Speaker 1: You froze. Then I left and joined and it kicked
Speaker 1: me out, and then I came back in and you
Speaker 1: weren't here, and then it said you're here.
Speaker 2: I didn't know. There's a big red button on my
Speaker 2: dashboard here, and I didn't even know really what it does.
Speaker 2: I pressed it. Thank God, I'm not the president. Look,
Speaker 2: I think we recording already, so let's just have a
Speaker 2: quick live production meeting. We're three or four days out
Speaker 2: from a certain grand slam. Oh yeah, oh yeah, Mark
Speaker 2: as Well. There's Mark as Will, There's darm Ap darm
Speaker 2: apo h Bari's hit in Terns of Barley's. That's me.
Speaker 1: I haven't had that tune in a while.
Speaker 2: That's my you know we did tennis player chance, Yeah,
Speaker 2: that's my one from the stands.
Speaker 1: I can play that on the piano.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that in the east Enders theme.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: But when we do a live show, I can't wait
Speaker 2: for your your unplugged section, live production meeting. What do
Speaker 2: you want to do at the French when? What are
Speaker 2: you I would love to do as much as possible,
Speaker 2: like short pods, big pods. I don't care, but what
Speaker 2: you're thinking.
Speaker 1: I'll be able to speak every day in some in
Speaker 1: some perfect scale. Obviously, I just times and stuff like that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but I will have spare time perfect so like
Speaker 2: we did at Win with him, we're just five minutes
Speaker 2: minutes here and there and yeah yeah. On today's podcast
Speaker 2: A Geneva eightyp two fifty, the only thing faster in
Speaker 2: Geneva was the Higgs Boasom, wasn't it. You were you
Speaker 2: were in, you were out the City of Peace. Well,
Speaker 2: we're also going to talk the Roland Garross debut. It's
Speaker 2: a come in and Federer forehand France special. WHOA, I'm Dave,
Speaker 2: but you are actually Marcus Willison. You were actually playing
Speaker 2: the French Open twenty twenty six. Is that sunk in yet?
Speaker 2: Is it now like you just sauntering around in a
Speaker 2: solid gold suit Grand Slam player?
Speaker 1: You? I wish no, I mean, what's I mean? I
Speaker 1: had Geneva for the weekend and so that was I'm
Speaker 1: back home now, but I'm off to London tomorrow and
Speaker 1: then and then Paris Saturday. So I haven't actually put
Speaker 1: my flight yet. I need to look at that modation
Speaker 1: we got on airbnb about just over a mile away
Speaker 1: from the from the tennis so we can walk in
Speaker 1: if we need. So I've just been organizing stuff and
Speaker 1: yesterday I got home did my washing. I've got a
Speaker 1: load of stuff to pack. So yeah, it's exciting, but
Speaker 1: I don't know. I went to the gym yesterday, going
Speaker 1: again today, grabbing a coffee. So no, not not really, mate,
Speaker 1: not really. It's it's it's probably gonna kind of thinking
Speaker 1: when I get there and pick up my pass and
Speaker 1: get stuff going. But I'm very much in tournament and
Speaker 1: match mode at the moment, like it's been relentless, so
Speaker 1: I'm just kind of in that swing of Okay, let's
Speaker 1: get there, let's enjoy it, let's see the drawer, let's
Speaker 1: try and win, and and then I'm straight into the grass.
Speaker 1: It's like I always knew this time of year would
Speaker 1: be tricky, and I would have got a rest had
Speaker 1: I not got into rolling Garris. But who needs a
Speaker 1: rest right before.
Speaker 2: We delve into the French, which obviously I just I'm
Speaker 2: desperate to do. Let's talk about Geneva. How so that
Speaker 2: wasn't on the cards? Was it? An? ATP two fifty
Speaker 2: in Geneva?
Speaker 1: I mean I ended with Yaka, we were five out
Speaker 1: and now we were ten out or nine out anyway,
Speaker 1: we were out. I don't know what number day, but
Speaker 1: it was quite a high number. So he said, look,
Speaker 1: I've got a wild card with Strika. I'm going to
Speaker 1: take that because I don't think we're going to get
Speaker 1: in anyway. As I was in Bordeaux the day before
Speaker 1: my second round quarterfinals, he messaged going, there's a lot
Speaker 1: of movement going up at the moment. So me and
Speaker 1: Mickey Reyes after we lost our match, I was like, look,
Speaker 1: I'm going to go home and I'll see you in Paris.
Speaker 1: But you know, if anything changes or you want to
Speaker 1: sign in for Geneva, then just put our names down.
Speaker 1: So we did that and on the Friday night we
Speaker 1: were five out. So the draw's already been made with
Speaker 1: five hours, so I'm like, okay, well we're not going
Speaker 1: to get in there anyway. Three of those pairs got
Speaker 1: into Hamburg qualities, so there were two out. Then Mickey
Speaker 1: knew someone was pulling out. This all happened over the
Speaker 1: space of twenty four hours and he's like, I don't
Speaker 1: know if the other guys are going to sign in.
Speaker 1: There's only one match on Sunday. He signed us in
Speaker 1: on Sunday and no one else signed in and the
Speaker 1: guy pulled out the same day, so we got put
Speaker 1: in the drawer for Monday. So I'm like, I've got
Speaker 1: home on what's Saturday or really late Friday out or
Speaker 1: whatever it was. And and by Sunday morning, yeah, on
Speaker 1: what we're doing to go to a kid's party or something,
Speaker 1: And I said, I've got in. I've got to try
Speaker 1: and find a flight to Geneva because I might have
Speaker 1: to play tomorrow. And I had to get an uber
Speaker 1: to Manchester, flight to Geneva. Got to my turn around
Speaker 1: ten pm. They put us first on on Monday, so
Speaker 1: I had to get up early, have my rackets in,
Speaker 1: go Jeb Walmart pick my rackets up. We had a
Speaker 1: forty minute hit and then on we went for a match,
Speaker 1: lost two and four. Played alright actually, but yeah it
Speaker 1: was tight.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Just the thing is with these it's like, Okay, you know,
Speaker 1: you're probably not going to win most of the time,
Speaker 1: but there's a chance that you might. And it's those
Speaker 1: chances that if you keep getting in as alternates. These
Speaker 1: two fifties are super strong because they're right before the French.
Speaker 1: There's only one two fifty on and one five hundred
Speaker 1: so everyone is here. But say you turn up for
Speaker 1: ten of these and okay, you lose seven or eight,
Speaker 1: it's the it's the other two. Like last year we
Speaker 1: got last into UMAG. Actually we got in as alternates
Speaker 1: and me and when I made the final, it's one
Speaker 1: hundred and fifty points and it changed your career. Now,
Speaker 1: obviously a lot of them you're going to turn up
Speaker 1: and you're probably going to lose, but it's kind of
Speaker 1: you turn up and I'm going to sound I'm going
Speaker 1: to sound like those club nurse we take the mink
Speaker 1: out of But we lost the first set six to two,
Speaker 1: and we lost all three due points. Yeah, second set,
Speaker 1: I had a break back point at five to four.
Speaker 1: We had three rate points in the match, didn't take
Speaker 1: any It wasn't you know, with a better luck or
Speaker 1: winning a bit more class or quality on those big points.
Speaker 1: So you're into a match or into a battle and
Speaker 1: potentially you can win and then you're into the quarter
Speaker 1: finals forty five points in your back pocket. But the
Speaker 1: part of me was like, do I really want to go?
Speaker 1: But okay, I think it's turning up that it's important,
Speaker 1: and I think when you do well, you look back
Speaker 1: at these moments going I turned up everywhere.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's the striker who's not scoring goals.
Speaker 2: You've got to keep giving yourself chances and the balls
Speaker 2: can go in the net. Right, The proverbial one off
Speaker 2: the backside is enough? So what about let's just think
Speaker 2: about before we talk about the idea that you're going
Speaker 2: into tournament thinking I'm probably not going to win this.
Speaker 2: But on a Sunday morning, you're with the family and
Speaker 2: then you say, right, I've got to go. Loads of
Speaker 2: people have this, like we've got to go away from work.
Speaker 2: I've got to shoot. Do you look at the cost
Speaker 2: of flights and hotels versus potential prize money?
Speaker 1: Of course I do. Yeah, that's where I went to Manchester.
Speaker 1: I mean things out of London were nine hundred quid,
Speaker 1: so I got a flight for two fifty from Manchester.
Speaker 1: It cost me one hundred and fifty to get there.
Speaker 1: I say five hundred prize moneys. Yeah, three and a
Speaker 1: half grand split between two minus tacks. So I've made
Speaker 1: a bit of money, go.
Speaker 2: A few hundred quid basically, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1: But it's more than that. It's more I wouldn't yeah,
Speaker 1: but I mean I went to Dallas. I flew trans
Speaker 1: at landing at Dallas for no part prize money because
Speaker 1: we lost the first round of the qualities there. There's
Speaker 1: no money in there. So some of these weeks you
Speaker 1: just you just do it. Yeah, because we lost in
Speaker 1: the match Tibrek. Have we won that and qualified with
Speaker 1: forty five points in our first five hundred? Who knows? Yeah,
Speaker 1: sure qualifiers have one five hundreds before, Like it's happened
Speaker 1: quite a bit, so it's I don't know, but yeah,
Speaker 1: it wasn't a disaster financially, okay, but it But also
Speaker 1: you know, had I known I was in and I'd
Speaker 1: have got there earlier, I would have spent you know,
Speaker 1: a fraction of the cast and being better prepared. Yeah
Speaker 1: blah blah blah. But also had I gone there as
Speaker 1: an alternate, I'd spent you know, three hundred quid and
Speaker 1: art in the hotel each night I'm there. So you know,
Speaker 1: you just don't do that. You don't go and turn
Speaker 1: up five out and hope you're going to get in
Speaker 1: and lose, lose fifteen hundred quid.
Speaker 2: What does it? What does it mean for you that
Speaker 2: you said that you could. You're going there, You're playing
Speaker 2: a two fifty and the likelod is, you're not going
Speaker 2: to win a two fifty, right outright? Yeah, So you're
Speaker 2: going there and you know that you're going to be
Speaker 2: in a strong field, which improves your tennis, doesn't it?
Speaker 2: Playing a long highlights things, Yeah.
Speaker 1: Highlights things like I had a look at my surfercentages
Speaker 1: and and how to look at them. What they're doing.
Speaker 1: Where a lot of Cheli's or yeah, some two fifties,
Speaker 1: But I mean we're playing Bambury and Venus Veoenis has
Speaker 1: been six in the world. They're good. They lost to
Speaker 1: Bloody Vavasori ten eight and Rome. These are the top
Speaker 1: players in the world.
Speaker 2: Right, So I messaged you, didn't I. I was like Venus, like,
Speaker 2: it's just every doubles match of I seem to remember
Speaker 2: for twenty years, it's just like Venus seventy percent fair
Speaker 2: service in and blah blah, you know, like just like
Speaker 2: like he's like an algorithm, man.
Speaker 1: Yeah, no, he's Yeah. I mean they're a good pair,
Speaker 1: but they're a good pair. But yeah, you learn, you
Speaker 1: learn playing those pairs. Sometimes you go through Celi's and
Speaker 1: you win tennate or you lose, and it's like down
Speaker 1: to luck or or you know a couple of moments
Speaker 1: or you know, no one's exceptional. What it feels.
Speaker 2: Okay, So as a football fan relating this back to England,
Speaker 2: all my life, England have lost big matches to Argentina
Speaker 2: and Brazil and stuff like this, and the pundits in
Speaker 2: the studio afterwards said the players will learn a lot
Speaker 2: from this, and then the next tournament we play with
Speaker 2: the exactly right. So what did you what did you learn?
Speaker 2: What got better?
Speaker 1: Well, no, I know what I need to highlight. I
Speaker 1: think my first percent and needs to be a tad hire.
Speaker 1: So it was fifty eight. I won fourteen out of
Speaker 1: sixteen first points when my serve landed, but I only
Speaker 1: had fifty eight of them. I only got broken once
Speaker 1: and that was the game. I hit three doubles in
Speaker 1: to deuce. So it is a case of am I
Speaker 1: going too big on my second as well or not
Speaker 1: putting enough in? But yeah, just just up the first
Speaker 1: surfercentage a bit and just yeah, just on return. I
Speaker 1: actually returned pretty well, but we created chances juice pan juice.
Speaker 1: Yeah return well, So it's just I had a look
Speaker 1: at myself. My positioning is way better. Yeah, it's one
Speaker 1: of those you lose and you're like, actually it's I
Speaker 1: feel like I'm going in the right direction there.
Speaker 2: I mean, the big news is that your hotel had
Speaker 2: two sinks.
Speaker 1: Right, yeah, yeah, I showed you a video that did
Speaker 1: I show.
Speaker 2: You just a message. I didn't get the exclusion I'm
Speaker 2: not on your only fans account. I didn't get, but.
Speaker 1: An investment. Two sinks. Good hotel, very nice.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think, and sign of it.
Speaker 1: Didn't have time to use any other.
Speaker 2: Signs of good hotels that you can think of. I
Speaker 2: like when you have to get on a little golf
Speaker 2: cart to go to your room.
Speaker 1: That's yeah, that's more of a resort. I really don't
Speaker 1: get that so much in Europe.
Speaker 2: I enjoy that a golf cart.
Speaker 1: Golf carts are good. I think I'm trying to go
Speaker 1: to hotels when you just have a us B charger,
Speaker 1: you don't even need the plaka, yeah, got USB's floating around, Okay,
Speaker 1: charger next to the bed is always good. That some
Speaker 1: old hotels don't have.
Speaker 2: That a sign of a good hotel, but a frustrating
Speaker 2: one is a really complex in room lighting system.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, I had that. I had this hotel, I
Speaker 1: can't turn the lights on, but there's a master switching
Speaker 1: turn off and then you turn the master each and
Speaker 1: it's like yeah, Northern lights.
Speaker 2: Yeah, there's a lovely hotel with the Amelia and you
Speaker 2: need you need some sort of like degree in engineering
Speaker 2: to be able to work the lights. So you're either
Speaker 2: under the floodlights of Wembley Stadium you're doing pitch black.
Speaker 1: Hm.
Speaker 2: But if you lights showers right, showers? What's your ultimate
Speaker 2: hotel shower set up? Are you thinking big dinner plate
Speaker 2: sized chrome walking? Yeah?
Speaker 1: Walking, yeah, walk in an absolute bullet.
Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, like a like a carture.
Speaker 1: Like almost like piercing and heat heat, like you can't
Speaker 1: imagine the worst ones and when you have to like
Speaker 1: when you have to like jump into like crawl into
Speaker 1: a bath and then it's just someone's just and then
Speaker 1: it's like and then you can't get the temperature right
Speaker 1: skull annoying.
Speaker 2: Uh again, we say we go to this hotel quite
Speaker 2: a lot in Lanzarotti, and the showers have like four
Speaker 2: turny knobs on it that's on the head, so like
Speaker 2: it's got the big square plate thing to like water
Speaker 2: for you. And then there's other accessories for washing your
Speaker 2: bits and your bobs if you want. But then on
Speaker 2: the wall you've got not just hot and cold, you've
Speaker 2: got like different types of shower, so it might be
Speaker 2: like a fluffy shower versus a culture.
Speaker 1: But you can do that on the top of the head. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: just simple effective two knobs heat and power. Yeah, and like,
Speaker 1: don't be too sensitive with the heat. Don't scold me
Speaker 1: or freeze me. Ye, do's have a happy medium. And yeah,
Speaker 1: ideally if I don't have to hop in and out
Speaker 1: of a bath up and then I'm happy. Yes, yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm not a bath person really. Two years and I
Speaker 1: get very bored.
Speaker 2: Oh okay, I don't mind a bath. I don't like
Speaker 2: a shower curtain. Like a shower curtain, yeah.
Speaker 1: So you spray it all over.
Speaker 2: I prefer like just a piece of glass.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, okay, sorry, I thought you didn't like any
Speaker 1: wet room.
Speaker 2: The shower curtain sticking to my skin. That makes me
Speaker 2: feel really icky.
Speaker 1: It's weird and also how hygienic.
Speaker 2: I don know. The other thing that is the least
Speaker 2: hygienic thing in all hotel rooms is the pillows that
Speaker 2: go on top of your bed because you're changed. They're
Speaker 2: never ever getting cleaned.
Speaker 1: And that's also good. Hotels have them are quilt and
Speaker 1: then another layer of something and then like twelve pillows
Speaker 1: and I'm just a skimmy, yes, launching stuff in a corner.
Speaker 2: That how tightly a hotel tucks in its bedding, like
Speaker 2: if you don't untuck, you could wake up in the
Speaker 2: morning a fossil.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's true. I've had to really like give it
Speaker 1: some to get the corners.
Speaker 2: Once, I actually double kicking, like I didn't once, I
Speaker 2: just slid straight in and was there and I basically
Speaker 2: I slept like a hostage and when I woke up
Speaker 2: in the morning, I was cold.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I really enjoy when they make a duck billed platypus
Speaker 2: out of the towels.
Speaker 1: Yeah. So, or they eat some five the five star
Speaker 1: hotels in some country.
Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, like the petals, Yes, the petals.
Speaker 1: They don't even have a duvet. They just give you
Speaker 1: a sheet and a.
Speaker 2: Little bit of chocolate on your pillow.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I got a per Lies Geneva two fifty cake
Speaker 1: waiting for me in my room. It's like a flap
Speaker 1: jackie thing with a chocolate top. It didn't last real long.
Speaker 1: I spoke to I spoke to our message John Piers
Speaker 1: to a photo of it, and I said, mine lasted
Speaker 1: about forty five seconds here and yeah, I haven't eaten
Speaker 1: mine yet. And I'm like, yeah, ah, you have something
Speaker 1: called self.
Speaker 2: Control with playferent John.
Speaker 1: Different. Yeah, I mean I did leave there were they
Speaker 1: left four many cakes out next to the covered machine.
Speaker 1: I didn't have all of them. I had like one
Speaker 1: buy it and left them. But like I think, I
Speaker 1: don't know if I don't have cake and sweets and stuff.
Speaker 1: I don't really eat sweets a headaches, allergies. But if
Speaker 1: chocolate isn't in front of me, I very rarely go
Speaker 1: and buy a chocolate bar.
Speaker 2: Yes, yes, but if.
Speaker 1: You start like dangling stuff in front of me and
Speaker 1: I've just come off a long flight and I'm tired,
Speaker 1: best decision isn't gonna be made. It was glorious as well.
Speaker 1: I regret nothing.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, I'm so looking forward to after the
Speaker 2: break talking about the French Open debut A sorry, Eli,
Speaker 2: Welcome back to the What A You're Talking About Willis
Speaker 2: Podcast with me, Dave tennisist and person and him M Willis.
Speaker 2: French Open competitor with Yaka Paul again like your your
Speaker 2: little grand Slam wife, isn't it? So are you and
Speaker 2: Yakov now like texting back and forth endlessly about different
Speaker 2: plays and doubles tactics. He's playing Geneva, isn't He's still.
Speaker 1: In Do you know? You know, Yaka, I've made this
Speaker 1: mistake twice. He doesn't like to know the draw So
Speaker 1: in Australia I was like, okay, so we're playing King Piers.
Speaker 1: This is what I've been told, so fast that and
Speaker 1: he went, ah, so I never looked at the drawer.
Speaker 1: We don't have to talking about it. So what he
Speaker 1: does is one night before the order of play will
Speaker 1: come out and chick when he checks when he's playing.
Speaker 2: And then he'll see for the first time he's playing.
Speaker 1: Its same for the second round. So I messaged him
Speaker 1: after the after he won yesterday and said, do you
Speaker 1: know who you're playing? And he went no, but I'm
Speaker 1: guessing Bamboo and Venus because they watched our whole match,
Speaker 1: and I went, no, comment, he doesn't.
Speaker 2: Look have you ever heard of that before?
Speaker 1: There's a few players that do it. Apparently, I'm just
Speaker 1: like ah, I said, my life is so sad that
Speaker 1: when the drawer comes out, I look at everything.
Speaker 2: Do you know what I heard about Roger Federer with you?
Speaker 2: I heard the Federer got your match against Parancis and
Speaker 2: watched it in its entirety with his team.
Speaker 1: Yeah, he had tools three scouts watching the match as well.
Speaker 2: Apparently, whoa, We're going to do a Roger Fear special
Speaker 2: thing coming up.
Speaker 1: It's all there where I'd hit a ball at the
Speaker 1: start and he was just there, and I'm like, I'd
Speaker 1: like hold a pass and like roll at one side
Speaker 1: and just be there on top of the net.
Speaker 2: Was why last thing I need?
Speaker 1: And obviously my scout on him was highlights, which is
Speaker 1: all his winners. And I thought he was just going
Speaker 1: to come out and t off and he just kept
Speaker 1: super steady, and I'm what's going on, Roger? Can you
Speaker 1: take a risk?
Speaker 2: Please hit a tweener?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 2: Just hit just slash one you can, Okay?
Speaker 3: So miss miss subde.
Speaker 2: Uh okay. So it's ker pull now for those of
Speaker 2: for those new to the Pard who went with us
Speaker 2: in the Aussie Open, yakub is, I mean, so what
Speaker 2: side is he going to play? It's going to play
Speaker 2: outside And I mean his returning is a standout right.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Obviously i'd heard the name. I've seen like little bits.
Speaker 2: I hadn't really concentrated on him as a tennis player.
Speaker 2: And it was before the Aussie he was playing in
Speaker 2: that International Cup thing for Switzerland, wasn't he correct? Well
Speaker 2: done him? And it's the returning like he's on the baseline, yeah,
Speaker 2: and like the but he's back here right the rackets
Speaker 2: like proper back.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't understand the lord, I'll do it. But
Speaker 1: he's got an exceptional ability to time the ball. I
Speaker 1: hit it very hard and very low over them.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, it's it's a regular, isn't it. It's And
Speaker 2: I wonder if he's the kind of player who says,
Speaker 2: I don't know how just his just his mate, I
Speaker 2: don't know what I'm doing. So what did you get
Speaker 2: from the Aussie Open? And what can transfer to like
Speaker 2: the clay courts at the French, Well, I don't know.
Speaker 1: I think it's going to be quite quick at the French.
Speaker 1: Looking at the weather, it's going to be plus thirty,
Speaker 1: you know, the start of next week, so I think
Speaker 1: the war will be tracked flying quite a bit, so
Speaker 1: that will help us serve for sure. What can we transfer.
Speaker 1: I mean, we've played two matches in the Aussie Open
Speaker 1: and two very different conditions. So the first one was
Speaker 1: a lot quicker in the sun, and the second one
Speaker 1: was obviously Rod labor late at night. So yeah, I think,
Speaker 1: I think, yeah, couple like the way the ball's moving.
Speaker 1: You've got a bit a bit more tactical on clay.
Speaker 1: Obviously it's slower, can't stand up on the staff, bounce
Speaker 1: as funny, all that stuff. I love it, really, no,
Speaker 1: I don't, but yeah, so yeah, well we'll have to
Speaker 1: work out, you know, how much with servolleting, how much
Speaker 1: we're staying back, stuff like that. But we're getting there.
Speaker 1: I'm getting there Saturday, well if I don't put my flight,
Speaker 1: but we'll have at least two days of you know,
Speaker 1: three three practice sets, two or three practice sets of
Speaker 1: those days to work out what's going on and do
Speaker 1: some reps and yeah, do podcasts and stuff.
Speaker 2: So let's talk about the logistics. I'm personally really excited
Speaker 2: to see you with Yaka because I think it's a
Speaker 2: good pair. I think it complements you as well, for
Speaker 2: the the ability to kind of turn the point around
Speaker 2: when he's returning you can get quickly like I think,
Speaker 2: it gives you an opportunity at the net where sometimes
Speaker 2: you see that more passive return, especially if you're both back,
Speaker 2: you can get caught right. Yeah, and that's up in
Speaker 2: the net, the big strength of yours. So I'm quite
Speaker 2: excited actually about it. I don't think any is going
Speaker 2: to want to play, you guys, No, So let's talk
Speaker 2: about the logistics. So you find out you're playing a
Speaker 2: French Open, and then you do what you move, doctor's
Speaker 2: appointments or whatever else you gore going on in your life.
Speaker 2: How do you find where you're going to stay? Did
Speaker 2: the ATP help, the Rondan garrets help.
Speaker 1: There's an app where they have like hotels but they
Speaker 1: can book for you and stuff like that. But by
Speaker 1: the time I got in, obviously a lot of places
Speaker 1: have gone. So there's some places you can stay for
Speaker 1: six hundred a night, which I'm obviously not going to do.
Speaker 1: But a lot of players, there's a lot of dubskuies
Speaker 1: I spoke to. But Airbnbs, yeah, because they've got teams
Speaker 1: or there's other people then I've got obviously I'm going
Speaker 1: with Adam, so I thought, I mean we could share
Speaker 1: a room at an ebys or something like that, it
Speaker 1: would be similar costs. But we've got a room each
Speaker 1: in an apartment with a kitchen. Yeah, fifteen to twenty
Speaker 1: minute walk from site if we want, or we can
Speaker 1: get the official car whatever, whatever, it's easier. But I
Speaker 1: always try and get apartments when it's not included. Obviously
Speaker 1: at ATPs and Challengers, they have an official hotel and
Speaker 1: they put you in so Grand Slams you can do
Speaker 1: your own thing. So I had an apartment in Australia.
Speaker 1: I stay with family friends when I'm playing Wimbledon US.
Speaker 1: I got hotel yeah, be tougher in New York because
Speaker 1: it was yeah, but it was also you remember that
Speaker 1: story right now, We went and signed it and didn't
Speaker 1: get it and then got in. That was also a
Speaker 1: financial risk which paid off.
Speaker 2: So you you're going to arrive, What do you know
Speaker 2: about the this is the first time you've played it.
Speaker 2: What do you know about where the practice facilities are,
Speaker 2: how it all works, like is it a bit like
Speaker 2: you know, does anyone show you around or do they
Speaker 2: just presume that you're a tennis sist and you just
Speaker 2: get on with it.
Speaker 1: I think there's yes, there's players packages and you work
Speaker 1: out where stuff is. I went last year to sign in.
Speaker 1: We were three out, weren't we So we me and
Speaker 1: went for the day to sign in. So I know
Speaker 1: offside practice court, so like a five to ten minute
Speaker 1: buggy right away. So you get on a buggy and
Speaker 1: you go to the off site and practice there. A
Speaker 1: lot of the time there's different sites you practice. Very
Speaker 1: rare you get a match court because there's obviously matches
Speaker 1: going on. A matches start early and obviously a lot
Speaker 1: of singles players in by the time we're there as well.
Speaker 1: So yeah, you turn up, you ask a few questions.
Speaker 1: I'll explain everything. Adam's already there so he'll know where
Speaker 1: things are.
Speaker 2: Why has he gone early?
Speaker 1: Yeh, because he went. He's coaching all of a crime,
Speaker 1: so he went with him.
Speaker 2: So he'll be able to give you a bit of
Speaker 2: the layer of the land. Is there the So I
Speaker 2: heard about a footballer once who signed for a huge
Speaker 2: football team. It's very successful FA Cup winning football team
Speaker 2: in South London, and he signed through and he went
Speaker 2: in first day and he sat in the locker room
Speaker 2: and the star player of that team walked in the room,
Speaker 2: and the whole place just went silent, and the star
Speaker 2: player didn't say anything. He walked over, got all of
Speaker 2: this new signings kit and just lobbed it across the
Speaker 2: floor and then you signing had to walk away and sorry, sorry, sorry,
Speaker 2: sorry sorry sorry like that right? Why because that's his
Speaker 2: bloody seat mate? Is there a danger? You turn up
Speaker 2: at the French, You stroll into the canteen, you get
Speaker 2: you know, some onion soup and some escargo bagget.
Speaker 1: Yeah, a couple of them.
Speaker 2: Straight in and you sit on the table and then
Speaker 2: there's a little tap on the shoulder and Novak says,
Speaker 2: I have the table by the window. Is there any
Speaker 2: of that? Ah? What shame.
Speaker 1: Exact, because I mean they've normally got big teams, those guys,
Speaker 1: so you see them or they're set up or but yeah,
Speaker 1: I don't know. That's what happened to me.
Speaker 2: Well, if it does on this pod, please no one.
Speaker 1: I think people know, people know I'm respected and I'm
Speaker 1: not going to.
Speaker 2: Move last my cargo. On the last part we got, uh,
Speaker 2: it kind of dawned on me how wonderful it is
Speaker 2: that you're going to play the French and maybe landed
Speaker 2: with you as well, What does this mean for you
Speaker 2: in terms of ranking points? Like, are you looking at
Speaker 2: this and thinking if we can win around again like
Speaker 2: you did at the like you did a win like
Speaker 2: you did at the US, like you did at the Aussie. Right,
Speaker 2: you can win around puts me sixty seven if I
Speaker 2: can be sixty Oh, if I could win another one,
Speaker 2: I could be sixty four if I'm seeing and so on.
Speaker 2: Do you look at it like that?
Speaker 1: Yeah? Sometimes I look at the live ranking and I
Speaker 1: know I've got coming off. I've obviously got Queens and
Speaker 1: Wimbledon and then EU mag a few weeks later. So
Speaker 1: it'd be nice to put some points on the board.
Speaker 1: But more important than that, how cool would it be
Speaker 1: served like one matches at every single Yeah, obviously the
Speaker 1: aim is to win the tournament, but so so's everyone's.
Speaker 1: But yeah, to be in that second round, you know,
Speaker 1: walk out and go out, that would be awesome.
Speaker 2: So you don't look at it in like a it's
Speaker 2: a make or break situation here, like if I can
Speaker 2: get three wins, then.
Speaker 1: It'd be great the next eighteen change.
Speaker 2: It's not like that. It doesn't hang in a balance
Speaker 2: like that.
Speaker 1: No, it's not enough and I mean, it's only life
Speaker 1: changing if you make final, semifinal, win the tournament. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, third round will be one hundred and eighty points.
Speaker 1: That would still not for my top fifties. It's the
Speaker 1: gaps are huge trying to climb up, ye, but they're
Speaker 1: also you know, if I lost all my points, I
Speaker 1: check yesterdaf, I lost all my points from now until
Speaker 1: after mag I'm still top hundering the world.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: So you're kind of stuck in that thing, and the
Speaker 1: only way to really jump up is to do something special,
Speaker 1: which I believe I can do at some point. But
Speaker 1: I need you know, you need to start to align.
Speaker 1: You need to, as I say, keep turning up, keep
Speaker 1: doing your best, keep working hard, and then you know,
Speaker 1: historically it's clicked before, but I don't know. Yeah, who knows.
Speaker 1: But I feel like I've got a good run in
Speaker 1: me at a slam somewhere or an ATP or something.
Speaker 2: I told you what our mutual mate said, one day,
Speaker 2: you're going to accidentally win Wimbledon.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so.
Speaker 2: Bloody ell, bloody got one trying out loud a missed
Speaker 2: country file. So let's think about financially. Tennis basically has
Speaker 2: four highlights a year, much like athletics has one highlight
Speaker 2: every four years, right four times a year. Tennis becomes
Speaker 2: a news item, front page, full up stands, and it's
Speaker 2: where the big bucks are. You just said to us
Speaker 2: earlier that Geneva's worth fifteen hundred quid or so what's
Speaker 2: the French open worth to you now?
Speaker 1: Prize money, prize money. I don't know if you can
Speaker 1: find that, I'm sure it'd be.
Speaker 2: So you don't know. You don't instantly look at it
Speaker 2: and think, oh, I'm quits in, I'm going to get this.
Speaker 1: I have a look, I have a look at the
Speaker 1: different rounds, and I think, I think it's just under
Speaker 1: ten thousand euros to turn up, and then if you
Speaker 1: win around it doesn't double or maybe go to fifteen
Speaker 1: thousand euros something like that. And then I think the
Speaker 1: winner gets three hundred k. When let's get three hundred k.
Speaker 1: It's yeah, it's it's good money. It's it's nine and
Speaker 1: a half thousand euros for eight and a half.
Speaker 2: That's split.
Speaker 1: But then yeah, no, no, no, as a per person,
Speaker 1: so your your nine, you make you make a slam,
Speaker 1: your make ten grand ish turn up. But then my
Speaker 1: abnb's twelve hundred. Then you're paying Adam and his expenses
Speaker 1: and my expenses. Sure, I mean it's so you can
Speaker 1: clean five so, but so you don't instantly.
Speaker 2: Look at it and go, what a five ground up?
Speaker 1: That's great, it's great, of course, the financial stuff it's
Speaker 1: it's it's more than that. I suppose it's great, but
Speaker 1: I know how long five grand last?
Speaker 2: Yeah, of course, I mean, Jesus Christ, it's a bit
Speaker 2: of breathing in London. Now you pull bloody, that's all
Speaker 2: it is. Thirty pounds out of a cash point. You've
Speaker 2: spent on one twix. It's ridiculous.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's, it's but it's also know how much I'm
Speaker 1: gonna be traveling and playing and it's yeah, so it so,
Speaker 1: it's it's it's it's great because there's very few toalrents
Speaker 1: where you get that kind of money turn up. But
Speaker 1: at the same time, it's okay, it is what it is.
Speaker 1: Let's try and win this first round and prepares best
Speaker 1: we can. It's because I didn't think that the US Open.
Speaker 1: I got in and the money was great, but then
Speaker 1: I was like, right, we've got to play a match,
Speaker 1: and then you make third round you get twenty twenty
Speaker 1: five k or something of that, and that's nice. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but also it.
Speaker 2: Goes okay, So final question I've got for you, because
Speaker 2: we're going to speak closer to the French and daily
Speaker 2: level of nerves one to four four being can't think
Speaker 2: I'll breathe one being French?
Speaker 1: What may where are you right now? One? Jesus Christ?
Speaker 2: Do you know what's right?
Speaker 1: Am one? Because it's it's it's like I'm quite good
Speaker 1: at going right. Well, I gotta do today and I'm
Speaker 1: already thinking I'm speaking to you. Then I've got stuff
Speaker 1: to do today and washing it and it's like I
Speaker 1: don't have time to sit there and you know.
Speaker 2: What this is where you are different from normals. You
Speaker 2: can't know it.
Speaker 1: But but if this was my first Slam day, it
Speaker 1: would be very different. It's my first friend open and
Speaker 1: but like by the time I get there, you know,
Speaker 1: an hour before the match or the night before the match,
Speaker 1: I'll start getting Will you get to four? Hopefully not?
Speaker 1: Probably be at three?
Speaker 2: Yeah? Yeah, four doesn't exist, don't worry about it.
Speaker 1: Four. No, four can happen sometimes, but it's not it's
Speaker 1: not helpful. No better nerves are helpful. Sometimes it gives
Speaker 1: you a better drive, for like when you go too far,
Speaker 1: it's it's crippling.
Speaker 2: Basically, where would you say you are one to four
Speaker 2: with the nation's favorite quiz feder aforehand French Special.
Speaker 1: Four.
Speaker 2: It's coming up after the break. Welcome back to the
Speaker 2: final part of the What You're talking About Willis podcast?
Speaker 2: Before we go ooh, French, it's time for the Federer forehand.
Speaker 2: You know exactly what it's like to face Tennis's most
Speaker 2: beautiful and wonderful site, which is Roger Fedder's forehand. So
Speaker 2: I'm going to give you a list of French items
Speaker 2: and you've got to tell me whether they are better
Speaker 2: or worse than Roger Federer's forehand. So far it started
Speaker 2: off being quite a tight competition to things that are worse.
Speaker 2: But we've noticed on the last one quite a lot,
Speaker 2: even things like I don't know a biscuit ended up better.
Speaker 2: So you did on the last one. You told me
Speaker 2: to remind you, just to dial it back in and
Speaker 2: appreciate it's Roger Fedder's forehand.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, So I get carried away, especially.
Speaker 2: With food French special h croissant like fresh, like warm, fresh,
Speaker 2: not from a petrol station.
Speaker 1: Okay, if you didn't give me that pep talk, I'll say, yeah,
Speaker 1: that's a nute.
Speaker 2: Roger Pedro's forehead is better. Joan of Arc.
Speaker 1: John Dark uh wor sorry Joan?
Speaker 2: Yeah, Camon beer worse Louis Viton, Yeah, worse, Tour de France.
Speaker 2: Well yeah, grower got a car. Why did you do that?
Speaker 1: I like the light crower.
Speaker 2: They get.
Speaker 1: The most overrated thing in France. Worst.
Speaker 2: No, Citron.
Speaker 1: Can't. Well that's just like lime.
Speaker 2: Citron the car.
Speaker 1: Like like the citron. There is a lime and citron
Speaker 1: is a lemon.
Speaker 2: All right?
Speaker 1: No?
Speaker 2: The car what? I drive one recently, but very nice,
Speaker 2: I think I find they always they're small. I don't
Speaker 2: know where to drive him? A where them as a coat? Okay?
Speaker 2: Really a beret?
Speaker 3: Oh oh no, I can't.
Speaker 1: I can't. I can't be. There's only yes or no,
Speaker 1: isn't it? There's no equal man?
Speaker 2: Yeah, the very close not the there's images this week
Speaker 2: of John Travolta sporting a beret because he's directed a film.
Speaker 2: He wanted to wear a beret like a film director would.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, I love that. Do you know what
Speaker 2: we'll do? One day, We'll do a special on John
Speaker 2: Travolta because this will amaze you. I've got a mutual mate,
Speaker 2: do you, Yeah, let's just get him on. A mate
Speaker 2: of mine trades watches with John Travolta. Yeah, okay, creeps, Oh,
Speaker 2: any topic you ont so.
Speaker 1: They do the correct restaurants where you get a savoryone
Speaker 1: as a mane and then you deserve one, and they
Speaker 1: have like salted caramel better, Yes, it's better than Yeah,
Speaker 1: they have like duck crape. Yeah, a good one. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Roger rene Lacoste not only just as a tennis player
Speaker 2: as in like it was world number one in the nineties, ready,
Speaker 2: but as a fashion brand as well. His nickname is
Speaker 2: the Crocodile. I love that. No, I like it.
Speaker 1: It's lovely stuff.
Speaker 2: But yeah, film noir, black and white films, moody.
Speaker 1: Nah.
Speaker 2: Yeah. This might be the hardest question you've ever faced.
Speaker 2: Is the following better than Roger Fedder's forehand m Richard
Speaker 2: Gasque's backhand?
Speaker 1: Decide? Oh uh?
Speaker 2: When I came up with that question, I felt like
Speaker 2: Michael Parkinson.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, no, I'd say it's better because what was
Speaker 1: gas What's the best thing he ever did? In tennis.
Speaker 1: It was obviously a very good player. Conf you send
Speaker 1: me to slam? Yeah, yeah, yeah, and the whole time,
Speaker 1: the whole time. That's it was great. I used to
Speaker 1: when I first got into Challisystan, what if I'm watching
Speaker 1: because because of the back end, pretty much all of it,
Speaker 1: he was just so I don't know, but yeah, the
Speaker 1: backhands is insane. So Richard gas backup had ever miss
Speaker 1: what as well?
Speaker 2: Yeah? Do you know anyone has ever played him? Anyone
Speaker 2: has ever spoken about it?
Speaker 1: No, A few Brits have, but I've never spoken about it.
Speaker 1: He's a pretty chilled out guy. He doesn't really socialize
Speaker 1: that much. I saw him, he was he was like
Speaker 1: to do with the little Challenger in February. Was there chilling?
Speaker 1: I was a dick every time you look at him.
Speaker 1: Just think of that, don't you. That's the thing. Whereas
Speaker 1: I mean, his forehand was insane and sunning, but like
Speaker 1: the rest of his game was as well. It wasn't
Speaker 1: like he only had a whereas Gascade like his the
Speaker 1: rest of his game was good and very good, but like,
Speaker 1: but his back end was just yeah, yeah, you go,
Speaker 1: you go. One of the best backhands in the world.
Speaker 1: Certainly single hand as he's he's up there. It was him,
Speaker 1: this stand.
Speaker 2: Head ad.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, not many woes or anymore the women in
Speaker 3: eight weeks.
Speaker 2: I mean the flourish, the final flourish on that question
Speaker 2: is huge, isn't it just huge? Thank you so much
Speaker 2: for your time, say mate, best of luck with a
Speaker 2: prep and I can't wait to speak to you over
Speaker 2: the weekend. I'll speak you soon, excited or of what Hello?
Speaker 4: Victor of Baranco on Troumle, Sergeant Meader of Craig Frederick
Speaker 4: on the trumpets and the position the Army Blues
Speaker 1: Worked out that