The Player’s Box – Episode 9: Six Kings Slam, Fitness Trends & Confessions

Hosts: Madison Keys, Jessica Pegula, Jennifer Brady, Desirae Krawczyk
Date: October 21, 2025

Episode Overview

This lively episode of The Player’s Box peels back the curtain on tennis life with a playful deep-dive into travel mishaps, locker-room antics, the jaw-dropping Saudi "Six Kings" exhibition, pro takes on fitness fads, and candid confessions about gym gripes and recovery rituals. The quartet—Keys, Pegula, Brady, and Krawczyk—aren’t shy about sharing embarrassing stories, strong opinions on “etiquette,” or what it’s really like to win (and lose) on the road.

Unforced Errors of the Week

Segment Start: 00:31

• Jess Pegula’s Garage Slip (00:31)
  • “Our garage floor is super slippery… I literally open the car door to get out. I am singing a Lifehouse song… I step out and just fall straight out of the passenger… and then I just started hysterically laughing.” – Jessica Pegula
  • Memorable moment: Jess gets jumped on by her dog while still sprawled on the garage floor.
• Jennifer Brady’s Cold Shower Ordeal (02:10)
  • “I take all my clothes off, turn on the faucet for the shower, and water just trickles out… It didn’t come back on for an hour, and when it did, it was cold. So I took a freezing cold shower.” – Jennifer Brady
• Madison Keys: Perpetual Home Reno (03:48)
  • “My house is still under construction and I gaslit my husband into saying it will be so fast… It’s been like six months now.” – Madison Keys
• Desirae Krawczyk’s Doping Delay in Japan (04:36)
  • “You have to get at least 90 milliliters… I hit 80… ‘Oh, you’re gonna have to wait about 30, 45 minutes.’ This is gonna delay my trip to Kyoto!” – Desirae Krawczyk

Japan Tour Moments & Snack Chat

Segment Start: 06:53

• All but Madison are in Japan; Jess is playing Osaka, hyping local 7/11s: “The Japan 7 11s, for anyone that doesn’t know, are incredible… so many good snacks there.” – Pegula (07:30)
• Matcha obsession: “One of the players, Makoto Ninomiya, gave me a bag of matcha brownie treats… everyone knows.” – Pegula (09:29)
• 7-11’s famous snack, the “egg salad sando,” gets debated and no one is a fan (07:44–08:14).
• Jess stocks up on ceremonial matcha to avoid US tariffs (09:08).

The Six Kings Slam in Riyadh: Money & AI Posters

Segment Start: 10:24

• Maddie and Jess are prepping for Riyadh, discussing travel plans and excitement.
• Jenny: “We were there for the first time last year… very different culture experience, but… very beautiful city. They did a really good job at the venue and making us feel welcome.” (11:30)
• Podcast marvels at Saudi’s “Six Kings Slam”:
  • Prize money is “insane”—$1.5 million appearance fee, $6 million to the winner (12:44)
  • “I don’t think I’d say no.” – Krawczyk, on the appearance fee offer (13:01)
  • The group jokes about clawing for a spot if someone withdraws (13:16)
• AI Posters: “It just looks like a really heavy beauty filter… cartoony… like a Snapchat filter.” – Keys/Brady (13:33–13:56)
• The hosts riff on why women’s tennis always gets asked about imitating new men’s events, and call for originality.
  • “I feel like the women need to come up with something before the men. That way it’s not like us following.” – Krawczyk (15:56)

Fitness Fads: Wearables, Warnings, and Recovery Rabbit Holes

Segment Start: 18:32

• 12-3-30 Treadmill Challenge:
  • Explained by Keys: “Incline 12, speed 3, for 30 minutes… it’s low-key, kind of tough… I’ve even put on a weight vest.” (19:01)
• Starbucks 'Protein Coffee':
  • “I don’t really trust any protein powder that’s not… check the label before I take it. So I will not be doing that.” – Keys (20:14)
• Wearables Deep Dive:
  • The group compares Whoop, Oura Ring, Garmin—a fitness arms race!
  • “I have to be careful with getting like too much information… for a while I was wearing a Garmin… I need a thousand intensity minutes a week… everyone was like ‘I don’t think that’s really, really healthy’” – Keys (21:48–22:44)
  • Cycle tracking, HRV confusion (“Mine’s like 200!” – Pegula; “Mine’s 53” – Krawczyk) and the mixed accuracy of different devices (24:09–24:38).
  • Addiction confessions: “It’s happened more than once where I’m like, oh, I didn’t get all my minutes… and I’ll go walk the hall in the hotel because I’m like, gotta get those minutes.” – Keys (25:01)
• Funniest Recovery Insight:
  • “If I had, like, a singular drink… I would recover better the next day… On mine, it was always like, alcohol helped your recovery. And I was like, see, I feel like there’s some nuance here.” – Keys (26:01)
  • “I’m the opposite—I have one drink and my recovery is shot.” – Pegula (26:34)

Recovery Rituals, Icy Plunges, and Gym Etiquette Rants

Segment Start: 27:13

• Recovery Preferences:
  • Jess—cold water: “I like, like, cold plunge ice tubs. I don’t know. I enjoy them.” (27:22)
  • Jenny: “I’m not an ice bath person. I can’t. I’m so soft. I would go in there and I have to wear double booties.” (27:29)
  • Maddie: “If cold water touched my stomach, I'd… be like, nah, I’m out.” (27:53)
  • Cupping, massage, dry needling pros and cons dissected ("Calf—I need just one, because that… triggers the whole…” – Pegula, 31:45–31:54)
• Gym Pet Peeves:
  • “My pet peeve is when PSTs, coaches are just sitting on gym equipment, literally taking up space in these small gyms… go sit outside!” – Pegula (32:54)
  • “That’s my number one at tournaments… people taking up space in the gym that aren’t a player… it’s a battle.” – Pegula (33:35)
  • Trash, tape, razors left everywhere: “There’s a trash can right over there!” – Pegula (35:20)
  • “No one ever puts a weight… back where it is. There’s just stuff everywhere.” – Pegula (36:26)
  • Maddie’s solution for the next generation: “We have to teach them when they’re young so that when they get on tour, they clean up after themselves.” (37:45)

Fitness Confessions & Go-to Workouts

Segment Start: 37:50

• Any workouts you refuse to do?
  • Jess: “I don’t run long distance, though... I haven’t done long distance running or bike or treadmill… have had way less injuries.” (38:06)
  • Jen: “I’m not running longer than 30 seconds. No point lasts longer than 30 seconds.” (38:45)
  • “Cardio is awful.” – Krawczyk (39:08); "Love a good pilates conditioning" – Keys (39:14)
• Favorite non-tennis workout:
  • HIIT, boxing, SoulCycle, Pilates—hosts discuss workout styles and struggle with standard push-ups and pull-ups (40:12–41:05)
  • “Why are we doing four hours of push-ups on a bike?” – Krawczyk poking fun at SoulCycle (40:40)

Fan Q&A

Segment Start: 41:07

Who Loves to Drink After Losing? (Jogan_77)

• “Definitely me. I feel like Dez as well… Maddie wouldn’t shy away… I don’t think any of us would.” – Pegula (41:22–41:31)
• “Jenny would be like, yeah, let’s go have a drink,” but it quickly turns to loungewear and Chipotle by 8pm. (41:41)

Preferred Nicknames? (Pete Ms. Sinski)

• Jen: Known as Jenny when young, Jen as adult, but "definitely a Jenny" (42:09–43:09)
• Jess: “Everyone calls me Jessie, but… now a lot of people call me jpeg… like the file.” (43:18–44:09)
• Dez: “Even in the workplace… everyone just knows me as Dez. If people say Desiree, I’m like, oh am I in trouble?” (44:18)
• Maddie: “Everyone calls me Maddie now… no one ever calls me by my full name.” (45:10–45:31)

Who Gets the Signed Ball? (Emers)

• “Sometimes I try to look for someone that I know, or if someone is really cheering, I try to get a ball to them, but most of the times, my aim is not good enough.” – Brady (47:31–48:43)
• “Do you ever get tight… big stadium but it’s empty and you have to hit balls… please hit someone’s hands!” — Keys (48:57)

Why Do You Tuck Your Skirt? (Bri Rito)

• Pegula: “If my skirt or dress is too long… I need to tuck it in… But then if you tuck in both sides, it looks like you’re wearing a diaper.” (50:28)
• Jess: “Ever since I was younger, it was just the thing you did—you just tuck skirt.” (51:23)
• Jenny: “If it’s like a dress or a skirt and it’s just a little long, sometimes it just stays put… comfort aesthetics.” (51:35–52:07)
• Maddie: Only tucks “if it’s windy or too much material,” with diaper-looking skirt at Wimbledon as a highlight (53:12).

Memorable & Notable Quotes

• “I literally open the car door… step out, and just fall straight out… dying, laughing.” – Pegula (00:31)
• “I took a freezing cold shower with like trickling water coming out.” – Brady (02:10)
• “1.5 mil just to show up. Jenny’s like, I’m a queen. I’ll be a queen. I’ll be an alternate.” – Krawczyk/Pegula (15:04)
• “People are obsessed with fitness trends… has anyone ever done the 12-3-30 treadmill workout?” – Krawczyk (18:32)
• “If I had, like, a singular drink… alcohol helped your recovery. I feel like there’s some nuance here.” – Keys (26:01)
• “My pet peeve is when PSTs, coaches, whoever, are just sitting on gym equipment…” – Pegula (32:54)

Tone and Highlights

• Playful, irreverent, and candid: The hosts mix honesty, inside jokes, and gossip—pulling no punches about the grind of tour life, fitness fads, or athlete quirks.
• Behind-the-scenes access: Rich anecdotes reveal daily rituals, superstitions, and the realities of elite tennis—the bruises, the boredom, and the band-aids.
• Strong personalities: Each host’s quirks (from matcha mania to recovery rituals to pet hates) come out, with generous teasing and open camaraderie throughout.

Listen For…

• 00:31 Unforced error stories: travel, tennis, and tragic bathrooms
• 06:53 Japanese snacks, matcha mania, and 7-11 lifehacks
• 10:24 The “Six Kings” paydays and AI poster debate
• 18:32 Treadmill fads, wearables, and caffeine tales
• 27:13 Recovery preferences: ICE, needles, & honesty
• 32:48 Gym etiquette: PSA for fellow pros
• 37:50 Fitness confessions—what they’ll never do, and what they love
• 41:07 Fan Q&A: behind-the-scenes social lives, nicknames, and more

For tennis fans, this episode is an invitation into the locker room: cheeky, vulnerable, and full of off-court confessions you won’t see on TV.