Hardcourt #1

Transcript

[music] Hello everyone. On air is a weekly tennis recap show called Hardcore. And it will truly be special, because the people who will be discussing this show have what every athlete probably dreams of . These are Olympic medals in the individual competition. And he is the first Russian tennis player to win a Grand Slam tournament and an Olympic champion. A man who can not only accurately and sharply, but also vividly comment on tennis events on Twitter. Olympic champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov. Good evening, Anyut. Thanks for the introduction. Yes, everything, everything is accurate. She forced the girls to pick up their rackets and go out onto the court. The epitome of elegance on and off the court. Olympic champion Elena Dementieva. Hi all. Ah, well, let's get started. Ah, my name is Anya Vasilyeva. Of course, I don’t have any Olympic medals, but I have a mountain of curiosity, a sea of ​​questions, and two champions with whom we will communicate. We have already started the Asian series of tournaments. It’s probably more interesting to talk about the main events of the past week. These are, after all, club team tournaments. And so I suggest that you start with them. Well, I suggest before we start discussing these significant events, the Laver Cup and the Billie Jinking Cup, I understand that the US Open just recently ended, yes, where, in principle, the winners in both categories, I think that they were, in principle, logical. And this USCOP was very interesting because once again the men's section featured two tennis players who have been competing for the titles in the last four Grand Slam tournaments . This is Alcaraz and Siner. And the girls had almost the same thing . Aryna Sabalenka continued her dominance and won the title, although not without difficulty, but I still think that we should touch on this topic a little. Well, let's touch on it. And this begs the question: how long should we expect Sinra Alcaraz to dominate ? Well, it all depends, first of all , on themselves. Well, as I see the trend now, I think this will last for a very long period of time, because at the moment no one can compete with them. Neither Zverev nor Djokovic. Nova, unfortunately, is already at the end of his physical resources, he is running out, and he himself understands this. And, of course, in tournaments like these, where five-set matches are played , it’s physically very difficult for him to compete with guys who are at the very peak of their physical abilities, like Siner and Alcaraz. And I'm afraid that we will actually see, we will see exactly this dominance for the next five years for sure. And what can you say about Sobalenko, Elena ? Do you think it will last for a long time ? Well, I can’t say that this result was 100% natural. Her victory at the UС. Yes, it's true that she dominated throughout the season, but she still couldn't win a Grand Slam tournament , so it was a special motivation for her to do it at the US Open. She skipped some of the tournaments leading up to this championship in order to prepare and give it her all in New York. And she succeeded. Yeah, uh, the match was really tough, but she won from the first match, looked very confident and, uh, well, as they say, she saw it through to the end. And, in my opinion, today she is, of course , the strongest tennis player, despite the fact that her position in the rankings has changed, yes, there are so many gaps and, of course, mother-in-law, yes, but still , if you take into account her physical condition , her game, yes, and her motivation, of course, now she dominates by nature. Listen, well, by the way, it's interesting, you said that she skipped tournaments to prepare for her snort, well, to finally take it, and now she's skipping tournaments in China, yes, to take the final tournament, which she also has. Well, look, the thing is that she does n’t have such a need for ranking points right now to finish the year as the world’s number one tennis player. She has already made a very large reserve of rating points. And she understands that, well, I won’t play in that tournament there, I don’t know how it is with your series there, like the thousand-man tournament, like in your women’s category. Oh, you know, yeah, well, it's a thousand-man race, but I think there's even more motivation to win the final one. She played and lost twice in the final. She does not have this title. We know that she is a very ambitious person, she has goals, she is goal -oriented, and that is why I think she misses this championship. Well, maybe, yes, indeed, there is some fatigue, because, well, we remember that she had a very difficult semi-final match against Anisimanomdone. She also lost an offensive match. And this is a title that she did not have and does not have at the moment. And perhaps this story has slightly undermined her psychologically . And so she rehabilitated herself in this way on Yuna. Therefore, the fact that she is missing one round, I don’t know if she will have two tournaments there, yes, I think in China or well, she will play the second one. At least it's on the application now, yes. I think it's absolutely okay that she misses the tournament. This will not affect her confidence or her athletic form in any way, because, well, at the moment, I agree with Lena, she is the number one tennis player, who, well, has broken away with a large margin, because, well, unfortunately, it is not Lena, not Lena Rybakina, not Igor Shventok, not Amanda Anisimova, who has somewhat restored her career, she plays well, yes. Yes, yes, she really is superior, but this is all explainable. You can see how she trains, you can see how she approaches the matter, and her playing style is truly that of the world's number one. There is no question about that. Well, right now we have the championship race on our screens. And what’s interesting is that among men there are obvious leaders, yes, Alcaraz Siner, everything is clear. And here it is the same. It's the same here. That is, Sobalenko Shventok or whoever you are talking about. This is clear to Sobalenko. And who is with whom? Ooh. Well, the only thing is, I, uh, it seemed to me at the beginning of the year that Keys could be a competitor, but after winning the Australian championship, she somehow just got lost. I don’t know what this is connected with, but now we see, in principle, such a huge reserve of rating points. And, well, no one will be able to get Arina until the end of the year, yes. And there are no preconditions that anyone can beat her now. I really don’t see Kokogav, Igor Shvenk, Amanda Anisimova, Mira Andreeva, or Lena Rybakina in the game. Well, Katya Alexandrova made it into the top ten after a successful performance, so she would also qualify for such a championship. And we saw that she was registered for all tournaments, so she will do everything possible. But you know, Arina, I want to point out that she has come a long way from a person who simply possessed great physical strength, yes, but could not control her emotions. For some reason I have before my eyes the match when she played some distant year at the Australian Open against Sirena Williams, he said that it was, and something from Series A, let's try to see who hits harder. We'll interrupt it, yes. Yes, that's exactly it, to show your strength. She even wanted to, at some point she forgot, well, just hit it, just put it down, no, I’ll show you how I can. Now, of course, this is a person who has reworked himself, a person who has found his team, which, of course, helped her a lot and became stronger in all aspects of the game. That is, she was very strong physically, but the way she began to control her body, her emotions on the court, yes, how she looks from a technical point of view and in tactics, she improved in all aspects. It was, of course, a great journey that she has made, and now it will be very difficult to compete and fight with her in the final. Lena, by the way, you mentioned that this boxing match is, so to speak, power tennis. And so it is often said about Šwiętok that she plays men's tennis. Is this even true? Do you agree with this opinion or not? Well, uh, I can tell you what I've seen there for the last 2-3 years. Her opponents allowed her to play this tennis. But they did n’t hit as powerfully as Arina does. Because when Sabalenka comes out now against Schwyonka, it’s a completely opposite story to what happened with Schwyonka against other opponents before. She dictated the style of play, she dictated the power of the shots, and so on. Now everything is going the other way around. Now Arina holds her serve without much effort, she serves, well, I'm not afraid to say it, more powerfully there than some men, yes, on average it's not just about the serve, it's just that all aspects of the game are so powerful that there's nothing to catch on to, in fact, yes. When you watch tennis, because children also ask me: “How do you think you played at the height of a tennis player?” I say, "Well, I explain that you probably need to play it at least once first to get the feel for it, but when they talk about the arena," I say, "No, thank you." That is, there are no weak points. A person feels this way, don’t belittle your own dignity at all, right? Well, you know, she has one more quality, of course, which I have seen mainly in siren players, of course, and that is the ability to add value in decisive moments of the game. And who hasn't she played with? Well, not everyone, you must admit, this skill is the most important decisive moment in a tiebreak or when something is being decided, she strengthens, she adds, she never plays just to hold on, it’s as if she gets something else out of herself , although it would seem that they were already playing at their maximum, but this is what distinguishes her from others. Well, at one time we also had certain similar tactical techniques, where we knew when to step up, when it was necessary, what kind of rally, at what score you need to play at 100%, where you can make some concessions, where you just need to give up a game on your opponent’s serve, so that later, at the score of 5:4 in the deciding set, you can take your serve. She really can play there for another 3-5 years and dominate, yes, on tour. And this, well, these are colossal contractual conditions, well, the workload is understandable, but tennis is always associated with workload, with hard work, but, well, the older you get, the more difficult it is for you to cope with this, yes, your metabolism is disrupted and, accordingly, your recovery takes much longer than when you were 20 or 22. Yes, tennis is generally one of the most difficult sports. What can I say, you've hit the nail on the head, this is an individual sport where you're responsible for yourself. And where is it easy, tell me. in football. Okay , let's not go there. Wait, I was wondering, you said, but really give away the game. This happens. Wait, during, well, not in women's tennis. Well, even at exhibition tournaments we can’t agree on what score to end the match with. What are you talking about? No. And they also say women's tennis is not interesting. No. Without a doubt, when there, well, the situation is such that the score is, let's say, 5:3, uh, you are leading in the deciding games, your opponent is serving, and he has a powerful serve. The score is 15:0, but you won’t be straining yourself there anymore, realizing that you need to concentrate all your psychological and physical energy on the game with the score 5-4. So, yes, you can move like that, you move like that, you pretend that you are getting ready, but in reality the ball flies past you. Yes, this presence has always been like this. Well, apparently that’s why I never started playing, because such thoughts weren’t calculated. Kazhmu, yes, you tried to play at every score . At most, of course, that's how we were taught, apparently by the wrong people. Listen, okay then . We touched on the topic of Arina. This is our ambassador, by the way. We support her and are very happy for her and hope that she will finally win this final tournament. Let's talk about Sasha Bublik, who just won his title. That's it , we congratulate him. This is the fourth one this year, I think. Yes. Yes. Yes, and what's most interesting is that in the last 6 years he became the third tennis player to win the title on all surfaces, on all three surfaces . Can you imagine what a great guy he is, Sasha. We congratulate him with all our sincerity. Yes, indeed, this is a brilliant achievement. And the only thing I regret, I say with absolute sincerity , is that he didn’t do this earlier. Why didn't he do this? Where was he? Do n't know. I don't know. I know. Everyone has their own finest hour, cockroaches in their head, yes. And he, uh, when he does something, some things, it’s probably all explainable. And here's why. I don’t know now, but now exactly how old Sasha is, we are 20, also 829, my age somewhere. Oh no, he's younger, right? 28. Why didn’t he do this when he was 21-22 years old? But he explained this in an interview that, yes, I remember, yes, he not only changed the racket, he says that I didn’t need to change the racket. Okay, but I also think I read that he said: “I didn’t need to be in the leading positions all the time. I was happy with being fifty, sixty, seventy in the rankings.” No, I don't believe it. I just don’t understand, if I’m like this, if I’m not an ambitious tennis player, then why should I be toiling away now, at 28 years old, and proving to everyone that I can do something? This is what I don't understand. Geno, you can see he's enjoying it. I don't believe it, I don't believe that by some stroke of luck he'll win the fourth tournament. I'm absolutely sure it's thanks to the titanic work he put in with his coach and his sparring partner before this season. And probably, after winning the first tournament, he gained confidence. He started beating players who had previously seemed like insurmountable obstacles. Like he did in Halal and beat Siner. This is certainly a phenomenal achievement. Well, I believed that he could. And now here he is, I don’t know what position he will stand in the rankings after this victory, but this is a phenomenal achievement, yes. He is already twelfth, twelfth, according to the current rating. He'll literally play well in the thousand-man tournament now in China and could very well qualify for the final. Is there any chance at all that? Why not? Yes. Why not? Well, whoever is there with an injury, I think he is done. Dominor, Musetti. I'm telling you that the only difference is winning the thousandth and that's it. Why not? Why ca n't he win a 1,000-seater while winning 250-series tournaments there? Maybe we shouldn't attach importance to or even believe literally what Sasha Buplik says, because he briefly said that 250 tournaments are n't interesting to him either. However, this too, I remember this too. I remember that too. I was just so offended when he said that why do we need to remove the 250 series tournaments at all , they are garbage tournaments. But thanks to these tournaments, Alexander is now where he is. And so I would also like to ask how he feels about these victories at the 250 tournament for his self-satisfaction, what does this same garbage give him, or is this a title that he will then, at the end of his career, be proud of and say: "You know, I won a tournament there, in China, and I also have in my, uh, in my arsenal there are eight victories in ATP tournaments. What categories?" It doesn't matter. Everything, everything is on paper. It's all documented that he is the winner of eight tournaments. Well, I think it’s a wonderful psychological technique to say that if you’re not in first 50, then I’m fine even in sixtieth position. If I didn't win 250, then it's too weak for me. That's why I won't play there . At one time you knew a lot of girls who said that I was happy to be there for 40-50, that was more than enough for me. No, well, I see this as just the work of a psychologist, because it’s very good, as if you remove some unnecessary things from yourself, well, you remove the pressure from yourself, that is, you are happy with where you are, you like your position, the way you play, you don’t put unnecessary pressure on yourself , you understand? And maybe this is precisely what allowed him to play so freely this season. Well, apart from the fact that, as we said, he changed his racket, I don’t think that at 28 years old he has changed anything in his preparation, you know? I find it very difficult to imagine this. Ah, but as you say, there was some moment when he believed in himself and felt that he could, yes, indeed, it happened right now. Well, to be honest, I don’t really believe that he hasn’t changed anything, but it doesn’t happen by magic that you suddenly win four tournaments without having done some titanic work there. Well, do you see the changes in his game? Here are some that are cardinal. Well, of course, I see, yes, that he is wonderful, yes, that he has started to play more confidently from the back line, yes, how was his serve, but it is what it is at Arsenal , which he also added to his [ __ ] play. And this is the kind of combination that, if you have a normal, working serve, allows you to win a lot of free points. And also the reception and return of serve, the play on the back line is such a fiery combination. Well, let's not forget, he also became a father. Maybe this is also psychology in sports in general. Do you believe in sports psychology? Here is Lina Kakaya, who has now become a sports psychologist. No, it’s not me, I’m deeply convinced that the best psychologist is you yourself. If you believe in yourself that you can do something, then you will achieve it. I don’t believe in all these sports psychologists who tell you that you need to do this and that. Only through titanic work, through, yes, on yourself, through matches, through experience, and you will acquire all this, and no psychologist will tell you how you need to act in a given situation. It's all at the instinct level, because, well, you can't predict how a particular rally will unfold in a particular match point, game point, or set point. Therefore, it is all purely individual. And I am sure that the best psychologist is you yourself. Elena, don’t you see a psychologist either ? They addressed the sports. I didn't apply. I think I agree here, Zhenya, that until you process all of this and come to this conclusion yourself , it will probably be difficult to help you. But for many players, their personal trainer becomes their psychologist. They know their players and are with them practically every day of the year, and they see them in stressful situations and in the training process. And I think that he, like no one else, can influence the psychological state. That is, if we recall the same biographical book about Nadale, where he recalls that it was important to him that his team included people close to him. Specifically, close ones, he doesn’t say that it was important for me to have a coach standing here, I needed to be able to switch off, so that I could relax, so that after this stress I could talk to someone before going to bed, play on Xbox, and so on. Yes, it’s not. Yes, he didn’t hide it, it’s actually true . They sat there for 2 hours before going to bed playing this on Xbox. Yes, we need to switch. I need to relax. And this is the psychological help that is needed when you are in nature, where you experience psychological overload every week, yes, you struggle with stress, with depression very often. Well, and of course, you need to somehow get out of the situation, yes, the opponent, yes, you are fighting with the opponent, but tennis survives, tennis is a brilliant sport where it proves and shows your inner self, your gut, what you are made of, because, well, you play 1:1, you don’t have it, it’s not a team sport, it’s purely non-dual. And it is precisely in this that all your qualities are revealed . Here with Da. I also really liked what Tsits Tsepa said just now, that it turns out I completely agree with him that sport doesn’t shape your character, but it reveals it, yes, well, what can you do, yes, it’s like, on the contrary, it takes out of you what you had. Extreme situation. We seem to know everything about you, that you can show some extraordinary, yes, actions and abilities that you didn’t even know about or think about. Right? And tennis matches, especially five-set ones, of course, they reveal all of this, and I think sometimes you yourself are even surprised when you see yourself, what you are capable of. Well, Tsitsipas is basically the Tour's philosopher. He has so many legends, he is almost our compatriot with Russian roots. Yes, friends, if you're just like me, sitting in front of your screens with your mouth open and listening to two legends of Russian tennis discuss the legends of our time, be sure to like this video and tell us what you feel while watching it. We're just getting started. We're still warming up, of course. Oh, and be sure to subscribe to the channel. Well, naturally, let's not go too far. We have two more compatriots. These are Andrey Rublev and Dania Medvedev, who performed at this tournament, well, to put it mildly, not as well as Sasha. Anya, why did you say this last name Medvedev? Because I know that now Zhenya will start seeing him off from tennis again. Here I am , you know, you'll start. I will remain silent. No, I just have one question. I have something I've been wanting to ask you for a long time. I just keep reading critical comments about him . Yes, I'm fed up with all the journalists. They call me for any reason. You can just go with Medvedev and Medvedev. Here is my question. I have a question for you. I just transferred myself onto myself . Let's say there's a grand slam tournament going on . Let's take Roland Goros. That's what I think, I live isolated in some small hotel. General physical training. I do it in the Bois de Boulogne. I don't train at the stadium at all. How do you know how much he trains? That's why you keep talking about him training less, he's not good, it's always the result of bad training, bad performance. Well, that's just how you think. You consider yourself an expert in tennis, I consider you an expert. You yourself can answer the question. So, do you see who is in what shape and what the trend is? Is the trend up or is the trend down? Well, listen, the years go by, you ca n't intensify your training process endlessly. You can't increase your arms. Agreed. And I agree that Medvedev is the one who needs it. Daniil is 1996, he'll be 30 next year. Do you agree that at that age he needs to train twice as much as he did? I don't agree to stay at the same level where he was. And he has the ambition, I am sure, the ambition to be in the top five. Of course, training twice as much at this age is impossible. It's just, well, we're not taking Djokovic. This is a completely extraordinary person, whom we cannot emulate. And if at least one of us can stick to his diet for at least a week, let's shake his hand. Honestly, do you understand? Therefore, those sacrifices, those sacrifices that he makes throughout his entire life, so that why can't we, here's a man, why can't Russian people... Yes, you can't spend an evening without a shooting gallery , you tell it honestly. No, well, I just don’t agree with you that we need to increase the burden of the fact that there is no willpower. Because there is no willpower. If I had willpower and believe me, I would have held on . And there are many such examples. Yes. Now, if I set a goal not to eat ice cream before bed, well, I can do it. I am sure that I will resettle, I will do everything possible. Yes, I can, I will move you. It's all like, you know, these are our stories, duck stories. Yes. Well, another question right away. Why do I need this? Why do I need to force my body? Here I have to overcome, when I was already, excuse the expression, in my sixties. I want to have fun there. That’s why I always ask myself: “Well, Daniil, you’re 29 years old, so what are you, what are your goals in life?” And that's why we can't answer the question when he asks me what's happening to him and what to do next. Until he himself gives an answer to this question, what he wants, how he wants his future career to continue, no one will do anything. Well, he continues his career, that means he wants to, that means he sees himself, he changed teams, he found a new coach. And the question is, at 30 years old, should he play with his incredible physical training and loads, or can he already afford to play with his skill and should, by and large, play with his skill? Here the question is, perhaps, about his position, as it were, behind the back line. Well, maybe he needed to change something, well, in his position on the court , instead of adding these incredible loads that he can no longer handle. The question arises: what are the long-term goals? That's what makes it really possible to play there for the first time, as I'm sure of it. You want to agree with me, or you want to disagree. I'm sure that if he wants to be in the top five, the way he, uh, trains, well, believe me, believe me, but I'm not into tennis, no, I haven't seen it. I've been in tennis all my life. Wait, I've been in tennis my whole life. I was in the same situation, but honestly, honestly, at 28-29 years old, I, honestly, gave up on training, I didn’t train. That's why all my physical resources, all my resources that I filled up before, at 19, at 20-21 years old with titanic training, are all gone. And so I just accepted that I wouldn't be able to win ATP tournaments anymore. This was my main motivator, winning tournaments, the more the better. And then in the last year, in 2003, when I didn’t win a single tournament, I already understood everything. I was no longer the same tile-maker that I was in ninety-six or ninety-seven, when I was at the very peak of my powers. And I'm also sure that with Daniil I want to be wrong. Let me be wrong that this is not so, but well, that’s how I see it. Well, that is to say, you see yourself in Daniil to some extent. I draw parallels, yes. I draw parallels. Inside, I just, well, I remember everything perfectly. And so I went down such a steep slope, in terms of ratings, in terms of victories, Danil, 3 years without titles. Well, this is not a warning sign. This is a wake-up call. Why? And a person with his experience, with his, uh, I don't know, capabilities, doesn't win a tournament, even if it's a 250 series. Well, for me, it's incomprehensible, honestly. Look, he's still highly ranked, yeah. And if your position was, being a Grand Slam winner, you wouldn't settle for less, right? This is your position. I really love and respect her. In principle, I left on my own when I was in the top ten. Let's take Venus Williams, who, you know, many people say: "Well, why come to the matches and disgrace yourself there? How can you ruin your name?" Well, if a person loves tennis, he can’t imagine his life without tennis, he can’t say goodbye to tennis. You had a wonderful coach, Andrei Cherkasov, who was ready to play until he was seventy. Still playing. Yes, he enjoys it, Andryukha, yes, you understand. Well, why do n’t you, like, if I give it to him now, he’s ready, why do you exclude the possibility that Danil is also enjoying it? Maybe not as big as when he won, but he still loves to play, but all our spectators and journalists are used to being so ambitious that if Daniil Medvedev is there, then he is the first, second, third racket in the world. Well , we need to, we need to come to terms with the fact that he, well, maybe he himself doesn’t want to be. What should he do? It's all over. I don't know. He will decide to listen himself, but the decision is with you. Yes, journalists still call me 10 times a day. What's wrong with Medvedev? I still owe for I don’t know what my head is. You have become the leading expert on Daniil Medvedev. That's how it happened. Well, I just ask, they ask, and I answer. I can't lie to people. I answer as I see it, as I think. And the most important thing is that when a new coach arrives, everything will change. He won’t come if he himself doesn’t want to change anything, nothing will happen. You should at least give him Daren Kahiela there, you give him, I don’t know who was your priority there, Carlos Mar Martinez, yes. Who do you have? Why does he need a coach from the women's tour? Well, figuratively speaking. Well, man, come on, help him, I can’t go through this. Why, Zhenya? This is how Mara Safin is helping Andrey now. That's exactly it. That's right, Anya. Let's. Well, I don’t know what non-goals are. I am a maximalist. Me Well, you're a maximalist. Not everyone is like that. Ah, Evgeniy, if some player from this Petura group offered you something now, would you go, well, some Daniil Medvedev, for example, called and said, you criticize me so much, help me. Well, like brothers. Well, because Daniel won’t perceive what I’m going to tell him. In my case, only a real junior who is 15, 16, 17, yes, because this is the only age when they will perceive what you tell them, when they do not yet have their own internal ego . And only in this case, because the player is already established, but he will not listen to anything. Well, excuse me, Danil Medvedev, the former first cancer, he thinks for himself, he himself knows what is best for him, and he is already leading those who are close to him along his own vector. Yes. Therefore, well, although, you know, if you look at your top ten, on the contrary, you have now started to attract even more coaches to your team. That is, now almost everyone has two coaches, and this practice has begun of inviting former players, yes, to consult, so that they just sit in... Well, why, well, to consult, to share experiences. Well, look, this didn't happen, right, in your time. After all, there was one coach there who traveled with you the whole season, yes, it was hard to imagine that today you would go, tomorrow someone else. Here it’s kind of the other way around , going back to Andrei Rublev, yes, he’s interested in Marat’s opinion, yes, his presence is important to him, his presence inspires him. Yes, of course, I love Andrey, he’s an amazing guy, but I’ll say it again that in this situation, no one will help them unless they themselves want it. Yes. That is, this is absolutely my verdict on this. But what do you think in general about this tandem of Rublev and Isafin? I know Marat well , since I started out in the same group with him . Yes, I love him too and loved watching his matches. But it’s just hard for me to imagine how a person who is incredibly gifted, but just has a talent that is difficult to measure, yes, precisely by tennis standards, for whom, in my opinion, everything came easy. Well , of course it was easy, he worked and trained. Well, you know, some people can literally toil for years and not achieve even one hundredth of what they could do in threes, yes, and when you can do everything so easily , yes, it’s difficult for you to explain to another person how to achieve this result. So, well, Marat is an organic part of tennis, right? When you watch, you just get a thrill , right? How organic and natural all of this is, how clear it is that this is such an ease, yes, in quotes, yes, conditionally this is also a lot of work, but still, it was given to him like no one else. I also really like Andrey Rublev, I always root for him , but he’s a hard worker. So, he’s a hard worker who doesn’t leave, he’s probably the first one to arrive at training and the last one to leave, right? That is, he does everything through a lot of work. He is certainly talented too, but they are completely different players. Although I know that he idolizes Marat, he is an idol for him. I think his presence certainly, like, yeah, gives him strength. He listens to him without saying a word, he is ready to perceive everything he says. Well, by the way, yes, you even know such nuances here. This is the first time I've actually spoken about this. Well, this is from what I see, how it happens, yes, how attentive he is, yes, and, well, and in general, even if you have your own coach, with whom you have gone the whole way and achieved results, it turns out that you need someone else from the outside, right? And you say: "They don't want to listen." No, on the contrary, they want something. Well, you know, in a duet, this weekly thing gets really boring. Only Veronica will listen to me, and she listens. Yes, this is Lena's daughter. Well, also a tennis player. So when I tell Veronica something, she, yes, opens her mouth, listening, and I’m there, I see, yes, that something will happen, because the information that I’m trying to convey to her, she listens. We have two more ambassadors, and this is Karin Khachanov, who trained in Moscow, and now he has already left for Beijing. We love him very much and root for him. Karemo is one of those who get the most out of their potential. A monument should be erected to him during his lifetime, because, well, frankly speaking, he doesn’t possess any outstanding qualities. He's close to the top ten there, winning the tournament, beating the players. Of course, I bow down to his overall perseverance and hard work. Of course, he's a great guy. God grant that he will maintain this level for many more years. And you don’t consider hard work a quality? No. Well, for me, this is the main talent, probably because I have seen people who are not very talented in nature and I have seen a lot of people who are not technically perfect, but I have never seen anyone who is not hard-working, I just haven’t met anyone there. Well, you have to compensate with something, that's right. You have one quality there , someone is talented, technically gifted, tactically gifted, but at the same time you are lazy and do nothing. Yes, I have met such naturals. I have n't seen any like that. No, there were a lot of them. And there were some that were made of wood, but here it is . And who, can you give a couple of examples? Well, that's who. But now we are specifically interested in the last names. No, those who didn't have potential, but were super hard workers. Just from morning until evening. Of course, there are examples, but now what really comes to mind is not... And do girls, maybe girls have such examples? There were probably more examples among the girls , yes, of those who didn't have such qualities, but who had hard work, persistence, and could stand there for days, hitting, but at the same time understanding that, well, without having a serve, you excel in technique, in tactics, well, probably, it seems to me, the most striking example is Dinara, because if you compare them with Marat, how talented he was and how hard everything was for Dinara, yes, what work, what effort she had to put into getting to the first position in the world. Yes, I have tremendous respect for her because she always wanted to make a name for herself. She really didn’t like it when they said: “Little sister, this is Marat’s sister.” Yes, and she could remain in this role her whole life, playing for her own pleasure. Nobody would remember her, unfortunately. No, well, why would they remember her, but she is remembered as a sister, yes, and not as the number one racket in the world, which she became, of course, something she achieved through the hardest work. She, I remember, when she started playing in nature, it was such a game, but on the back line, some kind of defensive, twisted blows, she worked on it. Vera Zavnareva follows the example. Well, sorry, Vera didn’t have any of that either , well, that same extreme hard work, you know? Only through hard work, yes, she achieved such results. So you could say, yes, that's exactly it, well, what I'm saying is that there are no unhardworking people there. It's hard to find real talent. Talent, who is talented and who is lazy? Well, there is no Sveta, Sveta, on the contrary, was talented. Maybe I was a little lazy somewhere. Kuznetsova what? Well, everyone should be so lazy. Well, listen, everyone should be so lazy as to have a few granhelms, right? Let's talk about our other ambassador. We have Diana Schneider. And now she is changing coaches quite frequently. And it was Dinara Safina who worked with her, unfortunately, it didn’t work out. So what's going on? Why is this so and why is it necessary to change coaches so often? Why can't I find it? Changing coaches frequently is very bad. Yes, but I say again that we don’t know all the nuances. Neither I nor Lena know what is going on there. That's why after such a trial period of time, well, well, it happens, yes, that there is character, not there is vision of the game, there is what the coach requires of you. This is getting back to the fact that this is why I can’t coach one of the leading tennis players now, because my vision of how I played, maybe now, whether it’s good or bad, I don’t know, doesn’t coincide with the vision the way they see it all there, roughly speaking, playing on the right in an open stance, well, for me, that’s such a disgrace. That is, well, I can’t retrain a tennis player there, there, to approach with his feet, to place his right foot, to transfer his body weight from the right to the left. how it is, how I see it and how it was in my time. That is, they are now there in a stretch, there in an open stance, playing on the right. Therefore, such moments and nuances certainly arise constantly between the coach and the athlete. And how much time do you need to get used to it, to understand whether this is your trainer or not ? It's very different here. Very differently. It seems to me that in Diana’s case, you see, there was a difficult moment of adaptation. And since her parents were always with her, her mother was always there, yes, and here the coach, it turns out, needed to be part of this team. That is, it was necessary to find a common language and understanding not only with the player, yes, but also with the parents. And this is always very difficult. I can say this as a person with whom my mother was throughout her entire career, yes, without being professional or bad. Listen, well, I won’t even, like, well, you know, I don’t even want this, I don’t even want to discuss this, because without my parents, well, I think hundreds of tennis players would say that nothing would have come of them at all. I don’t support it, I know what you’re getting at, yes, this popular theme of not letting them in at all, not sticking their noses into their business, you don’t understand anything about this . My mother, not being a professional tennis player, not being a coach, not having a sports education, gave me more than everyone who was with me. Although I am grateful to everyone who worked with me. And I see that Diana is in a similar situation, so I am very sorry that Dinara didn’t work out for her . I thought it was a good union. I even wrote to Dinari how happy I am for you. And it was clear that they were inspired, they liked it. At least Dinara is absolutely sincere. I was keeping an eye on her social media there. She was absolutely sincere, yes, she was inspired that finally I would find myself too, I was ready to help. But then, unfortunately, I don’t know what happened. Diana's results. OK. Now she works with Sasha Banym, who, by the way, worked with the siren William when I remember. So what do we expect from this union? Listen, I just remember him. He was also sparring with the siren Wilm with everyone, like, from everyone, yes, 300 years ago BC. And he was sparring at the time and complained that his elbow was hurting. Apparently, by then he already understood that he needed to move on to coaching. Yes. Well, seriously, he did some work after the siren. Well, in my memory, there was Naomi Osaka, then Slo, yes, then there was Estremskaya, he had someone else who was good, who he had, well, in general, quite a lot of first-class top players, so he is one of those who learns, yes, he is one of those who learns. He, uh, I think that having worked with so many leading players, of course, he also gained a lot of knowledge that he can pass on, yes, now to Diana. And, well, it seems to me that the union is not bad. The main thing is that, you see, this is such a fine line, this is a puzzle that must come together. You don't even have to be a super specialist, right? And here sometimes psychological compatibility is important. And so, when we were talking about the role of a psychologist, yes, here it is precisely how he can influence you, your mood, how he can bring you out after some, well, terrible games, yes, heavy defeats, it’s even more. Well, what can you teach nature now? Yes, she can do absolutely everything, right? This is a ready-made player with an established technique, even with some of his own established tactics. Well, there are moments where you need to regularly clean up your technical arsenal, yes, because tennis is a sport where the nuances are very subtle. If you approached the ball incorrectly with your feet, or played with the wrong place or the center of your racket, the coach should see all of this and constantly correct everything. If you don’t do this, your foundation will immediately begin to fail. A good coach will always notice these nuances and say: “No, you should move the point of impact a little forward, there, there on the left, turn your shoulders.” These nuances are sometimes worth more than all the talk, the whole team put together . Listen, I'm honestly surprised, because I thought that by the time you reach that level, I never reached that level, but I thought that they didn't pay that much attention to technology there . It is not happening, but Dadada is happening. But the surface changes, the blades change and it's not noticeable, yes, some changes are happening, yes, that is, if we enter the grass season, you need to do less low tossing, move further away. That is, there are nuances that, well, dictate the coverage to you, and you, of course, tam-dap, yes, sometimes lose your rhythm. Fantasy. So it's not all that simple, not everything is coaching work, it's often a very titanic, you know, as they say, shameless, uh, work, because it's thankless, yes, thankless. That 's why we don't go there, we just work in the studio. Yes. We're just working, yes, in the studio, and supporting them. We wish our ambassadors good luck and success . Yes, we will keep an eye on them and, if possible, we will share some of our adjustments later in the studio and give them some advice. Let's move on to the Billin King Cup. This is where we wanted to start, and then we moved a little bit further. And the format, like the Davis Cup, has changed. This year, the Italians won again, but nevertheless, first we have the group stage, and then, uh, the top eight are fighting for the trophy. In your opinion, what format should be optimal? Because in your time there had to be a classic form, yes, either at home, or ask Lena, if she agrees? Agree, right? Of course, I loved and still love this format, but it’s impossible to fit it into the tennis schedule now, you understand? Here. And it's just a matter of finding out why they left it, because top players, leading players from their countries, began to refuse to take part, and, naturally, interest in this team tournament began to decline, its prestige began to decline, and they were forced to look for some other formats for holding it. So, you do n't agree, you don't think that with the new format they have seriously harmed both the Davis Cup and the Billie Jean King Cup? You know, I think these are necessary measures. They had no choice. It is clear that there was no choice, yes. that it was necessary to somehow raise interest, it was necessary to pay huge amounts of money, to attract, because the Davis Cup, we did n’t play for money in our time. Here, Lena, she won’t let me lie, but there were tiny, paltry prizes, yes, which were divided between the team, but if we take it now, yes, these are huge prizes, but I’m more than sure, because well, this format, which was the classic format, there was no such thing. It is unique, where you play a home match against one team in front of your own fans. How else could we popularize our favorite sport through these competitions alone? Where else could they have seen us, uh, Lena, me, there Marat, all of Nastya Myskina, who Sveta Kuznetsa. Only at home, when we came to play for the national team, a full Olympic crowd would gather, 10-12,000, or even more. And so we, for our part, would make it a huge celebration. Unfortunately, this is not available now. Whether this is good or bad, well, it’s not for us to judge. But I think it was a big mistake. As a Davis Cup winner, I think that, well, which person, which is not one year, yes, I have been since ninety-two . Well, I really appreciated and I understood that we have to play at home, we have to give it our all at home, we have to popularize, because, well, we have to leave something behind. We left some kind of legacy. This is how our tennis players held on and grew, starting around 2000 or so, like, eleventh or twelve. It is thanks to this, I am sure, that it is thanks to this that Medvedev, Khachanov, Rublev, Sofiulin and also the Girls appeared there. Look, I completely agree with you, but here, I think, it was a choice between two evils. There was an option here to either leave the previous format, but we could very often see second and third line-ups. Either as it is now, or as it is now. Well, we're not just talking about our team, are we? As we have now seen, in general, except for China, everyone put up first numbers, and even then, China is simply recovering from first number after a straight line , yes. And so we saw the leading tennis players. It was an interesting, exciting battle. Therefore, here, in terms of the quality of tennis, it seems to me that this is even more convenient. And well, in any case, there is a tendency to shorten the calendar and have more rest. Is this good or bad, but my personal opinion is that this is not very good, then I, in my time, and again we transfer everything to me there. And who should it be transferred to? Well, we always played the Davis Cup finals there on December 2-3. I remember it was winter. We played in the Olympic against the Swedes in 1994, against the Americans in 1995. We had practically no vacation there. We immediately, I went to America right after the Davis Cup to do some pre-season training there, and then, on January 2-3, all the tournaments started in Australia. Well, for me it was normal. I didn't complain, I played a lot of tournaments, it was normal for me. Anya, I'll tell you a secret, it's just that Zhenya didn't like training that much. For him, this format, you know, he’s the only one, he’s the only tennis player who could win a Grand Slam tournament in singles and doubles, just so he wouldn’t have to go to practice, you know? He didn’t need any preseason, recovery, or rest. He would simply travel from tournament to tournament . You will be surprised. In 1996, when I won the singles and the doubles of the Rangoros, between the singles and the doubles I went to the stadium and ran 20 laps on my rest day to stay in shape. This goes back to how much I trained and what kind of base, what kind of foundation I laid, so that I could somehow hold out until I was 29 . By the way, what do you think about week-and-a-half tournaments? Yes, very bad. I also have a very bad attitude towards it. And after 7 days you no longer know where to go. To all of the changes that were made. Le can correct me. I'll just say how before all these super nines, they were called thousands, they were, uh, 56 players. Yes. That is, the first eight always received an X on the X. They immediately automatically advanced to the second round. That is, there was no 128 format there, as the big tournaments did . Now they have equated the tournament, all these Masters series, the thousand-man tournaments with Grand Slam tournaments, which is a big mistake. This is a big mistake, because all spectators should be able to distinguish between Grand Slam tournaments and thousand-man tournaments. And for the players too. They themselves complain: “We don’t have time.” You yourself, with your union, voted to expand these tournaments there from a week-long format to a week and a half. It's your own fault. But at least they have time for exhibition tournaments. Let's actually talk about them. Kleiver Cup. So, what do you think about this tournament? Why did he become so popular anyway? It's all at Roger's expense. It is clear that it is better than the twenty- second goji. This is not Roger, this is a tribute to Rod Laver, the greatest, one of the greatest tennis players. This, I believe, is very correct. Everything is as it should be. But the only thing that I’m very unhappy with is that this week, this weekend, it’s, uh, somehow between certain Wednesdays between the tour. It had to be done at the end of the year so that everyone would somehow either use it as a preparatory tournament for the new season, or as a final tournament to earn money for gifts for their girlfriend, wife, fiancée, and so on. That is, uh, I don’t really welcome this particular tournament, the dates, where it is now. If it had been there after the final, yes, it would have been fantastic. Listen, well, we agree about the dates, but in general the format itself is very interesting, as always, always, that’s why it’s so popular, yes, it’s been in its eighth year already, yes, I think, yes, it’s passing. Mm, I think it's obvious, yes, to see so many stars in one place. Plus, you know, the very idea of inviting captains, so to speak, legendary tennis players of past years, this also adds a special twist. Here, it seems, all generations can find their heroes. And of course, the format is very emotional and dynamic. They seem to like me a lot, I like this format. It is exciting, but if it were up to me , I would do it there at the end of the year after the regular tour is over, there after the final tournament, so that... Or better yet, before the start of the new season, or like that, yes, because it is excellent preparation and even quality, the level of tennis would be different, right? Yes. After such a break, everyone would look at this event with such enthusiasm, yes, the Laver Cup, yes, the leading tennis players always play, because first of all, they pay well there. And, well, like the Hopman Cup, yes, in Australia everyone is happy to take part in it, because it’s an opportunity to adapt, and test your strength, and play, yes, it’s a great time for this to be demonstrative. Now they seem to have created this Kings Cup in Saudi Arabia, where six tennis players play, and they pay huge amounts of money there. Here they are too. In principle, the idea is good. Well, of course, the more money, the better. Some people will argue with that. What are you talking about ? But Evgeny, you know what interests me? So you gave up coaching. If you were invited to be a captain at a tournament like this, would you agree? With pleasure. OK. Great. Roger needs to watch our program, so that he will be afraid of you, my regalia will not match. Oh, well, of course, not modest, of course. Elena, tell me, is a women's equivalent of this tournament possible? That's why people only come to look at men, but we have enough bright, interesting girls for women. What do you think? Well, I don't know. This is where Zhen should answer. Yes, now he'll say: "Where would you go without us? If the Grand Slam tournaments were n't held in the same week, you'd be playing in front of empty stands." Now I already know this song. I wanted to sing this song, yes, but before that, yes, I didn’t have to go far for an example . Well, excuse me, of course, but Igor Shvenk, Nastya Potapova, Roland Goros, fourth round 6060. Final Bldon 606. No, it doesn’t happen. Well, yes, the Boldon final is 60. But I'm just passing it on to anyone who's interested. All. I'm not belittling the dignity of Amanda Anisimova or women's tennis as a whole, but that's just what you did right now. Did. Well, I beg your pardon. We will cut it out. Well, yes, I will have to. I apologize. No, in any case, in any case, well, no one is immune from this kind of match. Of course, they happen in both men and women, for sure. There, if you look at the statistics, there were matches 6:0, 6:0. There was such a match, yes, once Sergi Burgera, Tiri Champion, Rogoros also fourth round 60 6:0. Yes, it was in ninety-three. It's as if this was the only case. You're telling us this straight now. If we turned on Google now, we would definitely find even more such cases. Try it, try it. Well then I think, in fact, that Roger will reach the girls, and such a tournament will also appear. He, in fact, unlike himself, is a great supporter of the women's tour and has long wanted to unite it and, as it were, make all the tournaments joint and even more joint exhibition tournaments . So let's take a look. By the way, what do you think of the combined men's and women's tour? Is this possible? Well, we had the Kremlin Cup. We also had the Kremlin Cup, which was held and both men and women played in the same week. It was wonderful. That's it, that's it . Lena, as the tournament champion, did not reach the Kremlin's Cuba without lying. Yes. Yes. And you are like a tenfold twenty- twenty-fold winner. Five. Five. No, no, it was wonderful. And the Olympic always assembled a very good team. Always all the stars, Masha Sharapova, Serena Williams and our girls all played there. And this would truly be a holiday, unfortunately, for objective reasons, yes. We cannot provide such an event at the moment . Ah, listen, well, in principle, I liked a lot of things about this Laver Cup. And Andrea Gasi, who for some reason believes that Alcaraz will take all the Grand Slam tournaments and asks him not to be greedy and wants to leave. Well, he understands, well, he’s a man who has been in tennis for so many years, but do you agree with him? Understands. At the beginning of our broadcast I said that Siner Alcaraz is here for a very long time, and I don’t see anyone who can create competition for the titles. They are like me , I'm afraid, I'm afraid that it's realistic that Alkara will be able to surpass Novakadjokovic's record, which is now 23 Grand Slam tournaments, if you put No, 24, no, 23. 24. He's fighting for twenty-fifth. Certainly. How do you like Fanseco? What do you think about him? Fanseco is a very talented, good guy. Yes. Yes, a very nice guy. Uh, I actually know his manager. He told how it all happened. Yes, he is, in principle, from such a, well, not that he is not from a dysfunctional family, but in Brazil, everyone is there, if you have to fight for your, well, for your being, place in the sun, right? Kakvirova, like Google at one time, also fought, so he has very good goals there; he is a goal-oriented guy and he has a very good gut. Yes. I, to be honest, really like his style of play and his attitude, but my favorite at the moment is definitely Alcaraz. I am very, very impressed with him in general. Well, let's not take away the intrigue there, let's not be so skeptical, because, you know, remember the times when Federer Nadal played, I thought I would never see better tennis. Well, the floor is just, yes, that’s what it seemed, but it’s impossible. What could be even better? And then there was Djokovic, who endured it all, persevered, and surpassed it. And then the Sinera Alcarazs appeared, so time goes on, and new heroes will still come who are capable of resisting and will. And I think we'll see more of the stats not only among ourselves, but listen, I've actually been very involved in junior tennis for the last 2 years. And I really know that there are fifteen, sixteen, seventeen year old guys there now who are on the way, who can, well, move mountains. How do you define this? Because, as far as I can see from the attitude, from the attitude it is clear that how the body trains and how it develops physically. And that is, there is really something special about them , because at 15, 16, 17 years old, you know how many stars there are in tennis. We have had many examples, when in junior age there was the number one racket of this world and then later, yes, at 16-17, when the testosterone level was already starting to go off the charts and other thoughts were already starting to appear. That is why it is precisely at this moment that a coach is needed, a good specialist is needed who will always monitor these moments . And the basis. Stop, buddy. The girls will never leave you. They need Yevgeny Kafelnikov. The girls won't leave you. You will have girls, you will play tennis, you will be the number one tennis player in the world, you will have a huge number of these girls. So, what kind of message are you giving now? No, I am sending a message that something needs to be controlled. You are a family man, no, you could say so. No, I’m saying this because a person is needed at precisely this teenage age. Yes, because, well, if you don’t tell them, don’t explain, you can simply ruin the talent, which they will 100% remain in the Aitefs . And they won't move anywhere further. Laver Cup. I wanted to show you the photos. I also Yes, let's look at these amazing photos. And you, dear viewers, please join us in commenting on these photographs. Alcaraz dyed his hair. Well done. Alcaraz visited Alcatraz. Yes, it was wonderful. Yes. What do you say? The famous prison, yes, which now operates as a museum. But he painted its appearance for me. How do you like the hairstyle? Here I am super personal. Blondie, Alcaraz, Alcatraz. Albin. Well no, platinum blonde. Platinum blonde. Amazing. But he can do anything, right? Here. Agas and opelka. And this jump, how many floors did he jump in total? 31 cm, friends. Two. How much does Guardianship have? 210 rose or even more? Don't know. Agassi 1 70. But he was always a showman, so his presence certainly added interest. Well, really, at this cup he was really bright. Alcarazy. And this out is generally called the eye of the hawk . What do you think about this eye ? I actually thought from the photo that he was already playing padal. No. Well, yes, it’s a small mesh in silhouette. No, it's a rebound. A rebound that the system counted as in. Listen, tennis players miss their linemen. Well, what can I say? These disputes and proceedings are what we're missing, right? They've already started arguing with the computer, you see, so there's something to cling to. No, well, on a regular tour you could leave a computer there to monitor, but the big tournaments had the highlight, that the linesman, out, there you go, you can, there are so many of these videos on YouTube, where John McEnroe argues with the judge. Well, it’s the viewers who pay huge amounts of money to watch the show. We are showmen, yes, we are showmen, who must, excuse the expression, earn our living in this way. But we are without spectators, they pay, they pay us. So, to be honest , I would like for traditions to return to tennis, at least at the Grand Slam tournaments. I really liked it there, especially at Bldon's, where everyone was in white uniform. Here. Well, thank God, this tradition still remains. It remains, yes. I have a quickie for you. Oh no, why not? Zhenya, come on. And whether it's normal or not is called blitz. Accordingly, I am giving you different options, but you need to, uh, explain. To clarify, yes. So, the first question. Is it normal or not to shout "kamon" at your opponent's mistakes? Ström. Ah, that is, straight ahead. No, but it’s not even not normal, it’s downright creepy. It's normal for children's sports. I'm from children's tournaments, believe me. No, it's not scary. No, well, I somehow agree. It's not pretty at all, right? Is it okay or scary to argue? My time I had already finished I had already finished my career when I appeared. Well, I would argue. Yes. Yes. No, well, it's creepy. I don't know how I would I don't know how I would react. It's probably creepy too. But I could have , I could have, probably, reacted inadequately to such a hook. A or and you? Well, of course, of course. Yes, there is no point in wasting your energy on this. argue with robots . And why give up a tournament for an exhibition for big money? And everyone wondered how big they were. No, here you need to understand what kind of tournament it is. No, what kind of tournament. And I had, I had such a story in ninety-six, and in ninety- six I had to, and it was, I think, either in October, right? The month of October. Eh, and in Hong Kong there was a very big exhibition called the Marlboro clic. Eight people played. And so I left Europe, having missed the tournament, and went to play, basically for big money, in Hong Kong for a week. Well, well then, it’s true, I spent 2 weeks recovering because of this flight, the time change. That is to say , to be honest, it ended up costing me more than this trip. If I had known that it would be like this, I probably wouldn’t have gone, but I would have had such a story, yes. That works out to be three. It depends on, I say again, on the circumstances, on the circumstances. Well, I'll just add a little more fuel to the fire. Tsitsipas has now withdrawn from the tournament for $ 1.00, or more precisely, $1.5 million, and is ready to go there. Do you think this is normal? Where? for the tournament of six, by the way, kings, which you uh normal. Well, it's the end of the season. No, well, in his situation, when he’s had a disastrous year, he also has an injury and most likely he can’t play at full strength right now, his situation is normal. Nunom. Well, as you said, it all depends on the situation, right? Well, in general, 50/50. Fine. Is it okay or not to write about the judges on social media during a tournament ? Who does that? I think social media is evil. In general, if I had my way, I would ban all social networks, yes, I would ban everything. And Twitter, says the man who just stopped writing non-stop in drastal, yes, he stopped, yes, he stopped writing, yes. I think it's absolute evil if it's on social media, because, well, there's so much hate. I also read a lot that tennis players receive so much hate on social media for this or that loss. Well, this is absurd. Well, how could it not be, well, now we are more about judging, yes. It's probably you who remembers that incident when Sabalenka, yes, wrote that she took a photo of this rebound, yes, and then posted it , yes, about how such mistakes happen. We allow 50 unexpected mistakes during a match, but we don’t allow the referee to make a mistake, but this is, of course, scary. And Pelka also said that the judge there wrote the worst in the world. Well, well no, everyone is doing their job. I also had judges whom I adored, and there were judges to whom I said, “[ __ ], it’s okay.” And for this I was disqualified from the match and received a fine of 20,000 dollars. All. And then I squeezed his hand and said: “Norma, please forgive me, but I was wrong, but we had normal relationships, but I had favorite and unloved judges, yes, I don’t deny it.” And his name was Norma. Sani thought about how to say this expression, Norma. So, when they called him Normal, he was so bald, right? Got it all. Fine. The bald one is normal. And the last question. Refusing to shake an opponent's hand after a defeat. Ström. Well, that's not up for discussion. Absolutely terrible. Agree. No matter how badly you play, no matter how badly you feel, you must first of all be a gentleman yourself and value this whole code of the athlete, yes. Sportsmanlike behavior, after all, yes. You can tell him whatever you want in the locker room after the match, punch him in the face there. Well, of course, I'm doing it now, but, well, at the match, yes, you have to behave correctly, yes. Well, let's talk about what awaits us in the coming week. We have two tournaments, one in Tokyo and the other in Beijing. And for Elena, Beijing is a very special place. And I would like to hear some interesting stories from you . Well, it’s clear with Elena, Beijing, gold. You can remember that time. She will have to bear the brunt, because in my time there were no Asian series at all, in fact. Well, we didn't have it either. It wasn't there after the USoP Asian series. This is hers after you and me. So, can you imagine how long ago we... Well, yes, I finished in 2003, yes, and I... In general, when people ask me, I haven’t played a single tournament in Asia . I only played once in India, in Chennai before going to Australia. Well, India is, well, Asia, yes, but I'm not in any kind of peak there anymore. Well, as we found out, Hong Kong costs money. Well, Hong Kong, yes, that was it, but that was the only case, ah, of such a regular tour, that's how Lena played in Tokyo in April or when or in September it was No, we didn't have a tour, it was the only tournament after the Australian Open, and it was held in a hall on grass. Yes, I also played in the final with Martina Hinges, so I also had such a memorable final, but that was just one tournament in Japan. Yes, I was n’t friends with Asia, so I can’t say anything positive, unlike Elena. I am with Asia, yes, I am friends with Asia, yes. Well, tell us about this friendship, Elena. Well, no, well, for me, of course, this place is special, because all my life I dreamed and believed that I would win Olympic gold, so it was very. By the way, how did you play in Athens? And in Athens I played wonderfully. I just arrived there and left straight away. I lost to doubles in the first round. I called my mom and told her I was done with tennis. I play more , I won't play anymore. It was a shock for me. And he lost to Alisa Molik. She later won a bronze medal. Yes. And for me it was the end altogether. Here. The only time in my career when I wanted to retire was after the final in Sydney. Yes. Yes. It wasn't Well, after that you said, it's still 4 years Sydney. It's not like last week, but still, yeah, it's... Well, yeah . You know, when you're a kid and you dream and you just dream and live only with this thought, and you lose in the first round and you're eliminated. That is, this was probably the most difficult moment to experience, yes. Well, Beijing, of course, that's Yes. By the way, I was also in Beijing, yes, but Anna Vladimirovna Dmitrieva hired me as a commentator, well, as an analyst on NTV Plus, yes. I witnessed this triumphant performance of all our girls, in particular Elena, of course, it was unforgettable. Thank you. Well, actually, right now they are showing us a photo of your pedestal, that very one. I am deeply confident that this picture will not be repeated for a very long time, unfortunately. Well, listen, are you so sure that no, we don’t want to end on that note . Everything will happen again. What are you talking about? And we actually have a program, why is it called that? No, I don’t. Well, because our Olympic champions won their gold in hardcourt. Lena and I are actually very happy. tennis player, because, well, as you know, uh, the Olympic Games are every 4 years. And for all the stars to align, for you to win five matches and be in good shape there, that’s unique, yes. I even, well, it’s hard for me to explain to people who are not really tennis players that they don’t understand how difficult it is to win the Olympic Games. I think it's much harder than even winning a Grand Slam tournament. I am absolutely sure of this. Seriously? In tennis, are the Olympic Games more difficult than? Because, because once every 4 years. Well, this is the most important big difference. You have a Grand Slam tournament four times a year, but you can make a splash there. And at the Olympic Games, you may only have one chance in your career, where you can be there at twenty, or at some age, 24-25, you may only have one cycle at this age, when you are really at the peak of your abilities. And now you must use this chance. And Lena and I were very lucky. And then, you know, it's like the final championship. If at Grand Slam tournaments the top players still have the opportunity to go first, second, without offending anyone, there's a third round to warm up, well, let's call it that, yes, then here it turns out , yes, that is, I remember the draw, there it turns out you have to beat the top three rackets of the world in order to reach at least the final. Here, it’s like a different level, yes, well, let’s say, and responsibility. Do you understand that you have to give your best from the first match or did you just leave? There is simply a chance of error. You don't have no right to make a mistake. In no case. Do you know what else I'm interested in? As an Olympic champion with whom I have to interact, I ask the same question. My dad is an Olympic champion, he won the Olympics twice. And I wonder, what kind of sport? Biathlon. Congratulations to dad. Huge respect. Yes, that's not the point. Yes, thank you. And the question is this: you stand on the podium, Olympic gold, the anthem. What do you feel? It seems to me that everything, everything, everything that happened in this life somehow passes before my eyes . It's true, I don't remember. Well, there is a feeling of some kind of absolute happiness. This moment is very short, right? You spend your whole life, it is not in vain. In vain, yes, 100%, yes, that all this was not in vain, yes. Well, accordingly, we have gathered today for a reason, not in vain, yes, on the First and Red channel. Friends, I think you enjoyed this conversation as much as I did. I think you've probably already liked it, and if not, you'll do it right now, in a minute. Leave your comment and subscribe to our channel, because we will be coming out every week with such an incredible lineup. I thank you. Elena, Evgeny, thank you. Very nice. We had a great chat. Super. Yes. I hope everyone likes it. With you were Evgeny Kafelnikov, Elena Dementyeva, and me, Anya Vasilyeva. [music] Yeah.