Special Guest Victoria Mboko & 2025 Cincinnati Open Recap

Summary

Served with Andy Roddick — Special Guest Victoria Mboko & 2025 Cincinnati Open Recap

Date: August 19, 2025
Host: Andy Roddick with producer Mike and tennis analyst Jon Wertheim
Guest: Victoria “Vicki” Mboko

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Episode Overview

This “Frankenstein episode” of Served with Andy Roddick covers two big tennis storylines: a recap of the 2025 Cincinnati Open and an extended interview with rising Canadian tennis star Victoria Mboko. The team discusses what (didn’t) change after Cincinnati, reviews standouts from the tournament, unpacks the form of leading players heading into the US Open, and reflects on the new energy and personality in the game. The Mboko interview delivers insight into her breakthrough, mentality, Canadian pride, injury scare, and what it means to make her US Open main-draw debut.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Cincinnati Open 2025 Recap

Segment Begins: [02:29]

Men’s Field: Still Sinner and Alcaraz

• Status Quo at the Top: Despite hopes for a shake-up from a lead-in Masters event, the men’s game remains defined by Sinner and Alcaraz.

  “What has changed post Cincinnati versus pre Cincinnati? ... Pre Cincinnati, we would have said on the men’s side, Sinner and Alcaraz … leaving Cincinnati? Sinner and Alcaraz.” — Host, [03:27]

• Alcaraz and Sinner's Streaks: Alcaraz survived some tight matches but holds the positive head-to-head. Sinner was more clinical, “drilled guys.”
• Sinner’s Health a Worry: Noted concern over Sinner appearing ill and retiring from the Cincinnati final, jeopardizing his US Open mixed doubles plans.

  “We talk about Sinner being a part of the mixed doubles. I’ll be shocked if … after retiring on a Monday at Cincinnati.” — Host, [04:35]

Schedule Critique & TV Coverage

• Discontent with the Monday 3pm final, especially for North American fans watching the biggest rivalry.

  “That’s fantastic. That’s how to bring in the audience of the biggest rivalry in tennis now—is put it on 3pm and a fucking Monday.” — Host, [04:00]

Standouts and Surprises:

• Rublev & Ottman: Rublev played well; French qualifier Terrence Ottman amazed with his run and on-court personality.

  “Otman ... he was a dream to watch. He was really fun. Surfaces change, results change.” — Host, [05:23]

Women's Side:

• Sabalenka/Coco Questions: Sabalenka still a force but has “scar tissue of Grand Slam losses”; Gauff’s inconsistent form over US hard court swing.
• Rybakina Rising: Most consistent, expected to be a serious threat at the Open.
• Love for Paolini:

  “She might be the most complete player in the women’s game. ... She might not be tall in stature, but she is tall in heart. She is tall in fight, and she is tall in watchability.” — Host, [06:54]

• Swiatek’s Evolving Dominance: Broke free from “clay court only” narrative by winning Wimbledon, then Cincinnati without losing a set, serving harder.

  “Fiatek dominant … flipping narratives all over the place … I’d be hard pressed to bet against her in New York.” — Host, [07:51]

Sinner-Alcaraz Rivalry Etiquette

• Amusing, semi-serious advice:

  “If someone retires and they're sick, you give them a fist bump ... There's no hug at the net ... Get away from him. Don't stand next to him. Don't go see if he's okay.” — Host, [09:13]

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2. Victoria Mboko Interview

Segment Begins: [12:35]

The Aftermath of a Breakthrough

• Celebration and Refocus:

  “I've been kind of focused on the next tournaments so I kind of celebrate a little bit, but I had to lock in pretty fast and early ... I feel pretty good and good with myself at least.” — Mboko, [13:16]

The Physical Test

• Endurance and Grit:

  “...towards the end, I was pretty tired physically and mentally a little bit. But I think what kind of kept me going was that ... I wanted to match whatever they were producing ... I just wanted to hang in there as much as possible and just fight until the last point.” — Mboko, [15:05]

The Mental Game

• Staying Poised Under Pressure:

  “In those kinds of moments, I feel like it's in my head. I'm actually really nervous and I'm really tight, but ... when I pretend like I don't care, that's actually when I'm playing a bit better … I just go there and swing.” — Mboko, [16:46]

Canadian Support

• Power of Home Crowd:

  “That whole experience was kind of crazy ... that's like our US Open in a way ... when I went on the court and I saw so many people ... supporting me, it really kind of warmed my heart ... at the end of every single match … that's the loudest I've ever heard a whole stadium cheering for me.” — Mboko, [18:12]

Family, Siblings, and Humbling Losses

• Sibling Beatdown Story:

  “My sister, she's 10 years older than me ... every time I played my sister, it was an 8-year-old vs. an 18-year-old ... she annihilated me, oh and oh ... I think I didn't talk to her for like a good week.” — Mboko, [20:08]

• Never Flipped the Script (Yet):

  “I actually never flipped it. That's the thing ... they’ll never want to play smart.” — Mboko, [21:39]

Injury & Decision-Making

• Wrist Injury Before the Final:

  “It was hurting pretty badly during the [semifinal] match, but I taped it up ... The morning of the final ... my wrist didn’t feel correct ... But I think I wanted it so bad that I was able just to play through the pain ... doing a lot of rehab ... it was a given I wasn’t able to play Cincinnati or Cleveland ... But it's doing a lot better now.” — Mboko, [22:17]

On Her Coach: Natalie Tauziat

• Benefit of Familiarity:

  “She’s known me for so long ... how I can be on and off the court, I think we've been able to kind of adapt to how I like things ... she used to play as well, so she has that insight of how it is on the tour ... I feel pretty comfortable with her guiding me.” — Mboko, [24:39]

Looking Forward: US Open Main Draw Debut

• Embracing New Experiences:

  “If you would've told me a year ago I was going to be direct acceptance into the main draw of US Open, I would've told you you're crazy ... I think I'm even going to be seeded, which is insane.” — Mboko, [26:32] “First time also playing in the main draw ... I just want to have as much fun as possible ... and honestly just have as much fun as possible.” — Mboko, [26:32]

Reflections on Mboko as a Person

• Host & Analyst in Awe:

  “I think you're such a breath of fresh air ... love the way you compete, love the gratitude you seem to show for everything and everyone.” — Host, [27:43] “That was rather impressive ... traveling around the world at 18, building your ranking ... that might be the cumulative effect, what we just heard for the last 15 or 20 minutes, that was really impressive.” — Jon Wertheim, [28:43]

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3. Winners & Errors with Jon Wertheim

Segment Begins: [32:49]

Winners

• Rivalry:

  “This is the 14th meeting of Sinner and Alcaraz. ... These guys have played each other as many times at ages, whatever, 22 and 23 as one of the great storied rivalries in tennis history. Long live rivalry.” — Wertheim, [32:49]

• Terrence Ottman’s Run:

  “Apart from the standout tennis, what a real character this guy revealed himself to be. Did you catch him giving Sinner the Pokémon card before their match?” — Wertheim, [34:13] “Ranking is one thing, but ... this is amazing because now I have the finances to actually plan my career in a responsible manner.” — Host, [35:11]

• Jasmine Paolini’s Attitude:

  “She is so loose and so genial and smiling and positive ... I wonder if her attitude and personality and winning ways, if there isn’t something instructive there about playing with a smile.” — Wertheim, [36:32] “I like defaulting to the personality of the player and figuring out the best working mechanisms ... we’re not trying to square peg, round hole it with attitude. And Paolini is a great example.” — Host, [37:45]

Error / Talking Point

• Heat & Climate Change:

  “This 2025 is going to go down as the hottest year on record ... This is something tennis has to reckon with ... not just the athletes ... but fans and chair umpires and ball kids. Climate is a real factor.” — Wertheim, [39:13] “As people play less tournaments in this heat ... you do need to acclimatize for extreme conditions ... I don't know that tennis can fix this issue.” — Host, [41:01]

Notable Tennis Banter

• On Solutions:

  “There's no easy solution. ... I felt personally that ... I had to do my physical training ... acclimatize ..." — Host, [41:01-43:06] “When guys in their physical prime are literally collapsing on the court, you do wonder, what are we doing here?” — Wertheim, [43:06]

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4. Preview: US Open Mixed Doubles Spectacle

Segment Begins: [43:49]

• Excitement for the star-studded mixed doubles draw at the US Open, featuring top singles stars.
• Discussion of first-round matchups, including Alcaraz, Raducanu, Djokovic, Osaka, Sinner, and more.

  “Top half ... Pegula-Draper vs. Raducanu-Alcaraz ... Danilovic Djokovic vs. Andreeva Medvedev ... Sinyakova Sinner ... Venus Williams & Riley Opelka ... Rublev.” — Producer Mike, [46:14-47:24]

• Broader Impact:

  “If your option is we want the overall game to benefit, we want more eyeballs on this variation of the game, this will be an absolute ratings bonanza ... You do not like tennis if you hear those matchups ... and you're like, no, not interested.” — Host, [47:53-48:57]

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5. Closing & Upcoming Served Coverage

Segment Begins: [49:17]

• Details on special US Open live shows, quick serves, draw recap, and Hall of Fame coverage.
• Call for listeners to subscribe and provide feedback.

  “My favorite time of the year going to New York ... the US Open is fricking three weeks long ... Thanks for watching and listening to Serve.” — Host, [50:12]

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Notable Quotes

• “She might not be tall in stature, but she is tall in heart. She is tall in fight, and she is tall in watchability.” — Host on Jasmine Paolini [06:54]
• “When I pretend like I don’t care, that’s actually when I’m playing a bit better ... I just go there and swing.” — Victoria Mboko on her mental approach [16:46]
• “That’s the loudest I’ve ever heard a whole stadium cheering for me. So that was honestly incredible. And I think that made my whole week.” — Mboko on Canadian support [18:12]
• “I was a moron when I was 19. These prototypes are just coming out. Mature, thoughtful.” — Host on Mboko’s maturity [28:15]
• “This rivalry is real. It’s built. Now how far can it go? Amazing.” — Host on Sinner-Alcaraz [33:29]
• “[Ottman] ... before you went on court, your opponent said, ‘Hey, dude, I got something for you. Happy birthday. Here’s a Pokemon card.’” — Wertheim [34:13]
• “This is something tennis has to reckon with ... Climate is a real factor.” — Wertheim on heat and climate [39:13]
• “Put it in my veins.” — Host on mixed doubles star matchups [46:17]

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Timestamps for Major Segments

• Episode logistics, Cincinnati intro: [01:10–05:40]
• Cincinnati recap – men’s and women’s fields: [02:29–10:00]
• Pre-Mboko interview transition: [10:00–12:35]
• Victoria Mboko interview: [12:35–28:11]
• Reflections on Mboko: [28:15–29:55]
• Winners & Errors (Wertheim): [32:49–44:07]
• US Open mixed doubles preview: [44:07–48:57]
• Closing, upcoming Served content: [49:17–50:12]

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Overall Tone & Style

The conversation is casual, witty, and self-aware—with plenty of tennis “inside baseball,” but also a spirit of appreciation for player development, diversity, and fan culture. Andy Roddick’s humor, Wertheim’s analysis, and the team’s banter keep the show dynamic, honest, and accessible. Mboko’s interview delivers authenticity, gratitude, and youthful wisdom.

Useful for any tennis fan who wants the latest context, insight, and fresh personalities in the game—especially as the US Open approaches.

Transcript

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[Host (Possibly a tennis commentator or podcast host)]

Hey everyone. Welcome to served. Exciting stuff. Cincinnati is finished. Bit of an anti climax in the in the finals situation. We will get to it in the racket rundown brought to you by Wilson. Also brought to you by Wilson, coincidentally later in the episode, the new star of tennis, Vicki Boko. She was awesome. I say was because the way that this show somehow some way sometimes gets put together is. Mboco says 8:30 is the time that I can do it. Let's do it before practice. And I mean am not pm Great. We will take. You're amazing. Thank you for giving us the time. John Wertheim says 9:15 we can do winners and heirs. So that's great. We're going to do that. And then we need to include Obviously a Masters 1000 recap before a Tuesday release. Well, 8:15pm and we now have done that. So this has been a bit of a Frankenstein episode. Sometimes we do these episodes and you don't even know. You'll see later in the episode. I have a different shirt on from this morning before workout. But that's the way it works.

[Producer Mike]

I'm in a different location.

[Host (Possibly a tennis commentator or podcast host)]

Mike, the drive across town is like minutes long. So he couldn't. He couldn't. He couldn't do it. It was too much.

[Producer Mike]

Couldn't be bothered.

[Host (Possibly a tennis commentator or podcast host)]

Who is here? You know who did make the trip? Techie Sean. Techie Sean was here. He's committed here at. It's my job. 8:15 this morning. Was here at 8:15 this evening. But you'll love our chat with Vicky. Mboco didn't know her at all past what I've watched and have loved watching. She's just a delight. So. But first, let's do a Cincinnati recap. Listen, what you want out of leading events to the Grand Slams is, you know, maybe something changes, right? What has changed post Cincinnati versus pre Cincinnati. Pre Cincinnati, we would have said on the men's side, Sinner and Alcaraz, right, Those, those are the two. That's the conversation leaving Cincinnati. What's the conversation? Center and Alcaraz, right, they outperformed. They were above the field. What's changed? Alcaraz dropped a couple sets, won a couple tightrope walks, still has a positive head to head against center. Center less dramatic on the court. Drilled guys got through and still Alcaraz is the toughest matchup for center. Now what has changed is us being concerned about center potentially being, being sick. Right. He didn't look right from the jump today. I was all settled in like the rest of you chuckers, you know, 3pm on a Monday, which is a great time to play a final. That's a, that, that's, that's fantastic. That's how to bring in the audience of the biggest rivalry in tennis now is put it on 3pm and a fucking Monday.

[Producer Mike]

You're saying, why not do it? Why not do it Sunday night?

[Host (Possibly a tennis commentator or podcast host)]

Sunday, like the whole point of a Monday was because, okay, let's make it an eight day tournament. We can give some relief potentially on a first round if people do well in Canada. Two weeks together is really tight. It's not two weeks together and we're still on a Monday at 3pm to a stateside.

[Producer Mike]

They're in prime time in London.

[Host (Possibly a tennis commentator or podcast host)]

Yeah, prime time in London. Prime time on an afternoon on a workday in the States. Like, what are we doing? We're going to add three days. Can we, can we not pick the absolute worst time possible to play a final 3pm on a Monday?

[Producer Mike]

Yeah, I feel like tennis. If I was Tennis Channel, I'd be, I'd be fighting that scheduling.

[Host (Possibly a tennis commentator or podcast host)]

I mean, that's, that's rough. So I, hopefully it all gets settled and if we're going to do. Which I fully support, and I'm going to get crushed for it because I go off on a rant later in the show about how excited I am about the mixed doubles of the U.S. open. If we're going to do that on Tuesday, Wednesday, it's tough to finish with those participants, all of them, and then flip it around center. We talk about it. We talked about the Frankenstein of An episode. We do talk about Sinner being a part of the mixed doubles. I'm. I'll be shocked if posts on Tuesday after retiring on a Monday at Cincinnati. So I don't know what's changed. The top are still the top. The two dudes are still the two dudes. I think the next three names off of most people's lips after Alcaraz and Sinner going into the US Open before this tournament would have probably been Shelton, Zverev and Fritz. And after this tournament it's probably Shelton, Zverev and Fritz. Right. So, you know, Rublev had a nice run, played Chucky Alcaraz tough. But we know he's a really good player. Otman was the standout Otman because of the way the rankings work. He's going to spend his week in Qualys this week. He's not worried about that. He would love to have the issue of the quick turnaround time for the mixed doubles championship. He was a dream to watch. He was really fun. Surfaces change, results change on the women's side. You know, a lot of momentum post Wimbledon tech a lot of momentum post Wimbledon. I think the biggest thing that's changed post Wimbledon on the. On the women's tour, question marks around Sabalenka. You know, she's had some really tough losses. Not in her ability, not in her greatness, not in the macro view of Sabalenka. Just the scar tissue of Grand Slam losses. Like I know. I know too well what it's like to lose a Grand Slam final. I know that you can force yourself to have as good of an attitude as you think you can. You can even think you're over it and it's still there. You still feel it. So she's been so good for the last three years. There's going to be something with. With enough near misses. Right. So we'll see. Coco, a question mark. You know, obviously winning Roland Garros exit at Wimbledon. Not too concerned. Not playing great over the US Hard court season, which she's suits her game is she's really good on it. The ball gets up, she can drive through it. She obviously had that great run a couple of years ago. Those are probably the things that have changed or question marks around Sabalenka. Coco, the one person who's found a lot of form consistently the last couple of weeks is Robakina. She's going to be a problem at the U.S. open. And I love Paolini. She is such a complete player. And I'm going to say something and everyone's going to go crazy. But just give me some time to breathe after I say it. She might be the most complete player in the women's game. Now, by that, I mean she can defend far behind the baseline. She can play different heights off of both sides. Forehand loop, forehand drive, take away time, step into the court, you know, but you. You can't solve for serving 82 miles an hour sometimes against. Against Vatek, right? She will get overpowered sometimes, but, man, she might not be tall in stature, but she is tall in heart. She is tall in fight, and she is tall in watchability, I'll tell you that much right now. She is a dream to watch. Fiatek dominant didn't drop a set in Cincinnati, and she's flipping narratives all over the place, right? It used to be okay. Clay's the thing. She's going to win some outside of it. How about winning Wimbledon and then backing it up with maybe the fastest hardcore tournament of the year without dropping a set in Cincinnati? And she spent some time on this very show a couple of weeks ago saying, you know, I served really well at Wimbledon. I hope I can keep doing it. I hope I can keep making serves. When I'm ramping it up to 115 or 120. She did it. I would be hard pressed to bet against her in New York. Not saying she won't lose in New York, but I think she's the favorite based on current form, based on, you know, the relief of turning the year around at Wimbledon. Carlos Alcaraz is in maniac. I mean, just an absolute maniac. Sinner is an absolute maniac. I'll tell you one thing, guys, that was something that Carlos did completely wrong this week. You ready?

[Producer Mike]

What's up?

[Host (Possibly a tennis commentator or podcast host)]

If someone retires and they're sick, you give them a fist bump. You don't want to say sorry. If Mike. If producer Mike came in here and was like, guys, I'm pretty sick. I don't know if I can finish the show. Guess how close I would be to producer Mike? Not close. I'd say, get out. Go home to that other little studio. You're not making everyone sick. The only error that Carlos made all week was his proximity to center. Once we suspected that Sinner wasn't feeling well. And maybe it's just for the day. I don't care. There's no hug at the net, and these two are the classiest people. And I can already see you're getting. You're getting upset with them for being classy. No, no, I Love it. And if I'm his coach, I'm going to be going get away. However you say it in Spanish, I say get away. Get away from him. Don't stand next to him. Don't go see if he's okay. Skip the pictures. Do not get close to him. You have the US Open coming up. You have been on a heater. You've made the finals of your last seven events. Every single that he's played since Miami, he's made at least the finals of and won most of them. He is on an absolute heater. We hope that center is healthy. If he's got a four or five day bug, I don't, you know, you don't want to say it but if it's, you know, something that's going to be a rough one physically to get ready for, there's no chance he can play the mixed doubles like there. And if you're as mixed up, if you're Cyniakova, I'm going full Alcaraz on you too. Don't stand next to him. At least she has the upside of a million dollars if she plays with him like but Chucky, don't get near him. Get away from him. If he's sick. Don't give a little. No, get away. See ya. Probably the weirdest racket rundown brought to you by Wilson that I have ever done. There will be some sanity on the other side of this break I hope. And it is brought to you not by me, not by techie Sean, not by producer Mike. It is brought to you by an 18 year old, soon to be 19 year old Vicky Mboco. I hope you enjoy the conversation. Couldn't have been more impressed with her tennis last week. Couldn't have been more impressed with her responses this week. We have Vicki and Boko on the other side. Thank you for watching Served. Subscribe.

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[Megan Rapinoe]

Megan Rapinoe here this week on A Touch More we are welcoming a very special guest to the show. She speaks multiple languages, her middle name is literally tough and I used to dread playing against her on the field. That's right, it's five time Champions League winner, Lucy Bronze and now two time Euro winner. Plus, sue and I discuss the bonkers scoring in the W and share our new workout of the week. Check out our latest episode of A Touch More wherever you get your podcasts and on YouTube.

[Host (Possibly a tennis commentator or podcast host)]

All right, welcome back to Served as promised. We all watched her amazing victory up in Canada. She has been traveling the world this year just winning a bunch of tennis matches. Vicki Mboco, getting ready for the U.S. open. Congratulations. And I will tell you, this is early in the morning. We kind of package all of our segments together. This young woman, I don't know what I'm more impressed by, her victory at the Masters 1000 up north or being seven minutes early for an interview. Brought to you by our friends at Wilson. Vicki, how are you in the in the aftermath of your, your victory in Canada?

[Vicki Mboko (Tennis Player)]

Yeah, I mean, I'm doing great. Of course a lot has happened in the past week or so, but you know, I've been kind of focused on the next tournaments so I kind of celebrate a little bit, but I had to lock in pretty fast and early. But yeah, I mean after all of that I feel pretty good and good with myself at least.

[Host (Possibly a tennis commentator or podcast host)]

Good. You, you started the year and this has been written probably ad nauseam by now since Canada and even for those in the know, before Canada, outside of a top 330 in the world. And you have you started your year in Rome, but it was in Rome, Georgia and then Manchester wins in Portugal, couple at the BJK cup in Tokyo, back to Rome where you played one Coca golf Canadian. I mean you've been all over earth this year. You've been putting in work.

[Vicki Mboko (Tennis Player)]

Yeah, yeah. I mean I've been traveling a lot but you know, it's part of the game and I enjoy it most of all traveling. So I think it's an easy task for me that part.

[Host (Possibly a tennis commentator or podcast host)]

Walk us through the Canadian Open. Right. So the one thing that stood out for me is every player who's kind of gone through the different levels, especially at a rap as at a rapid pace like you have this year normally runs into the test of physicality at some point. I remember I was in the French Open one year after I kind of made my move playing a five setter, body fully gave out. Right. Cramping everywhere, couldn't put the pieces together. Your physicality in Canada, in the ability to stand up to those matches, especially losing in the first set to great players in a bunch of those, how are you so prepared physically? And that's before we get to the tennis. And that's before we get to the mental part.

[Vicki Mboko (Tennis Player)]

Yeah, well, I mean, during the Canadian Open, since it was like, I think seven matches I played, it was quite, quite a lot. I think the most I played in a tournament. So I would say towards the end, I was pretty tired physically and mentally a little bit. But I think what kind of kept me going was that, hey, like, I'm so happy to even play, like a 1000 and to play against these girls. So I honestly wanted to match whatever they were producing. They didn't seem to me. They didn't seem so tired. So I didn't really want to show that I was out of gas or I. I couldn't keep up because I had the ability to. And of course, there were moments where I wanted to. Maybe I was really tired and I might have not been able to keep up as much, but I think I really wanted it so badly that it just. My body just had to keep going. And, yeah, I mean, it worked out in my favor at the end because it was really helpful in the moments where the match could have gone completely the other way. And. And yeah, even some of the matches where I was down, down match points, down sets, I just wanted to hang in there as much as possible and just fight until the last point.

[John Wertheim (Tennis Analyst)]

Let's take the other side of the coin. Let's talk about the mental, because Coco mentioned your movement, other players talked about your power, But I think what was really so impressive to everyone watching was your poise. It says you're about to turn 19 next week, but I don't think too many people would have guessed that watching it. Where do you get that? Where does your mind go during the tense moments of matches? How. How do you stay so poised?

[Vicki Mboko (Tennis Player)]

Honestly, I. In those kinds of moments, I feel like it's in my head. I'm actually really nervous and I'm really tight, but I try to not put as many thoughts in my head as possible. I try to keep it really numb up here, and I really don't want to think about a lot in those moments because when I feel like I pretend like I don't care, that's actually when I'm. I'm playing a bit better, but when I kind of get it, let it catch up to me and I get nervous and I get tight, nothing is going to come out of my racket and I'm not going to move well and everything just kind of crumbles down at that one moment. But, yeah, I think especially when it's tight games Downmatch points. Those kinds of moments, I really just don't like to think about anything at all. I just go there and swing.

[Host (Possibly a tennis commentator or podcast host)]

I guess something else we don't often see when someone is so young is the idea of gratitude. Right. And so talk about the week in Canada and this, the entire country getting behind you to the point where the men's final is going on, you win, and the entire stadium erupts into a standing ovation. And it's not something you just acknowledge. It's something that you seem to mention and celebrate over and over. What did it mean to you, your country getting behind you during this run?

[Vicki Mboko (Tennis Player)]

Yeah, I mean, that whole experience was kind of crazy. Like, the Canadian Open is one tournament that so many young Canadians, boys and girls, they really look forward to playing in the future because that's kind of. That's like our U.S. open in a way. And honestly, to. For me, the beginning to play at the main draw of a tournament like that, it's. It was such a big deal for me, and I was so incredibly thankful, and I felt so happy to even be there. But let alone when. I remember my first match, when I kind of. Before I went on, I was really nervous, but I think when I went on the court and I saw so many people, like, clapping for me and supporting me, it really kind of warmed my heart a little bit. And I think it was definitely. It definitely helped me in many tight or moments where I was down in the match and they would just help me pull it through, no matter what. They were always rooting for me. And that's not something we experience a lot because there's not many tournaments in Canada either. So. Throughout the tournament, more and more spectators came and fans. At some point, everyone had posters of some slogans that they would hold up during the match. And I thought that was really cute. So. So, yeah, just moments like that, it just really made me so happy. And I think at the end of every single match, I just. That's not. That's the loudest I've ever heard a whole stadium cheering for me. So that was honestly incredible. And I think that made my whole week, to be honest.

[John Wertheim (Tennis Analyst)]

Part of Breaking through is sort of introducing the world to your tennis. Part of Breaking through is also just introducing the world to who you are. What do you. What do you. I mean, first, I have a specific question where I read something very disturbing that I'm wondering if you can confirm or deny. But. But you had a sibling beat you. Love and love in a tournament.

[Vicki Mboko (Tennis Player)]

Yeah.

[John Wertheim (Tennis Analyst)]

Is that true?

[Vicki Mboko (Tennis Player)]

Yeah, my. My sister, she's 10 years older than me, so I was really competitive. I have three older siblings, for reference, one older sister and two older brothers, and they're a lot older than me. Like, the. The closest age gap is seven years between me and my brother. So growing up, I never wanted to lose to them. But then again, every time I played my sister, it was an 8 year old versus an 18 year old. So, yeah, she. I remember once our. Our Academy tournament director kind of put us against each other first round because I was an alternate in the tournament. And yeah, she. She let me choose. They let me choose the. The type of ball and whatever court surface we are able to choose. And she annihilated me. Oh, and. Oh, and I think that was the most I've ever cried in a day. I just remember, like, crying in my dad's arms for the rest of the day. And I think I didn't talk to her for, like, a good week.

[Host (Possibly a tennis commentator or podcast host)]

Let's get to the happier moment because this often happens. My older brother played tennis. He played at Georgia, was a good player, played junior Grand Slams. And I remember he would come home from summer or. Sorry, he would come home from college during the summer, and one summer I lost to him. Similar to your story. Not quite. Oh, and oh, but not, you know, not good. One and one. One and two. And then the next summer, different story, flip the script, never to return again. He was never going to beat me again. Talk about the first time you flipped it on one of your siblings.

[Vicki Mboko (Tennis Player)]

I actually never flipped it. That's the thing. Like, I have a feeling you just.

[Host (Possibly a tennis commentator or podcast host)]

Need to play them.

[Vicki Mboko (Tennis Player)]

Yeah, I mean, I've been asking them. They're like, oh, we'll play one summer. They'll never. They'll never want to play smart.

[Host (Possibly a tennis commentator or podcast host)]

I like that. You did get an MRI on your wrist before the final. Obviously, you pulled out of Cincinnati, which, if there is any sort of fatigue or injury scare, smart thing to do, especially at a young age. What is the situation with the wrist? Are you good to go? Was it just a wear and tear type thing from playing so much tennis?

[Vicki Mboko (Tennis Player)]

Yeah. So the wrist thing. It was actually. It happened in the semifinals where I fell against Elena. And I mean, it was hurting pretty badly during the match, but I taped it up as much as I could and thankfully I was able to finish the semifinal. The morning of the final, it was. There was a little bit of a scare because it was. My wrist didn't feel correct. Like, it didn't feel right. So they decided me and My team decided to go to the clinic nearby and we were able to do an MRI and an X ray just, just to make sure nothing was too serious before the final because honestly, the way I woke up, I was honestly contemplating if I should play the final. It was really not great. It was hard to even like do daily activities like brush my hair, brush my teeth, stuff like that. So yeah, we wanted to go just to scan it to see if anything was. Was horrible. Thankfully, no, it was just, it was some slight, like there was a lot of inflammation. It was really swollen my wrist. But I think I was confident I really wanted to play the final. So I really had to to push it through and with a lot of anti inflammatory painkillers, Advils, I was able to play. I wrapped up my wrist pretty tight for the final. Some moments in the match it was quite bugging me a little bit and it was pretty tough to serve as well. But I think I wanted it so bad that I was able just to play through the pain and with the adrenaline going on. I didn't feel much at the end of the day. But yeah, even after the tournament it wasn't doing so great. But I've been doing a lot of rehab and I've been taking quite good care of it, so it was, it was a given. I wasn't able to play Cincinnati or Cleveland, so I just stayed home, did a lot of treatment, did a lot of rehab, prevention, and we're just doing as much as I can possibly to be ready for the US Open. But it's doing a lot better now.

[John Wertheim (Tennis Analyst)]

I don't know if you've ever sparked up YouTube and watched your coach play. She was kind of a. About attacking players, spoke her mind. I'm not sure her game necessarily reminds anyone of yours. Talk about Natalie Togat, how you guys hooked up and what she has contributed to the enterprise here.

[Vicki Mboko (Tennis Player)]

Yeah, so I've been with Tennis Canada, the federation, since I was about 13, 14. So she was just ultimately a touring coach for us at the beginning. As a junior, I didn't work with her, I was with another coach. But she's. We've been in the same group traveling for quite a while now. So when I joined back with Tennis Canada this the beginning of this year, she was kind of assigned to me and I've been traveling with her ever since. But yeah, she, because she's known me for so long and kind of knows what I like, what I don't like and how I can be on and off the court, I think we've been able to kind of adapt to, to how I like things. And I think we, she. I, I like her a lot. She's, she's really, she's really great on and off the court. And I mean, she used to play as well, so she has that kind of insight of how it is on the tour and how things can be good or bad. So I think I feel, feel pretty comfortable with her kind of guiding me some ways and teaching me some, some new things as well.

[Host (Possibly a tennis commentator or podcast host)]

I remember watching her play, there was not a deficit of feel and flair and touch with, with watching Tozio play that way. I enjoyed that for a long time. As we project forward, obviously all eyes are going to be on New York very soon. Your process to New York is, is a little different. Like you were a lucky loser in, in Wimbledon. You, you know, have had to kind of play and claw your way into events and all year now, it's great. You get to start, you get to start in the tournament. This is fantastic. How is that process going to be a little bit different? And how much are you looking forward to playing in a US Open as a direct entry?

[Vicki Mboko (Tennis Player)]

Yeah, I mean, this is such a new experience for me. Honestly. If you would have told me a year ago I was going to be direct acceptance into the main draw of US Open, I would have told you you're crazy. But yeah, I'm super excited for it. I think I'm, I'll even be seated, which is insane to think about. But yeah, of course there's a different approach because you, you already know that. You've, you've, you're in the draw, so you kind of, you have a clear, more clear schedule of what things are going to look like the, this week. So, yeah, I think I'm, I'm, I'm heading to New York on, on Tuesday and I think I have a lot more time to prepare as well. And no, I think I'm really excited. First of all, I think I'm just, I want to have as much fun as possible, and it's my first time also playing in the main draw or in US Open on WTA Tour, so that's a really new experience for me. So I think along the way I'm just gonna, I'm just gonna ease into it. And yeah, I think it's a really great opportunity. So I just want to capitalize on as much as I can and honestly just have as much fun as possible possible.

[Host (Possibly a tennis commentator or podcast host)]

Vicki, thank you for coming unserved. I know that the demands on your time are probably outsized at this point. As someone who's been a lifelong fan of this sport, I think you're such a breath of fresh air. I love the way you compete. I love the way you prepare. I love the gratitude you seem to show for everything and everyone. I wish you continued success. Kick ass in New York and, and we'll see you up there. Thanks again for joining. Served.

[Vicki Mboko (Tennis Player)]

Thank you so much for having me. That was really fun.

[Host (Possibly a tennis commentator or podcast host)]

I mean, one, thank you for Wilson, for getting Vicki and Boca. They put the whole thing together, so we appreciate them. And two, she's turning 19. I was a moron when I was 19. These prototypes are just coming out. Mature, thoughtful. JW, what were your takeaways? You've probably spent more time, you know, investing in her and listening to her. I mean, she's amazing.

[John Wertheim (Tennis Analyst)]

I wanted to shake her hand and I wanted to shake her parents and siblings hands as well. That was rather impressive. I wonder, too. I mean, you were in this. I mean, we sort of. You talked about this a bit. I wonder if she's the youngest of four and significantly so. I wonder. I mean, we can play psychologist and wonder what role that plays, but yeah, I mean, this sport, traveling around the world at 18, building your ranking, going to cities, but also going to Rome, Georgia, that might be the cumulative effect, what we just heard for the last 15 or 20 minutes, that was really impressive.

[Host (Possibly a tennis commentator or podcast host)]

Well, there's also, it's also so weird. It's like she just won a thousand. She's now seated. She's had, you know, the, the tennis world's eyes on her for the better part of three weeks now. And anytime you wanted to get her to a point where she was talking about her successes, she went back to. I'm just so happy to, to be in the main draw of an event, even play 1000, I got a wild card. I wanted to live up to it. Yeah, I'd say you might have lived up to it by winning in your home country. I, I'm blown away. I think she's amazing. She's great to watch. The physical presence, the mental presence. I wish her continued success. I, you know, she just so mature, as we said, I'm a stickler for time. I go crazy when people. We're sitting here kind of going over our show notes as we do. You know, we'll get on 10 minutes before, and John has always has a better question than I have. And then we kind of march through what, what our process is going to be, and she shows up five minutes earlier. We're like, whoa, that's never happened. What do we respond to this 18 year old who's ahead of schedule? Thank you Vicki and Boco for joining served. Thank you Wilson for for putting it together and we will see. Mike, what do we have this week? This is I'm a little lost on shows we Monday. We're we're going to recap Cincy later today, throw this interview on the that'll come out tomorrow morning and what else we got?

[Producer Mike]

We still have one more segment of this show so you're interrupt.

[Host (Possibly a tennis commentator or podcast host)]

We do.

[Producer Mike]

Yeah, yeah. We have winners and errors from John Wertheim.

[Host (Possibly a tennis commentator or podcast host)]

Oh, apparently. We'll be right back.

[Henry Blodgett]

I'm Henry Blodgett, host of Solutions from the Vox Media Podcast network. Every week I grill the world's best thinkers on how to actually fix our problems, starting with the US Economy. In our first episode out now, I asked Nobel prize winning economist Paul Krugman about everything, tariffs, the deficit, China, manufacturing, taxes. What is a good progressive tax scheme?

[Producer Mike]

The answer actually is 73%.

[Henry Blodgett]

So we can stop the fighting about that one. Follow Solutions with Henry Blodgett on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Cam Heyward]

All right, so here's the deal. Take a Steelers captain who's been bleeding black and gold and playing for the Steelers for over a decade. That's me, Cam Hayward. Add in football minds who live and breathe this game and you get Not Just Football with Cam Hayward, a weekly podcast where we break down the sport we all live for. We talk about what's really happening in the league, sit down with players you know and respect and shine a light on the moment that don't make the highlight reels. Whether it's the season predictions, sharing what it's really like in the locker room, or diving into the real stories behind the headline. We've got it all. This podcast is about having fun and giving fans an inside look at what makes football incredible. Catch not just Football with Cam Heyward on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast. Like subscribe, follow all that good stuff. Let's get after it.

[Host (Possibly a tennis commentator or podcast host)]

All right, welcome back to Served. I know that you all are super pumped because by the time you've watched this, you've seen the Cincy finals Alcaraz Center. We had an interview with tennis's new star, Vicki and Boko. But now the moment you've all been waiting for, Winners and Heirs with John Wertheim.

[John Wertheim (Tennis Analyst)]

We need real theme music beyond Andy whistling here. All right, let's do, let's go real quick. Just jump in here so timestamp, we're gonna do this before the Monday final. We can talk about the wisdom of Monday afternoon finals later. How about a winner for rivalry? This is the 14th meeting of Sinner and Alcaraz. You know how many times McEnroe and Borg played each other? 14. These guys have played each other as many times at ages, whatever, 22 and 23 as one of the great storied rivalries in tennis history. Long live rivalry. Regardless of who you root for and who you like, when one player has another player in their sights, we all benefit. What do you think?

[Host (Possibly a tennis commentator or podcast host)]

Yeah, no brainer. And this is just the beginning. I mean, tennis forever has thrived on. On rivalries, matchups, and it seems like a lot of the time, it's like the personalities are different, the playing styles are slightly different, and here we are again, right? It's like this is this generation's iconic rivalry that is forming in real time. And it's weird because to your point, with Borg and McEnroe, we feel like this is still growing. And we saw him in Grand Slam finals for the first time, even way back when, ten weeks ago. Right. And so to compare it and give that context, with Borg and McEnroe having only played 14 times, this is here. This rivalry is real. It's built. Now how far can it go? Amazing.

[John Wertheim (Tennis Analyst)]

All right, here's another winner. Did you happen to catch much of Terrence Ottman, the French qualifier ranked outside the top 100, who qualified and then get this beat Caboli, a week two player at Wimbledon, Joao Fonseca, who. Okay, the heat may be diminishing, but still one of the great prospects in this sport, Taylor Fritz Holgeruna, and played center to a tie break, ironically enough, because of draw cutoffs and tennis kookiness. He now gets to try and qualify for the U.S. open after that run. But 111 mile an hour forehand one. I mean, that Terrence Odman gave. Has anyone imagine how you would be responding to this if you were about to play a big match and before you went on court, your opponent said, hey, dude, I got something for you. Happy birthday. Here's a Pokemon card. Apart from the standout tennis, what a real character this guy revealed himself to be. Did you catch him giving Sinner the Pokemon card before their match? But Terence Ottman all around, two thumbs up.

[Host (Possibly a tennis commentator or podcast host)]

Yeah, and one of my favorite things is he has that kind of retro service motion, like that Roscoe Tanner. It gets just above your earlobe, and then you're just hitting it, and it. It Kind of is quirky, and you could see people struggling with the timing on, on, on returns, whether, whether it was Fritz or even the first set against center. If it takes center, you know, six service games to get a read on your serve, you're doing something right. You know, he's not giving it away out of the hand. A lot of fun to watch and listen. Ranking is one thing, but he talked about a bunch during this week. This is amazing because now I have the finances to actually plan my career in a responsible manner. Made $330,000 or somewhere thereabouts in Cincinnati was a ton of fun to watch. And also, I'm a broken record on this, John. When you mix surfaces and all of a sudden you come out and since he's playing hot fast, you get a variance in results, you get a variance in playing styles where Otman might not win on a slow, you know, Indian Wells hardcourt where the serve kind of bounces and checks up and people have time and we see that kind of robo tennis like we, we. We've come to see. Now, I am all for variants. Make it slow, make it lightning fast. Let's invite these different styles, like an Ottman, into the world because it's just fun.

[John Wertheim (Tennis Analyst)]

Agree and agree. Okay, one. One more winner, and then we'll move on. Did. Did you catch Jasmine Paolini's quarterfinal match against Coco Gauff? Big match, rematch of their Rome final. Paolini at one point rolls her ankle and it looked really bad on tv. They go to a medical timeout, and there is Jasmine Paolini smiling and joking with the trainer. You would have thought she had just gotten cotton candy at Kings island. Not that she had rolled her ankle and maybe jeopardizing not only this great tournament, but her U.S. open prospects. And I wonder, not every player is the same. It's not one size fits all. But she is so loose and so genial and smiling and positive and optimistic when she plays. For all the intensity we see and the focus on coaches who are yelling, lock in. I wonder if, apart from her breathtaking tennis that has, that has only, you know, it's got. Been just as good in 2025 as 2024, by the way. I wonder if her attitude and personality and winning ways, if there isn't something instructive there about playing with a smile. And even when you're getting your ankle rolled on a Friday night session against a Grand Slam champion on the other side of the net, you turn it into a. A happy occasion. If there isn't Something instructive there.

[Host (Possibly a tennis commentator or podcast host)]

Well, one, she's a matchup problem for a lot of players on Tour. Coco not withstanding, right. The way she plays, the variety with which she can play, that's. That's story A forever because she has really figured out the nice pieces to her game to make her a matchup problem. B, Kings island reference. Well done. If you know, you know. And lastly, what I'm realizing at the grand old age of 42, almost 43, is that I don't think you can make everyone the same. Right. If you would have tried to take John McEnroe and make him smile on the court, I think he would have been less effective. I think if you would have tried to make Pete Sambras into a showman, right, where he actually gives a shit that someone's watching in the stadium, I don't think it's as effective. I like defaulting to the personality of the player and figuring out the best working mechanisms. Right. You know, work notwithstanding. Right. I don't think you can be happy, jokey and lazy. I think you could be hardworking, happy, jokey, confident, the whole thing. But I like the fact that we seem to be defaulting to the base setting of personalities and then building players up from there. I remember early 90s, it was all like, okay, you have to be quiet. You can't say anything. You can't smile, you can't show weakness. That shit's out the door. Look at Alcaraz, look at Paolini. I like where we're going with this. We're not trying to square peg, round hole it with attitude. And Paolini is a great example of that.

[John Wertheim (Tennis Analyst)]

All right, let's do one error and then we can move on. But it's not really an error. It's more just a talking point, which is this is, you know, this 2025 is going to go down as the hottest year on record, overtaking 2024, which overtook 2023. This is not meant as a political statement. Planet's not getting cooler. And this has a big impact on tennis. I don't know if you saw Medvedev dunking his head in the ice bucket. We saw Arthur Rindernach basically pass out on the court. Paolini joking, of course, but talked about how the ice sausages on her neck were a factor in her success. The little the ice vest at a challenger event, a player actually left the court and was subsequen defaulted for taking a shower in between sets. It was so hot, he jumped in a nice shower this is something tennis has to reckon with. It doesn't mean every event should be indoors. But I do feel like in this age of climate change and global warming, we are asking athletes, and not just the athletes in their physical primes, but fans and chair umpires and ball kids. Climate is a real factor that I think tennis needs to confront. And whether that means later start times or whether that means some other, you know, the Australia has that index. I do feel like this sport, and perhaps this sport singularly has a real issue with climate change that it probably needs to address in some form.

[Host (Possibly a tennis commentator or podcast host)]

John, you got to stop being an idiot, all right? Like, just because 2023 was hotter than 22 and that 2024 was hotter than 2023 and 2025 was hotter than 2024, 20 doesn't mean there's a trend. So you need to cut that shit out right now. Do you understand, data man?

[John Wertheim (Tennis Analyst)]

It's screw you and your objective. Objective truth is really out of vogue.

[Host (Possibly a tennis commentator or podcast host)]

Screw your math in facts. Yeah, I don't know how we plan it because I guarantee you at some point in the next two weeks we're going to say, geez, the US Open needs to start their night session earlier because we can't finish at 3 in the morning. And also we should have later start times. Like, I don't know what the solution here is and I don't know, you know, it's hard to build stadiums with covers because shadows go across, you play. I don't know what that there's an easy solution to this. I also think it does matter and we'll see what the pushback is here. I felt personally that when I was going to go down to Australia and it was going to be, you know, 140 degrees on court, I had to do my physical training. I did it in Austin, Texas at that point for, you know, a month, my body was ready and then I would actually go acclimatize, right? I would go to, I would stop on the way over to Australia and get into the most extreme conditions I could. And 10 days later they felt less extreme than when I had first gotten there and had been in, you know, training in 40 degree weather. As people play less tournaments in this heat, right? Players are coming over later and later for the U.S. open. I do think we're seeing on top of everything you said, which obviously what I said at the top was a complete joke and everything you're saying is completely real because, you know, fucking science. But I do think the fact that like, you do need to acclimatize for extreme conditions, whether it's 98 degrees, 102, you can't just kind of happily fall into that in three days later, play a match that gets sideways in those conditions. I don't, I don't know that tennis can fix this issue. I think it needs to maybe be like a policy or earth type situation. But I do think as a player, if I'm noticing this trend, I would want to give myself as much time to acclimatize as possible. And it actually seems to be going the other way with people not coming over early for Washington, Canada, and then you get to Cincy and it's like, okay, I'm, I'm, I'm pretty hot right now. Yeah.

[John Wertheim (Tennis Analyst)]

And let's also, you know, I mean, there, no, there's no, it's an easy talking point, but it's complicated. And also conditioning is part of sports and part of tennis. Right. And you know, there should be. When you're Jim Courier and you're spending your December running wind sprint, there should be some reward for that. That said, when fan, you know, these plays interrupted because fans are fainting, I don't know if that rinderness was really. This is not a guy who's carrying around 50 extra pounds and hasn't gotten off his couch. When guys in their physical prime are literally collapsing on the court, you do wonder, what are we doing here? What are we going to do about this? But anyway, a storyline to follow as tennis rolls on and a hotter planet does as well.

[Host (Possibly a tennis commentator or podcast host)]

JW shooting this on a Monday, releases on a Tuesday. This mixed double spectacle right around the corner. Can you give me, can you give me a little bit on that, please?

[John Wertheim (Tennis Analyst)]

All right.

[Host (Possibly a tennis commentator or podcast host)]

See, I didn't want to put that.

[John Wertheim (Tennis Analyst)]

In the, in the winner or we reserve judgment. Right.

[Host (Possibly a tennis commentator or podcast host)]

This is separate winners and errors done.

[John Wertheim (Tennis Analyst)]

This is like, this is like a let court. This is a ball that hits the net and it could either go on one side or the other.

[Producer Mike]

So I'm so excited.

[John Wertheim (Tennis Analyst)]

The revamped, the revamped McDouble. You think it's a win no matter what. A friend of mine wrote me a funny text. He said it's basically Abev, which is anyone but Arani or Vavasori. What does that mean? The whole premise is that people want stars. And if we have a repeat of the team that won last year, Sarah, Ronnie and Andrea Vavasori, that would sort of.

[Producer Mike]

That's great. I think.

[Host (Possibly a tennis commentator or podcast host)]

I don't mind that. Like, then it gives more credibility to something like shuts yappers like, me up. Like, that's fine.

[John Wertheim (Tennis Analyst)]

I wish I had the. I gotta find the. The press release that the US Open put out on Friday. Basically saying, first of all, there's a protein or a vitamin sponsor. And then it said, you know, Jessica Pegula has repaired with Drac Draper, which seemed a little risque, but I think they just mean re. Hyphen paired that they've now become a team. And I think those were the names. And, you know, Jannik Sinner is looking for a pairing. He ended up getting Sin Yakova, which. Which is a nice call for him. Anyway, there's a lot of scrambling how Jannik Sinner is going to play a Cincinnati for final on a Monday night and then get to New York for mixed doubles.

[Producer Mike]

But so is Carlos.

[Host (Possibly a tennis commentator or podcast host)]

Not.

[John Wertheim (Tennis Analyst)]

Carlos is going to do it, too. I mean, this whole thing is.

[Producer Mike]

They could face off in the finals again.

[John Wertheim (Tennis Analyst)]

Wait, look, do you have the draw in front of your.

[Host (Possibly a tennis commentator or podcast host)]

I need. I need a second here. You guys are all. You guys are all hyping out.

[Producer Mike]

So pump.

[John Wertheim (Tennis Analyst)]

You go. You go.

[Host (Possibly a tennis commentator or podcast host)]

You're like my son talking about getting, like, a baseball glove or something. Like, okay, you have this as a let cord rolling over. It's Monday. We're talking about the US Open starting on Tuesday. This is. I'm Babe Ruth. I'm calling. This is going. Going to be a ratings bonanza. And also, if you're center or Alcaraz, I don't know. It's kind of like the perfect thing. Instead of going out and hitting on a Tuesday, getting you like, you're under the lights, you're getting match conditions. This could be perfect. Mike, you have some of the first round matchups. I haven't heard these yet.

[Producer Mike]

I have the full draw. The full draw came out yesterday.

[Host (Possibly a tennis commentator or podcast host)]

Give it to me. Put it in my veins.

[Producer Mike]

All right, so top half, we got Pula Draper vs Radicano Alcaraz.

[John Wertheim (Tennis Analyst)]

Are you fucking kidding me?

[Host (Possibly a tennis commentator or podcast host)]

Alcaraz. I'm sorry. Can you raise your hand if you thought this wasn't going to work? Or do you don't think this is going to work? Are you out of your mind?

[John Wertheim (Tennis Analyst)]

Go.

[Producer Mike]

Danilovich Djokovic versus Andreeva Medvedev.

[Host (Possibly a tennis commentator or podcast host)]

Oh, really? Novak Andreeva? Like, oh, really? Tuesday before the tournament starts. Really?

[Producer Mike]

Ego Rude versus Keys and Tiafo.

[Host (Possibly a tennis commentator or podcast host)]

Give me a break.

[Producer Mike]

Next in my veins, Osaka Monfis versus McNally and Musetti.

[Host (Possibly a tennis commentator or podcast host)]

Great. All of it.

[Producer Mike]

Now onto the bottom half. Right, so these are the people that could potentially face those players, right? We have Siakova Sinner, by the way, Sinner, Sneaky.

[Host (Possibly a tennis commentator or podcast host)]

I mean, he's just been making good decisions. Sinyakova, Great doubles player, good singles player.

[Producer Mike]

Potential Buss. Saw Bencic, Zverev.

[Host (Possibly a tennis commentator or podcast host)]

Oh, that's.

[Producer Mike]

I mean, I got Townsend, Shelton, Verse, Amanda Anisimova and Rune.

[Host (Possibly a tennis commentator or podcast host)]

How much do you think Anisimova is looking forward to returning that kick serve that bounces the opposite way? Yeah, this is going to be great.

[Producer Mike]

We got the legend, Venus Williams and Riley, Opalca, Verse and Rublev.

[Host (Possibly a tennis commentator or podcast host)]

This is amazing. And I'm not talking about the mixed doubles. It's that you've pronounced most of the names correctly.

[Producer Mike]

I had the Frenetics in front of.

[Vicki Mboko (Tennis Player)]

Me.

[Producer Mike]

And then Irani and Vasasori.

[Host (Possibly a tennis commentator or podcast host)]

Vavasori. You were just. Oh, man, you threw one up, too.

[Producer Mike]

Rebakking and Fritz.

[Host (Possibly a tennis commentator or podcast host)]

This is. I mean, I'm sorry.

[Producer Mike]

Even if they're mixed double specialists, that's a hard.

[Host (Possibly a tennis commentator or podcast host)]

The number one. The number one thing I've heard from the doubles community over the last however many years. We have to promote the game of doubles. We have to get more eyeballs on doubles. Now, if that is your number one priority, it's the game of doubles and not your sliver of what I get from the game of tennis. It's doubles as a whole. We need eyeballs, we need marketing, we need all of this stuff. Now, is it we want doubles players or we want the overall game to benefit? If your option is we want the overall game to benefit, we want more eyeballs on this variation of the game, this will be an absolute ratings bonanza. This is a win. If you. You don't like tennis, you don't like tennis, hit me in the comments. I don't give a shit. You do not like tennis. If you hear those matchups on a Tuesday and a Wednesday night and you're like, no, not interested.

[Producer Mike]

This is like video games, video game pairings.

[Host (Possibly a tennis commentator or podcast host)]

Give me a break. Put it into my veins. Thank you for watching. Served. I am going to go watch the mixed doubles. Something I never thought I'd say. I'm going to go watch the mixed doubles on Wednesday night and I can't wait to see it. We got shows all week, Mike. Tell us what they are.

[Producer Mike]

Yeah. So we'll be up in New York. We'll start with our draw special at the Fan Week outside of Arthur ashe. It'll be 2pm on Thursday. So the draw comes out and we will wait like, probably like an hour or so and then we'll get on that stage and we'll. We'll hit Andy with the shocking draws and he can regale us with his.

[Host (Possibly a tennis commentator or podcast host)]

Picks and I don't see the draw before we go on. Probably a little bit harder to hide from it on site, but I'm going to do my best. I'm going to go sit in a.

[Producer Mike]

Corner and then a couple days later we'll be up at the hall of Fame. We'll doing another live show leading into the awesome induction ceremonies. That'll also be at 2 o', clock, also from their fan week. And then we'll be sprinkling some other quick serves all the first week and then we'll be back in New York. September 3rd is September 3rd Sean. September 2nd we'll be doing a live show right outside the gates and there's details for that in our socials. So give us a follow. Hit subscribe. You'll find all the details everywhere that social. Sophie and Ella are posting them and.

[Host (Possibly a tennis commentator or podcast host)]

Definitely hit subscribe because we see the data and we see that all of you are listening to the Sharapova interview and you're not clicking subscribe. So do us a little favor, just click on it. We are going to be giving you as much content as we can during the US Open live shows. Quick serves, give us your feedback, tell us what you want to hear about. I can't wait. Probably my favorite time of the year going to New York. And now the US Open is fricking three weeks long. So give me more of it. JW thank you Mike. I'll see you later. Thank you for listening to all parts of our little Frankenstein episode that will be out Tuesday morning. And thanks for watching and listening to Serve Subscribe Support for this podcast and the following message comes from America's Navy the Navy offers new graduates hands on training and experience in careers like computer science, aviation and medicine, plus education and sign on bonuses. Parents help your grads start their career [e-mail].