French Open finals recap + Jewell Loyd | The French Connection | NBC Sports (FULL EPISODE)

Intro you have a Diana terasi story I don't know if we could beat the Sue bird peeling oranges story but anything from I think it's going to be a little bit different this one I just remember going to the Lane and she just like clocks me just like straight up like boom I'm like on the ground I'm like you know like unbelievable I mean it's probably the hardest block I probably ever received in my life and she's like hey you you look good all right everyone welcome once again to The French Connection brought to you by NBC Sports and re where we cover the French Open through the Olympics in Paris and of course everything in between I am Renee stubs that is Sam Kiri right over there uh Sam what an incredible uh couple of weeks we had at the French Open later on of course we are going to be joined by juel Lloyd two-time WNBA Champion who's a huge tennis fan and a tennis player herself but we're going to get to her very soon uh but Sam what do you think men's final let's just get straight into Carlos Alcaraz defeats Alexander Zverev in Men’s French Open final it what a match what tournament kitos wins again yeah you know what a five set win in the semis and a five set win in the finals um that's what you want for a final you want five sets uh is an incredible match I feel like alcaraz came out wins the first set loses the second set that third set there he's serving for it and kind of For the First Time really all tournament I felt like he kind of had like a 10-minute mental lapse and kind of went away but then got right back to it dominated the uh the fourth set dominated the fifth set um I felt a little bad for Z with that uh that second serve call I don't know if you saw that that would have yeah put the match back at two all in the fifth but at the end of the day um alarz was was the better player played incredible and um you know he's a deserving deserving French Open Champion yeah I think look we all you know as tennis players feel sorry for that second serve call but so many times stuff like that happens in tennis matches you could go back maybe to the third set Maybe happened there where he could have you know been up two sets to one like things happen um certainly a bad call but also I don't know if you read my Tweet but I said electronic line calling hello where are you um at the FR and you know I don't know about you Sam but people kind of come back at you like there's margin for error la la la and it's like yeah but guys there's margin for error on human error too but the difference is and I feel with electronic line calling there's no argument it's just like that's the machine's call get on with it and I think if the call had come for example by a machine there's no arguing that so anyway but let's not talk too much about that because as you said I think the better player won and I think I might have stand said that s was gonna make the final Sam and lose in the final and get a little tight you did I mean look that's that's a spoton call you were you were all over it all week but alcarez I mean the creativity and he's he really does have an allc Court game you see him serving and voling in big opportunities you see him using the drop shot he uses a high loopy not to call it a moonball but uses that to get short balls he he he redirects back hands down the line he can do everything and I feel like he's just got a little more variety in his game than than really every other male player out there right now yeah it's phenomenal particularly on Clay I guess how many is he G to win um throughout his career a little bit concerning with the injury that he had come you know he had the physio out a bunch you could see that it was working on like his upper leg groin area and certainly for someone who slides the way he do does on Clay there was a bit of a concern there were you a bit conc concern that oh is he going to be able to like physically get through this match I definitely was especially with the history he's had uh with injuries over the past couple years but uh like you said he had the physio out they kind of worked on it and it it seemed to make or have zero effect on his game he really only got better after that so um you know hopefully now he's got he's got a week to you know kind of take care of his body recover we'll see I think he's probably scheduled to play Queens next um you know if he's not 100% he can always take that week off take the week off before wimble have three weeks to get this body right but um all in all he his body held up well and he you see him move around he's he's physical he kind of moves around the court the way that like jokovic is physical with this movement Carlos is physical with his movement so um you know we want him healthy to to watch and play at that high level dude the shot maybe of the tournament the onehanded flicker now as somebody like you who had a two-handed backand did you ever run over and hit a one-handed flick backand crosscourt and virtually one of the biggest points of the match and the look that Zev gave him like whatever and then you see him apologize because it clipped the net I don't know if everybody saw that point but it was literally one of the best shots I've ever seen I screamed so loud in my apartment it was ridiculous and then he says sorry because it clipped the net but then the next movement is vamos I was like I loved it that shot can you tell me have you ever hit a shot like that oh no I've never hit a shot first of all I can't even slide out to my left on Clay but I mean for a guy with a he's got a two-hander like like most of us he goes over and flicks a one-handed back you know passing shot crosscourt and yes it clipped the net but even if it didn't clip the net the fact that he hit it so cleanly and so solid at such a great angle um and I believe that was to give him a love 40 yeah gave him three huge yeah just to hit break was huge know there's one thing hitting that in practice but to hit it in the French Open in the final and like this big moment is even just more incredible so that was you know he had the momentum at the time but that was kind of you know what would put him over the edge and once he hit that you're like all right this is his tournament at this point yeah I was just like good luck you know can't can't beat the guy with one hand and good luck um Can Carlos Alcaraz get to 20 titles? youngest player at the age of 21 to won all the Grand Slams on different surfaces he has not won the Australian Open yet but it is a hardc court he's won the US Open on hardc court he's now won Wimbledon last year over five sets on grass and now he's won the French Open he is the youngest to do that look at the names on this list Sam I mean are we talking about arguably the next I mean can he get to 20 what's the deal like this guy's phenomenal it seems you know if you go back five years you're like oh will someone else get to 20 you be like no that just it's too difficult it's too difficult but now all a sudden he's got three and he's 21 and he's got three on three different surfaces so all that tells you is that every slam for the next you know he's 21 let's say he plays till 35 so for the next 14 years he's going to have the opportunity to win every Grand Slam he's in because you know he can do it and so yeah he does have a chance to get to those you know the the the 20 number I think yeah I mean I I'm the same I mean when people were talking about those numbers I was like no way no one's ever going to do that this was the most freak you know two or three four three players we've ever seen and Roger Rafa and Novak but now we're starting to talk Carlos alarz sin I don't think I don't know if sin's going to get to 20 just because not he's not quite well no I don't even want to put him in not quite as vers he's got to get to two before we talk about getting to 20 that's right that's right but um the semi-final wasn't as you know it was everyone was complaining it wasn't as great as a US Open in the matches I mean come on give these guys a break you can't be perfect every single time they play but I'm so looking forward to Sina and alcarez I think sin's the favorite at Wimbledon even though Carlos won it last year he's definitely my favorite to win the US Open CER I just think the faster Court helps him um and I think wimbl will be interesting to see if they play against each other but thankfully they'll be number one and number two um but then you've got Novak who's won it seven times he's hanging around as well so I don't know but we'll get to wimbl in a second um what's the impact you think of K of ju Carlos Ferrera for Carlos because he wasn't in Australia he Influence of Alcaraz’s coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero; ways Alcaraz is like Nadal, Federer & Djokovic combined tactically played a horrendous match against verif everybody's talked about it including myself that he played the back end way too much in Australia and then he's finally figured out oh that's right the guy's got probably arguably the best back end of the game why am I playing it there but just the influence of having the coach there to remind him to calm him down and particular won as experienced as Juan Carlos who also won the French Open himself right it's it's massive like you said Juan caros won the French Open so just for Carlos alcaraz just being able to look up at that player in between points gives you a lot of confidence and look no one knows what what one Carlos is doing with Carlos you know behind the scenes how he's coaching it but he's whatever he's doing it's it's amazing he's he's done a phenomenal job these last you know call it four or five years and I'm more impressed not so much with his with the game that car alcarez is playing but just his his mindset he kind of is like Rafa you don't see you don't see him get overly high or overly low he's locked in every point he's he just acts like a true champion kind of like we saw Rafa do and so that's what I'm most impressed with like whatever Juan Carlos is doing to get into the mind of Carlos alcarez um is really impressive because alcarez is just locked in and and acts like a champion at this young age of 21 every Point yeah it's incredible I mean my last thing on Carlos is that he really is the mixture of all the three greats he has the flexibility that you know outreached open stance backand passing shot down the line he has the creativity of a Roger federa the you know with the fancy like Drop shots and the slice back in and he has that kind of like bull mentality of Rafa and of course the Spanish personality but he has kind of like the quirkiness and smiling sometimes you know Novak does the smile and then the you know he's so he has a little bit of everyone in him and I am so here for it I cannot wait to watch him play the next 10 15 hopefully years he stays injury free somebody who has no problem winning the French Open and has Iga Swiatek defeats Jasmine Paolini in Women’s French Open final now done it four times which is unbelievable at her age of course is eager Shan who just crushed Jasmine Pina and a lot of people like oh it was a terrible final all that sort but listen you play who you play we know she had that scare against Osaka I mean Osaka was one point away from winning the match could have been a very different situation but as I also tweeted out I thought she was going to crush everybody after that match against Osaka because we saw her cry after the match Sam I mean you know what it's like to go in as overwhelming favorite against somebody and you know you get pushed and she I think was so relieved after getting through that match and knowing how not lucky I don't want to say that no one's lucky winning a match but fortunate to get through a match the way she did there I think she was just so relieved that she was like all right I'm good now and of course all the big hit in the bottom half the draw lost rakina sabalenka to Andrea to Pini because the match up on Clay is very different these two players that they lost to are technically very good clay quarters but for someone like eager to play another clay quarter you better have some power and unfortunately for Pini she was playing herself she was just playing somebody way better way better and you kind of had a little hope early I think going into the match everyone's like is gonna Crush you know crush palini and then palini kind of holds that first game and then eaga holds and palini I think holds again to go up 2-1 you're like all right like you know what for a first time her in the French Open final here like she's come to play and then it was Off to the Races for EA 62 61 after that and you just there there was nothing Jasmine could do EA's just better on on on on the forehand side on the backhand side on the movement and like you said once she got through the match with Osaka it was like almost like a weight had been lifted off her shoulder and it was like okay I've got just I've got freedom now I'm I'm not not NE playing with house money because she's number one in the world and so dominant but that felt like her test she got through it and then after that it gave her just like that extra bit of confidence and she rolled through the rest of the field just like you just like you predicted after that match I mean you know somebody's got to do it someone's going to put themselves on the line but on on a serious note three times in a row she wins this tournament it's now the fourth time she's won it but this is somebody who's dominating at this event Chris EV of How Swiatek overcomes the pressure of #1 seed, could break Chrissie Evert’s record course holds the record at the French open and has an amazing record at the French Open but you start talking about oson tech now how many French opens can she win I mean you know being number one seed being having all of the pressure on her shoulder coming in here winning Madrid winning um in Rome and when you look at the names that now she is on the list with look at these players I mean these are the absolute greatest tennis players outside of Serena who is not that great on the red clay um but certainly she enough Grand Slam so I'm not going to give her a hard time but look at the players that she's now joined at the French Open and this is um this is the upper echelons of tennis royalty no it's it's incredible I mean and for her like we were kind of talking about this off camera what's harder getting to the top or staying at the top and I think it's staying at the top the fact that e has done this three years in a row everyone's gunning for her um it's you know Testament to her but I don't think it's crazy to say that like she could have a look at 10 French opens you know I what you think but like you know it doesn't appear right now that she's got you know a competitor on this surface that's going to be challenging her year and year out yeah I mean listen if you go back to Rafa winning four or five you start oh maybe he can get to nine like 10 or it's like crazy the guy has 14 okay so is it POS which is so nuts I mean players don't win one tournament let load 14 Grand Slams at one event but I I I said last year when she won I thought she could win 10 French opens and I look if she stays healthy look she's quirky she's anxious riddled and all that sort of stuff I mean it's over time it gets harder and harder to win which is why we as pundits and ex players are so respectful of what Roger Rafa Serena all these players do because there is no question getting to the top is really hard but staying there year after year is by far harder there's no question about it you have to keep upping your level you have to keep you know everyone's nipping at your heels and no one has any pressure when they play against you so what she was able to do I think getting through that match with Osaka as you said just lifted all the weight off her shoulders and she just played so freely after that um Pini got to give her so much credit I'm so Jasmine Paolini outlook happy for her she's now inside the top 10 this is a player I saw play at a 125 in Prague like years ago and I was like this kid is so good she's so happy why isn't she doing better do you see her maybe making another final of a slam yeah I hope so I mean look she she gained a lot of fans she's a fun player to watch she's got a smile on her face she's she rips the ball um you know not to mention she made the finals of the singles she made the finals of the doubles too kind of a little you know icing on the cake with with that result as well but you know if she's gonna make another final of a slam it's probably gonna be the French Open her game seems to be suited for the clay but um you know she's she's somewhat of a new name to the Casual tennis fan and I think I think a lot of people are going to be excited to watch our tournaments all over the world moving forward agree all right I got a good question for you Sam who's going to win more Grand Slam Who wins more grand slam titles: Iga Swiatek or Carlos Alcaraz titles between EIG Shante and Carlos alcarez ah gosh this is so difficult I'm gonna go with IGA just because I don't think she has the the competition that Carlos has or not maybe not the competition but she just seems so dominant the gap between her and maybe sabalenka and KOCO just seems like a little too great right now where Carlos does have like CER on his heels and it seems like z may clip him one of these times he's had some injuries um but at you know at the end of the day like I can see them both getting 15 or more but I'm gonna if if if I had to pick right now EA is my answer you well that's I'm I'm I'm surprised only because I thought alarz we just talked about how dominant he is on all surfaces this guy wins at Wimbledon he's one of the fast surfaces of the US Open whereas eager struggles a little bit more against the raras against the sabalan against the ostap penos on a fast hardcore I mean she can't beat us pink on a hard court it's like it's insane but so I think she needs to adapt a little bit more in a faster hard court to multiply the grand slams right the way Rafa was able to step up a little bit at Wimbledon to you know not play so far deep in the court the trrain open changed a little bit got a bit slower through the year so I don't know it's a great it's a great question and one that we don't live or die by because it's not about us right exactly someone who does have a Grand Slam in singles and also now in doubles finally because I think it was her third or Coco Gauff wins first career doubles title fourth Final in doubles was Coco go you got to give her a lot of credit she came off of you know a difficult loss to eaga in the semi-finals again with all the question marks like have you ever GNA beat eaga blah blah blah um but she turns up with sakova who of course has been so dominant over the last couple of years in doubles with Babor Kika they decided to have a break then she was playing with storm Sanders from Australia and they were doing pretty well and then storm guess what tore her Achilles and so she plays first time with Coco go they win the French Open I mean how great is that for for coko to finally get that win because she's been in as I said a bunch of grand slam doubles finals to play with someone's experien as sakova Hood also won so much um but it was nice especially when they um they just dominated the whole tournament yeah they crushed it and in my opinion Koko's been the best doubles player the last three years like you you know or cak OFA might have a little I know but you know kok is a singles player who is is also playing doubles on the on the side a little bit you know she I don't think she necessarily practices doubles it's a little bit like Jack sock Jack was never the number one ranked doubles player but I think amongst the locker room and amongst the players you're like Jack is the best player I think kok has a little bit of that kind of Aura around her on the doubles Court where like you know what kok yes she's a singles player she's phenomenal at doubles but like I think a lot of the girls if you asked her like cooko they would they would say Koko is the best doubles player she's got incredible results with everyone she plays with her and Pula were had a great run for a couple years it was awesome to see her you know win win this and and they dominated as a team but um I'm impressed with their doubles game and I think you know if you win a Grand Slam in doubles it's just going to help your confidence on the singles court and hopefully this can kind of boost her even more you know when she plays a an ego or sabalenka in those matches hopefully she can gain a little confidence from these doubles wins yeah I think look I think what she did and what helped her was playing with somebody who'd won so many doubles grand slams and as you know Sam experience you can't buy it and she had not won a doubles Grand Slam yes she'd won a singles which s had not done but I think when you're on the court with somebody who's like calming you down and she's won so much um but I'd say Su Shay might have a little issue with you about best doubles players I know I just feel like Co if Koko quit singles right now was like I am fulltime doubles I'm I'm giving her 25 doubles Grand slings I love it I love that you're I love that you're you are you were promoting that and I love can I just say any young player out there and any play coach out there get your kids to play doubles it only helps their singles game and often actually coko son have done it the reverse usually a lot of players win doubles grand slams and then they go on to win singles grand slams and there's been many in the past particularly on the women's side that have done that I can think of many many many of them Ash body comes to mind of course um you the most recent to have done that um as a ranker won mix doubles before she won singles titles is the is long all right so Sam is it way too early to pre Way too early Wimbledon preview & picking winners preview hold hold on Wimbledon I don't think so so let's get to who's your favorite on both the men's and women's side to I'm gonna have to I can't I can't find my trophies right now yeah listen where's your Queens one because that's coming up soon that's way bigger than this side story when I won Queens they sent me the trophy it was in like 400 pieces I sent it back to get a new one they sent me another one it was also cracked so I have the trophy but it's cracked right now no yeah to do something about that I mean it is large so I don't know but anyway way to avoid the look it's too it's too early like we like we were predicting before the uh the French Open with the men like we didn't really there was like 12 guys we thought we could win the French Open and ultimately Carlos won it but Wimbledon is even the grasp results are even a little more obscure so like you know look Carlos and CER are probably the two favorites I'm going to go out on Lem and it's going to be a a guy ranked between like eight and 15 that's going to win Wimbledon this year I it just AG Grio demitro yeah a demitro you know uh Taylor Fritz can hit through the courts you know maybe Buck hits first serves the entire tournament never misses one like you just you just don't know on that men's side but um you know I at least we're gonna have a finalist I think that's kind of between that eight and 15 range in the rankings and on the women's side yeah like look EGA hasn't shown us what she can do on the grass yet if sabalenka is locked in her balls are going to be she's I think we saw first round of the French Open her average forehand speed was like a you know 150 miles an hour if if those are dialed in at Wimbledon uh she's gonna be tough to beat um so I'm gonna I'm gonna go with Sabal Lanka on the girls side men's side I'm kind of saying it's open well okay well from my standpoint I think I'm gonna go not on a limb because she's won it before I'm going to go for rakina I think that she has sort of struggled a bit this year with injuries with sickness all the things and look you could say Sabal Lanka you could say anur who's played in the the finals the last two years you'd certainly say eager but I think as far as comfortability on grass and the big serve if she's healthy I feel like rakina is the player to beat on grass so I'm G to pick Meena rakina and on the on the men's side I said before I think sinner is the favorite um but I have this weird I get these weird feelings Sam and I think that Carlos is going to win Wimbledon again and I think Novak might have something to say about that we forget about that guy who's won at seven times but is he gonna be able to play I don't know oh no he won't be able to play right because if it's a miniscus tear six weeks is minimum so yes you are correct thank you for reminding me of that um so I'm gonna say alarz and then I'm going to bookend the grand slams with sin when in the US Open so I think sin is going to win the first and the last and Carlos is going to win the ones in between so I'm going to say Carlos and in it you heard it here first everyone and as far as Sam is concerned you can pick anyone outside of alcarez or sin yes look your French Open predictions were spot on so if you're listening out there go with Rene's predictions because she's uh she had a great a great French Open run yeah I got a bit lucky but anyway all right guys well we are so excited about our next guest um someone who knows tennis very well and you're going to hear all about it uh two-time WNBA Champion juel Lloyd uh she had a game last night and we're very pleased that she's going to get up early for us and join us because she's on the west coast and so are you Sam so thanks for getting up early all right guys more with juul Lloyd after the break all right everyone as promised we promised you the one and Jewell Loyd, Seattle Storm guard & two-time WNBA champion, Olympic gold medalist only two-time WNBA champion and five-time allar the gold mumber herself juel lyd juel thanks so much for joining us I know you had a game last night you're up early on the west coast like Sam so we really appreciate you joining us today thanks buddy no this is awesome uh I couldn't say no of this this is a must do so I appreciate you guys having me on all right well let's get into it um let's talk about your season first of all in the WNBA playing pretty well Seattle Storm is certainly one of the teams to play for they've had a storied um just you know franchise through the years and I know that you're glad to be a part of that team tough one last night you lost but also you had a great win not that long ago against the reigning Champion the aces just overall how are you feeling about your season you know we're feeling good um it's always interesting when you have uh new teammates right new season I always say like every season is a New Journey uh never you know the same Journey never the same season never the same teammates uh things evolve and so that's what we're doing right now we're evolving we're still trying to take uh some time to get to know each other still trying to figure out Personnel sometimes or what people like to do but that's all new training camp was shorter this year because of the Olympic year so we only work together for about two three weeks before season started so that's not a lot of time to kind of implement people but I'm feeling good you know we're not where we're supposed to be we know we're we're still building so that's the point of getting better every day and that's what we're trying to do that's awesome can you feel kind of like the WNBA right now has a ton of energy ton of new rookies in the league it seems like it's you know you turn on ESPN Stephen A it's it's being talked about everywhere can you kind of feel that energy when you're when you're at your home games away games any game right now can you feel that new kind of like bump of energize like energy from the fan base when you're playing 100% it's definitely electric right now I think just in General the women's sports is just taking off um I feel like that's where we're going and that's where we're seeing a lot of momentum which is amazing so for us you know I feel like every couple years is the generation that comes in and kind of elevates the game that's we're definitely seeing that now I think obviously now the nil kind of helped the shift of college sports and people coming in with way more not notability coming into the professional side but uh there's definitely movement and it's great to see because you obviously want to grow the game and uh that's what's happening right now yeah so let's ask the you know elephant in Caitlin Clark adjustment to WNBA the room the whatever you want to call it Caitlyn Clark um you were the number one draft pick as well back in your day you had a lot of uh expectation on your shoulders just tell us the difficulties of coming into the pro league the differences between playing college being the outstanding player in college you go to the pros tell me what their first year is like just so people can understand how difficult and I have to say juel as a season ticket holder now to WNBA games I never realized how intense and physical women's basketball is I don't know about you Sam if you've been to some WNBA games but my God like the physicality so just tell us how hard that transition is yeah you know the best way I can explain it and way actually how I explain it to my a and nephew it's like if anyone in general goes to a new job you're always kind of like what's going on it takes a minute to get your footing it takes a minute to just realize what's going on um at the same time for me you know I came from college we're living in dorms for three years now I'm living by myself in the west coast um Pacific Northwest having been adult have to figure out how grocery shop all these things on top of trying to learn new plays my teammates my teammates at the time were older than me they were you know with families and things I'm like I'm just playing video games by myself so it's definitely an adjustment you know um you're learning how to be an adult on top of learning how to be professional it's not easy and yes like you said it's the WBA so is goal and you realize it's really is the best league in the world um you're playing against you know Olympians you're playing against the high most highle athletes all the time and so it's not it's not uh it's not easy and that's that's why it's the best in the world and that's why it's only so many limited spots because it's so competitive every single night um but yeah it's always an adjustment no matter how good you are no matter if you're coming in from overseas whatever it is it just takes time because you're just coming from college like you're learning a whole another life you know you're starting all over and uh the best thing to do is just to to rely on what you know is play basketball the game is the same so you rely on that the game will take you where it needs to go and uh I think that's the biggest thing with all the rookies coming in it's always just do what you do and and let that uh take you take you off FL that's awesome moving from basketball to tennis we know you play some tennis and I know you play some pickle ball we're just saying there's a we're in Seattle like I'm injured right now but we were gonna have a big pickle ball tournament Seattle later this summer it's it's been moved uh but we'll have to get out on the court one of these days but were you locked in the last two weeks watching the French Open always uh tennis is our family thing I grew up playing tennis so I I know the game pretty well and um yeah waking up in the mornings before you know practice and our games was the best thing I'm calling my dad like get out you know games on and uh it's what we love to do and what we love to watch so I've been logged in and it was some great tennis and some great story lines as well yeah so tell me jel like your dad like the history of tennis why because some people might be listening to this or watching it going wait what tennis you what so give us more of a background of how you got into it and and your family's love of it of course my dad uh moved from Georgia to Chicago um his uncle uh needed a hidden buddy my dad knew nothing about tennis and uh started to play my dad played football and basketball but tennis was something that was really exposed to to him and his family to his uncle was like you know here grab a racket we just going to play so my dad was obvious really bad at at the start eventually playing over years he got really good and he fell in love with tennis and when he had uh my brother and I he implemented tennis into our lives and I grew up every day playing tennis um I was on the circuit growing up in Chicago I played for my high school team I I play uh now still but uh it was our family game we played doubles all the time my dad and I my brother and my mom um and then I just fell in love with it and uh I always say you know I I was taught the game of tennis and uh I learned all the wi's and and why Nots and for basketball I was just good at it um so that's kind of the difference and it just kind of worked out that way but tennis is something that um I I love to do I study the game um I just you know it was my first love it was my first you know impen to sports and H people don't to realize how amazing and difficult the sport is and uh so you know the ins and outs of as you guys both know but it's such a great sport it's such a a mental game and uh it's something that be I still you know uh just devour my my time into do you think playing tennis growing up has helped you in your WNBA career like kind of having like the the background with with the different sports maybe the footwork maybe the hand eye coordination things like that uh definitely uh my the footwork is is huge I I don't think people understand how important your feet are when you're playing tennis but also in basketball a lot of its balance uh shifting momentum and weight and so uh knowing how to do that coming off scen screens it's the same thing I got to be able to stay a little to the ground um and use my shift and understand that but a lot of is mental uh I think that's probably the biggest shift just understanding I'm able to play tennis for five hours four hours by myself as a child you know growing up just me and the ball having to strategize and problem solve um it makes it a lot I'm not g to say totally easier to have four other people on the court with me to problem solve but it definitely a way up my B that I don't feel the pressure all the time on myself so understand early age that it's a mental game and challenging your brain different ways has allowed me to use that in basketball yeah I love that um certainly in tennis we don't have to body worry about getting body checked though so that the one I mean I don't know jul you maybe want to stick with tennis at least someone was gon to give you an elbow or or like smack your arms down now I know why you guys wear the sleeves I mean because you guys get scratched all the time I finally figured it out it took me all the time um but let's get into the French I know that you were watching you were getting up early which would have been tough for you on the west coast buddy but um you know were there any matches that you were just like wow like this is why I love this sport so much just talk me through some of the matches that you watch and some of the some of the people that really excite you when when you watch Tennis yeah I was super excited U I wish the match was kind of later on but uh EA and Naomi was amazing uh to have that kind of start off uh you know it was it was just phenomenal tennis um you know having you know NAA come back and she's in a rhythm and I think she's playing great right now you know I think that this match kind of give her a vision for where she could be U coming in the next uh major and things like that but that game was Unreal um just great hitting great strategizing it was just like a blow for blow punch for punch uh it was really great to see and um you know we we kind of talked a little bit but e is a is is a a Savage man you know she has another level I don't know you know and she just has this this gear and I think that actually challenged her to be better too so I'm sure she's going to look back at that match and see okay what can I do to improve here and there but uh you know that was that was great on that side and uh you know watching on the men's side you know watching Carlos and Center I love watching them play I think we get great tenant every single time um it's just phenomenal to see young guys uh hitting the ball so fast um they're young but they're able to problem solve really you know by themselves really and have both creative sides that are different um which is nice to see but uh man I I love I mean waking up early I tell you it was the best it was giving me motivation to go to Shooter around I'm watching this skin and watching tennis and going to Shooter I'm like let's go guys you know they're like why you so energized I'm like I just watched the whole you know four hours of tennis before this so it was a great uh warmup for me that's awesome now unfortunately there's no tennis tournaments in Seattle uh I've always I've actually never been to Seattle I've been all over the world for 20 years playing tennis it's like my number one place I want to go visit only in the summertime Sam you gotta go to the Seattle Tennis uh Club I think it's I don't know exact name it's on Puget Sound once I get this boot off I'm going up to Seattle this summer and play please uh but have you ever been to live tennis I know there's none in Seattle but have you been to Indian Welles US Open any the big tournaments yeah so a couple years ago I went to US Open which is phenomenal um we actually were in New York uh playing we had some time off and so we we uh I made a you know big thing like listen I don't care you know I went to the theater already I've done this I'm going to the tenants so uh that's why I've been there I've also been to the Miami open as well so that was awesome had a really good time there and I was actually in Miami doing the Miami pig ball uh as well so I was able to play a little pig ball a see some tennis uh so it was a it was best of all the worlds for me but uh my my my dream look at that look at that there it is we might need to play mix doubles at a tournament next year please I would love to I would love to don't do it he's he's struggling he's struggling listen it's it's bunch of teammates it's you know we gotta lift each other up so I'm I I tore my achilles a couple months ago so I'm gonna need a lot of lift up right now if we're on the court together I got it as long as you take the three steps get to the line we can dominate there so I'm already strategizing but yeah you know it's a i my dream is to to take my dad and go through all the all the opens and uh that's kind of been our our goal or our Dream to do that but uh I I'm definitely always locked in as always tennis Channel's always on well I can tell you you and I spoke at uh the game here in New York U my seats were are literally like I feel like I'm on the opposing team seats my seat you guys which is kind of nice um but we did mention you are playing uh the Liberty during the US Open I don't know if you've had something to do with the scheduling of Seattle storms games in New York but you certainly did that right so hopefully we can get you out to the US Open uh maybe get you on ESPN to give you some uh you know some tips on what what what to do in the game it would be fun but let's get to the USA Basketball Olympic team roster thoughts Olympics my friend now rumor has it I know it's not official but rumors have it you might be back on the Olympic team if that is the case congratulations once again um what does it mean uh I know it's not official but I think you've been told uh just give me your thoughts on again going to the Olympics again in Paris for you yeah you know um I'm always a kind of get it from my dad where it's like nothing's official until it's official right so I try not to get too geek until I hear from the sources okay let's just pretend let's just pretend hypothetically you're on the team yeah hypothetically come on the team um you know it's it's pretty amazing um you know playing basketball and when I literally when I quit playing tennis uh to focus on basketball it was like I have two goals to win a w championship and win a gold medal and I've been able to do that which is in incredible and amazing and you know you set these goals and you sometimes you're un sure along the journey will it happen could it happen and then you get a call from USA and you know going to Tokyo was like what seriously like I all this work and all the sacrifices finally paid off and uh then you kind of get the urge to say how can I do it again what can I do to put myself in position to do it again and um I I think I put myself in a great position to to be on the team to go to Paris and I've never been to Paris so um I'm excited to to see that and between you and Sam do you guys travel I mean what's going on it's unreal I I don't know I've never been to Paris I've been like you know the too and everything else but never Paris but uh you know to to have the the vision I'm going to comp be for your country to do something you love and to represent your family and friends and your beliefs um on a whole another Global uh stage is it's impressive and it's just you know you don't take this more for granted because you never know you know and thankfully with the crowd because in Tokyo obviously it was tough for you guys and I must admit I mean Sam and I have both been to the Olympics and we've never had to experience that with no crowd that would have been really tough so I'm glad all of you guys get to go back to Paris with a full crowd um and the atmosphere is going to be completely different sure now there's so much talent in the WNBA right now is there one person you're looking forward to playing with most on that Olympic team that you're you know not a teammate of Seattle but someone else in the league that you don't normally get to play with that you're like oh my gosh yes like I'm gonna be on the court with this person for the duration of the games yeah you know the last couple years I've gotten really really close um with Asia Wilson and uh she's just phenomenal she's a great person her family is amazing and you know you you look at her and she's you know dominating right now with with EAS uh but that's kind of just where where she's peing and she's just does it with such such a Grace and uh confidence level and so playing with her it's it's always amazing because for me anytime you go to Olympics or go to you know the national team training camps you're around like Hall of Fame players sometimes you don't understand them just like oh these are my my friends like these are my classmates whatever but it's like no you're around Hall of Fame players you're around you know the legends of the game who have shifted the game of basketball and changed the game of basketball and so I I I look around I'm like this is awesome not just basketball but around these great people so I'm gonna ask them questions on how they do things and you know you're never going to be in a room with these people again maybe who knows so I take full advantage of that but playing with Asia it's such a blessing because uh she's just another level you know and I learned so much from her and like I said she in the confidence that um has really um ignited the next generation of athletes coming in to to try to do that as well so it's always cool to to play with her and see see her and just watch her you know watch her be great what country are you worried about going into the Olympics we see on the men's game you got Luca donic got the Joker you got a lot of European players on the men's side in the WNBA you guys are so dominant haven't lost the game in the Olympics in 30 years what country or countries do you guys kind of have highlighted as like we're a little bit worried about about this group of ladies I like I like the iroll that you like 30 years no pressure yeah I know just like f like 10,000 breaks no pressure right don't be the team to break the street yeah I know uh geez that would be crazy um no honestly like every year uh you see the development of count is getting better and better brother there's development of players coaches strategy um just Talent growth things like that and uh for us a lot of us play overseas so we know a lot of the people on the other countries you understand how they play things like that uh but I mean you know every time we play you know China Belgium France um Australia right like a lot of the players do play in the league too so we know kind of how the physicality is things like that but you can't take any team you know lightly all you need is one bad game one bad quarter uh and things change instantly so for us it's maintaining what we do focusing on us and what our strengths are and playing USA basketball um that's kind of our mind that every time we go into Camp you know we want to make sure we're playing USA Basketball we going to world's qualification tournaments as always how can we play USA Basketball focus on us and uh let everything kind of fall into place yeah and uh old Seattle Storm uh player that you didn't get to play with because you're a lot younger than she is Lauren Jackson coming back for Australia that's just crazy in and of itself man Lauren uh she she's like top five for me easily hand down um what she's been do how she does it coming back this dominating you know Shooters always shoot you know she she's never lost her touch you can see that but she has this grit about it I think she's playing for more reasons than just basketball itself um she's inspiring so many people and so many the game of basketball in Australia she's doing so much to elevate that and I told her like anytime she needs help like I'm willing to come down there and help out whenever I can because um you know she's done so much and it's only right and she comes back she's always so nice and gives me so much wisdom so uh yeah her coming back is it's that that's a story line that people need to talk about more listen jel January Australian Open I'm thinking ahead here get you down there she finally went to her first Australian Open and first tennis live match last okay so there yeah exactly all right so give me speaking of Lauren speaking of teammates uh well you didn't play with Lauren but uh give me your best Sue Bird Best memories with Sue Bird & Diana Taurasi Story best Bird Story first time in Seattle growing up first week before training camp su's like you know come over you know like you know I don't want you be alone like hang out and I was like first of all SE Bird's texting me I'm still like shocked about that um then she's asked me to come over I'm like do like what do I what do I wear like am I I'm like nervous you I'm kind of panicking and so we get over and she's like just talking to me she's like hey like how's how are things I'm like well I just left college so things are great like I don't know like I'm fine like how do I connect with with too and now she was talking to me and before you know there was a someone told me you know I don't know if W players going to take care of you you know they're kind of grown they have the their own lives and as is that's kind of like in my head she's over there like peeling me oranges cutting me up a whole meal she's like preparing all these things I'm like wow like this is like first class like so he was like making me meals like it it was crazy so we sit down and we're just talking and for me being a rugie like having that first experience was like no way like subber is in here you know sharing a meal with me I'm barely really talking I'm I'm you know nervous and her her way to kind of just break the ice was amazing and that's kind of transformed our relationship going forward because uh you knew that it was bigger than basketball for Sue uh if you you know anyone who knows Sue it's you know she's so nice so genuine it's no there's no fluff and she just wants people to be to themselves all the time and that allowed me to grow in the person I wanted to be and I've always kind of Shar that story with you know my friends and family because people don't know Su they just see her as this icon what she is but they don't know the person she really is in in her heart so uh that first week was like mindblowing for me allowed me to kind of relax and have someone to conf find in as a young kid coming into the league so I always remember that I'm like man two P me oranges were good that's like you know back in the day you know you know it's yeah Bill and oranges was hard in general so for her to do that was amazing so TR truly one of the nicest people you ever made agreed piggybacking on that on that uh Diana terasi I think this is her fifth Olympics if I yeah you have a Diana terasi story I don't know if we could beat the Sue bird peeling oranges story but anything from I think it's going to be a little bit different this one right did she make you like a nice filet Manan with a salad and no just probably probably the elbow and gave me some water told me to you know kick rocks uh with with DT yeah no uh you know first time probably honestly probably the most welcome to the league moment you know before the game she's like y like grat being here like just kind of hide me up I'm like oh wow like DT and DT is like my idol you know I grew up watching DT um so I have so much respect for her uh lat in the game you know kind of filling it out whatever and I just remember going to the Lane and she just like clocks me just like straight up like boom I'm like on the ground I'm like you know like unbelievable I mean it's probably the hardest block I probably ever received in my life and she's like hey you you look good oh I'm on the floor I'm just like thanks Diaz I'm like literally like my shoulder is hurting like I'm my swore she's like look good runs my gu defense a three timeout I'm like all right this is this is awesome this is perfect what I want to hear you know from my ID don't just you know taking you know just no mercy um but me and DT have a great relationship and she's awesome and she's so competitive you know I think that's why she plays with so much joy I that's why she's able to play for so long because it's just a joy to the game and uh we see that you know even with you know comp Novak right his he loves the game of tennis like he understands that there's a purity um to to how they play so uh yeah DT is NE Next Level and she has intensity but it's all love oh my God I think that's a great story talk about apples and oranges with BAS uh by the way DT and subbert are best friends so there you go on that front but that's awesome also it's important for people that haven't followed the WNBA that the storyline out there about Caitlyn Clark being you know treated this way this has happens to all rookies you just didn't see it back in the day because the cameras weren't on every single game the way they are now um I don't want to get into that with you though Joel because we don't have enough time to to talk about that sort of stuff but is there a moment at the Olympics Starstruck by Nyjah Huston at Tokyo Olympics where you've been Star Struck where you're like oh my God there's so and so um it's got to be a non non- basketball player too yeah yeah no no no basketball players uh respectfully but uh yeah we were in Olympics uh you know we had really the only time that we were really with everyone with Opening Ceremonies so walking around and seeing that and we're all kind of star shrug and um you know I yeah because unlike us you guys are special you're in your own okay I didn't see I didn't see all that I didn't see I'll say it yeah uh honestly um I was really stoked to see uh NAA the skateboarder um I grew up skateboard as well and and so see I I watched so many so many uh you know YouTube clips about all my friends uh and so I was uh we're walking in and uh you know I was like wait that that's that'sa I'm like and so I that's the one picture where I I definitely got because um lot of people don't know that I used to skateboard growing up and that kind of has a a way just like relaxing me and understanding that so seeing him and knowing what he's done for the for the sport of skateboarding has elevated so much and so seeing that was pretty awesome I mean you are just a jack of all trades my friend W who knew you should have your own documentary based on how talented you are in every sport I'm just saying gold mamb hey you know we're working on it maybe you guys could help me with that because uh I think I have some pretty cool stories now this is one of those rare occurrences at the Olympics we saw it in 2012 they were in London and so the tennis was at Wimbledon this year it's in Paris we got the tennis at Roland gal are you planning to go out and watch some tennis while you're at the Olympics if you get the time oh 100 that was like number one I was like listen regardless you know you know if I'm on the team my first request is can I get tennis tickets please um you know I want I want to go and uh you know if my family comes you know my dad's gonna be the first one trying to get there uh without a doubt so that's the plan to to watch as much ten as I can uh that's why why not right yeah I mean uh we we're all hoping that uh Mr Rafael Nadal gets another appearance at Roland garos and of course what we saw with Carlos yesterday winning that the the Baton has been passed over in Spanish tennis so I say they're the favorites for the gold um but just real quick is there a player that you would love to see live in Paris uh before we have to say goodbye to you juwel um yeah I mean we talked for you know hopefully the American tennis right Coco uh I haven't seen her play but I I would love to to watch uh you know if is out there of Carlos and adult play doubles I would love to watch that all right well juel we so appreciate you we know that you got you were up late last night playing a game we wish you all the best through the WNBA season uh it' be great to see you in the finals maybe up against Liberty we can like you know go back and forth you can throw stuff at me uh but uh you're just an amazing talent you're such a great teammate um we know how much everyone loves you out there so good luck throughout the season and enjoy keep watching the tennis of course Wimbledon coming up and then back at the Olympics we have a feeling you might be on the team so congratulations on another selection of the Olympic team thanks buddy thank you guys yeah thanks Jo okay so thanks so much to jul Lloyd we wish her and the entire USA basketball team the best at the Olympics in Paris which of course we will be there for and we can't wait for it and a reminder of course the US Olympic and Par Olympic team trial kick off on June 15th can't wait to see that as the best athlete in the country of course seek to make theough toughest team in the world ahead of the Paris games catch the action on NBC and peacock then the Paris Olympic games of course begin July 26 we can't wait for it can't wait and on our next show we have the question for everyone we're gonna build your tennis Frankenstein we want to know if you're going to build the ultimate player men's game women's game what's the best forehand backhand serve volleys mind game athleticism uh tweet your answers to us at NBC Sports and we want to know how you can build the best tennis player yeah and don't forget the drop shot these days I think that's a shot for my player on that one yeah I think so I think he's seems like he's invented that shot again but anyway all right guys well thanks so much not only to juel Lloyd once again for joining us today we can't wait to see you play the rest of the WNBA season of course through to the Olympics and thank you everyone for joining us for the French Connection brought to you by NBC Sports and Racket next episode is out at the end of June we'll do a deep dive into Wimbledon we'll see you then see you guys [Music]