Tim Henman Joins Served LIVE from the 2025 Laver Cup FINALS

Summary

Served with Andy Roddick

Episode: Tim Henman Joins Served LIVE from the 2025 Laver Cup FINALS
Date: September 21, 2025
Host: Andy Roddick
Guests: Jon Wertheim (“JW”), Tim Henman

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Overview

This live episode of "Served" with Andy Roddick was recorded during the 2025 Laver Cup Finals. The conversation celebrates the unique energy and competitive drama of this year’s event, with a focus on Team World’s surprising dominance and the adaptability of Team Europe. Special guest Tim Henman, Team Europe’s Vice-Captain, offers insight into coaching at this level, the team’s mindset after a rough day, and the spirit of the Laver Cup. The hosts reflect on notable player performances (notably Alex de Minaur, Taylor Fritz, and Carlos Alcaraz), the event’s evolving format, and the camaraderie that defines the Laver Cup.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Laver Cup Atmosphere and Event Growth

• Epic Crowd and Format Evolution:

  • Andy Roddick marvels at the sell-out crowds despite being in the “post-Roger, Rafa, Serena, Novak” era.
  • “If you would have told me that tennis was going to thrive and that there would be 18 or 19,000 people in that arena on a Friday afternoon, one, I'd be like, don't people work?...what a win.” — Andy (02:01)
  • The ability of the Laver Cup to connect generations, with Rod Laver present and young talents like Fonseca participating.

• Multimedia Experience:

  • Integration of video, fan interactions, and audience engagement described as “a dream come true” for the hosts.

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2. Team World’s Surprising Success — Recaps & Analysis

• Day 2 Recap:

  • Team World sweeps all four matches, taking a 9-3 lead.
  • "Started day two trailing 3-1. Andre Scott went on to sweep all four matches. Now lead 9 to 3. It's pretty good." — Andy (05:23)

• Alex de Minaur’s (Demon) Standout Performance

  • Tactical brilliance in using the slice against Zverev.
  • "He was clear as day with his decisions...That's a clutch decision by Demon." — Andy (05:46)
  • First serve points won for Zverev was a career-low 48% — a testament to the disruptive tactics.

• Cerundolo’s Upset & Crowd Engagement

  • “I don't know that I've ever seen Serendolo play to the crowd as much as he did here." — Andy (08:13)
  • Noted for his high-octane forehand and emotional win over Rune.

• Taylor Fritz Topples Carlos Alcaraz

  • Fritz dominates with versatility and movement:
    • “Taylor Fritz, when he has two feet underneath themselves, can absolutely rip.” — Andy (09:24)
    • Carlos’s struggles attributed to lack of adaptation to indoor conditions and insufficient practice time
    • Fritz wins an important psychological battle: “He’s a gym rat who plays whenever he can… He may never be Roger Federer or may never have Alex Diminour's raw speed, but this is someone who's made these incremental upgrades and they've made a huge difference.” — JW (26:15)

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3. The Carlos Alcaraz Equation

• Post-US Open Fatigue

  • Discussion of Alcaraz’s rigorous schedule and physical/emotional toll after a career run:
    • "At some point something has to give. And I think we have to give Carlos Alcaraz props because it would have been very easy to take the month and then finish the year that he actually showed up..." — Andy (21:27)

• Indoor Challenges

  • His historic struggles indoors, with the court’s muted bounce neutralizing some of his weapons.

• Leadership and Character

  • Despite the tough day, Alcaraz displays leader’s mentality by volunteering for both doubles and singles the next day — an inspiration for the entire team.

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4. Revisiting the “Demon” Narrative

• Misconceptions Dispelled

  • Andy challenges the “counterpuncher only” label for de Minaur:
    • “Alex D. Minor's shot shape is flat, it's through the court, it stays low. Right? That's a superpower, is ball flight.” (14:01)
  • Emphasizes his offensive skill set, strategic court positioning, and ability to ‘come in’ both in singles and doubles.

• MVP Recognition

  • Both Andy and JW agree that Alex de Minaur has been Team World’s most valuable player, alongside Andre Agassi’s leadership.

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5. Dynamic Analysis of Matchups and Tactics

• Adapting to Court Conditions

  • Respect for how Team World adjusted quickly (e.g., using more slice per Pat Rafter’s recommendations).
    • “They get day one. They Start getting the feedback from their teammates. How is this court playing? You saw quadruple the amount of chips yesterday...” — Andy (08:48)

• Doubles Laterals

  • Alex Mickelson’s emergence and Agassi’s double-down strategy of leveraging his net skills to disrupt Team Europe.

• Strategic Outlook for Finals Day

  • The potential of a dramatic, all-deciding Fritz-Zverev match is dissected.
  • Value of the Laver Cup’s alternate structure (“no majors indoors”, doubles before singles, points escalation):
    • "This format lends itself to so much absolute craziness. There is a slim possibility that we see Carlos Alcaraz play three matches well in a single day." — Andy (40:59)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Andy on the new era:
  “If you would have told me…there would be 18 or 19,000 people in that arena on a Friday afternoon…I’d be like—don’t people work?...what a win.” (02:01)

• JW on Taylor Fritz’s development:
  "He sits there and studies the stat sheet like it's a sacred text..." (26:15)

• Andy on de Minaur’s game:
  "Alex D. Minor's shot shape is flat, it's through the court, it stays low. That's a superpower..." (14:01)

• JW praises the Laver Cup’s engaging format:
  "Labor cup, baby. It's a genius of the scoring, isn't it?" (41:30)

• Tim Henman on Carlos Alcaraz’s leadership:
  "He comes into this event with so much passion, enthusiasm, energy, and that is just a joy. And when you've played best of five set matches and you're down two sets of love, it feels like the winning line is a long way away. But all great comebacks start with one small step..." (48:49)

• Tim Henman on his Laver Cup experience:
  “I haven't had this much fun at a tennis event since I stopped [playing]…It’s been such an honor and a privilege to be here. I've had so much fun.” (50:16)

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Tim Henman Interview Highlights (43:44–54:08)

• On Team Europe’s Tough Day:
  "Yesterday was a tough day but I certainly tip my hat to Team World...Diminore set the tone with that game plan." (44:38)

• On Team Morale and Carlos’s Energy:
  "The vibe was brilliant. Yeah, we didn't win a match yesterday. We were thrilled." (45:45)
  "Carlos Alcaraz, I'm slightly stating the obvious here, but ... his energy is so good. And this morning when we came on the practice court ... he let out this sort of yell of, you know, I'm so pumped. He said, today's going to be a great day..." (47:44)

• Special Moments & Team Camaraderie:
  Jannik Sinner’s leadership and pre-match huddle ("when I say yeah, I want you to say yeah") (50:36)

• On the Laver Cup’s Vision and Legacy:
  “To see Rod Laver watching Fonseca, who was born 12 days before Andre retired...the goal is to connect generations—hook, line and sinker.” (52:49)

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Segment Timestamps

• Opening reflections and crowd appreciation: 01:06–02:26
• Team World’s Day 2 sweep analysis: 05:23–07:38
• Demon vs. Zverev match breakdown: 05:46–08:39
• Cerundolo’s big win: 07:38–08:47
• Taylor Fritz vs. Alcaraz analysis: 09:24–11:38, revisit at 18:26–24:13
• Alcaraz: fatigue, preparation, indoor struggles: 18:26–24:06
• On de Minaur’s game and MVP status: 14:01–15:37, 13:38–14:01
• Henman interview begins: 43:44
• Henman on team energy, Alcaraz, team talk: 44:38–50:36
• Macro/legacy of Laver Cup: 52:11–54:08

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Final Note from Andy Roddick

"I just want to say a quick thank you … to come out here and see actual people and feedback and hear the enthusiasm. Thank you for that gift that you gave us for the last four days. We really appreciate it." (54:09)

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Summary by Segment:

• Celebration of Laver Cup’s new generation and success.
• Tactical, statistical breakdowns of the Day 2 matches and player performances, especially for Team World.
• Insightful commentary on the evolution and narratives of stars like Carlos Alcaraz, Alex de Minaur, and Taylor Fritz.
• Behind-the-scenes look at Team Europe’s mindset with Tim Henman, highlighting sportsmanship, leadership, and the tournament’s purpose in connecting tennis history.

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For further info or to watch highlights, see the Served Podcast on YouTube or follow on social media.

Transcript

[Andy]

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[Andy]

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[Andy]

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[JW (John Wertheim)]

Roger Federer.

[Andy]

Yeah. Ice cream. And we're gonna. We're gonna play all the hits. We're gonna play all the hits. We're served. Brought to you by ServiceNow. This is served live. This has been such an amazing experience here at labor cup this week. We show up on Thursday to do our. I was told not to call it a dumb little podcast anymore. Yeah, a little podcast. And it looked. It's looked like this all week. You all have been so beautiful to us. Thank you so much for coming and watching our show. And the other thing is, if you would have told me that post, Roger Rafa, Serena Novak, I'm going to. I'm going to take a risk because I think Novak takes us as a challenge. Probably closer to the end than he is the beginning. Is that fair?

[JW (John Wertheim)]

Not gonna play into his 60s?

[Andy]

I don't know. He might. But out of that era, if you would have told me that tennis was going to thrive and that there would be 18 or 19,000 people in that arena on a Friday afternoon, one, I'd be like, don't people work? Two, just what a win. So give yourselves a round of applause. You're making tennis.

[JW (John Wertheim)]

This is awesome. You know, we started this solely as a podcast way back in 2024. Now we're a little more multimedia, so one of the things we can do is add video elements. So, for example, when our Brazilian fans I see here, we can talk about the lineup today are wearing cool Fonseca shirts, we can show them. Do you see this gentleman in the front row?

[Andy]

Yes.

[JW (John Wertheim)]

How cool is that?

[Andy]

25 years ago, a photo. That's what I told someone I don't. You give this to someone on our team. He's holding up a picture of. I'm looking at a. So for those who are watching and aren't seeing this right now, they can see it.

[JW (John Wertheim)]

We can share this now.

[Andy]

Oh, my gosh. I'm not used to being able to have like. This is like a. Oh, that's a thing. Where is that?

[JW (John Wertheim)]

Andy?

[Andy]

Do you want it?

[JW (John Wertheim)]

You think you can pick me up still?

[Andy]

That one? No, I don't. I'm looking at a grown man who looks like he could grow a beard. Show me a picture of him when he was a child and I'm holding him up. That was a Burbank Challenger 20.

[JW (John Wertheim)]

Wow.

[Andy]

I, I appreciate you being here, man. That's, that's great. What's your name? Neil. You're the man. Thank you for, thank you for coming with us. But just to win. I know we've, I know we've talked about it and I, I, I was able to watch an afternoon session in Boston in 2021 with Roger, who I don't know if any of you watched the show yesterday. That guy, I'm telling you, people are going to like him someday. Yeah.

[JW (John Wertheim)]

But kindness and humanity shines through when we finally open up that valve. I don't really going to like it.

[Andy]

I mean, that's what everyone says. But he told me I had a thick neck. Yeah, he did.

[JW (John Wertheim)]

That's just, it's accurate facts. Yeah, I was going to say.

[Andy]

Okay, if we're going to go there, can we talk about John Wertheim, stylist from yesterday? Oh, he was so swaggy. It was unbelievable. What, what was the quote? Sophie, just yell it. What was John who told John Wertheim he could be that swaggy or something like that? See, Swaggy. That means you were wearing a jean blazer.

[JW (John Wertheim)]

You like that?

[Andy]

Yes. You were dressed like you had three top 10 hits in the 90s for like an alt rock band is what you look like yesterday to give you up. There it is. There it is. Look, there it is. Yeah, look at that. Look at this thing. Look how cool you look. All right. The double cuff turn. That's right. Look at that cuff.

[JW (John Wertheim)]

Black, black.

[Andy]

That's unbelievable. Were you hiding snacks in that sleeve?

[JW (John Wertheim)]

This is what clock twice a day.

[Andy]

What is happening? It's like you like that. The Federer show, John, all of us now. He's all business.

[JW (John Wertheim)]

I was going to say it's.

[Andy]

Who are you wearing? Tell us about it.

[JW (John Wertheim)]

Now it's party on top business now. All right, let's. Should we talk tennis and.

[Andy]

Yeah, let's say talk tennis. I don't think I'm ready to get past that yet. I don't. I mean, we can. All right, Producer Mike, give us a run. I haven't even introduced on my team. Producer Mike, Give it up to my far left, everybody. We've gotten to his word. Wardrobe choices already, but haven't gotten to his name. John Wertheim, you know him from tennis channel in 60 minutes. All right, Mike. Upset specials yesterday. I don't know that anyone predicted a team World sweep, but give us the. Give us the. Let's go.

[JW (John Wertheim)]

Yeah.

[Andy]

Team World. Team World. Started day two trailing three one. Andre Scott went on to sweep all four matches. Now lead nine to three. It's pretty good. Let's get into the highlights, though. Let's just show the people what they want. I can't believe that we actually have a show that has highlights. Let's get into these things. Demon, who, by the way, wasn't. Look at him using this slice early, keeping the ball down. Zverev, 6 foot 6, picking and choosing his spots. Watch this decisiveness right here. He was going in on that ball before he even hit it, right? He had already made that decision. He was clear as day with his decisions. All. All day he was going to that slice. You saw a lot of the guys with this court keeping the ball down with the slice. That's an unbelievable volley with someone who is as quick and moves as fast as. As Verav. Zverev was not happy with his form in the first set. Said he fought pretty well in the second set. But Demon also. Look at the hit volleys. That one is a joke. You will not see that at your local club. Taking one from even Andre was. Was getting religious with that one, but hits that little chip cross court passing shot wide open. But listen, Zverev, he's going, I'm not done yet. I've won a bunch of matches. Most winning labor cup player of all time. And Demon too much at the finish here, though. Again, making that decision to come in before he hits it. And you also saw in that highlight, right? Demon had hit how many drop volleys in the highlight? Three or four that we saw only there. It's not an accident that Zver tries to come in on that last one, right? He has that last fall. He goes, this guy's been beating me with that short volley all day. The right call comes in. Demon sees it out of the corner of his eye, plays it deep to win the match. That's a clutch decision by Demon. And you can't blaze Vera for looking for what he's actually been shown all day long. A as we look at the rest of it. First serve points, 1. 48% for Alex Ver. That has to be the lowest number of his entire career. This is not a server court. Right. It's slow, it's low. Tough to get it up out of the zone. But when you win more points on a percentage basis on your second serve than you do on your first serve. And your Alex Verev. That's not the one. What were your takeaways?

[JW (John Wertheim)]

We talked about this yesterday. This is someone who also doesn't always take big risks on his serve. Just a sort of a strange match overall. Here we are. Let's. Let's go to our second match.

[Andy]

Yeah.

[JW (John Wertheim)]

This was momentum for Team World. And then what happened, Andy?

[Andy]

Yeah. If you bet the other side of anything I said yesterday, congratulations. The one I did get right was Cyrundolo. And I've never gotten a prediction about Serendalo right. In my entire life. But able to create speed off of the forehand side and the energy with which Team World is playing. You got the momentum. Demon set the tone. And then Cyrulo. Look at it. Even though Rune wins this Runo wins this point. Look at. You cannot put a volley away like it. He's hitting three. You've never seen a tournament with more three and four shot combos at the net. So not easy. But Serendo Low can create power off that forehand side anytime. Gives him the lawnmower. Agassi says, I want to do it too. We're all doing the lawnmower. The grass is significantly cut. It is all good. That is a shot that works on any surface. I don't know that I've ever seen Serendo Low play to the crowd as much as he did here. And we're going to see him take this back in line to finish the court. That was a huge win for Team World. The chest bump.

[JW (John Wertheim)]

Look at that.

[Andy]

I don't know if they.

[JW (John Wertheim)]

They missed it the second time, did they?

[Andy]

That chest bump looks a little less awkward against Serendo from Andre than it did against Opelka.

[JW (John Wertheim)]

Yeah, exactly.

[Andy]

I'll tell you how much right there. But listen again. Returners guys winning 40% of their return points. That's not something we see week in week out on tour. But also what's amazing to me is you give the best players in the world one look, right? They get day one. They Start getting the feedback from their teammates. How is this court playing? You saw quadruple the amount of chips yesterday. Like, let's get it low and let's have the ball kind of die out on approach. That's similar to what Pat Rafter was saying here yesterday. He told us they need to hit more slices. Then all of a sudden, we go watch the matches, and guess what happens? They hit more slices. It's almost like he's talking to him, right?

[JW (John Wertheim)]

Both of them, though.

[Andy]

Yeah. So Rundelo looked great yesterday. Let's roll to the next one. Steph Curry in the house. Anyone like him around here? Oh, Chef Curry. And Taylor Fritz, when he has two feet underneath themselves, can absolutely rip. Taylor Fritz with the drop shot. Little role reversal here, Showtime. But not enough. Taylor Fritz, go and talk to me. Agassiz still caffeinated at night. This is just fantastic. But look at, like, Taylor Fritz hitting these little touch shots like you normally see. Carlos. And then he lays a prick. Let's just call it what it is.

[JW (John Wertheim)]

What we talked about yesterday, he did.

[Andy]

A lot right yesterday. That shot was not one of them. We've all done it. There's Carlitos, the wheels from Taylor Cristofer. Look at this guy go, lighting up the match. Crowd says, look at my wheels. I don't know. I felt like there was a lawnmower opportunity that was missed right there. But Taylor Fritz was just absolutely phenomenal, start to finish, flashing the volleys, flashing the drop shot, and says, look it, I'm not gonna. I'm not gonna repeat what he said there. He said it's this big and he was holding us. I don't know what he said.

[JW (John Wertheim)]

This gives me pleasures. Look at that.

[Andy]

I don't want Andre to, like, rip an acl, like, going for the. He's running up and down the sideline, these chest bumps. But second serve points, one again, it always tells the story, right? 38% for Carlitos, 67% for Taylor Fritz. There is no chance that that scoreline isn't going to be that way. If Carlos is winning 38% of second serve points and Taylor Fritz is winning 67%. What was what impressed you the most yesterday, JW?

[JW (John Wertheim)]

I mean, part of it's just the big picture. You know, 13 days ago, this guy won the US Open, his second major of the year. And we're all saying there's a new king and it's Carlos. We all remembered his heroics at Laver cup last year. To come out and win five games against a player who had never before beaten him. But I really think this was much more about Taylor Fritz and the variety. I mean, Taylor Fritz, I don't know if we think of him as one of the elite athletes out here, but you even saw from those highlights, the movement, you saw him crowding the net. That was really a comprehensive win for. I mean, Taylor Fritz will say this. He said, look, I beat Nadal and won Indian Wells, and this is one of the signature wins of my career.

[Andy]

Yeah. And also, like we were saying 13 days ago that there's a new king. Like, just so we're absolutely clear, that hasn't changed in the last 12 hours. Right. Like, that's. He's. He's still the guy. But we. I do. We have that last. We have the doubles match. Yeah, let's get into that for a second, and we'll get more into Carlos. Oh, this is. This is a joke. Look at that.

[JW (John Wertheim)]

Oh, look at that.

[Andy]

I don't even know how he got that. I don't know how it didn't hit him. Someone better call Dingles here. I don't know. Misses the overhead, if you know, you know, but this is just kind of the. This is what momentum can do, right? Everyone feeling good? And props to Demon. Oh, not only for that one. Look at this guy's ear. We got a bleeder. It looked like. Holy. It looked like Tyson got a hold of it. Watch this.

[JW (John Wertheim)]

We need a cup.

[Andy]

What? Too soon? It was in the 90s. Get over it. Like, if you didn't love Demon before that, I mean, this guy played the first match of the day and then played the last doubles match of the night and is up again today. Fantastic day from the Demon. You see great hands from Alex Mickelson there. Andre is just pumped. It is great to see him so engaged into it.

[JW (John Wertheim)]

And.

[Andy]

Oh, no, no, no. Let's just lay this down gently to finish off. To finish off the day. Mickelson is going to get the call again, first up today. But listen, let's. Let's spend a second on kind of the story of Alex Dimanour in this event. Right? Let's just. Level set in May. He says he makes the decision. I don't know that I can play this year. After New York going and playing Davis cup last week in Australia, coming all the way back to San Francisco as I'm laying out my schedule. It seems like a big ask, right? And no one blames him for that because, you know, we all have to make our scheduling decisions. There's, you know, a handful of tournaments Every year that don't fit. So then we lose Tommy Paul from Team World, we lose Ben Shelton from Team World who comes in to save the day.

[JW (John Wertheim)]

JW, a top 10 player who has looked and I think you really nailed it yesterday. Sort of the cheap thumbnail is, oh, he's a fast guy and a counter puncher and sort of a defensive cutie. This is offense. I mean his, his double skills. Alex Mickelson's too, by the way, which we should talk about. But no, so far. If there were an MVP apart from Andre Agassiz energy, I think Alex Diminore is our MVP so far.

[Andy]

Well, also. So yeah, absolutely. Props to him and that, that ear shot will live on forever, won't it? That's. That was pretty cool. But also we make a lot about the captaincy, the matchups, the in match strategic situation with, with the captains. How about the captain getting on the phone with Alex Dimanor and saying, I know you made this decision in May, but I need you. That might be the best captaining that he's done this in this entire event. And on the heels of a lot of great moments for Andre Agassi, like, I, I'm so curious and I wish we had him back on the show today. We don't. I'm sorry, but making that call and getting a yes from a guy who's six or seven in the world, not nothing. And to your point about Alex D. Manure, we get into the, the, the, the laziness sometimes of, okay, he's not as big as everyone else and he's really fast, so that must mean he's a purely defensive player. No. Alex D. Minor's shot shape is flat, it's through the court, it stays low. Right? That's a superpower, is ball flight. Right. But he's able to come in as evidenced by doubles. He comes in a lot in singles. Anyone who says that, if you're listening to any commentary, they're like, well, Demon's just a counter puncher. They haven't watched enough of his matches. The guy is so capable from all parts of the court. Now if we compare anyone to Carlos, then there are deficiencies, right? If we compare anyone to Roger or Rafa, then there are deficiencies. But let's not have our, you know, let's not have our head in the sand on, on this guy's awkward ability.

[JW (John Wertheim)]

No. And also this is someone who lost in PA Paris in, in May and he sort of said, look, I'm a little burnt out. And the players say that all the time. But this guy, you say, whoa, this, this is really. This, this, this might be a bit of a crisis because he took some time off, played some golf, got a second wind, and now here he is. He's back to winning matches. He's in the top 10. Yesterday against Zverev, I don't know if you guys were watching. I mean, it was almost half an hour before Zverev got on the board.

[Andy]

That.

[JW (John Wertheim)]

That's the number three player in the world. He was eight and two career against Diminor. It's a surface that actually probably favors Verav over Divinor. And it was 5030 15, I think. I mean, it was just really a comprehensive win by Alex against a guy who's given him trouble. A lot of credit to him.

[Andy]

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[Andy]

Yeah, I want to dive in a little bit more to Carlos and Taylor Fritz in that matchup also, but I don't know. Let's do something crazy. Let's hear what they think first. Do we have the audio from that, please? Yeah, let's roll it. Yeah. It was a good day at the office. Good, good way to start the day. Very happy with the win and happy to get some points for team World. I think today was more about me, to be very honest. I just started off extremely bad and it was 40 down within a couple of minutes. So the first set was gone very, very quickly, and then the second set I was fighting, but I was just not playing well. Yeah, I mean, I did a really good job of just hitting, hitting big, doing it consistently, and kind of pulling the trigger when I got the right balls to do it on and, you know, playing the important points pretty fearlessly. Yeah, today I needed more time on court. I needed more, more practice. I need more everything just to be better. I think that was an important thing that I needed. More sets, more points, more rallies that I think just having one court is pretty difficult, you know, for the teams to have the practices you wanted before, you know, the matches. But, you know, it isn't an excuse. But I think I felt like I needed more time to adapt my game to these conditions. Yeah, super happy to get the win. You know, tough day for me. Yesterday came really close a couple times and honestly, just super inspiring from all the boys, you know, coming out and getting straight sets wins over amazing players, you know, and just an unbelievable day at the office for all of us. So, jw, if you're. If you're Carlos Alcaraz and that happens last night, I think the question that is logical is do you stay blonde?

[JW (John Wertheim)]

Where's his brother when you need. Where's his brother? In his errant. In his errant shaver when you need it.

[Andy]

Yeah, I, I think, listen, let's. Let's level set what the last month of Carlos Alcaraz's life has looked like, right? And if we want to get crazy and super responsible with commentary, let's go back to April, right where he starts this run in Monte Carlo. I think he made the status so ridiculous. I'm off. I'M gonna be off by one. Has made nine or 10 straight finals, including a bunch of master series events, Monte Carlo, Rome. I mean, it just goes on and on and on. Three majors of which he won two and played maybe one of the best matches that I've ever seen in my, with my own eyeballs at Roland Garros wins the U.S. open. I think it's the best that I've ever seen him play. Which is saying something when you're talking about a phenom like a Carlos Alcaraz. He goes home, doesn't play. Davis cup, has two weeks before this event. There is no chance that a responsible coach, indoor fitness trainer says you're going to be putting in six hour days for these two weeks. At some point something has to give. And I think we have to give Carlos Alcaraz props because it would have been very easy to take the month and then finish the year that he actually showed up, that he played even when he's probably a little bit unprepared.

[JW (John Wertheim)]

Right, right. And I would add, not just in terms of tennis. There are a lot of responsibilities that come from being this global athlete. It wasn't as though he shakes sinner's hand at the net, gets on a plane and goes home. I mean there are all sorts of media and sponsor obligations and he's traveling like crazy. There's also an Asia swing. I mean, I think something else. And maybe you can talk about this. There are no majors played indoors, obviously, at least when there's not raining and there's a roof. But I think we forget sometimes about indoor tennis. There's only one big court, so it's not as though he can go and spend five or six days here practicing on the same surface without actually getting in the building. What did you make of his comments about preparation in terms of this court itself?

[Andy]

Yeah, he said, I would have liked more time on court. And when do you feel like you want more time on court? It's when you haven't been on court much, you know, so that kind of lends itself to, to being true. But again, there's just no world where he should have been taxing himself physically or mentally post US Open. Like there's just not a world where that actually happens. And, and frankly speaking, if you look back at the record for Carlos Alcaraz, indoors has been of tough surface for him. Right. At World Tour Finals at. I think he won his first one indoor event in Rotterdam. And why is that? We've talked about it this week over and over. The bounce Is a little bit more muted, right? You can't use the wind. And when you have the toolbox of a Carlos Alcaraz, right, You want some? You get him to Indian Wells and the ball's jumping over your shoulders. He goes, okay, I got a shot for that right on grass. Ball goes through the court. He goes, okay, I have a chip for that, right? With this muted bounce, especially in a matchup against a Taylor Fritz, where if it's in his pocket, he's as good of a ball striker as exists in the world right now, it's just a little bit more difficult. And also, like, what are we doing? This guy has created a shadow to where he loses to the number four player in the world who has been in major final and was in the semis of Wimbledon this year. And we're all going, what happened? How could that possibly be? We have.

[JW (John Wertheim)]

We've got a few hours and he can author a different script. That's the nice thing about this competition. We'll forget about the Fritz match in a couple hours.

[Andy]

Well, I want to. I want to get to Taylor Fritz also, because we have to give credit where credit's due, because he was an animal last night. He played absolutely fantastic. Last point on Carlos was an absolute struggle last night, right? Start to finish, got beat. He wouldn't tell you anything differently. I'm walking out to do a talk this morning. I thought I was up early. I'm sitting in the lobby. Who walks through at, you know, 8:00am to get out here to the court this morning? But Carlos Alcaraz, right, raises his hand to say, you know what? I'm going to play first up in doubles and then throw me back in again in singles, third up. The guy's here. He's not stopping just because last night didn't go his way.

[JW (John Wertheim)]

You want to talk about. You saw Taylor Fritz early today as well.

[Andy]

And so coincidentally, I saw Carlos go. And then I went to a different hotel to do a little talk. And then when I'm on the way out of that hotel, I see Taylor Fritz out front. So when I go and say hello, and I said, hey, listen, don't worry, you'll play better today, but shake it off. What a. What a match. Start to finish from. From Taylor Fritz. I mean, three and two. I mean, it's. That's a. That's a beating in professional tennis. Like that is. That is start to finish, end to end. I don't know that we've seen Carlos kind of get dominated like that. I think he had a rough One, maybe last year World Tour Finals indoors. But what were your takeaways from seeing from the performance that Taylor Fritz put on last night?

[JW (John Wertheim)]

Yeah, I mean, I think we heard Zverev say it was really more about me. Make. Make of that what you will. We respect candor. I'm not sure other people saw it the same way, but in this case, I think this was much more about the winning player than Carlos. Let me give you a hot take. You were talking about Taylor Fritz, and we sort of. I think we have admiration in part because you sort of know what his career was like when he started. Do you see any similarities? Stick with me here. I always thought Maria Sharapova was sort of a fascinating tennis figure. Cause the branding was all the. I feel pretty and I see where.

[Andy]

You'Re going with this.

[JW (John Wertheim)]

She was a grinder, and you'd see her on court 17 and she said, listen, I'm never gonna be the fastest player out there, but if I can get 10% better with my movement and with my speed, I can really make a difference. And I think I see a lot of similarities with Taylor Fritz, people. Oh, it's the Hugo Boss model and it's sort of the nice looking guy from Southern California and he's like a tennis gym rat who plays whenever he can. We've talked about that. He sits there and studies the stat sheet like it's a sacred text. And you saw, I mean, again, those highlights, I think if I'm in the Fritz camp, I sort of clip those and send those to him as a reminder. There is versatility there, there is movement. He may never be Roger Federer or may never have Alex Diminour's raw speed, but this is someone who's made these incremental upgrades and they've made a huge difference. And they're completely, completely counter to the sort of first impression you have of the guy, which is fashion model who happens to play tennis for fun. When it's. It's really. This guy's more committed than just about anyone.

[Andy]

No, no. I mean, like, listen, you can't help that bone structure, can you? Listen, I've been on record many, many times. Taylor Fritz is not scared to go out there, take it on the chin, but he will lay it on the line every time. I guarantee you. He was the first person to raise his hand and say, I want a piece of Carlos. Haven't beaten him yet. Haven't beaten him yet. Same thing when he lost to Novak at the US Open. He goes, this is going to be the day. The Guy has a winner mentality. He gets up, he'll lose on a Sunday. He is back to work on the next Tuesday. Absolute gym rat. Great attitude. Thinks he's going to. I didn't have this. Thinks he's going to win the next match. He plays every single time. And I don't know if he's just. He says it and I believe him. There are some people that say it where you don't believe him. You know, some of us, I mean, Andre talked the other day. He dealt from a place of insecurity mixed with ego. I think. I think I did the same thing. That insecurity doesn't exist with Taylor Fritz. Even to the point where he can say, you know, I haven't beaten this person before, but I know I'm going to. That's a superpower and he shows it every single time. Listen, maybe it comes down to zvera Fritz here today, who has the.

[JW (John Wertheim)]

Who is. You got anyone for the crowd? Head to head records, Vera? Fritz, anyone?

[Andy]

Fritz.

[JW (John Wertheim)]

Exactly.

[Andy]

So a head to head record means you, you yell a number two.

[JW (John Wertheim)]

We're the.

[Andy]

Actually, this is great for us because. No, that's perfect.

[JW (John Wertheim)]

We're in the pander zone.

[Andy]

Yeah, he's won, I don't know, the last four meetings or something. And in big matches too, like US Open last year, Wimbledon. Like he's. Yeah, he likes that. Head to head. But what did you make us Vera of saying it was it. This was about me today?

[JW (John Wertheim)]

I was going to ask the, the former player. How would you. I mean, you know.

[Andy]

All right, Mike, what'd you think? Listen, maybe it's not wrong, but it's never absolute. It's never absolute. It's never. This was just me. It's never. I played badly without any effect from, from my opponent. Right. Demon took him out of what he likes to do. He established early. I'm going to bring you inside the court with that chip, right? He established that early to where Zverev's hitting a backhand from three or four feet inside the baseline. And then he was immediately trying to bleed into the corners. Zverev's comfort zone is two or three feet behind. And then he's. He still has the, the, the firepower to beat you through the court with a backhand from there. And Demon said, no, I'm going to force you into his decision. And I was watching it and, and I had a little bit of like stress disorder because that's what Roger used to do to me, right. He'd hit that little. He'd Lay that little chip down. And he'd say, we can either stay neutral, which means you're actually behind, or you can irresponsibly come in, and neither option is good for you. Demon was throwing that chip down early, established that precedent, and he was going, if you want to come in against me on this court with my wheels, go right ahead. Otherwise, we're just back to neutral. And I know that I can get away with this choppy little, you know, nothing ball, and then you're inside the court and I can push you back. Listen, I understand Zverev didn't play well, but I think Demon took him completely out of rhythm, strategically, from the word go. Why am I wrong?

[Tim Henman]

You.

[JW (John Wertheim)]

You're not. I was going to. Let's. You know who else was echoing a lot of those same sentiments was the captain. Can we talk a bit about. There's a fellow out there from Las Vegas, and he's been very animated and has been chest bumping and doing the lawnmower and doing the multiple fist bumps. I don't remember Andre being so demonstrative when he played. Can you.

[Andy]

No.

[JW (John Wertheim)]

Interesting to watch him, huh?

[Andy]

I mean, Andre, it's. If you've. If you've listened to him in long form, interviews and stuff, he will spend a lot of time telling you what he does wrong and what other people do.

[JW (John Wertheim)]

Right.

[Andy]

And it seems like he's enthused by other people doing stuff right. But I'll tell you one thing, for all of his greatness, his. His vertical leap isn't very good.

[JW (John Wertheim)]

Yeah. Pickleball. Pickleball's really hurt. His version.

[Andy]

Yeah. Like the. The. One of the bigger arguments that I'll have against pickleball, which. Which Andre loves now is that, I mean, he's proven that it really doesn't help your vertical leap.

[JW (John Wertheim)]

We thought it was the first time with Riley Opelka, you said, well, you know, like, if you guys. Seven feet tall, that's a big.

[Andy]

I mean, but you got to admire the willpower. Imagine. I mean, I guarant. I guarantee you he saw that. That clip run back, the one with Opela. I'm sure it was. I'm sure it became a meme. I'm not on social anymore, but I'm sure it became a meme of some sort. Imagine seeing that and then going, you know what? I'm going to double down on this. I'm going to do it again. Triple down on it. Yeah. And then his team followed suit yesterday. Right. What a win. But in all seriousness, getting a yes from Andre, to fully commit to something is not always the easiest task because he will not do something a little bit. He is a man of extremes. I'm either not going to commit or I'm going to give you every ounce of what I have. And we've seen that this week.

[JW (John Wertheim)]

This is the coaching version of his memoir. If he's in, he's in.

[Andy]

Well, let's level set on day three. So right now we have Team World leading, right? If they win the first two of three, they clinch the win. If it goes down to the final match, we could have a tie and head off into a doubles tie break. So, yeah, they're in great spot. And we said on day one, or I said on day one, we will see the Alcaraz Rude doubles matchup at some point potentially on Sunday. And that's the first one out of the gate here. They have to be favored over Alex Mickelson, but props to Mickelson coming back after a tough loss against Mensik on the first day and getting. Getting through that doubles match.

[JW (John Wertheim)]

Can we just. Alex. 10 seconds on Alex Mickelson. He's been a real revelation. I mean, Friday night for the first set. He may have been the best player on the court in that doubles match with Carlos comes back yesterday. We saw in the highlights some of those reflexes. I'm not sure we saw Alex Mickelson as a standout doubles player necessarily. 48 hours ago, he's been a real revelation this tournament. Now he's fourth. Fourth match.

[Andy]

Well, believe it or not, Andre knew something we didn't. Shocking because he put him in doubles the first day. Put. I mean, put him in again. I mean, he is. He is. Mickelson. Is he the only guy who's played all three days so far? So Andre has a lot of faith in that guy. What I'm interested in, and when you're watching this Devil's match, something to look for. Obviously, Carlos is going to be everywhere. He's going to come up with a, you know, a bit of a chip on his shoulder after last night, which will be to the benefit of all of us watching, I'm sure. Where does Casper Rude stand on Opelka serve? And what does Mickelson do at net to affect that? Right. So we saw the first round match, Opelka Rude. Andre came on. Sorry. Roger was talking about yesterday saying it's not realistic for Opelka to hit that nasty kick serve. And Ruud kind of just let it fall into his pocket. It needs to be easier than that. You Know who can affect that? Is Mickelson's movement at the net. Right. If Rude decides to go 12ft back on Riley's second serve, it is Alex Mickelson's job to shrink the court. And that's done through either shading through one side or right. Not giving him that lazy cross court ball where he can kind of go the. The high spin rate cross court, either giving him the up the line return. Mickelson will be active. It's his job to protect Riley's second serve today at net. It's not the same as in the singles matchup where Rude has wide open space at Opelka's feet. Mickelson will be. He'll be the guy that has to protect Opela second serve there.

[JW (John Wertheim)]

Going to go to the then singles match.

[Andy]

Do you want to put Mensic and Demon?

[JW (John Wertheim)]

Men and Demon who I believe they. They played twice and no, not a big sample size, but both of those were indoor matches and Demon won both of those. So his, his MVP credentials may get a boost in that singles match. Here we have him.

[Andy]

Yeah. And this is less stock time and place. Mensik played great. Got the win versus Mickelson, but hasn't really broken out maybe the way that we expected after Miami when he beat a guy named Novak in the final of. Of that event. You gotta think that Demon is the favorite here, especially on the heels of yesterday. I still think anyone else you'd question, you know, is the fitness still gonna be there? The answer is going to be yes for, for the Demon because he's as fit as they come. If you're a world and you see that as your second match, you're going, okay, this is going to be the one where we get close to shutting the door. If Carlos. Yeah, yeah. If Carlos and Rude are. Are favored in the first one. Quickest way to get to 12 and then.

[JW (John Wertheim)]

All right, so. So play this out. Okay. So. So if we split the first two.

[Andy]

Matches, Alcaraz, Serendo, what do you think? Are. Are any of you ready to give up on Alcaraz after last match?

[JW (John Wertheim)]

Exactly. He's lost two sets in a row. I don't know. He's lost two sets in a row.

[Andy]

Yeah, I. Especially in. In one of the effects of. And we saw it. Johnny Mac was talking about the other day. We saw it one of the. The first years that he was on the winning. The winning team. I think it was 22 in London. Felix went out. It was unconventional. Felix went out and played the doubles first before he played singles. And everyone's like, whoa, that's a, that's a strange thing to do. Like we've never seen that before. And then Felix went out a couple, couple hours later and beat Novak Djokovic in singles after they had won the doubles. So something that was weird is now becoming normal by virtue. And give credit to the format of labor.

[JW (John Wertheim)]

Exactly.

[Andy]

Because no other place will you ever see someone playing a singles match or, sorry, a doubles match before a singles match. But Serendo Lowe was phenomenal. But also, let's, let's, let's see if you're going to second guess your guy Andre here. The conversation was Serendo or Fonseca.

[JW (John Wertheim)]

Yeah. Where's our Brazilian?

[Andy]

Sadly, you're, oh, you guys are, you look so sad. Oh, no.

[JW (John Wertheim)]

Yeah. As well liked as Andre is here, I'm not sure his popularity in Brazil today is going to rival that. It's an interesting call. I mean, I was on Tennis Channel yesterday afternoon. Andre came up with Sorendalo, and Andre was absolutely glowing. I mean, that was his kind of performance yesterday. He was absolutely, absolutely giddy about the way Serendolo played, the cadence of the match, the fact that he brought it in the end. I think Serendo, Andy's prognostications notwithstanding, Serendo has been one of these players that sort of the fans, fans the real tennis aficionados have known about for a while. This was one of the biggest wins of here. 18,000 people watching him win a match on a Saturday, that was one of the real signature wins of his career. And I got the feeling just seeing him interact with Andre, Andre was a little, Andre got a little seduced yesterday. Last time they played, Serendolo won. It was clay, it was a different time of the year. But Serendolo won the first set. Alcaraz dropped one more game after that, so who knows? But yeah, if Serendulo can clinch it, this would be one of the great moments of his career. I still, I think Carlos is probably the favorite, though.

[Andy]

I also think if Carlos has another. He wanted his, he wanted more time on court while he's getting it today.

[JW (John Wertheim)]

Exactly.

[Andy]

You know, he asked for it in a thing. I, I, I think Carlos wins that match. That's nothing against Serendo. He's fantastic. I said, look for him yesterday, the amount of speed he can create off his forehand side is, I don't know, top five 10 in the world off of like a slow dead ball. And we saw that on full display. Things could get a little salty if we get this Veraven Fritz. Team Europe sweeps the first three. Then we get to Zveram Fritz. I know. Listen, I hope this happens. I'd like to see some salty fireworks. I would love. I would love to see this.

[JW (John Wertheim)]

All right. Do we think if we're taking truth serum here, do we think the captains got together and said, you know what, you know, we played this out fair, we're going to. Could you imagine if it came down to these two guys who'd be playing for a 14th time with 3 and 4? They're bracketed together in the rankings and they've had a lot of matches at majors. And Taylor's up 8 5.

[Andy]

Yeah.

[JW (John Wertheim)]

Script A better finale than that.

[Andy]

Listen, I know your job is to pursue the best story, right? I know that's always writing. I know that's what it is. And I'm going to break this down.

[JW (John Wertheim)]

For you real quick. Okay?

[Andy]

You. We all ready? Let's put our best doubles team forward right out of the gate. Let's put forth Carlos and Rude. Carlos wanted more time on court. Let's put him out there. He's not going to play back to back matches, right? He's not going to go from doubles straight into singles. Needs to take a breath, maybe get some food, right? You're not going to have like a, you know, no food for four hours straight while you're playing actual matches. So then you put your demon in, right? You put the guy in who was the most valuable player yesterday. Alcaraz. Then comes back. I don't think there's some crazy conspiracy between captains. It's just spacing and getting your best player on the court as frequently as possible as soon as you can. Fritz finishes late last night. Maybe Zverev wants a little bit more time, a longer prep time after yesterday. So. No, I don't think Jannik and Andre were on the phone.

[JW (John Wertheim)]

But you're. You're agreeing with me that if in fact it scripts out this way, this is a hell of a way to have a all the marbles match.

[Andy]

Well, I mean, this could end in a tie. Still, it could still go to a. Listen, I'm not great at math. 3 points per match. 9 3. Let's call it 96 after Casper and Carlos, just for fun. 12. Carlos gets him back in at 9. Zvere Fritz goes to push the best thing ever. And I know we're fans of certain, you know, things, but you can't tell me it wouldn't be fun. The tiebreaker is you throw your best double stand. Just shoot them.

[JW (John Wertheim)]

Yeah.

[Andy]

Shoot out is There a chance that we see Carlos Alcaraz in three matches in the same day? That would be crazy. Like, I know Team World wants to see their people win. I'm just saying this format lends itself to so much absolute craziness. There is a slim possibility that we see Carlos Alcaraz play three matches well in a single day.

[JW (John Wertheim)]

Five. Five. Five times in three days.

[Andy]

Five times in three days. Is this labor cup any good?

[JW (John Wertheim)]

Labor cup, baby. It's a genius of the scoring, isn't it?

[Andy]

The scoring's fantastic. But also like, we've done the same things for. I never. I never ever liked the reasoning. Why do you do it this way? And when? The answer is because that's the way it's always been done. Miss me forever with that. I don't want to see it. Can't do it. Props to this team for finding a way to get as many great players in a three day sequence. Every day is like a highlight. But then also the scoring mechanisms where you all are going to walk in there. Team World, unbelievable yesterday. And still the fireworks, the potential for fireworks are there. Not without thought.

[JW (John Wertheim)]

Remember they sent us a sheet the first day saying the team that lost the first two singles matches has. That seems like it was like in March.

[Andy]

And if there was only. If there was only someone we could ask and say, what the hell is going on with Team Europe? Maybe their vice captain. Who wants to hear from Tim Henman? As a scientist, I can tell you that Sundays are only 24 hours long. But with NFL Sunday Ticket and YouTube TV, you get every game, every Sunday all in one place. That's upwards of 30 hours of NFL in one day. How can there be 30 hours in 24 hours, you ask? I have a theory. Magic. New users get NFL Sunday Ticket for rate payments of 3450 per month. Sign up at NFL Sunday Ticket local and national games on YouTube TV. NFL Sunday Ticket for out of market games excludes digital only games and commercial use Terms and embargoes apply. Availability varies. Race the rudders. Raise the sails. Raise the sails. Captain, an unidentified ship is approaching. Over. Roger, wait.

[JW (John Wertheim)]

Is that an enterprise sales solution?

[Andy]

Reach sales professionals, not professional sailors. With LinkedIn ads, you can target the right people by industry, job title and more. Start converting your B2B audience today. Spend $250 on your first campaign and get a free $250 credit for next one. Get started [e-mail] Campaign terms and conditions apply. So, Tim, I. I just. I just gotta put two and two together here, okay? And let me know if this is.

[Tim Henman]

Fair and get full.

[Andy]

Yeah, well, hopefully. Yeah. So talk to, you know, Andre the other day and he was great. He had everything kind of put together. I talked to Rafter yesterday. He kind of came up with some answers that I generally agreed with. Janik came in three days ago, said a lot of stuff that I agreed with. So I can only assume that this is your fault.

[Tim Henman]

They didn't listen. I thought the coaching bit was very. And I have to apologize, I'm losing my voice from shouting at them for them. Yeah, I see. If you agree with this, I said on serve, you serve aces. If it comes back, hit it hard into the corner.

[Andy]

Yep.

[Tim Henman]

Don't miss and run fast.

[Andy]

Yeah.

[Tim Henman]

Is that genius?

[Andy]

Am I on the right?

[JW (John Wertheim)]

That's unbelievable. It can't bounce twice also. Right.

[Tim Henman]

So look, yesterday was a, was a tough day but I certainly, you know, tip my hat to Team World. I thought their, their play from start to finish was, was incredible. The way Diminore sort of set the tone with that game plan, the conditions, the short slice, I haven't seen that too often, but I like to see it. Obviously the way, you know, Taylor played was just absolutely incredible. For Carlos to have those break points in the first game, you reflect on that and think how important those couple of opportunities were because he just didn't get any others because Taylor was that good. So look, we, we like a challenge. This first doubles is, is massive and you know, we, we certainly still believe.

[Andy]

What was the, what was the vibe yesterday? Because obviously, you know, getting swept and it felt like every, every jump ball, every tip kind of went to, to Team World like the reflex volleys and like it was just all the kind of 50, 50 balls were, seemed to fall Team World's way. What was the vibe and, and what's been your messaging last night and this morning?

[Tim Henman]

Yeah, the vibe was brilliant. Yeah, we, we didn't win a match yesterday. We were thrilled.

[JW (John Wertheim)]

Yeah.

[Tim Henman]

Have you got any good questions?

[JW (John Wertheim)]

But I just want to know how you're living with yourself. Yeah.

[Tim Henman]

Look, you, you think about the lineup, you look at the head to head with, you know, Zver Ventimor, you know, Carlos is just an absolute joy to be around. I mean we, we fancied our chances and we went 0 for 4. So you know, we were, yeah, we were down. We were disappointed. Yannick and his spirit, his aura is so fun to be around and I didn't, I've met Jannik over the years, but I haven't spent a great deal of time with Him. I spent some time with him at Roland Garros and saw him a bit at Wimbledon and he's been brilliant. And he said, you know, tomorrow, that is today, we've got to bring that energy and we've got to set the tone early. And that's why this, this doubles is, is, is, is the opportunity. And yeah, I can't, I can't stress enough, you know, what a privilege it's been for me to be involved in this event, but to be around the guys. But, you know, Carlos Alcaraz, I'm slightly stating the obvious here, but it's just his energy is, is so good. And this morning when we came on the practice court, you know, he lost yesterday, but he's, he's still so fun to be around. He ran on the court at 9am this morning, there was no one there. And he let out this sort of yell of, you know, I'm so pumped. He said, today's going to be a great day and, you know, such good energy. And he practiced. And then the camaraderie between both teams is awesome. And then at the end of practice, Andre was there, Pat was there, I was there, Janik was there, and Riley and Alex Mikkelsen came on the court and he greeted them all. And, and then he said, he said to Alex, hey, buddy, you know, how are you? And he said, Alex was great. And he said, yeah, he's good. And he, and Carlos said to him, he said, are you ready? And he said, and he said, are you really ready? And I was like, oh, my God. It's just.

[Andy]

But also, like, listen, it's not often that Carlos gets beat three and two, right where it's start to finish.

[Tim Henman]

Can I add to that as well? Zvera and Alcaraz got 10 games in four.

[Andy]

I mean, it's impossible. Like it doesn't happen. But also, if you're going to pull off a comeback. Yeah. Like you're hoping to today, how much does it affect the team where your best player raises his hand and goes, you know what? I'd like to play the doubles first, and then I actually want to go out and play singles. And if we're going to pull this off, I mean, I don't know you. It goes to a doubles tiebreaker. I was saying there's a chance. It's like dumb and dumber. You're telling me there's a chance. There's a chance that we see him three times in a day. Like, what does it do when you're, when your player says you Know what? I'm going to be responsible for this.

[Tim Henman]

And it speaks volumes to him as a character. We all know he's a great tennis player, but, you know, he comes into this event with, with so much passion, enthusiasm, energy, and, and that is, it's just a joy. And when you've, when you've played best of five set matches and you're down two sets of love, it feels like the, the winning line is a long way away. But all great comebacks start with one small step, and that is, you know, holding serve in the first game of the third set. And, and so, you know, we believe. And it's where I go back to this doubles. You know, we lose this doubles, we're done. But how are we going to win this doubles? We need to try and win the first point, we need to try and win the first game. We need to try and build momentum. We need to get that set, we need to get to. And, and if we can do that, stranger things have happened.

[JW (John Wertheim)]

So the beauty of the scoring, 100%. Roger was here yesterday and he mentioned who use the word. Yeah, I know, it's Roger Moore.

[Tim Henman]

That would have been cool.

[Andy]

That would have been pretty sweet too. Yeah.

[JW (John Wertheim)]

007, I got bad news. He, he mentioned the word interaction as one of sort of the beauties of this. You bet. I love that story. I mean, give Carlos coming out at 9am and he's like screaming and we're gonna get yesterday out of our system.

[Andy]

Today's a new day.

[JW (John Wertheim)]

Give us some more sort of these interactions, these snapshot moments that you'll remember from this weekend.

[Tim Henman]

One of my. Again, I've had so many. I said this earlier and I stopped playing in 2007. 18 years. I mean, time flies when you're having fun, but I haven't had this much fun at a tennis event since I stopped. And that is absolutely hand on heart before our first match.

[Andy]

Wow.

[Tim Henman]

I got a round of applause for that. When we were in the, we were in our locker room, we got a team locker room. And, and Janik got the team together and, and he said, he said, you know, I want you to say a few words. I'm going to say a few words to the team. And so I said, guys, you know.

[Andy]

And he thought that was a good idea for you to say something.

[Tim Henman]

Yeah, yeah. At that time. He knows me a bit better now, maybe not next year, but anyway, you know, I said, guys, it's been such an honor and a privilege to be here. I've had so much fun, you know, We've worked hard. Let's get out there and play for each other. We're right behind you. Give it our best shot. And Janik said, you know, something along similar lines. And then he said, he said, he hit his phone and I can't remember what tune it was, but some pretty lively music came on. And he said, when I say yeah, I want you to say yeah, yeah. And so we were like, okay. And he said it the first time and we said, yeah, yeah. And he said, I can't hear you. And we said, yeah, yeah. And then all of a sudden we were in a huddle and we were absolutely screaming and it was, it was so good. And that's where you reflect on him as a, as a character and his track record of, you know, being a Grand Slam champion, winning the Davis cup, the Federation Cup, Pili Jean King cup with France. He's just got, he's got such amazing emotional intelligence and he really reads people well and he brings everyone on that journey. So it's been a lot of fun.

[Andy]

And let's speak to the, the kind of the macro of this event, then we'll let you go because we, we know your team needs you today. But the vision, that wasn't meant to be a joke, but it was a pretty good one. But speak to the intent of this, where it's, and I've mentioned this a couple times this week, pay tribute to Rod Laver. Explain the story of how we got to this place in tennis where it is such a special thing and the people that kind of paved the way. And how cool is it to see Rod Laver watching Fonseca, who was born 12 days before Andre retired. Like, if the goal is to connect generations hook, line and sinker. Right. With, with the Labor Cup 100.

[Tim Henman]

I couldn't agree with you more. And, and you know, go back to Roger and Tony Godsick's favorite vision of, of, you know, a Rider cup, of, of tennis and the way that they have been able to build this event and, you know, add in some fantastic partners. But then the buy in from the players and the first one I went to was, was in London and I'd never been to it, I'd seen it on television and I was skeptical. I, I felt like it was perhaps another exhibition. Exhibition. And I turned up and I was completely blown away, firstly by the delivery. The whole event, the court, the stadium, the lighting, the partners, but the actors, the players on court, you know, you can't fake that passion and intensity. And you know, to see Roger retire There was so special. But, you know, the quality of the matches was. Was unbelievable. And we've. I was in Vancouver and, And it likewise, it was just incredible. And. And this. This is. Is building an incredible legacy. And you know, Rod Laver is. Is an icon of our sport and. And he goes beyond that and to have this event is. Is so special.

[JW (John Wertheim)]

Right.

[Andy]

Good luck to Team Europe today. Tim, thanks for joining us. And I think round of applause for our guy jw. He's got to go do his other job here. Good week, jw. We're going to. We're going to wrap here on. On Serve Live, which was presented by our friends at ServiceNow. I just want to say a quick thank you and it's. It's all. A lot of the sentiment is the same as. As. As Tim Henman. I'm not one of the captains. I'm not in there involved in the matches and I feel like it's been just as special. You know, we. We started this podcast. We still operated in a gym, in a garage. And so to come out here and see actual people and feedback and hear the enthusiasm. Thank you for that gift that you gave us for the last four days. We really appreciate it. Applaud you guys. Yeah, it's been fun. I mean, it's amazing to think that I have a job where for this week I've just sat around and talked to my idols and to have you all here listening to us has been a dream come true. I love this new chapter so much. I'm such a big fan of the labor cup and I will always support it in any capacity. Props to producer Mike and our team for just doing this thing. This is not what normally do. Right, everybody back. We. We. We don't normally have all of these jibs and lives and timing and guests in the whole thing. Good job. Thank you. I know. I know what that camera is called. That was called. I. I've learned that this week our team has been amazing. So props to our team all the way back. The. The people in the back. Let him hear you. This has been served. We appreciate you. Thank you, Everybody. Thanks to ServiceNow for their support. ServiceNow wants to help people do the fulfilling work they actually want to do work like hosting this podcast. You know what people don't want to do? Boring, busy work. Now with AI agents built into the ServiceNow platform, you can automate millions of repetitive tasks in every corner of your business. It HR and more. So your people can focus on the work that they want to do. That's putting AI agents to work for people. It's your turn. Get [e-mail] AI Agents.

[JW (John Wertheim)]

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[Andy]

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[Tim Henman]

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