Hardcourt #3

Transcript

Hi everyone! You're watching Hardcourt, the tennis show where Olympic champions argue not for points, but for arguments in the studio. He's finally back from vacation — tanned, rested, and as opinionated as ever: Russia's first Grand Slam champion, Olympic champion Evgeny Kafelnikov. I honestly missed you all so much this whole time. She can tame him with a single word. Tame him. And she does it with a smile and a lot of charm. Olympic champion, two-time Grand Slam finalist Elena Dementieva. That immediately conjured up some kind of image of an animal trainer for me. The tamer. And I'm Anna Vasilyeva, the secret weapon of this broadcast. Let's get started. Honestly, it's been a while since we discussed the current news, and it's been a hot week. So of course let's start with Shanghai. If you thought nothing could surprise us anymore after Nadal and Federer, welcome to Shanghai. A battle of two French brothers in the final, having taken out Djokovic on one side and Medvedev on the other. What did you think of the final? It was probably the most unpredictable final you could imagine. For the fans, of course, it wasn't what they expected — everyone wanted a Djokovic-Medvedev match. But that's what makes tennis beautiful: sometimes what you expect just doesn't happen. I'm genuinely happy for the two brothers. One of them really needed this title, because the ranking he'll have literally as of next week will let him get straight into the main draws instead of qualifying, and that's a huge, huge plus. As for Rinderknech, this tournament was probably also enormously beneficial for him personally. Exactly, and that's why they deserve credit — we can be happy for them. I'm really glad it turned into a genuine final. They called it a "brothers' final," but there was no deference to the older one, and we didn't see the younger one get any help either. It was a real, emotional battle. You can draw a parallel to when the Williams sisters played each other in a final, and who ended up winning. Right, they were often accused of it being some kind of pre-arranged script. Here you could clearly see they managed to set their family ties aside and delivered a real battle, a real emotional final. Absolutely, absolutely. I watched the match and it was clear there was no script at all. This title mattered enormously to each of them, but one of them simply performed a bit better than the other, so he earned that title, quite deservedly. This title is a very big deal — becoming a Masters Series champion is a huge honor, of course. Listen, but if the final was sensational, the semifinals were even more sensational — where these guys beat Djokovic on one side, and on the other, Daniil Medvedev, who apparently is gradually starting to recover and find his form. How did that happen? How did Vukic manage to beat Novak himself? That's the first question. Well, I think only some kind of magic rejuvenating apples could help Novak at this point, because he was diving into ice baths, doing every spa treatment out there... Zhenya, you have no idea how much we're waiting for those. Rejuvenating apples. You know, we need actual rejuvenating apples — he needs about ten years knocked off. Jokes aside, though, it really is unique, because we can see his body is starting to give out, but the strength of his mind, the strength of his desire, his motivation — that sheer willpower is simply phenomenal. The main thing is — I read online where he himself says he's not playing now to prove anything to anyone anymore, he's playing purely for the fans. He wants the audience he's earned over all these years not to be disappointed, to give them the chance to keep watching him. That's worth a lot, of course, but I'll say again — his resources are clearly running out. And the Novak Djokovic we saw at his absolute peak all these years, we're probably not going to see that version of him again. But still, there was so much drama. You watch the match and you don't know — is this acting right now, or is he really about to withdraw? Will he be able to push through this situation? Will he play it out and then go through that struggle all over again? It's something incredible. Novak — that's exactly why everyone considers him the greatest tennis player of all time. And it's fully deserved and understandable. A champion like that simply can't behave any differently on court, can't play a different kind of tennis. He always gives absolutely everything and always delivers huge enjoyment to everyone who comes to watch his matches, who pays enormous money for tickets, and the same goes for those watching on TV. Listen, here's a question I have. We see a quote on screen where Novak talks about his love for his fans and says he goes out on court not for titles — do we believe him, or is he being a bit disingenuous? Maybe he actually still wants to grab that 25th Grand Slam title? Purely out of love for the fans, he goes out to make everyone happy, sacrificing his own health? You know, subconsciously he surely has thoughts that either Jannik Sinner or now Carlos Alcaraz could theoretically catch up to his record. And he wants to make one last hundred-meter sprint and grab that title, to cement that number a bit more. But I think that either way, love for the sport and love for his fans is now the main engine driving him to keep playing, to keep entering tournaments. God grant him health so he can keep playing at that same level, because we don't want to see a Novak who loses to players who aren't at his level status-wise. Well, it's not even so much about losing as it is about seeing him go through some kind of ordeal in every single match. Torture, really, yes. I think if, say, Roger and Rafa were watching his final at the Olympics against Alcaraz, in some way — I don't want to say they felt envy, but there was probably a pang of feeling like "we could still do that too." But watching this week in Shanghai, I think Roger thought, "I left at the right time, thank God." You know, everything in its own time, and of course we're glad to see him for as long as possible, but everything has its limit. Absolutely, everything has its limit. And really, take Nadal — he just hit a wall one fine day, and that was it. His body said, that's it, Rafa, I can't anymore — the knees are breaking down, the back, the shoulder, all of it. And speaking of which, Federer left at the right time, don't you think? Absolutely. Yes? Absolutely, I think so, yes. Every self-respecting athlete who has achieved enormous results understands deep down when that step needs to be taken, when that decision has to be made. It's not simple — it definitely takes enormous willpower, but... we've all faced this, I've faced it, Lena's faced it, and all our active players out there right now will inevitably face it too. But that's what separates a top-class player — being able to take that necessary, right step at the right moment. Well, we also had a second semifinal, where Rinderknech beat your favorite, Daniil Medvedev. All right, go ahead and praise him, Zhenya. Last time you just said, "so what, he beat Zverev." Beat Thiem, then we'll talk. He beat him. Listen, this Shanghai week really instilled some confidence about what he's doing right now. For me, his match to reach the quarterfinal against the American Learner Tien was very telling — through sheer willpower, through a huge "I can't, I don't want to," he pushed through and beat that guy. Even though it was a very tough match for him, I watched it start to finish — there were already cramps setting in, all the drama was there, the whole script played out. And he still beat him. And that made me think he's genuinely started training again, started putting tennis first again as a priority. And there's a chance we'll see Daniil Medvedev the way we're all used to seeing him. Then a win over de Minaur in the quarterfinal, and unfortunately, a frustrating loss to Rinderknech. Knowing in advance that if he won, he'd be facing a player he simply, by definition, shouldn't lose to in the final — and maybe that affected him too, some nervousness, some eagerness. The third set was 3-3, two frustrating break points he didn't convert, and then, unfortunately, what happened, happened. Lena, you mentioned cramps. Lately it feels like there are more and more of these cramps on tour. Players are withdrawing — Sinner withdrew, Medvedev withdrew in Beijing. Where is this cramping problem even coming from? Because it didn't used to happen this much, at least not on tour. I remember I used to tease my footballer friends about it — someone sprints, falls, leg locks up, cramps. In tennis we never really had that, nobody gets cramps. Now suddenly this problem has shown up. Well, first of all, it's the end of the season. Second, the conditions were extreme — extreme heat, extreme humidity there. You had to be so careful about how you prepared for a match — hydration, nutrition, all these little details add up, and you know how quickly it can hit you, and there's nothing you can do about it, especially given the rule that you can't call the physio, you can't take a medical timeout for that specific problem, and so... This week we saw an enormous number of players struggling, trying to get up, trying to keep playing. It's genuinely hard, because in the moment sometimes you literally can't stand up, can't take a step. That's actually unfair, don't you think? Why can't they take a medical timeout for it? Well, how else would it work? Everyone's in equal conditions, it's just two opponents, and there's nothing you can do about that. But coming back to the fact that, yes, Shanghai really did have Spartan conditions — the heat, the humidity. Honestly, I'm not a big fan of this whole approach of playing the end of the season there. I keep coming back to the calendar, to what's going on with it. In my day, tournaments were already being played indoors by October — the Masters Series, the "Super Nines" as they were called, were held in Europe. But Shanghai, with that kind of weather — 36 degrees, humidity practically at 90% — really is exhausting labor. I can only compare it to the Australian Open when I played, where it also hit 37 degrees, unbearable heat, and it's only through sheer willpower that you can manage, but you can't put it into words for someone who hasn't actually experienced it and doesn't understand what that's like. Playing in that kind of heat, playing for four hours, and how all of that affects your body — it's undoubtedly very hard. I say I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. But unfortunately, or fortunately, that's tennis — that's our sport, and it's exactly what fans and everyone who loves it loves about it. So it's an inseparable part of tennis. But why do you think exactly that's the reason you can't call the physio for it? It's tied to the fact that a lot of players would fake it and use it as a break, as a pause. Theoretically, probably, yes — because how long could that pause last? However long you like, right? So Djokovic could basically just never leave the court. Exactly, which is why everyone needs to be under equal conditions, and that's not a reason you're allowed to take a medical timeout. Right, at any point in the match, especially when your opponent is already... But you could kind of trick the system a little, right? You could just say something else hurts, not mention the cramp, just say "I have..." I think that's exactly what Daniil tried to do. He wanted to say it was something with his leg, but the physio came out on court and said, yes, this looks like a spasm, this is muscle cramping, unfortunately we can't help you with this right now. At least it bought him a bit of time that way. By the way, Daniil said he actually loved everything about it. He said he finds it tough in a lot of places, but here it was tough for everyone. And that's always the case, always — our perception of a tournament, of a city, depends entirely on how we perform there. Play well, and everything's wonderful, the organizers are magical, the venue is amazing, you can't wait to come back next year. Lose in the first round, and you barely make it off the court before you're packing your bag and flying out. Any tennis player will tell you that. For some reason, throughout my career, I mostly kept playing the same tournaments over and over, because it was convenient for me and I enjoyed being there — playing in Moscow every year, for instance. Or Lyon in France, also at the end of the year. Everyone had their own favorite schedule, their own favorite tournaments. So yes, once again, that's an inseparable part of tennis. But if there's one player for whom Asia is not a favorite, it's Andrey Rublev — he suffered his fourth straight loss in Shanghai. The main thing is he's not losing heart. Actually, that's interesting — that's what I want to discuss. Andrey posted a video on social media of himself going up into the mountains, and for some reason people picked up on it online and started teasing him about depression, saying things, making memes. Honestly, that really got to me. I don't get how depression is connected to mountains — that's just part of physical training. Don't you agree, or...? How can you tell someone's depressed just because they went to the mountains? Who's his coach right now? Marat, among others — and he really loves that kind of active lifestyle. He himself traveled a lot back in the day, he's told me more than once, "I went to the mountains, conquered peaks." So this was probably one of Marat's ideas — maybe as a way to relieve the psychological stress Andrey's under from his negative results, and that could well pay off. I think the next tournament Andrey plays, he could easily go and win it, precisely because he's reset his nervous system. Actually, speaking of Marat — I'm curious, did he also go off to the mountains between tournaments back when he was playing? He'd go off, but not to the mountains. But he'd come back. Not always in time for the next tournament, though, right? He'd get younger, at least. Well, whatever it was, it clearly helped him — that's the main thing. By the way, Andrey also said that his current level of play has already maxed out, that he's squeezed everything he can out of himself, and now he either needs to radically change something or stay bouncing around the top 20 somewhere. What exactly needs to radically change? I don't quite follow you on this — can anything even be radically changed at this point? Well look, to radically change something you need to work an awful lot. Honestly, the fact that you're saying this at 27 means you want to improve, and tennis is basically about endless analysis, endless self-improvement. Twenty-eight already, sorry. But if there's that kind of desire, it's very commendable — though you have to understand it's very hard, monotonous, day-to-day work on yourself. Can he do it? Then we'll see the results, hopefully, in Australia next year. So, increase his training volume? I don't think it's always about volume. Maybe it's about changing the training process itself, changing something in the technique, maybe — I don't know. Well, how do you see it? What's he missing? Tactics? Listen, I've said many times already that to improve something, you obviously need to change — change something in your game. I've had a lot of issues with Andrey's game — his footwork, his forehand technique. If his coaching team is fine with those nuances and he himself knows it's bringing him a certain standing, that's one thing. But right now he himself understands that this is genuinely a dead end — what he's been doing all this time isn't bringing results, isn't bringing success anymore. He needs to change. And changing at that age is very, very hard — you really have to grind it out to change anything. Because it's one thing when you're 20, 21 — you're ready, you've got the physical strength, the drive, the emotion, and so on. It's another thing when you're 28 and you think, maybe I don't need to, what would this even give me, I'm fine as it is. But I'm glad Andrey genuinely understands this and can, gritting his teeth, try to change something. Because it's one thing — in the 2000s, in the 90s, a tennis career peaked at 30. Now, thanks to guys like Nadal, Federer, Djokovic extending their careers to that age, I'm sure Andrey has another five, six years left in him, 100%, and at a real level — he's capable of it. I, at least, hope so — I really want that for him. I'm curious what exactly Rinderknech and Vukic changed radically in their preparation for results like these to suddenly show up out of nowhere. Well, listen, why "out of nowhere"? I don't like that we don't give a chance to players ranked 50th and below to have a brilliant week and win a tournament. They work just as hard — no less than the top players, agree? Absolutely. And yes, maybe throughout the whole season they don't produce such consistently high results, but they train too, and credit needs to be given where it's due — they didn't just end up there by accident. Zhenya said it right — ours is a very objective sport. Maybe the universe wanted a Djokovic-Medvedev final, and we'd have wanted that too, but the people who earned that spot as of today, who were the strongest that particular week, were the brothers — that's it. But honestly, I really don't want it to turn into the kind of situation where... What was our winner's name again? Bashiron... Vukic — where he only ever wins that one tournament in his whole career. One example that really sticks in my mind is a Spanish player, Roberto Carretero. He also won a Masters Series tournament, in Hamburg in 1996, beating me in the semifinal. He came in from qualifying, ranked around 140 that week. And he won that tournament — it was his one shining week, and after that, nobody ever heard from him again, he never won anything else. I'm really worried it could turn out to be a similar story here. Well, yes, that depends on the player's ambition — for some, breaking into the top 20 is the peak of their dreams, like Andrey said about himself, calling it "bouncing around." Same thing here — for some, winning a tournament like this once is a dream come true, and for others it could be the start of something bigger, a real breakthrough. Let's see how it goes for Vukic. Evgeny, your memory is phenomenal — you remember all your matches, when, against whom, in what year? Especially the ones he lost. Who he lost to, yes — people usually prefer to forget those. No, well, I do keep a lot in my memory, of course. Naturally, some details — like who I beat in the first or second round before winning a title — I might have some gaps there, since I'm 51 now, after all. And you'll say, "Come on, age is just a number." Elena, and you — do you remember all your... I don't remember anything at all. Nothing? Nothing. Didn't win, didn't lose — nothing. It's like, after having kids, everything just got wiped from my memory. All right. Well, I hope you remember how many of you girls played in the year-end championships at most, and what year that was? We actually talked about this last time, right? I remember there were practically... because right now we're seeing four American players qualify for the year-end tournament, which will be in Riyadh. I just don't remember how many there were on our side — five, or four? More — there were more of us. And which year was that? I can't say, it was a while ago. What year, I don't remember off the top of my head — 2007, 2008, maybe. That's just phenomenal — there were seasons where every final had either two Russians, or at least one, and we're talking about Grand Slam tournaments and the biggest events out there. Yes. Let's move on to our First&Red ambassadors — Karen Khachanov and Sasha Bublik, who unfortunately didn't perform so well. They lost early in the tournament and made it harder for themselves to qualify for the year-end tournament. What went wrong? I think Sasha should be asked first, given two straight losses. That's exactly where your real... I don't want to undersell Alexander's achievements in any way — he's had a brilliant season — but in my view he needed to mobilize himself just a little bit more to reach the result he wanted. Surely that's the result he himself, his family, and his coaching staff would have wanted him to reach — because it's an enormous honor to be among the top eight players of the year. But unfortunately, in Shanghai he just didn't show up. There are still tournaments left, though, where he can really earn points — there'll be another Masters in Paris, plus two 500s, one in Vienna, one in Basel. So if things go his way, he could still hang on. Why not. Same goes for Karen. Actually, let me ask about Karen — he arrived late in Shanghai because he'd been playing doubles beforehand. Could that have affected his result somehow? It's hard to say, because it's the same time zone, the same kind of climate, so no, I don't think that had much of an effect. For me, playing doubles was always essentially just like a training session — I'd play doubles to work on elements I needed for my singles game. So I don't think that affected anything, it was just an unfortunate combination of circumstances. Let's keep talking about our ambassadors — and unfortunately keep being disappointed by their results, because Aryna Sabalenka lost in Wuhan, even though nothing really pointed to trouble. What's more, she lost on a tiebreak — before that she'd had a streak of 19 tiebreaks won in a row. So you'd think all the cards were in her hand there, and yet, that's how it went against Jessica Pegula. She lost. What happened? I don't think there's really anything to unpack about "what happened" — it was a very even, very good match. In the third set Aryna was up 5-2, so basically there was some momentary letting-up, a loss of concentration. Pegula levels the score. But there was an incredible finish, because once Jessica earned her first match point, guess how she played it? Double fault, double fault. Then three more. Can you imagine — at 6-5, she hits four double faults? Then in the tiebreak, after that, she calmly walks over, drinks some water, and it's 5-1 on the tiebreak like none of that ever happened. It was simply stunning. But Aryna fought — like I said, she let it slip a bit when she had the advantage in the third set, but her phenomenal ability to raise her level in decisive moments — she brought that here too, there were just some tiny out calls that kept her from leveling it and pulling ahead. So it's a bit of a shame, because we know how much the crowd in Wuhan loves Aryna — she hadn't lost there before this match, she really was the queen there. She'd played a brilliant match before that, beating Elena Rybakina, so yes, this was... It was a fantastic match, I don't think it's any reason to be upset — she's in great form, and I think we'll see her at her absolute best at the year-end championship. You can't win every match, sooner or later you have to face losses too. I'm sure she'll come out of this loss with dignity and show herself properly at the year-end championship. Honestly, I'm not sure — she doesn't play the 500s in China and Japan, she skips those, she'll be preparing. What's more painful, losing on a tiebreak or losing without winning a game (a "bagel")? Let's ask you. Both are painful to me, honestly. The right answer. Okay, good. Moving on — Diana Shnaider also lost early in her tournament. I don't even know what to say about that one. You know, she just got unlucky, because Katerina Siniakova is, for me, a mood player — she has matches where she plays really well and is very tough to play against, and matches where she's completely listless, making a huge number of unforced errors. But this week she genuinely played well — she was on fire, held the ball really well from the baseline, came in to finish points at the net. It was her week. I think Diana was just unlucky to run into such a strong opponent in the first round — maybe Diana also isn't in her most optimal form right now, maybe she lacked a bit of self-confidence, some frustrating unforced errors, and unfortunately, that's the result. There was another result that shocked absolutely everyone — Jasmine Paolini simply demolished Iga Swiatek, 6-1, 6-2. Not only did she beat Iga for the first time in her career, she also climbed up to eighth place in the race for the year-end tournament. First win over her after seven losses. Yes. She really is a stunning tennis player — I always love following her. In terms of footwork, honestly, I'd put her on the same level as Swiatek, because it's amazing how she moves her feet. And given how short she is, the power she hits with — I haven't seen it live, but I got a call from Olga Vasilyevna Morozova, from London, saying, "Lena, you have no idea, I'm at Wimbledon right now, and this tiny Paolini hits harder than a lot of players — basically harder than most of the tour." It's an incredible physical shape she's in, and again, very positive too, the way she always plays with such optimism, she fights, she has beautiful technique, she's a pleasure to watch. And honestly, the match she lost to Coco Gauff wasn't reflected in the score at all — it was a very even match, quite close in terms of the actual play. She's in great form. And you asked the main reason — it's because she really, really wants to make it to the year-end tournament. Every match matters enormously for her right now, and by reaching the semifinal, she gave herself a solid foundation to end up in the top eight. Three girls are competing for two spots, and the competition between them is very fierce right now. I'd say there are still two 500-level tournaments left where points can be earned, and as I understand it, Mirra Andreeva, Jasmine Paolini, and Elena Rybakina are all playing, so they're all fighting for that spot. Unfortunately Ekaterina Alexandrova is too far behind on points — even if she has a great result somewhere, she simply won't make it by definition. But she's done great regardless — she'll finish the year in the top ten either way. Top ten, of course, congratulations to her on that. Yes, that's a big deal, well done. Well done indeed. And then there was the all-American final in Wuhan, which Coco Gauff won. What can we say about that final? I think credit needs to go to Jessica, because she played such a huge number of three-set matches, and on top of that she was winning matches she probably should have lost. On one hand, she had this incredible confidence — you know, when you've won so much that you almost don't remember how to lose, you get that kind of confidence, that feel for the ball. But of course, the fatigue was there too — it's just not physically possible, especially under such tough conditions. And Coco Gauff was fresh, she was full of energy, physically she was a level above. And even with all her double faults — we discussed her serve, that she's working on that element — every game she lost on serve, she still gave her opponents a way in. That was one, two, sometimes even three double faults. But everything else — sorry — her return, her baseline play, it just wasn't the same story there. There's a limit that eventually you just can't push past, and surely Jessica's physical resources were simply spent, after her match against Aryna Sabalenka and before that too. Well, that's a great bridge to talk about the real problems of the past week — not just physical burnout, but psycho-emotional burnout too. Dasha Kasatkina ended her season early, and wrote a long letter, an address to her fans, where she emphasized this phrase about being "fine" — words that don't always reflect a player's real state. What do you think about that letter, and about this early end to the season in general? Honestly, I support that decision, because I know a lot of tennis fans right now will say, "come on, the season's still going, it's in full swing, what do you mean you don't want to play." No — I think if you feel inside that you're not ready, that you can't do it, that your eyes just aren't lighting up anymore, then it's better to stop, to take that pause, without waiting for the season to end. I think that's very honest toward yourself, and it shows a lot of respect toward the fans who are expecting a certain level of Dasha's tennis that she can't currently show or deliver, for whatever reason. That's why I myself could never take that kind of pause — there's this endless race going on in your head, chasing points, chasing ranking, some desire to make the year-end championship — you push yourself relentlessly and just can't stop. That's exactly why the two of us are Olympic champions. No, well, I don't agree with you there. Actually, I agree with you, Evgenia. We were always raised to believe there's no such word as "don't want to" or "can't," there's only "must." And we push through all that "can't," through "don't want to," basically ignoring it. But now, more and more, tennis players are talking about mental health. I know your view — you think they've gotten spoiled — but listen, this matters. Because when your technique slips a bit, that's easy to fix. When you're a bit physically tired, as a professional you can get your form back quickly. But when you fall into a psychological hole, it's very hard to climb out of. That's why it's good to stop in time. Agreed. But I want to say — do you think that back in our day, when we were playing, tennis players didn't have the same kinds of problems? It's just that back then there wasn't social media where you could put your thoughts out there, and somehow... and how you'd even do it. But the problems always existed — in the 70s, the 80s, the 90s, someone always had something hurting, there were always psychological issues, people just didn't know about them, you understand? But does it need to be talked about this openly? It seems to me she's putting herself in a very vulnerable position in front of everyone, in general. Honestly, I genuinely don't understand why you'd talk about it. Fine, the season's over, take a pause, okay, that's it — nobody's forcing her to keep going through "I can't." Of course. But you know, honest statements like that also help other people understand their own situation sometimes. Because when you're in it, and as you put it — and you don't know that ten other tennis players around you are feeling exactly the same thing — that's one story. When you see that you're not the first and not the last, that's already... Maybe it's just, I don't know, a somewhat radical kind of upbringing. Honestly, we were raised at a time when nobody by definition even knew you could say "I can't." We have to draw a parallel here — everyone looks at us, at tennis players, excuse the expression, as some kind of overfed personalities who earn enormous amounts of money and on top of that still complain about how hard it all is, how tough the schedule is. I want to ask, honestly — is it any easier for a person unloading potato wagons at a freight yard? Or someone working in a mine in Norilsk? Absolutely, yes, that's exactly it. And they don't write letters. No, but listen — if you know you're going to a tournament and you're going to lose in the first, second round — no big deal, I did that every time. So you knew you were going to lose, and you still went? I went because I had certain obligations. Obligations, yes, I agree. Tournament obligations, they push you forward, you don't want to let people down, you show up for the tournament. Well yeah, I went because I needed to play, because I needed to defend points, just like you — checking the rankings every single day. It mattered to me to reach the year-end tournament, to win the title. That was my drive. And when you have no drive at all, then, I don't know — I never experienced that. In that case it's genuinely right to take a pause, reset, like you're saying, and come back with a different game next season. So I support Dasha on this. Lena, I had another question I found interesting — you said you couldn't allow yourself that kind of thing, but did you want to? Did it happen? During your career, would you have wanted to just do that, end your season early? Well, we're humans, not robots, of course it happens. So why didn't you allow yourself that? Well, it's what we talked about — there are tournament obligations, there's the desire to end the season, I don't know, in the top ten, to break into the top five. You really, really want to make the year-end championship. And going back to what we said about Alexander Bublik — on one hand you're tired, but on the other hand, the motivation and desire to reach the year-end tournament has to be stronger, I think. Absolutely. You have to be able to set those moments aside — what you focus on matters enormously. For me too, the goals I set for myself were more important than my own state. I don't know if that's right or wrong, but that's how it was — and that shows what you're really made of, what you're built from. When you understand there's a month, a month and a half left until an event, you need to make that last hundred-meter sprint, push yourself, do whatever it takes. And not show that "I'm tired, that's it, feel sorry for me." Yes — "feel sorry for me, I don't need this." Well, if you don't need it, if you're not setting those goals — making the year-end tournament — that's one thing, then none of your fans, your supporters, have any right to say anything to you about it. But if you genuinely want it, and you want your fan base around the world to keep growing, you have to prove to them that you're ready, that they can believe in you, that when they open the app and Sasha Bublik is playing, they'll say, "I'll cheer for him and support him." But if you approach it the other way, then people will watch Bublik once, put their gadget aside, and go watch something else. You need to protect yourself from that kind of thing constantly. It's like bodybuilders — when they're building muscle mass, on those last reps, right at failure, there's this advice: tell yourself in your head, "I can do one more." And they squeeze out three or four more reps of some exercise. From that comes real moral satisfaction — that through "I can't," gritting your teeth, you pushed through it. You understand? And I always used to tell myself, "I need to spin the bike for five more minutes at the same intensity," so I'd feel that I could do it when things got hard, so I'd push past that barrier. Because afterward you always get a second wind, and there's this moral satisfaction from having done it, from not having quit. Well, five minutes — say it louder. Otherwise people will say you don't even sit for five minutes. Well, before that we did 45, roughly speaking. There, there, there. Okay, let's keep going on this topic. Mirra Andreeva also had a meltdown, and people are saying it's like... Don't give me those sad puppy eyes. You know, I really don't want to discuss Mirra's performance in Wuhan on principle — I don't want to rub salt in the wound. Anyone who saw the match will understand what I mean. I think it makes sense to just talk through how she got to this state, because look — the season starts in Australia, Mirra's in great form, a very solid performance, we can see she's well prepared. Then come two brilliant wins at the tournaments in Dubai and Indian Wells. And then something happens in her game. Every time she plays a tournament, I get the impression she's well prepared and ready to go really far in the draw, all the way to the final, to a title — and then it just doesn't happen. The changes I've noticed in her game — I don't know what's behind it, whether it's the hype that kept building around her, growing exponentially, or whether she started playing so many matches against top hitters like Sabalenka, Anisimova, Gauff, and started wanting to hit hard herself too. But you understand, she's a rally-based player. And these... What was she always known for? All her attacks were well set up. In the style of Djokovic, she could grind a player down, wait, and then attack only when the moment was right, or open up the court and attack. She always stood out for that positional style of play — very smart, very rational. And then she wanted to start attacking, and very often it was an unprepared attack, so the ball started flying out. One went wide, then another. That really rattles you, and it built up little by little. And against lower-ranked players, significantly lower-ranked — when she started keeping the ball in play, it was a bit short. You can trace that — it happened against Boisson at Roland Garros, it happened against Tauson, against Osaka at big tournaments, it's happening now in this Asian swing. She kept letting players find their rhythm with these balls that were a bit, well, slightly short, you understand? If a player is attacking your forehand the whole match — I'm talking about Sonay Kartal here — basically 80% of the match she manages to run around it. So what does that tell you? It was short, right? If you keep letting your opponent come to the net... There are some nuances there, a little bit of patience she's missing, this last stretch of the season. And probably this feeling of unrealized potential, because I think I wasn't the only one who saw that she could have beaten this player, and that one too. And it's like a snowball — it just kept piling up and piling up, and it turned into this kind of slump, a nervous slump, unfortunately, that happened to her at the tournament in Wuhan. But I don't think it's anything terrible, it just needs to be analyzed. She has a good team, a highly experienced coach in Conchita Martinez, she has her parents' support, her mom is always with her. Then she has her sister, who can listen and give advice better than any psychologist — she's going through the same feelings herself. So I think the most important thing here is to focus on the good things about the season — a fantastic one. She's young, she has no serious injuries, she's fighting, and she'll most likely make the year-end championship. So right now it's just about staying calm and focusing on the good moments, of which there were plenty this year. Honestly, Lena's absolutely right there. I'd add one more thing from myself — surely her coaching staff around her told her she needed to add more physically, because we all remember what a slim, skinny girl she used to be. If you look even at what she was like at the Australian Open, in the first part of the season, the first three months — but now there's this feeling that she's put on a lot more muscle mass. And that means she's surely training very hard off the court with a fitness coach, and once you do that, you lose a bit of your feel for the ball, because when your muscle mass grows, you immediately lose a bit of control, a bit of length, that sense of a drop shot, of hitting an angled serve. And that's probably what's weighing on her the most right now. And the fact, and I'm quite sure of this, that she's being given extremely heavy training loads — and this is just a young girl, 18 years old, who surely hasn't really had much of a childhood, the kind of childhood everyone should get to have. And that weighs on her very heavily psychologically. That's why we're seeing this kind of breakdown. I don't welcome these breakdowns at all — either way, it needs to be controlled, and people around her need to tell her that. What's happening with her is beyond our control at this point. So I really hope she doesn't have any more of these psychological breakdowns in the next three weeks, right up to the year-end tournament. I also really hope she'll be playing there, that she'll qualify, that she'll play properly now in China and then next week in Tokyo, and that she'll earn the number of points she needs to make the tournament — and prepare properly, using the full month with no tennis, no physical training, just to recharge her psychological batteries. By the way, that's a really interesting point about muscle, about gaining muscle mass. I remember Nadal, during his prime era, at some point got a bit over-muscled, and his results dipped a bit too, and he was actually told he needed to dial that back a little. Tennis is a very energy-demanding sport, of course — you can't do it without conditioning. The way things were played, roughly speaking, in the 70s, 80s, that's not possible now. Nowadays, if you're not physically ready, you're simply... In my view, it's 70% physical fitness, 30% skill. There's no getting around that. If you're going up constantly against opponents like Aryna Sabalenka, who sometimes serves even harder than a lot of the guys on tour... Right, hits hard off both wings. Whether you like it or not, you have to match that level. So you need to train, you need to keep yourself in shape all the time. Now for our news digest block. First story — Roger Federer, Juan Martin del Potro, and Svetlana Kuznetsova have been nominated to the Tennis Hall of Fame. Yes, we congratulate Sveta with all our hearts, because that's genuinely a big deal — she's a two-time Grand Slam champion, a Fed Cup winner, a former world number two. And you know that in the whole history of Russian tennis, only three people have ever earned the honor of entering the International Tennis Hall of Fame — that's Marat Safin, Evgeny Kafelnikov, and Maria Sharapova. And now Svetlana Kuznetsova has been nominated. Well, I don't know, it might be tough to compete with Roger in this campaign, but it seems to me that once you've been nominated, sooner or later you're bound to get in — what do you think? Well, the groundwork is there, because as a member of the International Hall of Fame myself, I'll say quite openly — I voted for Sveta's induction. We all voted. But I did it just as a fan — anyone could go on the website and vote, from any device. As a Hall of Fame member, I had to cast my own actual vote. I voted for Sveta's induction, so I really hope, yes, we'll get another representative there. Tell me, please — something I've always been curious about — beyond the honorary title, beyond that kind of recognition of your outstanding achievements in tennis, what else does it give you? Maybe a bump in per diem? Maybe free lifetime tickets to a Grand Slam? No, well, of course, of course. Maybe something else interesting? No, of course, I get to attend all events under the Hall of Fame's banner — they always invite me. And how does that work for you — one ticket, or one plus two? No, for me... you're hinting at something. One plus two is also possible. The biggest problem right now, unfortunately, is getting an American visa. Okay, forget the visa. Tell us what else it gives you. No, I get to attend all the events the International Hall of Fame organizes. If only they'd contribute financially too, given how much of your health you left out there for them. Thank goodness they don't need to financially, so far. Well, that never hurts. All right, next story — Gael Monfils has announced he'll retire at the end of 2026. About time. Well, he's such a colorful character. Of course, it's about time. He's really loved, you have to admit. Well, he's the kind of player — sure, he never won a Grand Slam title, right — but every time he shows up, it's a show, it's joy for the fans, it's some kind of, I don't know, positive energy that just always comes off him. No, absolutely, he has this positive energy, the French love him, and not just the French — yes, he has a huge fanbase all over the world too. Well, sooner or later this had to happen. He made his decision, and God grant him a brilliant 2026, so he can do all this... Yes, of course, about time — his wife will keep playing. Yes, his wife will keep playing, he'll stay home with the kids, support her from the stands. Next story — the WTA has unveiled its 2026 tour calendar. What's interesting there is that the WTA 500 in Linz has been moved from February to April, and will now be played on clay instead of hard court. Well, you know, there are certain weeks in the calendar that just aren't very popular, let's say. After Australia, a lot of players prefer to take a break, go back home, take some time off, and that tournament typically doesn't get the number of players it should. It seems like a pretty sensible move to me — if they also link it up with some other tournaments on that surface, that could work out quite well. No, the calendar is always a sensitive spot for everyone — for the players, for the promoters, for the tournament organizers. It's never a situation where both sides are happy — someone's always going to be unhappy about something, either the players saying "this is a bad week," or the promoters. But on the promoters' side, they're pretty justified — they're paying the money, they're organizing everything, so nobody should look at them sideways in any way. They're squeezing everything they can out of themselves, and you have to be willing to meet them halfway. Let's see how it turns out. And the last story — Alcaraz will play a One Point Slam next year. That's an exhibition event before the Australian Open where they play just a single point. Can you imagine? No. When I read that, I lit up. Isn't this ending a bit too early? You understand, a single point. Just one. I'd even sign up for that myself. Honestly, I don't get the logic behind all these events. What's it even for? Tennis doesn't need more popularizing, it's already a global sport, so why does Alcaraz need this? Maybe it's for even more popularization. I don't agree with you there. I think it's a brilliant idea. Australia, if you consider all the Grand Slams, is usually seen as the — I don't want to say the least interesting, but the calmest, let's say, in terms of storylines, of events. They're always... Can you imagine, flying all the way there, and it's over in one point. No, but they're always artificially cooking something up, you know, trying to generate buzz, and this is genuinely a brilliant idea — a single point against a pro, and you've got a million dollars in your pocket. And you're playing on Rod Laver Arena, on the center court, and surely for television it's the main thing — they'll show you to a million-strong audience. I think whoever came up with this is a genius. Yes, a brilliant PR move, really. Great idea. We should sign up. I mean it, from the amateur side let's give it a shot — we'd at least need to train for it. Why would you need that? What are you talking about? We have to play that one point with dignity, we can't go out there and embarrass ourselves. No, we really would need to train. Someone, you know — Alcaraz will wipe the floor with us for those millions, just watch. Let's talk about what's waiting for us next week. Up next is the WTA 500 in Ningbo — that's China, right? Yes. Somewhere in Asia, for sure. That's where Mirra will be playing, right? All three girls competing for a spot at the year-end tournament are playing there — Jasmine Paolini and Elena Rybakina. Rybakina and Alexandrova. Yes, yes, actually, Renata Zarazua — sorry, I mean someone else — wrote that she also has a chance under certain circumstances. Yes, it might be difficult, but the chance is still there — she's fighting for a spot too. And don't forget, if you get in as an alternate, you also get a shot — very often someone withdraws after the first or second match, and you can step in and finish it out. Yes, actually, let me check right now — sorry, I'm pulling out my phone. Go ahead, we're in no rush. No, just to see who's playing. Here — Ningbo, the draw. Let's open it up. Singles draw. Opening it. I think it's a 48-player draw. Andreeva got the top seed. Right, she won't play a first-round match, she'll face the winner of Raducanu-Zhu. That won't be easy for her, though — Raducanu's in form right now. Then Ekaterina Alexandrova also got through to the second round automatically, straight through. Elena Rybakina, and Jasmine Paolini — Rybakina and Paolini could potentially meet in the semifinal. All the more interesting for us to watch this week, because there's such a fierce fight for that last spot at the year-end championship. Yes, that's right. And on the men's side, we're following the tournament in Almaty — ATP 250. Karen Khachanov is seeded first, second seed is Daniil Medvedev. Brilliant, brilliant. It's a real shame Daniil didn't take that chance he had to earn a huge amount of points, to win that tournament — that's an immediate boost of a thousand points, it would have made his life a lot easier in terms of qualifying for the year-end tournament. But no need to lose heart, because there are still two 500 tournaments coming up next week, in Basel and Vienna, and everything else will get decided at the Masters in Paris. So there are still chances to grab points and qualify. So let's cross our fingers and cheer him on. Unfortunately, by the way, Sasha Bublik won't be playing in Almaty. How's that? A Kazakh not playing in Kazakhstan? That's genuinely surprising. You know why? Look, he's got his tea party going on. His tea party, of course. Playing tennis is easier, honestly — less on my plate, less of my responsibility. You know what the best part of tennis is? I'll tell you if you don't already know it. Go ahead. And on our channel, there's a new podcast episode with Alexander — "Tea with Bublik." He invited Sergei Minaev to his tea party. Be sure to check out our channel and watch that podcast, be sure to like it, leave a comment, and, of course, subscribe to our channel if for some strange reason you still haven't done that. And that's it, time to say goodbye — we've covered everything, thank you all. I've only just gotten started, only just gotten started. Well, we'll save that for the next episode. We'll leave it for next time — we'll have plenty to talk about then too, and I hope you'll definitely enjoy it.