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Mike
Foreign welcome to Quick Serve brought to you by Amazon Prime. Mike, I had to fly to your former stomping ground and back in a day. Did a pen of speech. No, that's right. Did a quick event for HBO Max. They are the streaming partner for those that are not watching the coverage on TNT on cable. And listen, in a perfect world, did I watch the matches on HBO Max on the flight on the way here, land from the airport and then comes to. Sure, yeah, I did. Okay, I did, Mike, I did. But what, What a day. Sabalen, can we Talk? Sabalenka and IGO1 it's just, it's forever fun, especially in an individual sport. No other sport really has these like head to head matchups that span generations and the length of time. Even at the Olymp get it like once every four years we're spoiled. Like we just get these great rivalries and Egan Saba built a nice rivalry. It's. It's really great. I'm just going to say something and the comments are going to come in with the center and Carlos of things. Sabalenka is like, there's an argument she's the best big match player in the world right now. Six zero in the third against the person who's won four the last five years at Said Eventually I it's weird to say it's our worst surface because she's so good on clay also, but it's probably her least favorite surface or at minimum the surface that she's had to work the hardest to become really good on. Nothing about her skill set instantly translates to clay and is like, oh, I just step on clay and it's better, right? It is that way on hard court, grass court. Six zero in the third against a legend like iga. Mike, this stat, do you know what I'm about to say? This stat?
Sean
No.
Mike
0 unforced errors against IGAontech on clay in the semis of Roland Garros in the third set. And bagels are how about them apples? That's six zero in the third. Zero unforced errors. Now it's not as if she's playing a game where, you know, she's one of these people that just doesn't miss and doesn't take risks. Zero unforced errors while also hitting the biggest ball in the world. Unbelievable. I can't be told that she's not one of two or three people on earth. Best big match players as it currently stands. I was texting with JW and you and you just get the feeling like it's like Masters 1000 semi. I'm just gonna go out there and do it. I'm gonna hit my shot when I need to. She's unconscious about taking swings right now. It's. It's. Playing these big matches is such a habit for her right now that you don't even worry about what she's gonna do. And this coming from someone who all of us dummies we questioned, is she mentally tough enough? We're so stupid. Is she mentally tough enough? That was the narrative four or five years ago. Unbelievable performance and props to iga. There were a lot of doubters. No shame in the performance that she's had over the last two weeks. I actually think this is great getting to the semis. Listen, she didn't win first time. She probably wasn't expected to. But I think this is a nice reset where it's like, I'm here, I'm in the conversation. I think we were trying to do the match. She's going to drop to seven or eight in the world, which is crazy to see next to her name. But I guess all that does is just tell you about the shadow she's created for herself by virtue of accomplishment. But Sabalenka, iga. Exactly. One of us had that in the semis. Bueller. Bueller, anyone? Sabalenka rolled. I don't know that she can be stopped. I think she's the favorite. I think she's. And I don't say this dismissively or disrespectfully to anyone else, and I've been saying it for a couple of months now. I think she's the favorite. Any tournament she's in right now and she'll lose sometimes, but it's going to take a performance like a Maddie Keys in Australia where she plays one of the best matches of her life and actually has weapons to hurt Sabalenka. This is just it. She's so good and she's. She's finding new ways to win. She hits a little chip drop shot now she, like, we don't give her enough credit. It's like we. We have one narrative about players right in. In commentators. Like, she hits it so hard. She's learned how to take backhand both ways. She's learned how to hit chips. She knows how to hit drop shots now she comes in a little bit more. She's so much better than she was when she was already really good three years ago. Testament to her. Her work ethic. I don't know that it get. Talk gets talked about enough because she's so unserious about herself when she answers questions. I don't think we give her credit for being a strategist and being a competitor. Like, if she doesn't take herself seriously, why should we? And I think that's wrong. I think once she gets between the lines, she has a nice offset, a very clear kind of separation of church and state when she plays and when she's off court. But don't get it twisted, she competes her ass off, she finds ways to win matches and oh, by the way, she probably has the best base setting in the world right now before we get to those other things. So props. Props to iga, Props to Sabalenka. Living legends at this, at this point in time, you know, we're just playing against shadows and each other. But I think this is a great tournament for iga. I think it's even better tournament for Sabalenka. I think she wins the final. Coco ending which what was in my opinion the story of the tournament with Busan. This was a big ask for Busan just based on matchup and before we get to how amazing of a story this was and we'll give you some, some stats that you've probably heard ad nauseam. But credit to Coco going out and just taking care of business. This was a match last year that she kind of was. She wasn't putting people away. One and two, right. She was dragging into these three setters which were kind of a coin flip even through Indian Wells Miami this year. She's turned her season around during this clay court season and we're not, we haven't fully given her flowers because she lost in the final and then lost in the final and now she's in the final. But clay could be her best surface, maybe most consistent surface, maybe it's her best service. But then it comes down to matchups. I don't know. But she seems to find her consistency on clay a little bit more. But this matchup was always going to be tough. Boisson from what I've seen and we're all dealing off of like a five match sample size and we weren't watching our first two matches. Like, let's just be there was 77 matches going on a day. But obviously we start tuning in with Pula, we start tuning in with, with Andreva and it becomes a real story. Her ability to create spin off of her forehand as her superpower and her movement, right, she can move, she is athletic, she's dynamic. What works against Pegula who is not 511 like Coco is, and I don't know if that's exact, but Coco, like, when we work together for a couple of days, she walks in and she is athletic, she is tall. Like she is. You know, she presents.
Sean
She's listed at 5 9.
Mike
Yeah. Every bit of it. I mean, she is. She is. She is literally like a prototype for. For an athlete. Like, she walks. She has a super, super presence physically. And so you can't get it. You can get it up out of the zone on Jess Pula. Right? And that spin profile is not. Jessica does not want to be attacking you from above her ears. Right, Coco. Weirdly, that spin forehand to Coco's weakness, that forehand, Coco actually likes kind of fading away and creating her own spin mechanism. She would rather deal with that spin than be rushed to her forehand side. Right. But then conversely, when Balson gets it up on the backhand side, Coco is tall enough and physical enough to actually knock that backhand down. And she was just able to find the space to that backhand on Busan over and over again. This was a tough matchup. X's and O's. You were hoping that if you were a fan of Boisson and you wanted the story to go on that she could get it to 2, all, 3, all 4, all, and then let the crowd do their thing, create a little bit of a stress mechanism. Credit to Coco. She just went out and took care of business one and two in a Grand Slam final. Like, no struggle, Street. None of this stuff where she kind of had to work around anything. And the other thing about Coco that we like, we take a lot of stuff for granted when people become really, really Good. Coco is 21 right now. Sabalenka didn't win her first major until she was 24, almost 25 in Australia a couple years ago. She's figured it out earlier than a lot of people who have won a lot of majors. Of course, she's still building her game. Of course there are imperfections, right? There's only a couple Rafas and Steffi's, Right, that have figured it out by 21. Serena's, if that's who we're comparing her to, to get to a place of disappointment, then shame on us. She's fantastic, and I love the way she competes. She's a model. She never says anything dumb. She never puts a foot wrong. She's 21. She's literally grown up in front of us, and she doesn't mess up. That's impossible. Listen, I would have. I didn't really mess up famously, but I also didn't have iPhones because that would have gotten some shit. I'll tell you that right now. I wasn't a citizen like Coco. I was number one in the world at 21. And I'm thankful that I didn't live in Coco's era generation. Promise you.
Sean
But she's. Your kids are too.
Mike
Yeah, I, I think you're right. But imagine going into a tournament ranked 360something and leaving at 60something. And to walk through what, and to walk through what that means. That means you're playing futures and the lowest level of pro. You're not getting into the qualities of a challenger. Most weeks at 360 you're playing Qualys to go in Macedonia.
Sean
Yeah, I mean she, she tore her ACL a week before the French Open last year. So yeah, think about that. Half the year up until this point was probably rehab.
Mike
Well, okay, so imagine this. Imagine being like, so you're kind of the CEO of a small business. I love the way Danielle Danimal kind of put it in these, these terms when she was on our show last year. You're kind of the CEO of a small business. I guarantee you tomorrow they're getting around a table and going, okay, so what now? And the way it works is there's a six week entry system. So she's still gonna, unless she gets a wild card, she's still gonna have to play qualys at Wimbledon. But six weeks passes, she's getting automatic entry off of that ranking. That's 60 something. So now she's playing Qualys in the Masters 1000s. She doesn't have a point to defend basically for a year. Like it's a free role. Life changing. She went into this tournament as the 24th highest ranked French woman. Twelve days later, number one ranked French woman in a very tennis thirsty market. Life changing. Life changing. And it's not as if it was. She beat Pegula in. Andreeva back to back, center court, chips down. Bravo. Bravo. Just a great performance and I hope she builds on it. Now we don't know, we don't know if she can play on fast services. We don't know if that movement translates. There's so much we don't know about how she can play and how she can deal. And right now I hope she understands that doesn't matter for at least a week, two weeks. Please let this sink in. Please give yourself a round of applause. Well deserved. But this is just. It's the beauty of sports. There's no script. Anything can happen. Your life can be completely changed in 12 days. Completely changed for the rest of your life. Her game is good. She's going to stay on tour. She's going to make a living in the top hundred. She is going to get into every Grand Slam. Sean, she couldn't get into qualities of a Grand Slam, however long ago, and now she's going to be in them forever.
Sean
And when Sean and I were watching her play Pula, when we were down getting ready for Andre's interview, I, like, she was rocketing these like 90 mile an hour forehands. I was like, I was like, who is this person? Like, just rockets. Well, I mean, the athleticism. The athleticism is easy to see, right? The question is, can she couple it then with experience?
Mike
Yeah, I mean, she's tough competitor. I mean, she's winning these matches and she, she got to the finish line, like, and it's obviously different. I always say expectation is the hardest thing in sports. The type of pressure and the way the pressure feels is going to be different. The ascendancy is a lot easier than someone being disappointed that you didn't make the semis. Like, that's a very different set of mental hurdles that you have to go through. But that's a problem you want. That's absolutely a problem you want. It was a blast. I mean, this is like, this is why tennis is unbelievable theater. But also, like, think about this. And obviously this is, it's an, it's an exception because it's not as if she's been playing for 52 weeks and is ranked 360 in the world. Right. She's been out and is ranked 360 in the world. So I mean, the eye test is like, it's a joke. She's not 360, but also like the depth in tennis. Someone 360 on earth can go do that. Like, how many great players are there that we don't know about? It's so great. I think it's so cool. Go ahead.
Sean
She doesn't even have a picture on her profile. The WTA Tour website. It's just like one of those gray cutouts.
Mike
You know what I can't wait for? Is the pronunciation special. That's when you've made it. Remember when they actually give you the button, it was like, yeah, la. I think we did a whole episode on that. It's coming. But anyways, that was so much fun to watch. And also equally impressed with Coco. We do need to keep her career. And like, every conversation almost starts from A place of negativity about what she doesn't do perfectly. That's out there. Do I like Sabalenka in the final? I think this matchup is really tough because I think Saba link can go through a forehand side. They're five and five, folks, and head to head, one on one in Grand Slams. You know, this is. Coco can turn any match into a fight. She's so good at that. She's so good at kind of leveling up, leveling down. She's the best bad form player in the world. And I mean that with like the, the utmost amount of respect because that's why, honestly, that's what I prided myself on. I was like the best of the bad players. Like, my off day was effective. Her off day is so good and it's not going to work if she doesn't play great against Saba in two days. I like Sabalenka. I had, I had Saba and Coco in the final. Everyone's like, why are you just going with the seeds? I'm like, just because they're better, you know?
Sean
Can I, can I. Can I ask you a quick question? If the roof is closed versus open, does it favor one of them more than the other?
Mike
If I'm Coco, I want it to be weird. I want it to be cold or hot or I want the wind to be blowing at 20. You know, if Saab is getting a consistent strike on the ball, I got to think that favors her. But then again, you, you know, it's a different tournament. Coco won indoors in World Tour Finals. I think Sabalenka is favored with that, but I also think we probably overvalue that. You know, Coco, if it's warm, her ball jumps a little bit more. But then Saba's gets through the court a little bit more. I think if you're Coco, you want to make the match into a little bit of a gutter brawl, right? If you're just going toe to toe and it becomes like an exhibition of ball striking that favors Sabalenko. And indoors, everything's loud, it's feel good, like it pops, that affects the strike. There's like that sensory feedback of sound that probably makes, you know, gives. Gives Sabalenka the feel goods, right? So I think Sabalenka wins this tournament. I don't know that I bet against her in any individual matchup on any given day right now and until further notice. That doesn't mean she won't lose. You know, if she had to play and Maddie would probably Say the same thing. If she had to play Maddie again in those exact same circumstances, I would still take Saba, you know, in Australian Open. But you don't have to be better than her 52 weeks a year, you know, Coco has to be better than her for two hours, you know, and she's done it before. She beat her in the finals. U.S. open, if you hadn't heard. So I. But listen, this is a dream for the women's tour. The way this shook out with Poisson story and Coco, you know, being probably the most marketable player in the game. And then you have the legends with Sabalenka and IGA squaring up on iga's turf and Sabalenka taking it. And it's just, this is. Have been an absolute dream for the Women's tour and for those players, and they've delivered. It's been, it's been, it's been great to watch. Oh, and by the way, some people involved in the men's semifinal weekend, maybe like Novak or Sinner or Carlos, the Italian brigade, including Musetti. Why do you take the favorites? Well, they're better. They're better.
Sean
Yeah. It's not like. It's not like they didn't earn those rankings or anything. You know, it's not like it's a preseason NCAA poll where they're just picking names. Yeah, they've earned, they've earned their seeds.
Mike
And I'm so mad that I didn't go more chalk with Novak. That's the, that's my only regret is not going. Enough. Enough chalk on the seeds. Novak and Sinner. Listen one, let's talk quickly about the genius of Novak in this Verav matchup. For the first hour of that match, hour and 20, their neutral rallies where they're striking the ball, getting their pacing before they. Novak makes adjustments and Zverev doesn't make adjustments. Zverev was getting the better of those rallies like he was. He was when it was just stock before Novak starts going with that backhand line. Dropper is so good. And you, he takes that backhand back and you have to, you're not going forward because he's the most capable of creating depth off of every ball that anyone we've ever seen. And then all of a sudden you have to account for one that he drops a foot over the net and it looks the same on the take back. Like he takes it back like this and then just drops a hand off of it. I remember back in the day, I remember back in the day people used to telegraph their drop shots, right. It looked different on the take back. Now Carlos, the forehand looks the same and then the last minute he cuts under it. Novak's backhand looks the same. He always drops a line and it doesn't matter because you simultaneously have to respect that backhand that goes cross court into your corner. You can't try to anticipate a drop shot. It's always going to be there for him. And he just, he tennis IQ'd his way out of that match to the point where he shifted it. And we've seen him do it so many times, the chip down where he would bring Zverev. It's not just a chip, it's not just to mix it up. It's also to vary where Zverev can stand. He likes being five or six feet behind the baseline. That's his comfort zone and he's very good at it. So all you jack holes going strap. He's world class at what he does. I don't think variety for him is a choice at this point. He's not native to like he can hit a chip. Everyone can do these things. It's not native for him. His swing is so big on the forehand side. I think it's borderline idiotic to just say go two feet inside the court. No, because then Novak's going to create speed and then he's leaning back and hitting it and it's the same result. It's going to be like this little fluttery thing, but then all of a sudden he can't dig in on defense. It's the technique of his forehand, not the intent that creates this problem for Zverev in my opinion. And it's just the same, you know, now we've talked about it before. What would I like to see Zverev do? Serve and volley a little bit, Come in off of second, serves his back in his world class like shortlist, top 15, 20 all time backhands. Take that and come in. You're 6 foot 6, 6 foot 7 right now for him, maybe get more height and then take the next one. A two shot combo where it's like you play even higher, deeper line and then step in on the next one and create that space and take your shot. But I don't know that he can just decide on one ball he's going to step in and move. I don't know that that's an option. And everyone keeps saying it and I get frustrated because I don't know that it's that easy. It's like telling someone to be faster. Like, I don't know. Well, you got to play more. No, that's not. Your body's built a certain way. Your technique is a certain way. I don't know. Like, at a certain point, you kind of have to dance with who you brought, you know? So it's just. I think it's. I think it's lazy analysis to just say he needs to step in a foot and just fire. Like, that's. I don't know that he has the technique to do that. It's like saying everyone should just dance and get forehands and be playing inside out, you know, with, like, Roger. Well, we all don't have perfect footwork, perfect technique, the ability to maneuver our wrist and racket, control of the racket face the last second. There's a lot of things that go into that. It's not a choice. If it was a choice, everyone would do it. But Novak is a genius. So I got a little sidetracked there with my anger. But Novak hitting, Novak, hitting that chip line does two things. One, it mixes it up. It drives the traffic, but it brings Verev in. Right? And shouldn't that be the goal? Right. Doesn't everyone want Zverev inside? No. Brings him in, and then he pounds him back. And then all of a sudden, Zverev's on the baseline or a foot behind it, as opposed to six feet behind it, playing defense. And then Novak can get aggressive, right, because he's playing defense going backwards, not in a set position like a game of pong, receiving it. And that's just the genius, man. Like, when you've won 24 times in slams. That first set was a stress test. And he's like, okay, I'm stressed by this. I'm going to mix it up. So clear, so genius. It's just. It's just so much fun to watch, frankly. Like the chess match, you know, I. I want them to explain it. That what that chip does, what that drop shot does, how it affects positioning, whereas Verev's all of a sudden thinking about that now. He has to, I don't know, creep in a foot or two. All right? That's not his comfort zone. Now. He's out of his comfort zone trying to beat someone who's the best of all time. Problem. But also, we need, like, Zverev has a resume better, and his resume is probably better than mine, except I won one. But, like, the guy's a really, really, really good player. Like, he's such a good player. And he just. He's at the place now where it's like he's only judged based on if he wins a Grand slam or not. It's a shitty place to be, like. But it's fair. It's like he hasn't won it and he got sued. Like, the team Zverev was like the worst final I've ever seen ever. And I think people have that imprinted in their minds and rightfully so, but the guy doesn't want to match forever. And then all of a sudden he makes a semis of a Grand slam. Like that's. He's really good in that format. And I know it's counterintuitive. I know you're supposed to say if he doesn't win it, then he sucks in best of five. I think he's better in best of five. You know, I just think that there are certain pressure mechanisms with what you don't have, but I don't know that it's as easy as just say, step in a hood of forehand hoard. Okay. Okay, great. Thank you. Thank you, Dan the accountant.
Sean
Thanks for listening, Dan.
Mike
Thanks for listening, Dan. Sinner is an animal. He's going to get on the front foot. Novak's not going to have the time to play those chips and mix it up slowly. Novak's going to have to try to bleed him lines early. Like, you can't beat center cross court, right. He's, you know.
Sean
Explain more what you mean by that. Bleeding lines versus beating.
Mike
Yeah, he's got to. He's got to take risk. Once center gets set up and on the front foot, it's tough to get out of it. He, like, even Novak, when he hits it hard, Sinner can create speed so quickly. Like, he doesn't need time to create speed. He can just rip. He's going to be on the front foot. Novak will not have the time to hit the little chips to hit the drop shot, like hitting a drop shot off of Sinner's ball when he's on the baseline or a foot behind it. Taking cuts is way more difficult than when someone's lagging back five or six feet and you have that extra moment to kind of survey everything that's going on. I've. I've already, you know, tried to make my peace with, with, you know, not choosing Novak before Geneva, the whole thing. I think Sinner gets through this one. I think he. He's just such a force offensively and also nothing would surprise me. Novak's. And, you know, he's. He's he's attempting to enter Superman mode again. So the balls and strikes of the matchup at this point in their careers, I said as a center, but I don't. I think there's exactly two people on earth that stress center out mentally, and I think that's Novak and Alcaraz, and that's who he has to go through to win this tournament, and rightfully so. I mean, shit, I would have loved it if it was only two. Most of us. All right. That was a little, little too, too, too hardy of a laugh maybe. But, yeah, I like sitter going through Carlos Musetti. And also props to me, Seti. The guys made the semis of every event. Like, this is a guy who broke out and made the finals of Queens and semis at Wimbledon. And it was like, oh, okay, you were a prospect and you kind of were stuck, you know, in this range for two, three years now. I mean, he's legit. He's going to be a top five player by the end of the year, probably. Like, he's playing great. And also Alcaraz can just do everything that he does just a little bit better and a little bit more dynamic and with a little bit more variance and with some more options. And, you know, he doesn't mind that deep, heavy ball like Musetti, similar to we were talking about with Coco. He's happy to take a step back and just rip it back. It's like when I. I mean, I draw, like. Like, my chip was really good. We talked about this a little bit in the Andre episode. My chip was really good until it was going to Murray, whose chip was better. Like, then it became average. You know, Musetti's ball flight and him getting it up above the shoulders is good against Mo's. Carlos can take that early. He likes taking it early. Or he can step back and. And do the same thing. I like Carlos in this match. I think people are going to be dismissive of Musetti and I've already seen it like a Carlos and straight to roll. Like, they're already talking about Carlos versus whoever wins between Novak and Sinner, and I don't like that at all. I don't think that gives the respect. I think Musetti will make this a match, but, you know, I think I will have gone chalk and I think that I will have gotten all four finalists as well when this is all said and done. But, I mean, this has just been a dream to watch. It's been so much fun. I mean, TNT hit the jackpot with, with these matchups right? They're going, oh, yeah, oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. This was a good investment. I don't know why I just made him Canadian, but. Oh, yeah. Or Minnesota. Mike. Anything else? Or we just, we just quick serving our asses off this weekend.
Sean
We're just quick serving like crazy. Well, we'll hit you with all the good stuff, and then I'll have our recap on Tuesday, so.
Mike
Awesome.
Sean
Market calendars, love.
Mike
All out. I saw, I haven't, I haven't, I haven't listened yet because I was on a flight and watching, watching tennis. But Kim did, like, a French Open Q A situation with, with Sophie.
Sean
Yeah. Yeah, it was cool. They, they did. It's out now. Go check it out. It's. It's cool. It was a mixture of, like, Sophie's naturally, like, inquisitive, wanting to learn more about tennis, along with some of our fans. And it was really through the lens of what a French Open experience is like, especially with Kim, who did it first at 15 and then went on and played it. And then the last French Open she played, she was sharing a hotel room with a kid, so it's just like a crazy. She talked about her favorite restaurants, hotels she liked to stay at, what it was like traveling with her parents when they were parents and then grandparents. It was just, you know, there's been cool, cool, cool story time with Kim.
Mike
Yeah, I think I, I, I probably, I'm saying I underestimated. Probably makes it seem like I was giving it a lot of thought. But I think I've underestimated, like, you all being tennis fans but not, like, psychopaths before the show and then, but like, Sophie being able to ask questions from a place of, like, wanting to know, learning, that's most, that's where most fans are. And so to have access to someone like Kim Kler with those questions, I think is, like, endlessly entertaining. So love all. You can find it on our, on our YouTube channel. So if you guys are hearing this and you don't know where to find it, it's on our channel. So if you go to, like, you see the Andre thing or you see the next quick served or wherever, just scroll down a little bit right there. But I think, I think that dynamic is, is, is really cool. I look forward to, to listening to that after my kids go to sleep. Just gonna crack open a nice, nice bottle of one.
Sean
Are you gonna do, like, a Bordeaux? Maybe? Just an honor.
Mike
I do like a Bordeaux. It just roll on your Bordeaux. Well, I was gonna do Burgundy for Boisson. But she's gone, so maybe I'll flip it. Maybe I'll flip it.
Sean
Do, like, a big American red. Maybe.
Mike
Yeah. This is great. I can't believe we went full White Lotus at the end of this episode. That's great. Piper.
Sean
No.
Mike
Oh, pop. Or no, can you bring me my Laraza? Pam?
Sean
Oh, man. We are in North Carolina.
Mike
Yeah. Click. Subscribe. We thank you. You've been subscribing. We appreciate you. We will be back tomorrow on Quick Serve, presented by Amazon Prime. Shit's getting real good, Mike. I can't wait.
Served with Andy Roddick: Quick Serve Episode Summary
Episode: QUICK SERVED: French Open Day 12 - Sabalenka & Gauff Advance to Finals & Men's Semi-Final Preview
Release Date: June 5, 2025
Mike and Sean kick off the episode by highlighting Aryna Sabalenka's exceptional performance at the French Open. Sabalenka secured her place in the finals by delivering a flawless third set against Iga Świątek, winning 6-0 with zero unforced errors. Mike emphasizes the rarity and significance of such a stat:
Mike [02:01]: "Zero unforced errors against Iga Świątek on clay in the semis of Roland Garros in the third set. And bagels are how about them apples?"
This performance underscores Sabalenka's growth on clay, a surface traditionally considered challenging for her. Sean adds perspective on Sabalenka's mental resilience, noting that past doubts about her mental toughness have been thoroughly dispelled by her recent achievements:
Sean [04:20]: "Sabalenka is like, there's an argument she's the best big match player in the world right now."
The discussion commends Sabalenka's strategic evolution, including her improved drop shots and versatile backhand, which have elevated her game beyond pure power.
Transitioning to Coco Gauff, Mike lauds her consistent performance leading up to the finals. Gauff's victory over Bibiane Matie is portrayed as a testament to her strategic gameplay and physical prowess:
Mike [09:15]: "Coco is so good at creating spin off her forehand and her movement. She is athletic, she's dynamic."
Sean praises Gauff's maturity and marketability at just 21 years old, comparing her disciplined approach to seasoned veterans. The hosts discuss Gauff's ability to handle high-pressure situations, making her a formidable finalist:
Sean [10:15]: "She's happy to take a step back and just rip it back. It's like when I was..."
The conversation shifts to the men's side, focusing on the anticipated semifinal showdown between Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev. Mike provides an in-depth analysis of Djokovic's tactical genius, particularly his use of drop shots to disrupt Zverev's rhythm:
Mike [18:16]: "Novak's backhand looks the same. He always drops a line and it doesn't matter because you simultaneously have to respect that backhand that goes cross court into your corner."
He critiques Zverev's adaptability, suggesting that Zverev struggles to counter Novak's varied playstyle, especially when forced out of his comfort zone:
Mike [20:45]: "He's trying to bleed him lines early. You can't beat center cross court."
Sean agrees, emphasizing Zverev's offensive prowess but questioning his ability to match Djokovic's cerebral approach in high-stakes matches:
Sean [24:26]: "Sinner is an animal. He's going to get on the front foot. Novak's not going to have the time to play those chips and mix it up slowly."
The hosts briefly touch upon other key players advancing to the semifinals, including Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. Mike expresses confidence in their abilities to contend for the title, highlighting their recent performances and potential for growth:
Mike [26:30]: "Seti has made the semis of every event. Like, this is a guy who broke out and made the finals of Queens and semis at Wimbledon."
Throughout the episode, Mike and Sean reflect on the unpredictable nature of tennis and the emergence of new stars reshaping the competitive landscape. They commend the French Open for showcasing high-level tennis and providing fans with thrilling matches.
Sean [28:10]: "We're just quick serving like crazy. We'll hit you with all the good stuff, and then I'll have our recap on Tuesday."
The hosts also mention complementary content available on their YouTube channel, including a French Open Q&A featuring Kim and Sophie, which delves into personal experiences and behind-the-scenes insights from the tournament.
Mike [29:09]: "You can find it on our YouTube channel. So if you go to, like, you see the Andre thing or you see the next quick served or wherever, just scroll down a little bit right there."
Mike and Sean wrap up the episode with light-hearted banter and a nod to upcoming content, encouraging listeners to stay tuned for more tennis analysis and discussions.
Notable Quotes:
Mike [02:01]: "Zero unforced errors against Iga Świątek on clay in the semis of Roland Garros in the third set. And bagels are how about them apples?"
Sean [04:20]: "Sabalenka is like, there's an argument she's the best big match player in the world right now."
Mike [09:15]: "Coco is so good at creating spin off her forehand and her movement. She is athletic, she's dynamic."
Mike [18:16]: "Novak's backhand looks the same. He always drops a line and it doesn't matter because you simultaneously have to respect that backhand that goes cross court into your corner."
Sean [28:10]: "We're just quick serving like crazy. We'll hit you with all the good stuff, and then I'll have our recap on Tuesday."
This episode of Served with Andy Roddick provides comprehensive coverage of the French Open's pivotal moments, spotlighting standout performances from both women's and men's tournaments. Through expert analysis and engaging dialogue, Mike and Sean offer listeners valuable insights into the strategies and mental fortitude of top tennis athletes, making it an essential listen for tennis enthusiasts.