like, you know what you live once. And it was great.

[A]

And then it's like Beyonce dropping an album in the middle of the night, right?

[B]

In a small way, in the way of sports or sports marketing. But then look, the on thing was it was a Swiss brand and they were just starting to come, so timing. We were really. And I had a, you know, I had gotten involved with them and invested the company, you know, in 2016. So I got to know these guys. So I had two years to suss these guys out and make sure good product But I never was doing that knowing that Roger was going to ever be with him. And then one of our. One of our really good friends, one of my mentors, he had bought a piece of the company as well. And so he was helping me. I mean, the whole thing just everything lined up. But I do believe, Andy, if you put in the hard work and you've got creative people around you and you operate as a team, these opportunities can present themselves. Maybe not to the tune of. Of the success financially that Roger has reaped, but good things happen to good people. And if you have. If you've worked hard consistently, and I try to say this to other athletes and other sports and to tennis players that I've worked with over the years, or actually maybe not have worked with, but are with other people that have come to me and say, hey, would you sign? I said, look, give the time. What you put into the stuff off the court, you're going to get back. And if you don't and you're really particular with your time and you're tough, and you leave exactly when it says, oh, we're going to be here for two hours. And at two hours, you leave, it's not going to work. And Roger spent 24 years with another brand over delivering, and the reputation got out there. And I think that was part of the reason why we were able to get these two deals.

[A]

Well, Tony, don't you worry on is going to work out for you someday. You're going to be fine. I appreciate it.

[B]

Are you wearing. We need to make sure you're wearing on. Come on.

[A]

Not yet. I think we also don't have a shoe deal. Yeah, we. I'm also not wearing shoes right now. Like, I'm actually barefoot right now. Please help. But let's. Let's talk about, like, enough of Roger. Like, no one wants to hear about him anymore. Everyone's sick of him. But let's. Let's talk about, you know, Mary Jo, and kind of your association with tennis even before Roger. I remember my first memory of you is recruiting my friend Marty. Right. And seeing you, you know, Marty Fish.

[B]

I tried to recruit you, too, but you would. You wanted nothing of it, but that's okay. That's okay.

[A]

Yeah. It wasn't personal. It was just like, I knew. I knew that IMG was eventually going to sign Roger and I wasn't going to get a callback.

[B]

So.

[A]

Yeah, so I think. I think we were all fine with that one. But I remember when, you know, you were looking at juniors and going to Watch matches. And before this whole, you know, we're not talking about flying to Japan to work out a $300 million deal, we're talking about trying to sign the person who maybe you know is good enough to be top 40. And then obviously your wife Mary Jo, who I adore, obviously great player, amazing commentator. Bella has grown up around this tennis world. Nico now plays at Stanford. Kind of just speak to the family dynamic and the fact that it, you know, from, I'm assuming from the kids can remember is, is, is largely based in this sport of tennis.

[B]

Yeah. So I over married. I owe everything to Monica Selles. I interned at IMG when I was at Dartmouth twice. And after my second internship where I got a chance to travel with Monica one weekend to a tournament in Mahwa, New Jersey. Afterwards, I quickly went to the US Open. She won the US Open. I had to go back to school. I asked her, could you get me a full time job please? When I retire, I mean when I retire when I graduate next June. And she said yeah, let me ask Mark McCormick. So I actually got a job offer in March of 1993. You're going to move out to Cleveland, Ohio. You're going to work with Monica Sellis and you'll be her day to day manager, traveling with her. And then remember, unfortunately, I think this is one of the most tragic things in sport and doesn't get talked enough. Talked about enough is she gets stabbed in Hamburg, Germany in April of 93. She was on her way to being the greatest female tennis player in history.

[A]

She had won, she had won eight slams as a teenager at that point.

[B]

Yeah, I mean this is crazy. You know, you look at some of these other. Anyway, that's, that's really truly one of the most tragic and sad things ever. But they said don't worry, she's going to come back. You still, you know. So I moved out to Cleveland and she ended up coming back I guess like two years later. But she introduced me to Mary Joseph and she said, look Mary Jo, you got to try to take her on a date. I'm like, I'm not allowed. You know, there are rules. You can't date clients. She's, she's like, she's not your client. You know, you're, you represent me, you don't represent her.

[A]

Feedback, you know.

[B]

Yeah, fair feedback. So anyway, so Monica introduced me to Mary Jo and actually Mary Jo, I didn't really play tennis very well, so Mary Jo actually helped me learn the game.

[A]

And you think, you think now that's.

[B]

Changed no, not at all. I'm so bad. But, you know, I don't play very often in front of people. So the perception might be that I can hit a ball and I won't.

[A]

But anyway, that's a good strategy.

[B]

So anyway, and then Monica, she actually. So she introduced. She got me the job. She introduced me to Mary Jo. We have these two great kids. But then she's the one that signed Roger Federer for me. Monica. So Roger left img. He was on his own and became number one. He realized, you know what? I'm probably missing out on some business opportunities. So I need a new agent. And so he came to New York in August of 2005, right before the US Open, with the idea I need to interview agents because I can't have my mom and dad, America, do this. And that coincided with Ted Forsman had just bought the company. Mark McCormick had unfortunately passed away. He was a legend, this guy. Just a legend. And so Monica, I mean, Ted called Monica and said, do you know this Federer guy? I want him to come back to my new img. And she's like, well, I don't really know him very well, but I know Mirka set up a meeting. So they had a meeting. I wasn't at the meeting. And it was Teddy and Roger and Mirka and Lynette Fetter and Monica. And so Ted's like, I'm the new sheriff in town, and I'm gonna. I'll look after you. I'll be your agent. And, you know, I owned all these companies. GulfStream, Yankee Candle, Dr. Pepper, and now IMG, and I'll be your guy. So anyway, he left the meeting, and Roger looked at Monica and said, what do I do? And Monica said, look, go back to img. Do it for a year. But he's like, who's going to be my agent? She said, my agent. The guy I trust there is Tony. Do something with him for a year, and then you'll know. So sure enough, I get a phone call from Monica. It was the Tuesday of the U.S. open, had just started. She said, you have a new client. I said, what do you mean? She said, roger's going to come back and you're going to be his agent, but Forsman's going to call you in five minutes.

[A]

Was that a good phone call here? The number one player in the world.

[B]

I was like, yeah, sure, Monica. I'm like, sure. And so Forsman called me five minutes later and just said, hey, Godsick, I made your career. Get down to my office, and I'm like, what did you do? I knew from mono. Yeah.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Anyway, I went down to his office at the GM building, and he's like, look, I just met Federer. I just signed him. You're gonna be the agent. Don't screw it up. You gotta go meet him. And so, anyway, so I waited for, you gotta go meet him.

[A]

You're gonna be the agent. You gotta go meet him. I love this. This is amazing.

[B]

I tried to meet him at the US Open, and they would, like, kind of run away from me. And that's why as soon Mary Jo was working for cbs, she got me down into the referee's office after he won. And that's when, you know, as I said earlier, that's when he said, hey, do you know what's going on? You know, can you meet us at our hotel room tomorrow? We can discuss. Because there's some things that we talk to Ted about that we need to make sure are included in our agreement and all that stuff. So I did. So Monica signed Roger, too. So, anyway, so Monica is the one I owe a lot to. But with Mary Jo, I definitely overmarried. She's the nicest person in the world. She taught me everything I know about tennis. She, you know, I won't lie. She's been massively helpful in being a voice of reason in so many of the things that Roger and Mirka and I have done. She, you know, and then my kids, you know, Bella was, what, three or four years old when I started managing Roger, and Nico was just kind of born. So they grew up around Roger. And he always. Going back to. He always included my kids before. He has. Before he had his own kids. And even now when he's got four kids, he always include my kids in everything. And I think part of it was he knew that he was taking me away from home because I was on the road for two thirds of the year. And so. So anyway, so tennis has been in their DNA. My daughter played high school tennis. She was a lacrosse player in college, but she loves her tennis, still plays very well. Mary Jo still plays. And then Nico grew up. You know, we used to call him the tennis elf because he just loved and he wanted everything. Roger, he dressed like him. Posters everywhere. I'm actually, you know, in. In our house in Cleveland.

[A]

Company man.

[B]

I was. Yeah, well, he's smart. He's a smart guy. But anyway, so, yeah, now, you know, Nico, as I said to you earlier, I'm the worst tennis player in the family. On Sundays when we play family doubles, there's a Fight between the kids who has to play with me.

[A]

But anyway, yeah, I mean, it's. The joke is I'm the worst tennis player in my family. But when, like, you're married to a, you know, singles grand slam finalist and your kid plays at Stanford, it's not exactly like a terrible, you know, it's not exactly like you're. You're bad.

[B]

I wish I was better.

[A]

I have this thing, and I think I mentioned it to you at labor cup, like, seeing Bella, who's grown and seeing Nico, who's grown and like, I will forever, like, all the kids from tour that I knew when they were like three or four, I can never picture them as anything other than like the four year old version of themselves. And then Nico comes up to me and start talking about, like, quantum physics. And I'm like, bro, I don't know that. I don't know anything about that. But it's just, it's just, it's just fun to see them grow up into, like, I don't know what the expectation is, but when they come up and they're so nice and pleasant and you've done a great job with Roger, but I think the definition of your success is your children, because they are fantastic. Oh, and you've already covered Mary Jo being just a little bit better than you should.

[B]

I always tell people, you know, I always tell Nico, you would be number one in the world if I wasn't half your gene pool. I apologize. I apologize. But no, Mary Jo obviously is a super nice person. All her niceness is rubbed off on our kids. But obviously having Roger and Mirka as role models for these kids growing up. And, you know, Mary Jo always said, hey, I don't mind that you're sort of out of the house because I know you're out on the road with, you know, with such a nice guy. But, you know, I've been fortunate, Andy, my whole career to have really wonderful clients. And, you know, Monica, I learned everything. Lindsay. I don't think people give Lindsay Davenport the credit for being. Besides being amazing and winning three majors and all that stuff. She was so. She was genius. How she managed her career, how she managed her schedule. Yeah. I mean, yeah, you did.

[A]

You're preaching the choir. I'm a big Lindsey fan, even though on this exact podcast she told me what she say I was a dick. Yeah.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

No, wrong again.

[B]

Did you edit that part out?

[A]

No, no, no. We don't know. It has over a quarter million views right now. That was gold. We're not. We're not big on. We're not big on giving away views.

[B]

We have. Nico's got Lindsay's son, Jagger, who's now amazing teammate of his at Stanford.

[A]

And he's. Everything I said about your kids, like Jagger leeches is. Is fantastic. One thing I want, I want to. I want to talk about before we let you go. And we certainly appreciate your time today, but how has your relationship as you view? Because obviously you went to Dartmouth, you didn't play tennis at Dartmouth. You kind of have earned your stripes in tennis through the pro game, right? And recruiting and watching the pro game and scouting the pro game and delivering deals for the pro game. But now you have a son who's in college and playing college tennis. Has that changed your view on tennis? When you have a lens on something that maybe wasn't your focus, and now by virtue of you having a child, there obviously is more of your focus.

[B]

Yeah, absolutely. Look, I like all because I had a son who played and I was out on the pro tour for so many years. I've seen sort of the juniors and the pro game. I never really experienced the college game. The college game is amazing. The format is unbelievable. Obviously, I'm really proud of Nico. He worked really hard. He's at an incredible institution. But college tennis is now a legitimate pathway to the pros. You see not just the top guys. You see guys playing into their late 30s. So before, you know, sometimes, you know, Johnny I is one of. Sometimes some guys, James Lake would go for a year or something, John McEnroe, whatever it is, but they wouldn't stay for very long. The women, if you were good enough, you never went to college. You really, you didn't. You went out on tour and, you know, the. The young women that were winning slams were 16, 17, Hingis and Graff and, you know, and Sabatin, they were all so young. But now, you know, especially with these European kids, they can come get an incredible education. The format is exciting. You've got these incredible facilities. I mean, Stanford alone, it's like an Olympic village. It's absolutely. Besides the fact that the campus is so nice, the facilities are incredible, and you've got people walking around, coming back from the Olympic games with their medals. And this is just in track and field and in swimming and cross country, everything, it's incredible. But there's tons of universities that are doing the same thing. They're putting so much money into the college experience. So I'm really into this college stuff. I think it's great, you see A lot of these universities, Andy, that are holding challengers and I just think it's really going to be important, especially for kids coming from maybe federations that didn't have a lot of money or don't have a lot of money to support them with facilities they can go to one of these great institutions and do it. So, so I'm into it and, and I hope it, it really will continue to grow. I think it will. And the more that I can sort of lean into it, I will because I just, I find it's an exciting format. If you've ever.

[A]

Yeah. I mean my, my brother.

[B]

Your brother. My brother was amazing.

[A]

NCAA coach of the year twice. He's on tennis brand. Ok. But it's weird because in all other sports I don't know that nil enhances the ability to fast track to a pro career. And in some ways it's like, okay, we're making a short sighted decision, which is understandable. Right. I always tell, I always tell adults who are mad about nil deals. Like you can't tell an 18 year old to not do what you would do as a 35 year old. Like that's absurd to me. Right. But that doesn't mean you're always in the best program to get to the pros. Right. Maybe it's short sighted. You take the money. It's a sugar rush. Not dissimilar from some of the deals you were talking about, tennis specifically. You're going, okay, I'm going to go play with a bunch of good players. I'm going to get into competitive match situations. The facilities are great, maybe I can make a little scratch. And even if I can't, this is a great training ground. I don't know that I'm losing anything from not going to on tour earlier. Right. Like, and I've, I've, I've been converted on that too. Right. Before I was like, okay, if you go to college, you come out. We had a lot of practice partners in Davis cup who would like win NCAs and they couldn't win a game in practice. That's changed completely. The level has completely changed. And I actually think IAL or sorry, nil might be like a net benefit to tennis. Is that, is that right?

[B]

Absolutely. Yeah. No, you're completely right. And what's all these? The best programs, the top 20 programs, they're so deep that throughout the year you're going to have six or seven guys that all are going to be great practice partners. So before you might not be getting. Because the competition Wasn't all there. So you're going to be getting better. You have a chance maybe to make some money. The facilities and the fitness and all that stuff is great. And you're at an institution, especially if you pick a great one. It's what I always told Nico. I mean, you, you know, going to Stanford, like even Roger Federer needs a job today. I always say that he does. Okay, maybe his money can retire.

[A]

I mean, that's, he's working still. That's not true. He chooses to, but needs doing a lot of lifting there, Tony.

[B]

But my, but my, my point is you can get the best of both worlds.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And if you can get to an institution, okay, Nico did fine high school and stuff. But if you can get to an institution through your tennis, just like you're a violin player or, you know, you're good at, you know, computer programming or coding, whatever it is, if you can get into an institution because you're great at something, but that institution can open you up to a whole new world. I mean, Nico's sitting in private equity clubs and he's meeting with VCs while he's practicing with Samir Banjari. And he had, you know, Henry Van von der Schulenberg and he had Max Basing. You know, you had all these great players getting better. It's the best of both worlds. And it's not just Stanford. I mean, I'm obviously, I'm partial to Stanford because Nico's there, but there's so many great institutions, so I'm very long on college tennis. And you don't have to stay the whole four years. We have a few of Nico's teammates that are out this fall who are coming back for the season, but they're out in the fall playing and they're not registered. So there's ways to get creative. And then if you can make some money and these schools are throwing them, it shouldn't just be for the football players and the, the basketball players. I mean, obviously the big revenue sports are going to pay more, but kids are starting to get nil money and, and they ought to. I mean, tennis is a brutal competitive physical sport. Yes. You're probably not going to dislocate your, your kneecap like some of these football players are, but you're traveling like no one else. You've, you know, time zones, the conditions, the heat, the humidity. The courts have slowed down, you know, three set matches, you know, you know, five set matches in the pros. I mean, it's hard and to come back and do it day after day. So it's not easy.

[A]

I'm, I'm happy to see it because again, it used to be college, okay, Maybe you get to 70. Now it's college, okay? You're going to be in like a slam semi. Like there's, there's a whole new world out there. As far as upside, in my opinion, with, with, with the college model. Tony, we won't keep any longer, man. Thanks for spending the time with us. Congrats on, on another successful Labor Cup. As, as you know, I'm, I'm, I'm a convert. I think what you've built is, is amazing. I was not an early adopter. I remember talking to John Isner and he's like, I get nervous like I do for Davis cup and I called bullshit. I was wrong. He was right. Congratulations on, on what you've built with Roger. Always great to see you. Appreciate you. And now let's just get your guy on next year for a long form, right?

[B]

Yeah, let's do that and let's get on the golf course.

[A]

Andy, I'm ready.

[B]

I prefer you as my partner than the other guy, so we won't, we.

[A]

Won'T talk about that. But there is some history.

[B]

But we'll go there another time. Anyway, thanks so much. Thanks for coming out to San Francisco. Maybe we get you guys out to get your passport warmed up and come out to London.

[A]

Sounds pretty fun. I like London. Do you guys like London? I like it. Techie Sean is like in this travel mode. He just. Are you available next year? Oh, yeah, I'm free. That was the most composed that you could have possibly been. Tony, you're the man. Appreciate you. Congrats on everything. Say hi to Mary Jo and the family and thank you for watching serve.

[B]

Say hi to Brooklyn and the kids and we'll see you soon, Andy. And thanks, guys. Guys, appreciate it. As marketing channels have multiplied, the demand for content has skyrocketed. But everyone can make content that's on brand and stands out.

[A]

With Adobe Express, you don't have to.

[B]

Be a designer to generate images, rewrite.

[A]

Text and create effects. That's the beauty of generative AI that's commercially safe. Teams all across your business will be psyched to collaborate and create amazing presentations, videos, social posts, flyers and more. Meet Adobe Express, the quick and easy.

[B]

App to create on brand content.

[A]

Learn [e-mail] Express Business.

[B]

Limu. Limu and Doug Limu and I always tell you to customize your car insurance and save hundreds with Liberty Mutual.

[A]

But now we want you to feel it.

[B]

Cue the emu music.

[A]

Limu.

[B]

Save yourself money today. Increase your wealth.

[A]

Customize and save.

[B]

We say that may have been too much feeling.

[A]

Only pay for what you [e-mail].

[B]

Savings.

[A]

Very unwritten by Liberty Mutual Insurance Company and affiliates. Excludes Massachusetts.