Andy Roddick's French Open tennis revelations | The French Connection | NBC Sports (FULL EPISODE)

Intro I think it was the only time I ever got under rtha skin he's like a human rain delay getting ready for a match and inevitably you're waiting for him to come up and you know kick your ass I don't All NBC kick your butt you can okay great I decided one time in Miami it was 2010 that I as soon as he was ready I was going to uh start reading a book and so uh I did it and that's the only time I've ever seen uh Rafa even even a little annoyed I should have started reading at some point before that yes welcome everyone to the French connection brought to you by NBC Sports and Racket we'll be covering the tennis as you know from the French Open right through the Olympics back in Paris at rolling Garis and we'll cover everything in between today we have a very special guest alongside of me of course is Sam query what way that way I don't never know which way to point anyway Sam query of course joining me again and the one and only former world number one US Open Champion the one and only Andy rodic hi Andy thanks for joining us today buddy how are you friends well great now that you were here I appreciate this is cool thanks for having me on yeah all the we're we're excited to talk to you um obviously it's early days in the French Open but we've had some amazing storylines already of course Rafa etc etc but before we get into that Andy I want to ask you on a personal level give us your best Sam query story oh that's easy it's it's the Sam Querrey and Andy Roddick exchange stories about one another easiest thing well one that I can tell on air anyways um I I'll I'll leave one out but uh it was easy normally we had had like punishments for practice partners for Davis Cup and they were you know pretty benign like lame stuff you know give a speech do whatever so we had this idea with this this young kid Sim query that listen so as everyone's coming back from dinner I think we were in Palm Springs uh as everyone's coming back from dinner you know all these people volunteer just so they can eat free food and wearing ties and uh you know that that was kind of I quickly figured out that was the only reason why Davis Cup existed was for the free buffet for these people but anyways as they're as they're coming back in uh from the fancy Night Out we'd figure we'd have the Young Buck uh singing some some songs in karaoke machine in the lobby of the hotel and we didn't really account for the fact that that Sam might really like it um and so it wasn't it wasn't much of a punishment when he said you know what that was good I Can Do Better can I do another song and so we were defeated you just had to lean into it at that moment you know because the the practice part up until that P was point was more just kind of the speeches at the team dinner and you guys tried to kind of one up that like you know we're not going to do that we're going to make you sing karaoke in the lobby yeah um and just you know put my best foot forward and did two songs little did we know little did we know how much of a ham Sam really is I mean let's face it we've seen some beauty since um but Andy uh we spoke about an interesting story where you offered him was it is it true that you offered him $500 when he played rougher if you want a set to do the bull dance on the way to the changeover I don't remember it specifically but that definitely sounds like something that I would have uh would have done um yeah Cincinnati 2005 or 2006 I believe well yeah I mean listen it definitely sounds like something I would have done hopefully if I did do it and he did it that I paid up um that would be embarrassing uh but one thing I learned very quickly there there's uh there there are some people who are immune to just like you know you average embarrassment and Sam has no time for average embarrassment he he will get right to it do not bet him to do anything because you will you will you will come up uh you will have less money than when you started the conversation all right Sam so now it's over to you give me your best Andy uh rodic story other than other than the Rafa one that we all know now right right I mean there was so many we spent a decent amount of time together I think but when I was like 17 18 19 Andy would have me out to Austin occasionally for kind of practice weeks and gosh I don't even you might not even know this one of the times I was there was I was dating someone at the time who lived kind of outside of Austin and when you were asleep one night I did take your car without you knowing to visit said girlfriend and got back got back you never knew we had practice the next day all was good smile on my face worked hard but I just I remember my heart rate going down the steps of your you lived on that that house kind of on the lake in Austin I bet my heart rate was at 200 miles hour just boom boom get your keys it was a risky move yeah that's before Sam realized that there were security cameras um you know but but you know it really didn't matter it would have bothered me had he not shown up properly the next day um but Hey listen you still get your seven or eight hours and you show up and work I could I could care less what you do right yeah exactly I don't know if you why was your uh hot rate at 200 was it more about actually going to see this chick or was it it like taking stealing Andy's car like God forbid something happens like you again you probably wouldn't have cared though wait a second Andy you actually had no idea this was happen this happened no I mean I think I I think I don't think he's as sneaky as he as he as he thought he was but simply like listen if he's going out he's trying to as long as he shows up the next day I don't I don't care you know you're not you're not taking anything away uh from from my day uh I probably would have just given him the car he didn't need to commit a felony um you know it was you know it's not as if he was going out to a bar uh and and show up like you know whatever and I wasn't going to get in trouble because I had a you know underage Drinker in my house or something that that probably wouldn't have bother me as long as he got his eight hours oh my God I first of all thanks for both those stories because they're fantastic and you know we're gonna P we're gonna you know what with those um but anyway all right Andy so we are at the French Open it is going on right now as we speak uh give me your favorite French Open Story Andy reflects on his time at the French Open I mean I know you have a Le of them I'm sure uh I don't have that many um I did say the other day uh on our podcast I said I actually finally realized my value ad to Rafa and that was I can tell him what to do with the other 13 days of of Roland garos like I can finally add value on like what to do for the other two weeks uh that the tournament is going on such a such a foreign concept uh for him I I didn't I I obviously didn't have many success stories uh at the French Open but I will tell you my best day of the year every single year would be I would leave Paris after losing to someone depressing like muus or acasuso or Mahood or all of this this this all the other all the other Giants that I lost to at the French Open but I would leave I would leave the venue and I was like okay I don't know I was probably like 40 in the world on clay and then all it took was like a three-hour train ride and I was like two or three in the world again I just pop up in London practice on a Grass Court that first day on grass I'm like okay no problem I step off the train and I'm good at tennis again I'm number one in the world come on this guy over here Sam he probably feels the same way uh yeah I mean Andy did better than I did at the French Open but yeah I kind of had the same same feeling Los early in the French Open quickly get over to London play queens and like your mindset switched it was just the complete 180 life was good you're a nice house playing on a a nice surface and your com this was back instantaneously listen I'm not gonna lie guys you can imagine with my game style the French wasn't exactly you know a little diff little difficult for me as well and all of a sudden I got on grass and I was like oh I know how to play tennis this is easy all right so Andy um while we're on the subject of Rafael Nadal just give me your best story when it comes to him we we Sam and I told some stories the other day about you know me leaning on him drunk at the US Open essentially um you know and him telling me that he saw me lose like all the things Sam told a great story what about you what's some of your fun Rafael Nadal vs. Andy Roddick stories stories about Rafa that you'd like people to know yeah uh there are a couple um you know I remember uh I had uh played him at the 04 US Open and he was 17 and I I kind of went through him pretty quick and then we were playing the Davis Cup Final in Seville um we were over there uh in the final uh 28,000 people or whatever and we get a message like right before the match and it says they're subbing out Ferrero who was at the time maybe three or four in the world for this guy that I had beaten 02 and three um you know three months earlier and I'm going Sur just out of away on in Spain uh they played us on Clay Renee um I'm saying the surface that you beat him on oh it was at the it was at the US Open um so so so I'm like pumped I'm like what idiots I cannot believe how dumb these people are like like mu stupido in espia right now this is just this is an absolute uh gift and so I walked out there uh and realized that it was not the same human uh when he played on Clay I lost in four sets it was a miracle that I won one set and then uh he won his first uh French Open like four months later uh so I'm the big I'm the big dummy um a couple things that I did that it was like I think it was the only time I ever got under Rafa skin was uh he was Infamous for one he's the nicest most respectful person ever but he's like a human rain delay getting ready for a match right there's like taping the fingers and he does all the things and it's like so you're you're always inevitably the one standing at the door waiting for him and inevitably you're waiting for him to come up and you know kick your ass I don't know for on NBC kick okay great and so uh I decided one time in Miami it was 2010 that I as soon as he was ready I was going to uh start reading a book um and so uh I did it and that's the only time I've ever seen uh Rafa even even a little annoyed um and I actually think he ended up kind of breaking racket that day so uh point being I should have done a lot earlier you should have done a lot of rating I mean it could be said so many things Andy I should have started reading at some point before that yes yeah you definitely should have so with Rafa kind of toward the end here we've got Noak still playing Roger's done you've said before that Novak of the three resumes is the best which I agree with if you had to go with Rafa and Roger whose resume are you picking between the two of them it's so service dependent and I I honestly just just am so exhausted by the conversation by by now um yeah you can blindly look at resume I don't know I don't honestly know the uh the peripheral stats as much uh the Master's 1,00 years at number I know Roger uh has a million years at number one and Rafa has less years at number one I know he has two more slams uh the head-to-head is Rafa it's a little deceiving because Ro Roger would kind of inevitably make it far enough in the French Open to take his beating uh from rotha where that wasn't always the case uh on the faster surfaces so Sam Sam don't make me do it let's just call Novak and be happy with the rest all right I like that answer yeah I mean I agree I think uh I'm sort of tired about talking about it as well I mean we we do it in the women's game from time to time from I mean we're gonna ask you a question towards the end of this about something that I I was like oh God I don't know who to pick and we'll get to it but you know I think the bottom line is I'm always such a person that's like like can we just appreciate them all because they're all so different personality-wise they all I mean imagine how many Grand Slams they could have won if neither of them have had each other I mean you would have won a couple of Wimbledon without Roger I mean we can go back and forth about all of that sort of stuff um I want to know from a from your perspective Andy going into the French Preparing for the French Open Open and we've seeing the American guys doing pretty well like Taylor like Tommy Paul like they're playing they're pushing a lot of guys on the on the red clay right now what did you do did you do anything different going into the French Open to try and get yourself a little bit more adapted to playing on clay or was it just like I'm going to do the same thing uh well it was it was dependent I mean as we're seeing right now I I think the French Open is the most weather dependent slam uh that we have um and so where I always struggled uh in Paris um and I've tried to explain this before and hopefully it'll come off the right way but if you take most clay quarts and you you you pinch it and you get it between your fingers it kind of feels like salt right it's a little it's a little it's a little grittier you can actually dig in for big uh big bodied you know uh artificial movers like myself uh I'd rather be able to dig into something right and kind of you know not be worried about kind of flipping an edge um at the French Open if you if you took that same clay and rubbed it between your fingers it would feel more like baking powder yeah um and so that first step yeah so I would serve and then try to like split or react off of return and I felt like I my foot was kind of always giving so I just struggled uh at the French Open and inevitably I kind of got stuck on langland anytime I played a french guy and they'd water the tarps behind the court and you know you'd come up with like a little mud ball and so I really did struggle so early on in my career uh I I did really commit and want to do well there um later on later on in my career uh probably Midway through I was hyperfocused on all all everything every decision I made was about trying to win Wimbledon um and there were no there were no real secondary conversation so uh I'd be lying if I said I wasn't completely aware of uh maybe the French Open being an8 foot ceiling where um you know there was there was a tournament out there that might not have a ceiling or at least it was a lot higher so uh I would take a break after Indian Welles I would get my body right to go over and play a couple tournaments on Clay but the reason I was training um those weeks after Indian Wells was to try to get my body right so I could kind of withstand the tour through through wimon and be ready there yep so round two of the Iga Swiatek defeats Naomi Osaka: match of the tournament? French Open going on right now I'm sure you're watching a bunch of matches like we are we've got Osaka versus egoa the other day is that the match of the tournament so far what are your thoughts on that match yeah it has to be the match of the tournament for so many reasons right because you you have this thing where EA's developing this like kind of rotha like Mystique on Clay so anytime that gets interrupted it's you know kind of it sets the whole the whole venue makes it makes it still um obviously Osaka's comeback the fact that they're you know they have the highest slam totals of anyone active in the tournament yeah um you know with the four and four kosaka put herself back into this kind of highlevel conversation um I've loved the way that she's building throughout the year and the fact that she's having a performance like this even being on the wrong side of it uh at a slam again uh that that'll that'll raise a lot of people's antennas antennas around the tennis world so you have kind of this mixture of uh maybe our biggest mainstream star uh with it with Naomi coming up against eish Fon who has this Mystique so uh all the all the cards were there it was just a matter of can Osaka play well enough on this surface specifically and at this moment in her career while she's still kind of uh in build back mode to challenge EGA and boy did she ever challenge EA EA barely got out of there I thought it was the match of the tournament uh quality of tennis and I think uh storylines outside of saying goodbye to a player that we all love and respect uh with Rafa it's obvious it was obviously going to be the Rafa show um but just as quality of tennis and champions and storylines I like the osaga Osaka EA match for sure oh I like that osaga it wasn't a saga that was accidental I like that I mean look at you huh you're in TV now just like come him up with quips left and right so you know I if you see here I love this quote from Naomi this is like first of all this is like putting a flag in the sand baby this is like okay great match it's your best surface I cannot wait to play you on Hardcore I mean sh that's a dagger and I actually said after the match I think I tweeted it out I said Naomi Osaka if she plays like that to me is the favorite to win the US Open and a lot of people like well come on she hasn't won that many matches just because she plays well because I felt like she's she looked unbelievably fit she was moving so well on the clay and you think about how well she plays on hard court if she plays even remotely that close she there's who beats her on hardcourt I mean and we know how well she plays on hardc court arguably one of the best hardcore players over the last 10 years so I'm putting her as equal favorite at the US Open already I'm putting it in the sand what are your thoughts on that I think you're excited and I think there's I think there's a maybe maybe a recency bias a little bit I think I I said when I saw her in Miami um you know she was on the verge where she'd played two good matches and then it was just kind of that that mental flow right we haven't seen her go this is two matches at the French Open right the the the mental wear and tear over the course of two weeks is something that I think we we we have to factor in we haven't seen that from her in four or five years uh I do think that matters uh she had nothing zero to lose in this matchup um so I think that matters uh as well but I I I kind of agree with you as far as things rounding into form um you know co-favorite top five favorite top 10 favorite I don't know I think she's going to win a slam again um I I I I I feel comfortable saying that I don't know that I would choose her you know over a sabalenka or uh you know a shatek or someone like that yet just based on um kind of day in day out average Tuesday consistency that's still a question mark um but I agree with you from from a movement the way that the ball is leaving her racket it looks like Osaka again uh for the first time since the comeback the serve is unparalleled so I'm not mad at your sentiment I just want to see a little bit longer and I don't want to dis respect uh the women that are playing at an unbelievable level right now like it's the the level is phenomenal I want to ask the two of you though have you seen I'll start with you Sam but like have you seen her this excited on the court because she was pumped up like I've never seen her scream yes come on more than that she's usually pretty laidback and I mean Mr Andy Murray I mean this is what he put out which was like I said approved WTA get your you know what together because you got to do a better job at capitalizing on what we saw yesterday but have you either of you seen her that excite like she was like I've not seen her that pumped up in a long time so that shows me that she's really back in this to like win a slam no I to I totally agree and I think that was the this has been the first kind of big match Big situation she's been in in a while where she's playing the number one girl in the world she's playing on the center court at a grand slam so I feel like there's probably some extra emotions going through that match it was great to see her fired up and excited and I'm a little bit with Andy I'm I'm not putting her as a as a US Open favorite but if continues this role and has a few more performances like that I'm totally fine putting her in hey she's one of the three favorites going into New York yeah and the thing is like even when before she kind of uh you know left the tour and dealt with some of the mental health issues and all that it felt kind of tough watching her go through the mo you felt like she was kind of going through the motions uh a little bit um you know and so it was it was tougher to watch it feels like uh she's starting over and with that come she's almost turning back the clock to when what you feel when you're 17 18 coming on the tour she actually has something to prove again for the first time in a long time by by choice right she's a first ballot Hall of Fame anywhere you chop it up like what's set in stone is set in stone you can't take away uh accomplishment but you could sense that the the feeling when you feel like you're gaining on something versus the feeling you have when you feel like you're protecting something I promise you one is a lot more fun and watching Osaka now it feels like you're watching her gaining on something something uh kind of hunting as opposed to being hunted AG greated absolutely moving over to the men's side of things when Novak Novak Djokovic rolls into third round won his first round on Tuesday I stated that I didn't think he was playing great I I was worried about him he didn't seem engaged fast forward to today I feel like he looked incredible and I'm changing my sentiment and now I'm going to say I think Novak's the overwhelming favorite to win the tournament after watching him today what do you think about noak's game after watching him today compared to last week and kind of the year that he's having geez Sam you're changing your mind like a fart in the wind man just with no back I could go back and forth with no back yeah I mean so I'll give you an example of kind of my version of what you just said um we did a uh we did a a live uh draw show so the first time I was seeing the draw was kind of live on our on our podcast and that was kind of fun but it was weird how you kind of had to take into account what you're talking about a little bit so I was going match by match I'm like well I can't bet I don't have the the the stones to actually bet against Novak in any one of these matchups right MTI you go through Tommy Paul I love Tommy Paul is he ready three out of five sets and then I get to Zev in the semis and I'm going okay well Z is playing better so maybe he's the favorite but then I remember if Novak makes the semis he's a different animal like he's a different he's a completely different human right so it's hard to kind of check forward 12 days and then make your decision so I had him go to the final not because I think he's playing you know uh you know a top 10 level at this moment but if he gets that quarters or the semis and he has four or five matches behind him like hell I'm going to bet against him there's there's just there's just no chance so I think that's right and and we're gonna kind of default to the person since this draw on the men's side is so wide open we can't put too much stock in the winners of the tournaments because half the favorites were there people were default it was it's the kind of toughest thing to get a grasp on on form and so the easiest way to go about it is who do I want to bet against the least and the name the name that stands out there uh is especially because he's not dealing with an injury like a center or an alarz um I don't have him winning but as I was kind of progressing through the draw you know if he had to play Tommy Paul first round I'm like oh well Tommy's got a shot but all of a sudden he's a week eight days in uh it completely Chang the way that you uh you digest the matchups yeah and listen he has a little bit on the line here because if he doesn't win the tournament and you know Yanik is there Should Jannik Sinner or Carlos Alcaraz be the French Open favorite? he's going to be the world number one again he will be the new world number one in Yanik C which is pretty amazing and frankly he has been the best player in the world on the ATP this year Yanik so he if he does get there he certainly deserves it so just your thoughts Andy on the bottom half of the draw of course it will be C or alcarez probably we don't know what's going to happen both of those two have struggled a little bit as you said with injuries but you know just your thoughts on Yanik and how he looks and also alcarez um and just my thing on alcarez I felt like even you know his last match where he to De Jong he just kind of like he still has youthful moments right where he just kind of D drifts off I don't know where he goes then all a sudden he's like oh oh that's right I got to finish this match off like he's still has that youthful sort of lack of you know just zoning in sometimes and winning in three sets so just your thoughts on those two guys and and how they're looking yeah I mean listen all of the opinions coming in are purely based on health right we know alcaraz can and will win this tournament um I I had some question marks about Center on the surface lost second round last year and then I saw him playing Monte Carlo and the way that he was moving and I'm going okay so that's that's you know kind of transition over no problem um I actually have Center winning um and it's I I don't feel good about any prediction I made because it's so uh upside down uh to Carlos specifically in the question you're asking I was with uh Agassi at the the event we did in Vegas when when alcarez played at all and we we kind of came to this consensus that the problem with having all the options is that it takes time to learn when to use all the options like dummies like me and Sam it's like okay we're going to try to Surf through you then we're going to try to smoke something and you know we we move fine for guys that don't move great like that's that's kind of what we had to deal with but we weren't hitting Drop shots or floating or coming in the options were limited so it provided a little bit of of clarity with alcaraz it's like he's this combination of you know Roger Rafa Novak and I think the more that he develops into Novak where he can just lock you down punch that back in get the ball flight down not feel like he has to be uh phenomenal every point that he wins it's going to be worse for us as fans cuz it's so much fun to watch even when he's going through those Peaks and valleys like you're talking about but I I feel like once he gets that base level and Trust the fact that he can play pretty badly and still win matches I I think that's when you see him just kind of go to another level but man he is he fun to watch I have I I get jealous when I see him hit the shots that he does yeah I like that the description of you two being dummies um but uh anyway love that description yeah yeah all right Sam I think uh let's throw Andy some uh and I love the description on all of that Andy it's just it's so fun I have to say the the the depth in men's tennis now the depth in women's tennis it's nice to go into the French Open actually saying I mean the women's side it was very obvious who the favorite was in eager but it's nice to have these guys like don't know I mean zov I've said zev's going to make the final I don't think he's going to win because I think he chokes when it really matters but he's certainly playing well me I'm just being honest I'm just being honest sub don't hold back don't say it in a nice way just tell us what you think I mean you know me Andy I just just I'm just Spades a spade guy you know that's how I am I did say that eager was not gonna have an easy time against oaka I got that one right but call that I did you called wait you called You're Now calling losses but like the right kind of loss no that's a lot of credit given no this guy over here was like you know it's gonna be pretty think e is going to win I said hold on a second I think it's going to be more difficult than you expect and I think I was right because she should have won she was one forehand down the line going in over the net 4015 serving for the match two match points on reserve okay let's not forget about that all right uh Sam let's get to the rap and fire questions I know you want to start with this one Americans we've got Rapid Fire: Andy Roddick coaches the Americans 20 Americans in the draw so we're not gonna We're not gonna go 10 minutes on each of them what we want here is one sentence on each player and how they're looking right now at the French Open this will get me in trouble we're gonna start with Ben Shel I love Ben um I think he you know it's it's amazing to me I only one sentence geez uh I love next question great I love Ben great this is fun come Coco gol uh love Coco uh second serve uh needs to help her out a little bit I agree on that okay so before we go to the next one how how is the second serve come on how is it going to get better just give me something on that yeah the toss is gets too forward it it has to come back uh not not even like a traditional kick because that's not the way she hits it uh shoulders need to close a little bit toss needs to come back kind of overhead a little bit if you reach for a second serve you can't create the spin profile to get clearance over the net uh it's it's all just positioning the swing is fine everything else is fine she just kind of contorts herself and kind of falls into the second second serve and you can't really create the the spin that you need for for margin we are on the same wavelength with that one all right Danielle Collins or as we like to toar Danimal uh surprised she just lost yeah but she's been I mean she's been phenomenal I I can't wait to see her I mean Clay's not that's like that natural footing thing she's not a natural mover on Clay Roland gas is a different animal for us not natural not native movers on Clay yeah it's a shame that she lost because I thought she could have done a little bit more damage here but anyway yeah absolutely how about Madison Keys I love Madison Keys I think uh I like her against most players not n fat right now yeah yeah MD mty seems to run into that buzz quite often later in tournaments okay let's get to Taylor fritz or as he likes to call himself clayer I like how dedicated he is like he's he doesn't get Road fatigue he seems like he's committed to Clay um I don't know that he has kind of the natural you know feel in and out of the corners uh but I I I I like him you could get him getting to the last eight here uh wouldn't surprise me yeah how about the most likable guy on for Tommy Paul I love Tommy I love I think okay Tommy Paul here's my I think he has the best transition game in men's tennis this side of alcarez yeah meaning going into the net and he's really tried to work on that a lot this year and I love it he's talked publicly about I I go watch the film of Patrick rafter of Stefan edberg figuring out and it's really nice to hear that because some of the things that's difficult about moving forward I mean you two wouldn't know because you know you were so great at than net the both of you um is like actually learning how to move forward and what to move forward on I think looking at some of the old film is a really good idea so he's done a great job there all right one just real quick Tommy I think one of the biggest things too is like he doesn't have the weight of shot he doesn't have the serve he doesn't have like that that knockout punch that you're like trying to stay away from all the time so by him interjecting kind of the crush and Russ coming in it just gives you something to think about and he's using it as a weapon I love what he's done yeah and he's so fast yeah okay Francis tiao uh needs to turn it around a little bit and I think uh he's not going to be able to get off of that that clay fast enough he you know what I was talking about with that train to London that's going to be a good trip for him he's already on it I think yeah I was gonna say he could be on it already good uh let's go one more Sebastian Corda he's kind of quietly behind some of the other names but seems to go out there get a lot of wins get a lot of results what do you say about him the eye test tells me he's top 10 but um his ranking always disagrees with me um you know when you watch him he's smooth I think he leaves a lot on the table his serve especially at 6'5 I'd like to see some freedom of that elbow to where he can actually get some torque on it it feels like he kind of goes a little bit T-Rex uh on it it's a little bit too close but I love the way he moves it just seems like once a set all of a sudden he makes two airs and he's down Bel 30 trying to trying to get through service games yeah it's a shame um obviously the wrist inju really affected him over the last couple years it's affected the forehand you can sort of see it in his face he looks just a little dejected from time to time and it's such a shame because you know he was just having such a great career there for a little while until that injury really hurt him but he is still part of the best uh sporting family in the world let's face it although sadly his sister Nelly cter had a 10 on a par three today so she's really knocked herself out at the US Open conten what a what a loser I mean have you ever had a tener to par three look at you you're so disgusted you're like sorry I pulled my cord and it just everything went uh I'm sure I've I've added 10 on everything on the golf course fives fours threes I don't I don't discriminate all right we're going to throw in some oldtimers now for you to discuss uh Stan vinka he Stan Wawrinka loses to Pavel Kotov lost to kotov um but he got through a match against Andy Murray uh just give me your favorite stand story uh I I I got one for you so I I lost I I basically tore my knee apart against him um in Shanghai one year it was like 2009 uh yeah 2009 um and I hear him as I'm like limping off the court on crutches uh state of the Umpire this guy always defaults against me I'm like man okay not the time bro not the one that I didn't like that I don't know if you did you see he's so he's playing in his uh most recent match um pav kotov there's a a picture right now going around of koto's mom gripping his rackets so great did you who would you trust to drip your grip your racket when you're playing anyone besides yourself uh you trust your mom your dad or your uh uh or your wife no no absolutely not there's just there's just no chance I got in trouble uh for COV I I did pick him to move to the get get to the third round but I also said he kind of looks like a third base coach so I got in trouble for that one well I mean look look at this I mean he's got his mom wrapping his grip for him um Andy this is amazing I had seen this this is so great this so great right I mean this is the most amazing okay so everyone the US Olympic and par Olympic team trials kick off on June 15th I'm so excited about the Olympics I can't even stand it as the best athletes in the country seek to make the toughest team in the world ahead of the Paris games catch the action on NBC and peacock and of course the Paris Olympics begin July 26 I can't wait for this but before that happens they got to make the team so stay tuned on all the networks of NBC for that um Andy we're we obviously got the Olympics it's not too far away um it's In the Olympic Village with Andy Roddick been amazing in the Olympic Village with Andy erotic um you made it to the quarterfinals in 2000 at the Athen games you lost to Gonzalez who ended up winning the gold medal I believe um you lost to jovic in am I wrong on that no it was uh it was who that's it I knew it was a random um and not no offense to him but you lost to jovic in the second round of London nice draw um but is there a moment that stuck out to you um at the Olympics I I enjoyed being Marty's cheerleader in ' 04 I lost in the round of 16 I think to to Gonzalez and then he had a a run kind of all the way to the final and was up a couple sets on uh on massu um you know so I I was I had fun just pulling for Marty I was the highest ranked practice partner uh that week um you so that that was that was a blast for me uh London I thought I had a you know I was feeling pretty good I had won a Tour event the week before I'm like grass this is great and then I walked off against that that match against Novak um he beat me one and two on grass and I walked off and I said you know what I didn't actually play that badly and that was the first time I realized that the game uh had probably passed me by and I retired like three months later Smart Choice yeah is there a moment at the Olympics obviously there's we've got athletes from everywhere you ever star struck you ever seen Usain Bolt or someone in the village or walking around that you kind of went well that's that guy or that girl is larger than life I I liked watching uh they they didn't stay in the village um but watching uh the US basketball team kind of make their appearance and walk through you know you the village in Athens that kind of had these you know four-level buildings and people had these little patios and all of a sudden this bus lands and they're just walking through the village and to just see the sea of humanity from all over the globe uh just surround these guys that was there there was uh listen there were you knew who Michael was and you knew who Tito was and uh they were Michael yeah oh my that was the coolest thing about the Olympics was just running into random people like that like Ming what was that basball player from China remember what we were like walking next to him trying to take photos like look at the size of this dude it was unbelievable but um we had an interesting conversation with Jesper Gula the other day about the Olympics and she would like to see the Olympics tennis be a little bit more like a team event rather than individuals what do you think of that yeah I think that's right um you know the I think ideas are easy I think execution is harder um you know I think in tennis sometimes we have the uh the knee-jerk reaction to say well we should do this we should shorten the schedule we should do all this and then it's like well how do we do that like I don't know we should just tell the people I'm like okay that doesn't exactly work uh in theory um if they could create the space and it didn't eat up another week of of of the calendar because one of the things we can't really sacrifice our tour you know more than the allotted days for for an Olympic thing so as long as they could fit it in the the a lotted time where we're not giving up another thousand or switching surface one more time or or something like that I'm all for it um I think it could probably separate I'd like you know imagine a you know college tennis match men and women combine that would be insane um you know I I certainly uh it would reward countries uh that had a lot of depth with selfishly as an American uh I would be I would be for um but yeah I think there's something to it again you'd have to just see kind of uh how all the moving parts fit together and if that was actually a reality all right Andy we're GNA move on we're going to move on let's move on to the drop shot because I know that Andy's got to get going his but let's move on to the drop shot uh last show we asked folks on Twitter Andy Dropshot: social media questions um about to send questions to you so let's get to them now uh which current player just in general us not a man ranked number one in the world since you in 2000 what does the US program training Etc need to do to get back there which current player do you believe has the best shot and why well I I think we need to stop it about a program that's going to make us get there um I I don't I don't think that's the case I mean Sam came for training weeks we would work out at a high school track like you can get your work done um stop pointing fingers elsewhere and maybe have a hard look in the mirror uh sometimes I I don't think we need to rely on you know anyone giving us anything uh to make it happen but I also think that we've made so much progress where you know at the end of my career till now with the amount of players we're putting in the top 15 consistently uh it's just a matter of time till till breaks the right way um and so I feel better about now than you know uh 12 years ago the best drop shot is Carlos alcarez and there's not a lot of there's not a lot of doubt I I don't think I think he might have the best drop shot of all time and now you see copycat syndrome going on where now everyone's trying them uh but in order to have a great jop shot if you're not like sentur or some wizard I think you have to have a massive forehand so people check step backwards right so you get a defensive position and then if you can kind of throw it underneath you know people don't see the setup they just think drop shs are hit when people are in stride it's against movement it's against kind of the check step and he's he's become a master of that very early in his career and also the the shot from Novak that doesn't get talked about nearly enough is his ability to take it back with two hands where it looks like a tops some back end and then drop it up the line that's it's unbelievable shot yeah agree all right let's get to the next one this is from Jeff Malcolm you can read this one Sam we got this is just plain and simple what does it feel like to hit a proper serve could have asked that to the both of you uh true well Sam Sam actually probably had like a proper motion um yeah you did have a little bit of a funky motion when you came out yeah it was it was a little uh little little little strange uh but Jeff it feels it feels great feels really good that's like hitting that driver like like 320 and just being like yeah I'm so just melting it yeah all right let's get to Andy right oh one match on clay okay this is the question we we we had a hard time week this is the Question of the week: one match on clay question of the week Andy if you had one of these women to play a match for you to save your life who would it be and the match is going to be on clay and you have to this is for our viewers you have to tweet us at NBC Sports and give us the uh the answer on Twitter or X or whatever you call it these days but we're going to ask you live on air whom you would like I love this question happy they put henan on here because she didn't get talked about enough oh good she's not going to be my pick but uh I I I I I'm just happy that she's on this graphic uh shiach not yet uh we're left I mean I'm I'm down to graph and and Chrissy I think um it's weird because you had graph kind of take over from Chrissy and then sell us uh got this is brutal um i' I'm I'm with you buddy I think I think ah I hate this so much um I hate choosing because it's like it's for your life Andy it's for your life yeah I think I think you have children yeah I do um I think probably Stephy I think her career numbers uh would have uh rivaled graph we forget that she retired uh after you know having won it um so I I don't know that I'm going to punish her uh volume numbers because she just decided to take a decade off yeah 29 she stopped and she won as you said the French Open Over Martina hus incredible yeah um I I would have I would have I would not disagree with you of course Chrissy's record on Clay speak itself it's like it's unheard of and also Monica cis's record against Stephie at the French was unbelievable until we know what happened sadly to her so listen you know bottom line I'd take any of these chicks to play a match for my life on Clay yeah I agree yeah I I I hate my answer and I still I I I I love the question I hate it all at the same time I'm good with it I'm good with it I know who had picking the men's yeah yeah it's too men but I'm going graph as well with Andy I didn't watch you I didn't get to watch Chrissy play or St play that much but oh my God having watched highlights of Stephie I'm just a fan of hers so I want to watch her play a match on Clay so Stephie is my answer as well um and not to mention like we said earlier she she was done at 29 who knows how many more she would have won had she kept playing I'll tell you this I'll tell you this Sam if you didn't see Chrissy play much the next uh time she wastes motion on any shot will be the first time unbelievable like just comp nothing can go wrong it's like s stem and golf like you heard golf like it's like you're going okay that looks very simple yeah every single time every single time y you know the great they're all great they're all great in their own right and certainly at the French Open but uh Andy you know we know we follow you on tennis channel of course you have served it's a great podcast you've had some awesome guests on it um I love your insights into tenets I've been trying to get you to do more TV more radio because we love hearing from you you have such a great outlook on everything and it's just thanks for joining us today on on our little French Connection um we really appreciate you coming on and voicing your opinions cheers thanks dubsy Sam get that Achilles better man yeah you got to get him back on a pickle ball CT bro Le seven seven more months seven more short months just stay away from that Sam yeah thank you thank you anyway seeed see you later Budd okay everyone well we want to thank Andy so much and everyone for joining us today on The French Connection it's brought to you of course by NBC Sports and Racket next episode is June 5th and guess who we have do you who do we have Sam we have Lindsay Von not that's professional tennis player probably the best skier of all time and probably knows more about tennis uh than most tennis players would yeah Lindsay absolutely loves tennis I cannot wait to get into some stories with her um she's been ever present at every single Grand Slam over the last couple years as you said arguably one of the greatest skiers of all time and certainly the best there's no question the best downhill skier we've ever seen in the history of the sport so uh she likes speed she loves tennis and she loves talking about it so uh we're very happy to have Lindsay on so hopefully you'll join us and thanks again for joining us today Sam way to go buddy um you got some qus in therey um and uh we'll see you guys next time see you later