French Open 2026 Preview

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Episode 282: French Open Preview 2026

 

Dan Kiernan (00:01)

Welcome to episode 282 of Control the Controllables. And it's Roland Garros time. It's our French Open preview. And I am bringing to you a fantastic team of panelists, two of them that are actually in Paris right now. We've got Freddie Nielsen, the ever present, the Davis Cup captain of Denmark, but also the coach of August Holmgren, who...

 

is playing the last round of qualies as we record, you know, so Freddie actually has to leave a little bit early at the end of the podcast. So apologies for that, but that is for a good reason because August plays tomorrow morning in Roland Garros. And then we got Mike James making his debut on the team on the panel. has been the performance analytics team for many players across the board from Stan Wawrinka to Iga Swiatek…

 

the current team of Oracle who are working with a lot of top players in the world. But he's also the coach of Linda Fruhvirtova. And she's also in the last round of qualifying in Roland Garros on Friday. So by the time this goes out, we'll probably understand if they both qualified. But fantastic to have their insights on the show. And then Candy Reid, Candy Reid who is a voice of tennis. We hear her everywhere. know, she used to...

 

be the CNN broadcaster many, years ago. And then she's just been going from strength to strength, telling us all about tennis around the world. An incredible commentator, a fantastic player, a Tennessee Vol back in the day, and someone who knows tennis like the back of her hand. So lots for us to talk about. Hope you're going to enjoy this one and hope you're excited for an incredible Roland Garros.

 

I'm going pass you over to our French open preview panelists.

 

Dan Kiernan (02:04)

So a big welcome to our French Open panelists. How we all doing?

 

Candy Reid  (02:09)

Hi Dan.

 

Freddie Nielsen (02:09)

Great, thanks.

 

Mike James (02:11)

Great.

 

Dan Kiernan (02:12)

And we've got a believer, maybe a virgin on the, on the review preview show. Deb, you the first for Mike James or Mike, a special welcome. Know you've been on the podcast, but you've not joined the panel before. So we're looking forward to getting your insights. A big, big welcome to the show.

 

Mike James (02:18)

I'd like to use the word debut. Debut is a better word, I think. Let's start.

 

Candy Reid (02:21)

He's got two children, Dan.

 

Mike James (02:39)

Well, I can tell my parents now I've made it in life. Now I've got the nod for this amazing episode.

 

Candy Reid (02:42)

Hehehehe

 

Dan Kiernan (02:47)

We like to think so here Control the Controllables and look as ever guys lots to talk about I know you guys in Paris, as well Mike and Freddie, so we will certainly be kind of delving into finding out all about the conditions. We love a chat on conditions, we're not going to talk about tennis balls for 25 minutes as we sometimes do just to pre-warn you I'm gonna give you a 30 second cutoff as you tell us about the Roland Garros ball.

 

But actually the starting point, for me, Carlos Alcaraz, not in the French Open, has already withdrawn from Wimbledon. What's going on, Mike?

 

Mike James (03:25)

Well, I have no insight for anybody else currently on the tour. Mean, look, I mean, when I was traveling with Holger, we would practice with Carlos a lot. We would see him a lot. Everybody knows what an amazing character and person he is. And, you know, he has almost too much time for everybody, which I find amazing. But look, he's dealing with a wrist injury. There's officially not been a statement in terms of what…

 

type of wrist injury that is originally everyone's like, you know, he's only going to miss Rome and then immediately cancels Rome and Roland Garros. And then everyone's thinking he's going to be back for Queens and Wimbledon and he's, he's got rid of that. Now, the funny thing is can miss even Wimbledon and he probably still stays at number two because he's so far ahead of three. So actually from a ranking point of view…

 

imagine that he won he won two he won the French and Wimbledon and Queens and he can still stay at that ranking.  So I'm a little concerned in terms of his career because wrists let's be honest wrists are a tricky body part that you cannot absorb and hide as a tennis player so I'm a little concerned that they've skipped two Grand Slams he was defending.

 

And yeah, I wish him all the best recovery and I hope he can come back for the US swing and be back to being Carlos from that point of view.

 

Dan Kiernan (04:56)

And in Monte Carlo, Candy, he spoke to us all and he kind of, almost sounded a little bit down in Monte Carlo. He was almost kind of handing the reins to world number one, to Jannik Sinner, day before he played him in the Not so long after that, obviously in Barcelona, he played his first round match, had to withdraw from his second round match.

 

It just seems like we're not getting any information here. ⁓ Has he had an operation? What is happening? Is there a bigger concern here? Is something else going on? What is happening with Carlos?

 

Candy Reid (05:30)

I just know that, you know, he's played a lot of tennis and you sort of worry when you watch Carlos Alcaraz and perhaps the other guests will confirm or deny this, but you worry with the way he plays, how his body's going to hold up. He loves to hit that little drop shot, doesn't he? He really takes care of it with the wrist. And if he hits it, just a couple of those, a little bit off, I mean, you can do a lot of damage. As Mike said, it's one of the body parts that's just so fickle.

 

And we've seen so many terrible wrist injuries in the past. They really affect players. It's one that you have to make sure you're absolutely ready to come back from. You can't come back too early. And a lot of players will tell you, you know, they're a bit worried even when they come back. So I think he's doing the right thing by taking as much time as he needs, a little bit like Holger with his Achilles rupture. I I know he was trying to come back at Hamburg, which is what I'm commentating on this week.

 

And rightly, if he wasn't ready, he said, I can't come back yet. I'm going to come back for the grass court season. You have to be so attentive to your body, think, Dan, because these guys are just highly tuned racehorses, aren't they? And they just have to be so ultra careful. But it is a strange one to already pull out of Wimbledon months in advance.

 

Dan Kiernan (06:43)

And Freddie, it's like, I had a conversation in Miami with Mark Petchey, I'm sure he won't mind me saying. And he was, when he was watching, obviously we also need to remember, you know, he didn't quite look himself during that swing as well, know, Indian Wells and Miami. And in Miami, he lost to Seb Corder and...

 

He looked burnt out, you know, it looked like someone who had played too much tennis. You know, we're seeing the same with maybe Sabalenka right now. You know, I think we're so used to Sabalenka just kind of making a way through the draws. You know, these these top players, they have a lot of commitments off the court. You're going deep into these tournaments time and time and time again. Is this a sign once again that there is too much tennis? There is too much going on. These two week Masters 1000s, layered on top of the grand slams that maybe this is also a little bit of mental fatigue as well as physical fatigue.

 

Freddie Nielsen (07:39)

Possibly, very much so. The one thing I kind of noticed and maybe there's a bit of confirmation bias is I feel like the newer generation, they also have so much quantity in their bodies from an early age and they have professional setups and professional weeks from a very young teenage age. And I feel like you run such a big risk of overloading the body at an early age.

 

And Carlos Alcaraz has hit a lot of tennis balls at  extreme torque. And I think it's also just natural that there's some wear and tear. The balls are getting heavier than they ever were. The year round you play the same tennis. You don't have the swings where it's just serve and return. It's a lot of movement. It's tough on your body.

 

Mike James (08:35)

I just wanted to, Freddie, add to what you're saying is something close to my heart. And obviously we mentioned Holger and think the one metric that's still going up on the men's game are ball speeds. Average ball speeds are still incrementally creeping up year on year. Now there's going to be a ceiling at some point, but Freddie used the word torque. You know, you've got some, you've got now some top top…

 

top players not even competing at the highest level. You've got Jack, you've got Carlos, you've got Holger, and you did have Arthur Fils. know, I totally agree with what Freddie said. Like, I think that the training setups are so much more professional now, but the human body can only evolve to certain level where you're pushing it, pushing it, pushing it, and you've got the rehab, and you've got the prehab, and you've got all of this stuff going on.

 

But I think tennis is behind, and this is something close to my heart, where you're not measuring enough training loads and the hours and the repetitions and the amount of serves and the amount of forehands and backhands that you're hitting. And that needs to be more scientific, like it is in football and rugby and other sports, to stop this from happening. 

 

Because this is like, as a product, you're killing the product if these players are not taken to the court. So you know, now what the ATP, which are way more ahead of the WTA, you've got the catapult vest that they can wear in training. So you can measure the amount of forehands and backhands and serves they're Accelerations, decelerations and let's say with Holger, you know, that injury was from the details, the decelerations over and over again. 

 

And look at the guys sliding, you know, it used to be you slide on a clay court and then you'd slide on a hardcourt and then you watched the final of Wimbledon last year and Sinners took it to a totally different level. He's sliding open stance, not only on the backhand, which Novak has done now for the last 20 years. You know, the famous one where he did the dive, where he did the passing shot against Sinner. And if you look at Carlos, when you go wide to Carlos's forehand, it was chipped because he can't quite slide on the forehand on a grass court. 

 

Sinner was sliding fully on a forehand and on a backhand in that final. It's like, it's impossible to beat the guy because it's like, he's moving like he's on skis. Of course we know why. But the point is the human body can only take so much. And I worry also for Sinner. I think Sinner is also on the edge with his body.

 

Dan Kiernan (11:14)

He's not played many matches recently though.

 

Mike James (11:16)

No, but you know. It's not just about the, you know,  he's played a lot of matches, he's also gone through them a very faster. But I think, you know, again, I can see something like, you know, if, if Sinner were to get injured, where are we at in a sport from the point of view of the men's game in terms of like,  the superstars not taking to the, to the racing track.

 

Like saying Verstappen, Hamilton, Charles O'Clerk are not going to race for six months. No one would watch F1, it wouldn't be as big as it is, but actually they do take to the track every week.

 

Dan Kiernan (11:50)

No one watches F1 because they changed the bloody rules on the last race to suit the entertainment. That's gone for me, F1.

 

Mike James (11:58)

That's nice.

 

Candy Reid (11:58)

You know who would be very happy if they see the word to get injured though? Sascha Zverev would be like doing a victory dance somewhere.

 

Dan Kiernan (12:04)

He would still choke. Don't worry. He would still choke. Don't you worry about that.

 

Mike James (12:04)

He said he still wouldn't win it. Yeah. Yeah.

 

So, so look, I mean, that's my two cents in terms of like, you know, I think as a sport and I, you know, myself and the company I'm working with, we're talking with the ATP in terms of like, looking at health management and the support that we can give to like, look at this because, you know, we've got to keep up with the Joneses and look at like…

 

you know, in football, like the amount of hamstring injuries and, know, ACLs that are happening and like, how do you then manage that? And, and they, and football has then turned a corner with that because they were more explosive than ever. Right. And in tennis, I think we're still like, Oh, we've got all of this explosivity and amazing tennis that we watch, but actually what's it doing to the body?

 

Dan Kiernan (12:51)

so all good points.

 

Freddie Nielsen (12:51)

Yeah, okay, if I can just

 

say something as well as from a coaching point of view, it's also quite difficult to relay a message to a player if it's just subjective, know, because many times as a coach, you're just kind of guessing or you get from the physio, he can kind of do this much or this much or how many times you play 45 minutes. What does 45 minutes mean? It can be, I mean, so I think it will also be easier to relay the message to the players if you have some sort of...

 

and hot facts like you mentioned football might put the people going to the red zone and they say okay this and that. I'm a big fan of baseball there they keep count of pitches and this kind of stuff and it's quite arbitrary in tennis and we've spoken about this a few times I think on the podcast how a practice session is just set by by hours basically instead of like you say Mike if we can get some more info into to what the body is capable of and what it should be doing at a certain stage. I think it would make it easier for everybody.

 

Dan Kiernan (13:52)

On the whole, because I actually wanted to bring this topic up anyway tonight before we go into our, I'll call them guesses, because let's be honest, I could, I could pick us all up and say our professional opinions of what's going to happen, but let's be honest, none of us have a flipping clue. Know, we're never, apart from picking Sinner, Alcaraz in the final normally, we pretty much wrong every other time. So it's the ecosystem of tennis and I wanted to…

 

mention a little bit about US College actually, because we'll see a lot of US College players that are gonna be at Grand Slams. Roughly now in the singles you have between kind of 18 and 24 main draw singles players on the men's side, six to eight on the women's side. Obviously in the doubles you have almost half the draws that are full certainly on the men's side and maybe about a third on the women's side. But before college, it's even more of a cowboy show, right? Because...

 

You guys have touched on it, but the Alcaraz injury, the Holgerune injury, the Arthur Fils,, how much of this is happening at academy level, at club level, at cowboy coach level that's just getting their players on court for hours and hours and hours hitting hundreds and hundreds of balls? And then you go the world of agents that are putting this pressure on with these perceived big tournaments at age 11 now.

 

Where we're watching the best players in the world and they're all being signed up by the biggest agencies and it's then all over social media and then, okay, well, Charlie in Greece is training like this, like a crazy person. Well, I need to now train like a crazy person as well. And we have a lot of people coming through our doors at SotoTennis Academy and you get the odd one. You get the odd one at a young age that can just take the volume. They've got that ability just to kind of...

 

certainly certainly at that age to maybe stack it up but the reality is everyone's different but there is a bit of a rat race out there that's happening at a younger age you know a younger younger, younger, younger more tennis, more tennis, more tournaments, more forehands, cross-court, more baskets, more whatever it is. 

 

 What what do do about that mike?

 

Mike James (16:06)

Well, I'm now the commissioner of tennis by the fact that you've asked me that question. So.

 

Dan Kiernan (16:10)

You worked, you worked at a tennis academy, you know, you, you spent, know, you've, you've seen it, right. It's, let's be honest, you worked at a tennis academy. It's kind of guilty of a lot of marketing of getting that stuff out there that people are, you know, the, the, the big guns, you know, let's not, let's not beat around the bush. The big guns of tennis academies are out there in that marketing, like marketing dream. And it involves playing a hell of a lot of tennis, you know, and it's, and it's been showcased on social media with kids at a very young age.

 

Mike James (16:12)

No, I know, I know, I know.

 

Dan Kiernan (16:40)

Doing all of these things and then you do it and then filters around the world. The amount of people that come to my academy and go, what you only play three hours of tennis a day? What? I said, well, sometimes you won't play three hours actually. It depends, it depends on the person. It depends on, you know, there is academies out there where these kids are playing five, six, seven hours of tennis a day of repetition, repetition.

 

Mike James (17:02)

You touched on it very well in terms of, you know, we're in the social media era and this is something that all of us, you know, just didn't have when we were juniors growing up playing tennis. And this is a whole other topic I could get into. And again, I'm passionate about this in terms of the pro guys, but it's a copying, you know, looking over your fence and going, what's my neighbor doing? I'm just going to copy them.

 

Again, from a parent's point of view, if you talk about this, it's like the parents are too hung up often in tennis academies about what little Johnny's doing next door apart from what little John's doing on the court now. And it's like, well, they never affect each other's careers. If you look at men's tennis, the only two people that are affecting each other's careers right now are Carlos and Jannik. Outside of that, it's like, can't even put Novak in that because he's not playing enough. So nobody else, if you're 50 in the world, nobody's affecting your tennis career apart from yourself.

 

You know, you're not going to play anybody more than twice a year, you know, and most guys that you see doing really, really well, you're never going to play. So going back to your question, what do we do about that? I think as a sport, we need to upskill in, in many, many ways. The problem is as a sport, it's an individual sport. You effectively, you know, I'm currently coaching Linda Fruhvirtova. I have been the whole season and…

 

we're here still in Paris and you look at the Czech system, there's no Czech system. I know you had one of the Federation guys on a while ago, but there is no system in check. It's like court, hitting partner, parents, coach go and like let's compete and work harder than the other girl down the road. So it's it's quite  neanderthal right in terms of like, you know, there's no sports science behind that. For me, I'm passionate about bringing sports science to

 

the pro level a lot more and then eventually will filter down through what you say like little Johnny in the academy who's 12. But that's going to take a long time, unfortunately.

 

Dan Kiernan (19:04)

College tennis, Candy, you're a, we're passionate SEC alumni. We obviously had the big story of Arkansas that just went out. They just got rid of the men's and women's team. I do have first-hand conversations with people that are alumni at Arkansas that work their socks off to actually fund five million to be able to get the programs back up and running.

 

 Some would say the athletic director was a genius, saved himself five million and got the alumni to do it for him. We seem to be in a, you know, it's a, I don't think any of us can deny the importance of US college tennis in the whole ecosystem. It's the one bridge, right? It's the one bridge from junior tennis into pro tennis that is incredible. There's lots coming out. There's lots of people that are outspoken.

 

You know, too many international students taking the scholarships from the Americans has been said. Understandable, if it's said in the right way, completely get it. You know, if I take the UK system, the UK system smart, but they've basically got US college developing their best junior players and transitioning them into the game. Right. And they've, they've put someone in position, you know, to be, to be the connector between that. But the resource is coming from the US college system.

 

Candy Reid (20:20)

Yeah.

 

Dan Kiernan (20:32)

And that's then helping develop all of these players. Where does this all go? We've then got the NIL, thousands, almost millions being spent on tennis players, but it's not sustainable. But the big issue, I guess, is all of those millions are also being spent now on the big sports, the American football, the basketball. So do you pay half a million for a tight end who's gonna play for two or three seasons, is gonna sell tickets, is gonna sell shirts?

 

Candy Reid (20:49)

Yeah.

 

Dan Kiernan (21:00)

Or do you spend half a million on a tennis program? Tennis isn't going to win that very often. You know, and I'm pretty worried about the state of college tennis. Well, of course they are. Tight end is going to win every time in a business model. So I personally am very concerned about where the US college system is going. What's going to happen? It feels it's going to burst. It feels more programs are going to be dropped. And I think there's going to be a massive effect on the whole ecosystem of tennis if that happens.

 

Where do you stand on it, Candy?

 

Candy Reid (21:30)

Well, we know in Britain, don't we? The LTA have a really good relationship with a couple of universities, TCU and Wake Forest among them. And you're right, it's almost like we don't need to develop these kids. Let's send them off there and four years later they'll be developed if they're going to be like a Jacob Fernley or someone like that. It's horrible to hear that about Arkansas. And it does make you worry. I think this NIL thing is really dodgy.

 

I had a long chat with my doubles partner at the University of Tennessee, who's now the head coach there of the women's program. And I was asking her about the NIL because I didn't really understand it. So it's name, image, likeness. According to the actual rules, colleges shouldn't be promising any money before they actually sign the player. It's completely illegal. But it's been happening everywhere all the time. And only the colleges who don't actually have big football, baseball, basketball programs would have the money to give the players NIL money. 

 

So a lot of the big programs like University of Tennessee, LSU, et cetera, et cetera, they don't really have the money to offer their tennis players because that money would actually go to the sexy sports. Yeah.

 

Dan Kiernan (22:34)

LSU have, LSU have.

 

Well, yeah, well, or you're a very good fundraiser, you know, and you raise funds, which people are doing, but there's gonna be donor fatigue on that, right? Because if there's not true value, if you're, it's very, it's,

 

Candy Reid (22:41)

 

Yeah, especially for international students. I think that is a problem.

 

My university coach when I was there, Mike Patrick, only allowed two international scholarships. So was myself and an Indian girl, Manisha Malhotra, who's our number one player. Everyone else had to be from the United States. you can see why the coaches are trying to do it because if they can get...

 

you know, a few people top from Bosnia, etcetera, they're probably going to come in straight away, be a bit more mature than an average American student and get right to winning and go to right to the top of the six player lineup. So you can understand it, but maybe there needs to be some limits in place and a little bit more understanding perhaps about this NIL thing is working in order for other programs like Arkansas not to be shut down. But it's a major, major concern because it's such a great opportunity.

 

It totally changed my life. I'm sure it did for you, Dan, but it was absolutely mind blowing what an opportunity it was for me. So I hope for everyone that they get that opportunity if they deserve it.

 

Dan Kiernan (23:47)

Freddie, I don't know how much you know about it, you know, in how many Danish kids are going, but my reading of the situation, I guess there's two issues here, right? There's the issue that the teams are falling, you know, because now the rules have changed. So whereas you used to have to give four and half scholarships on men's and aid to women's, you now can give up to 10 on both sides or nothing.

 

So, so there used to be this, this option to give that, but now because they are now competing in this, if you think, let's take LSU where I went, a hundred thousand stadium, a hundred dollars a ticket.

 

Do the maths, how much money's coming in every game, right? Then you go to the merchandise stores, then you go to the TV deals, then you go to all of this, but they're not paying the players, they're just, they're giving scholarships. So that money then filtered into the other sports, whereas now, these big universities, they've got massive basically wage bills, for a lack of another word, it's become professional, because they've gotta now pay these top athletes millions, the best ones, millions.

 

So, so all of a sudden there's like 50, 60, 70, 100 million of that budget going to basically pay professional players to play in college. The fallout of that is that money's now not going to filter down into the other sports. So if you're running that business, you go and well, hold on men's tennis, women's tennis, they're not bringing in any money. Why do we need that? Boom, gone. And, and, and we're starting to see more and more stories. So that's the first issue. The second issue.

 

Patrick McEnroe talked about it. I think a lot of people have been quite vocal on this, is that the international students are taking the spaces of the Americans. Now, I guess to shine a light on that, Freddie, and bring that to you, my understanding of that, it's not so much the 17, 18 year old kid from Copenhagen that's going in and he's kind of competing or she's competing up against the 17, 18 year old from Michigan. It's the 23 year old from Bosnia who is finding their way into college because they haven't got a handle on the academic side who's already 400 in the world ATP, but is finding their way into the system.

 

 Whereas you can't do that with the American players. So American players, have to be legit, right? You have to be an 18 year old going into college and they're actually competing against the 22, 23 year old now, which seems to be almost the bigger issue.

 

Freddie Nielsen (26:17)

Yes, I also heard this from Patrick McEnroe. I'm a bit ignorant to the stats. Is it a fact? Is it backed by numbers or is it a subjective opinion?

 

Dan Kiernan (26:26)

It is. It is. And I'm about to say something I'm not 100 % factual on, so please kill me when you, in any social media, come at me, guys. I'm holding my hands up. But I think Wake Forest won the men's event last year. And I believe, and I am fully making this up, but I've heard it, the average age of their team was about 24, whether it was 23.7, 24.3—

 

Candy Reid (26:32)

Yeah

 

Dan Kiernan (26:53)

—whatever it might be, they had a 26 year old in their team as well. You know, so that's, that's changing the landscape massively. It's kind of players are now using it. I play a futures for a few years. Get to three, 400 in the world. I'm not quite making money. Wow. I can go to college and get paid a hundred grand for a semester. Or I can get paid one. These are the sort of money figures that we're talking about. It's a no brainer, right?

 

if you can find your way in through the clearing house. Whereas it's just, if you've gone in the American high school system in America, you are an American, the rules are very clued up to that not being able to happen.

 

Freddie Nielsen (27:31)

Yes, and I get that. was just wondering if there actually are more Europeans taking American spots because I feel like there's always been a lot of foreigners in college and it's always been.

 

Dan Kiernan (27:44)

Sorry, so that's the fact.

 

Sweet 16 there was I believe 12 to 16 Americans out of 16 teams in the men's side. So you've got so you've got 16 times six, seven players, you know, 100 on 100 on players and I believe there was 12 to 16 of them were Americans. The rest were international, not necessarily Europeans, but international. So yes, that is it's fact.

 

Freddie Nielsen (27:53)

Okay.

 

And it is, mean, the whole college experience is changing and it seems like it's turning into the Wild West a little bit, like you're saying, and I just feel like the uniqueness that college had is dying and I'm worried that the interest is going to lose because they, you see players become mercenaries now as well, you know, they get offers there and there. The one thing that I always feel like college had is that the

 

It was very much in the schools and the coaches power, know, this is our way and you follow in. But now the players can kind of dictate because they can play the schools out against each other and they move around a lot and there's money at stake and it just becomes a totally different landscape. I think it's a shame for the actual college experience. And I know that the guys I have in Denmark who are on the Davis Cup team, had the—

 

Dan Kiernan (28:37)

I agree.

 

Freddie Nielsen (28:59)

—times of their lives doing college and they had consistency in the coaching and they had just the greatest years of their lives and that feels sorry for the guys who are missing out because it just as with everything we touched on it with the young kids and with the college. Everything is such a rat race now and everybody's in a hurry and I think it takes away from the product and...

 

Yeah, maybe it will lose the interest of the schools to put money in it or maybe he'll do the opposite. talk about losing money for tennis, but you also see the opposite right now that people are pouring more money into some of the tennis and some of the figures I hear being thrown around for players are insane for college.

 

It could also go the opposite way because they have this opportunity, who knows. What it seems like to me anyway is that it's certainly changing and that's a shame, but I don't necessarily think it will become less competitive. It would just be different. It will still be a good setup. We'll still recommend our players to go to college and maybe even the colleges will have to up their game to keep their players.

 

It's certainly going to be different. I, for one, personally think it's a bit of a shame because it had the school spirit and the feel of belonging. It's something that was unique to college compared to the other tennis routes to the top. And now it becomes kind of like everything else.

 

Dan Kiernan (30:34)

Good. The last thing I'll say on it, as you can probably tell, I've got a bit of passion for this subject. 

 

We need to move into French Open. Loyalty, right? Loyalty. I'm a big one for loyalty. know, Freddie's been on every single, he's absolutely useless. He sits, lies in bed like that. He doesn't add any value, but I'm loyal to Freddie. I bring him in on every single panel. No, but you know what I mean. Exactly.

 

Candy Reid (30:50)

You're so generous, Dan.

 

Freddie Nielsen (30:55)

And I'm so generous for the favor you are doing me. Thank you so much.

 

Candy Reid (31:00)

We're all grateful.

 

Freddie Nielsen (31:04)

Every time I'm actually after the podcast, I slide down with my head on my pillow and I think to myself, what would I do without Dan? Without your loyalty, exactly.

 

Dan Kiernan (31:14)

without my loyalty. Well, you're very welcome guys.

 

Candy Reid (31:18)

His wife is a lucky woman,that's all I can say.

 

Dan Kiernan (31:20)

You're very welcome guys. And by the way, thank you. But yeah, in terms of that and it's exactly what you're saying, Freddie, that experience for me, like look, LSU is in my heart as a 46 year old, I graduated 24 years ago. I see some of LSU hat on or top on, I immediately go and speak to them, immediately and I get excited. 

 

And it's like it's there, it's completely built, it's completely built in me. I'm checking results online, it's part of me and I feel like my experience in this world is so much better for that, Whereas you now have players that are literally going one year here, one year there, one year there depending on who's gonna pay them the most. And that's the way the conversation's going.

 

And I know someone out there is going, well that's the real world, that's the real world. Where are we gonna get to? Do you know what I mean? We're gonna have bloody robots doing all these things. We're gonna have people jumping left, right and blinking center. Let's keep some tradition, loyalty, love, bond, connection in this world.

 

Mike James (32:22)

Calm down, let's calm down about the robot stuff. Okay, we're going off. We're going off on one. 

 

Candy Reid (32:23)

Yeah.

 

Mike James (32:31)

Yeah.

 

But I think with what you're saying is that it's a new cycle of progression of college tennis that what's happening. It's concerning, right? In terms of what happened with Arkansas, was following that a little bit on social media. mean, people from the LTA here this week in qualifying for the men's. I think they have a record amount of men's players in qualifying here at the French Open.

 

Dan Kiernan (33:00)

I thought you were saying coaches.

 

Mike James (33:02)

Yeah, no, no, no, there's a lot of coaches and LTA, everything they have the full, you know, works this week, everybody's come in from NTC by the looks of it, because there's maybe I don't know, 11, 10 or 11 guys in qualifying or there were and let's check how many have come from college, I think almost all of them are coming out the college system.

 

 So, you know, obviously the LTA are picking up the tab on terms of supporting them now, but if it wasn't for college tennis, would those guys be even inside 230 in the world competing at a Grand Slam on clay? I'm not sure.

 

Dan Kiernan (33:43)

And by the way, smart move by the LTA as well, fair play. The rules allow it, fair play. Put really good people involved, built the relationships, fair play to them, you know? And I think I'm surprised more people aren't doing that. To move into the women's side, because we've got French Open, by the way, Candy. This is a French Open preview. But it all links in, right? It does. It's all important.

 

Candy Reid (33:47)

Yeah.

 

What?

 

Dan Kiernan (34:07)

I want to start with dark horses. Now, Mike might need to understand what a dark horse is. You can kind of have, you can kind of have someone that just maybe we've not heard of. We might have, the public haven't heard of who's going to have a little bit of a run. Yeah. Oh, we heard of her. We got told she was going to be like world number one when she was 15. Mike's got a big job on his hand to manage his expectation. Now.

 

Freddie Nielsen (34:17)

So say your own player.

 

Candy Reid (34:29)

Ha ha.

 

Mike James (34:31)

I didn't know Linda was 15.

 

Dan Kiernan (34:34)

But in terms of that, maybe someone who is a little bit more known that's gonna go a little bit further and then we'll move into who, which I don't think so easy actually, who's gonna be our women's champion as well. We're gonna start with Candy. Candy's gonna, and we can discuss around it. Who've you got? Drop us a name or two.

 

Candy Reid (34:54)

Well I've got to put in Marta Kostyuk. Just won two titles back to back, 250 Rouen indoors. This is not a... mean... Well, I'm going for a dark horse.

 

Dan Kiernan (35:00)

Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold hold Dark Horse or is this a winner?

 

Now she's in the top five potential winners.

 

Candy Reid (35:12)

You never would have thought of Marta Kostjic at the beginning of the year to be a dark horse and made a championship.

 

Mike James (35:17)

Her best result is a fourth round, one fourth round in 2021 when she was like, when she was 17.

 

Candy Reid (35:21)

Exactly. Exactly.

 

But I'm just making everyone aware who's listening that Marta Kostyuk is a serious candidate for the French Open. She has to be. She's won back-to-back titles, 250 and then at 1000 level on clay.

 

Dan Kiernan (35:34)

hasn't lost the match on clay.

 

Mike James (35:38)

We need the rules on the dark horse, right?

 

Candy Reid (35:41)

That is true.

 

Freddie Nielsen (35:43)

We've given up on that long time ago.

 

Mike James (35:46)

We didn't we didn't get sent or anything so.

 

Dan Kiernan (35:50)

See, could she win it, Kostyuk?

 

Mike James (35:52)

Well, look, mean, people that don't know, I cover her performance analysis. I work with her, coach Sandra Zaniewska. I have done now for three seasons. And she was trending. A lot of her metrics are trending into the top 10 type zone beginning of the year. And I do believe now she's had a real sort of she's turned a corner mentally as well.

 

You know, I think a lot of stars are aligning for her to have a really, really good run here. And you know, she's basically only lost to Rybakina and Sabalenka this year. So, you know, I back her right now against anybody, including Rybakina on clay. And last year against Sabalenka, she lost to her twice.

 

Candy Reid (36:43)

Agreed.

 

Mike James (36:47)

7-6-7-6-7-6-7-6 and she had three out of those four sets. She had set points in three of them. So, and she's also a big match player, a big court player. spoke to her last night and she, first practice here was they got going, Philippe Chatrier . And I think, you know, she's growing massively mentally, but I wouldn't, it's tough to say like she's a dark horse.

 

Because she's just won a Masters 1000. But you can argue it, like Candy said, because her best one has only been one fourth round. She lost first round here last year. So anyway, I step out of this conversation now while Candy continues.

Dan Kiernan (37:28)

Can I just say quickly on this, on Kostyuk, because I this is important. And I was sent this last night, and I won't say I sent it, but it's a tennis player. And it was a social media quote. And the quote my unfair advantage is I'm not desperate for the outcome.

 

Mike James (37:54)

Amazing quote.

 

Dan Kiernan (37:54)

I heard Marta Kostyuk speak last night. She was talking for me like someone that is starting to get into this mindset. 

 

 And for me, anyone that's listening to this podcast, think I've mentioned Marta Kostjuk on pretty much every single, every single preview, you know, from, from, fair,

 

Candy Reid (38:04)

100%.

 

Mike James (38:04)

I agree 100%.

 

Freddie Nielsen (38:15)

You mention every player on every single preview.

 

Dan Kiernan (38:20)

There was also a massive, massive, massive doubt over her mentality, right? That's where it was falling down. The athletic ability of the tennis, but the fact that she was saying, you know, I'm comfortable. I'm comfortable losing first round here, but I'm going to have a great time doing it. I love playing on this court. You can just see that the mindset is shifting a little bit. And because of that, I can see her having her, she's not going to win it in my opinion, but she's going to get past the fourth round. She'll go the deepest that she's been in the Roland Garros in my opinion.

 

Candy Reid (38:26)

This changed.

 

Mike wants to talk, but I'd love to put another dark horse in there. Sorana Cirstea is having the year of her life and it's her final year on the WTA Tour.

 

Mike James (38:55)

Whoa, that's a dark one.

 

You can't argue that, Dan.

 

Dan Kiernan (39:01)

See

 

my number one dark horse, they're always stealing mine.

 

Candy Reid (39:06)

I was not privy to that information. Can't even see what you've got written on there, but I'm sure

 

Mike James (39:07)

He has notes, he really does have notes.

 

Candy Reid (39:11)

it says, Sorana Cirstea, daughter of... Yeah. cream factory. It's all about the ice cream factory. She stopped eating it apparently.

 

Dan Kiernan (39:14)

25 and 7 on the air. 10 and two on clay this year.

 

Candy Reid (39:24)

She's good, she's feisty, she's playing great tennis. She's leaving it all out on the court. It's a little bit like Danielle Collins up until then she returned to tennis. But I think Cirstea will keep her promise not to play anymore after this year.

 

Dan Kiernan (39:38)

Do you? That's my question. If she finishes top 10, don't know what she's ranked right now. She's gotta be doing pretty well in the rankings, I would imagine, the way she's going. She's seeded 26, maybe? So she's 25, 26 in the world right now, but is winning a lot. If she gets to top 10 in the world, does she continue in 2027?

 

Candy Reid (39:40)

I do. Yeah, I think so. No. She's 36 years of age. I think she'll hang up her records. I think she's a very intelligent woman.

 

Dan Kiernan (40:05)

Okay, maybe. So, so your dark horses have basically lost two matches on clay between them in the whole clay court season. Thank you, Candy. And Freddie, any, any dark horses? mean, Freddie's a dark horse. We can't bloody see Freddie.

 

Freddie Nielsen (40:22)

I don't know. But you know it's part of my shtick that I have technology problems, you know?

 

Candy Reid (40:28)

Ready's in bed, so let's turn the lights off.

 

Freddie Nielsen (40:29)

Exactly. Now,I find this one to be so difficult. The one I came up with now, she's also climbed the ranking, is Iva Jovic.

 

Candy Reid (40:39)

Just lost to Emma Navarro in Strasbourg, I think.

 

Dan Kiernan (40:40)

Yep.

 

Freddie Nielsen (40:43)

So she's going to be fresh for Paris. No, she's only going one way. She's young, she's up and coming. She's not afraid of the match. also just because I think it's quite funny. My second trip ever when I started my job at the Federation, one of my players played her and she was big as a stick and the racket was almost bigger than her.

 

It's quite fun to see those kind of... I know you've been through the same Dan scene, seeing young players develop into great players. think that's quite fun.

 

Dan Kiernan (41:18)

She's awesome.

 

Candy Reid (41:18)

Has got a great coach in Tom Gutteridge, fellow Brit.

 

Freddie Nielsen (41:22)

There you go.

 

Dan Kiernan (41:23)

Candy I give a true Dark Horse?

 

Freddie Nielsen (41:25)

course.

 

Dan Kiernan (41:29)

Solana Sierra, 21 year old from Argentina. made the 64 in the world. She made the Roland Garris girls final in 2022.

 

Mike James (41:31)

class of year. What's the current ranking?

 

Dan Kiernan (41:44)

Yeah, just tracking some results. know, think she actually made fourth round of Wimbledon last year. 

 

Candy Reid (41:50)

Yeah, I was going to say, had a big Wimbledon.

 

Mike James (41:53)

Great one, that's a great one. And that is that is a proper dark horse there's no argument there whatsoever

 

Freddie Nielsen (42:00)

You made it Dan. You proved the world that with consistency and persistence, you can finally get there.

 

Dan Kiernan (42:11)

If she wins one match, I win because none of yours are bloody dark hoses.

 

Mike James (42:11)

Considering Cirstea is 18 in the world, Jovic is 17 in the world and Marta is 15 in the world, think I'd definitely come out with a blinder there.

 

Dan Kiernan (42:27)

Come on Mike, give us a data one. Give us somebody who's a bit lower, who's maybe trending on some numbers. What you got?

 

Candy Reid (42:27)

Thanks

 

Mike James (42:31)

I mean Hailey Baptiste is Somebody this game is super exciting to watch and anybody that hasn't watched her I would go in and look at it.  She can slice you can Bolle she can hit and charge she can You know, she's super creative. She obviously beat Aryna in Madrid and lost in the semis to Andreeva. 

 

Candy Reid (42:39)

Nice.

 

Dan Kiernan (42:40)

It's a good one. She is, yeah.

 

Mike James (43:05)

disappointing in Rome, but she lost to the winner. So you can't argue about that. But obviously it was one and two. was quite a, but again, naturally that, you know, she goes and makes her first semis of a Masters and then there's the expectation, et cetera.

 

 I actually think she potentially, she's in a good position here going into Roland Garros. Um, it's going to be hot. You know, this main draw now is for Qualies. It's been horrible weather. Now on Friday, last round of Qualies is going to be 29,30 and it's going to…

 

Dan Kiernan (43:33)

Is it?

 

Mike James (43:34)

Yeah. And it's going to continue like that for the whole of next week until my phone and ends on the, on the application. It's 30, 31 every single day. It's going to be crazy.

 

Dan Kiernan (43:45)

I like that for my teams.

 

Mike James (43:47)

I'll need a hat. So, you know, think Baptiste is somebody from a numbers point of view that's trending in terms of what she's doing. But look, like you say, it's all between the ears and I've got a route for, from a main draw point of view for Marta. I think what she's been doing this season has been incredible. Basically, like I say, she's only lost to Rybakina and Sabalenka and I really hope she has a good run.

 

 And like I agree with you, I think there's a good chance she gets her best ever run at a Grand Slam which was one quarter final in Australia. the women's game is so open, right? I mean, yeah, could say Coco or Sabalenka is gonna be in the final, I don't think Sabalenka or Coco will win or Swiatek will win this. I think there'll be a new Grand Slam champion in this one.

 

Candy Reid (44:36)

You think Elena Svitolina?

 

Mike James (44:38)

Yeah, I think again, I mean, you've got two Ukrainian winners in Roman and Madrid,  both side different game styles, both incredibly tough when they're on it.  There's just so much depth. I think there's more depth in the WTA than in the men's game right now. This is controversial. But I think there's way more.

 

Dan Kiernan (45:00)

No, it's not controversial.We've got Sinner Alcaraz and nobody in the men's. Let's be honest.

 

Mike James (45:05)

Yeah, but mean you still have big names in the men's.

 

Dan Kiernan (45:08)

Mens is boring right now. No, it's boring. Look, Jannik Sinner fair play. Yawn, yawn, yawn. It's boring. Those events.

 

Mike James (45:16)

You should get Zverev on the podcast because don't forget his interview where he put himself, him and Carlos in between everybody else, which was, I talk about self belief and you know, you need to have that, right? 

 

You know, it's about changing your own reality. And I think his reality would be fascinating to be in his head one day to see what his reality looks like.

 

Dan Kiernan (45:41)

Great player, great player, but not, but yeah, I think, and the women, so let's jump in then, so before we do move into the men's, Freddie, you wanna crack us off with, on the women's side?

 

Candy Reid (45:41)

That's why he's got the lights off.

 

Freddie Nielsen (45:54)

I think, yeah, think Rybakina is going to win it.

 

Dan Kiernan (45:58)

Ha

 

Mike James (45:59)

Thanks, buddy.

 

Freddie Nielsen (46:06)

Just let me know when you're ready.

 

Dan Kiernan (46:08)

As the words were coming out… this one is not getting past candy… no way.

Dan Kiernan (46:18)

Rybakina are you? Freddie, that's your pick.

 

Freddie Nielsen (46:23)

Yes, I am.

 

She's been trending upwards. Good results. Like Mike said, the conditions are going to be fast here. I think she'll take it.

 

Candy Reid (46:33)

That's a stretch on clay courts, Freddie.

 

Freddie Nielsen (46:36)

Sure. But I mean, I can see it. There's not much in it. I mean, would you be surprised if you did it?

 

Candy Reid (46:37)

Okay. Yes, I actually would I think in Roland Garros, not on the other three.

 

Dan Kiernan (46:49)

I think she's the best player in the world right now.

 

Candy Reid (46:51)

Yeah?

 

Freddie Nielsen (46:52)

Yeah, exactly.

 

I mean, I think she can overpower anybody on any court. Maybe she's less likely to do it here. I think when she's on, she's very difficult to stop and the conditions are going to play in her favor, I think, with the weather. So, yeah, that's my pick.

 

Dan Kiernan (47:09)

Candy?

 

Candy Reid (47:09)

I'm gonna go...

 

I would like to see, I hope we will see Jessica Pegua win a slam. She's not going to win Roland Garros. I'm going to go for Svitolina over Coco, I think. I think that's what I'm going to go for. A repeat of the Rome final.

 

Mike James (47:29)

And me, I can't emotionally get past Marta in terms of like her level and what she's been doing this year. And I do feel like this is her time to actually win a Grand Slam. And of course there's, you know, you've got Sabalenka, Rybakina, Iga, Coco that have all got slams. I understand what Freddie said about Ribakina, but I actually think...

 

You know, you can get to her more from the movement point of view on clay. I think if this was, we were talking now about a hardcore grand slam coming into this and what she's been doing, I would probably lean towards her. know, Rena seems to be like she's injured, you know, there's an injury, she's carrying something. But on a clay court, I don't think Ribakina is gonna have enough.

 

And I think she'll have one round where she will, the level won't be there in terms of the movement or someone's going to be able to get at the movement and then it's going to be, it's going to be tough for her. So I'm going to say Marta, why not?

 

Dan Kiernan (48:27)

Can I just bring up at this point, what has happened to Paolini?

 

Candy Reid (48:31)

Too many coaching changes. That is my opinion.

 

Dan Kiernan (48:35)

What changes has she had coaching wise?

 

Candy Reid (48:37)

Well, she was with Renzo Furlan for ages. I was going, great, why would you split? Yeah, Danilo Pizzorno left Samsonova to go with her. Didn't seem to work out. Then she was working with Mark Lopez, wasn't she, for a bit? Obviously, Sara Errani are listed as coach often. But I think that's the problem. I mean, Mike and I, you...

 

Dan Kiernan (48:41)

That was going great, That happened, but that was a year ago.

 

Candy Reid (49:03)

We had this discussion about the WTA on average having coaching player relationships lasting about five months. And that's what's happened to Paolini recently, it's just been too much chipping and charging. She needs to have some reliability, something solid back in the background, which she hasn't had.

 

Dan Kiernan (49:20)

Is that not the byproduct of what's happening to her though? I often think that the coach roundabout is often the byproduct of where the person is at. Like it feels to me like Paolini, like Paolini was, I...

 

We see a lot of Paolini, and again with Gaby and I have played them a lot in big matches, and I almost to the point where they've beaten them and I felt guilty that they've beaten them because she's so lovely and so bubbly and you know, we've got a lovely relationship with her and Sara.  But it's she hasn't been the same bubbly character now for six months or so and…

 

And I just wonder again, is that word burnout again?  She plays singles every week. She plays doubles every week. She has done now for two or three years. You know, it's a lot, right? It's a lot.

 

Freddie Nielsen (50:09)

It's also easier to be happy and bubbly when everything is going one way,

 

Dan Kiernan (50:14)

Of course, but that was her character. Think her character is that. That's kind of her fundamental character is quite a, she's quite a lively, bubbly person, but she hasn't seemed herself for me for six months now, which I hope she's okay. Hope she comes back where she has been for the last couple of years.

 

Mike James (50:32)

But let's be honest, Dan, in the women's game, you've got two different trends. You've got the big hitters, Sabalenka, Rybakina, Iga, and then you've got like the amazing movers, Coco, Marta.  

 

And Paolini sort of, you cannot say she's overachieved, but like she's done what she's done. But to continue to the level that she was at was always going to be unlikely. Yeah. Look at the physicality. You cannot.

 

Dan Kiernan (50:56)

hard yeah, from where she come from as well.

 

Mike James (51:00)

You know, find me into the sport where you're going to have Paolini and Rybakina sharing the same pitch, competing against each other in any women's sport. It's not possible, football or boxing or anything like, but in tennis they're going to fight each other metaphorically with a racket. And I think it's just difficult week in, week out.

 

And I think you're absolutely right. Like then she's playing doubles, she's going deep in the doubles event and it's just not sustainable. is, this is, people don't understand that. That this is a

 

brutal environment. know, you're changing. I have an app on my phone called flighty. And in the last four years, I've been around the world nine times in a plane. Now, I'm not a player. I mean, what are the what are the players doing every single year they're going around the world, you know, a couple of times a year, the changing time zones, know, everything is always up and down and variable. 

 

And I think what she did was incredible. I think she got found out a little bit in terms of the girls know how to play her more now. And now is the of the messy middle stage of her career in terms of, you know, is she ever going to get back to that? Probably not. But she's going to be a solid player for the rest of her career, I'm sure.

 

Dan Kiernan (52:15)

I have to disagree with you. Peter Crouch could play against Luzandro Martinez from Man United.

 

Mike James (52:20)

Yeah, but the different positions on the football field.

 

Candy Reid (52:20)

You do the robot there.

 

Dan Kiernan (52:23)

Okay, okay.

 

Harry, Harry Maguire and Lisandro Martínez.  Boxing, I'm with you. Football. Football we have. Football we do have, little and large.

 

Mike James (52:26)

Yeah, okay, but the yeah

 

But  those two players you're talking about don't affect their outcomes over and over again week in week out. Imagine competing against someone like this incredible player.

 

Dan Kiernan (52:40)

Yeah. What an insult, by the way, that is for Paolini that I've just called her Lisandro Martínez, that horrible little Argentinian defender.  Sorry, sorry, Jasmine, if you're listening.

 

Candy Reid (52:47)

Hahaha!

 

Mike James (52:51)

I guess, just like in here.

 

Candy Reid (52:53)

Just quickly Dan, one more thought. She does really seem to love her doubles, doesn't she, Paulini? So I hope she doesn't give that up. And you know, she's got plenty of money now, so maybe it doesn't awfully bother her that her singles ranking has slid, if she's still doing really well in the doubles.

 

Mike James (53:09)

The definition of expensive money that's the maybe for her it's not you don't know.

 

Dan Kiernan (53:09)

She's not happy.

 

Candy Reid (53:14)

That's a good point.

 

Dan Kiernan (53:15)

She's not happy. I'm a bit worried about it. She's not happy. I really don't. I think there's something maybe a bit deeper that she's... 

 

and I do, see a little bit of burnout is what I see. In terms of my pick, I'm not picking her, but as Freddie says, I like to mention everyone just in case I can then clip it out and say that I did mention that person if that person does do well.

 

I think she does deserve a mention because I think we've mentioned everybody but we haven't mentioned Andreeva and I think Andreeva has shown in the last few weeks that the signs, the signs there, I still think the forehand isn't good enough, I still think the forehand will catch her out against the in the biggest of matches. 

 

I'm torn Freddie, I'm torn between Iga and Sabalenka.

 

Mike James (54:06)

Out of those two I would pick Aryna.

 

Dan Kiernan (54:09)

I think Roche is going to be good for Iga. I think there's certain connections and why I think it is I think she's so obsessed with Rafael Nadal that I think there's a bit of inspiration that potentially comes through that.

 

Candy Reid (54:23)

Hehe.

 

Mike James (54:29)

Do you think Rafa could turn up in a box at the tournament or not?

 

Dan Kiernan (54:34)

Yes, I do. I do. And I think there's little, there's something there. There's a bit of inspiration. It feels like Iga’'s needed a bit of inspiration for a while and it feels like it had got a bit stale. And I think there's a bit of an upside and upturn that's gonna happen with Igor.

 

However, I'm gonna go Sabalenka because I actually think it's maybe a blessing, the early finishes, the early losses in Madrid and Rome. do think she has literally dominated women's tennis for the last few months.

 

 And again, sorry to be on the burnout train guys, but I do think that when you do that much, I think you do need a little bit of time to reset. She got engaged, she got a new dog. She was on every TV station that you could ever imagine. She was on every magazine that you could ever imagine. know, she just was a super, went from, just became a superstar. And I think maybe this last three or four weeks might have been a bit of a reset for her.

 

Candy Reid (55:20)

Yep.

 

Dan Kiernan (55:33)

Hearing that the weather's gonna be hot, think helps her little bit as well. Sabalenka is my pick.  Men's?

 

Candy Reid (55:41)

Good pick. 

 

Mike James (55:42)

There's your headline.

 

Dan Kiernan (55:46)

Freddie, know Freddie, you've only got a couple of minutes before you go with preparation for August last round. Who does he play tomorrow?

 

Freddie Nielsen (55:56)

Diaz Acosta, Argentinian lift.

 

Candy Reid (55:59)

What's the game plan?

 

Dan Kiernan (55:59)

He sounds good on, he sounds good on Clay. don't actually know him, I mean, jeez.

 

Candy Reid (56:03)

hahahaha

 

Freddie Nielsen (56:03)

Yeah.

 

Yeah, but how about this this is

 

Candy Reid (56:07)

Okay.

 

Freddie Nielsen (56:09)

Gonna be the third Right-handed player, who plays one-handed backhand that he's gonna play in a row that doesn't happen much these days.

 

Dan Kiernan (56:17)

Wow, no, it doesn't. Although what about this? I'm at home for a couple of days before I traveled to Paris and I'm helping out a player, Billie Jean King, Canadian team player. She's playing in Estepona in a 35K event ITF. She's like 450, really good player. She played in the first round in the women's 35K, a single handed backhand player today.

 

And we then watched who she plays tomorrow and it's another single handed backhand. Women's tennis, ITF Pro Circuit 35k 2 in a row. So maybe the single handers are coming back Fred.

 

Candy Reid (56:54)

Especially on the clay courts.

 

Freddie Nielsen (56:55)

Maybe, that would be great.

 

Dan Kiernan (56:57)

So, so, or so good luck to August tomorrow, but come on, give us your before you, before you head off. and by the way, August, August Holmgren, he was on the podcast last summer. Definitely a good one to listen to. Definitely coached by Freddie Nielsen because he's very philosophical in how he thinks.  Just like, just like, just like war Freddy is now, who are, so yeah, come on, give us a couple of dark horses on the men's side and your pick, and then we'll let you slope off—

 

Freddie Nielsen (56:59)

Thank you. Thank you.

 

Dan Kiernan (57:26)

—into the darkness.

 

Freddie Nielsen (57:29)

Again, very difficult, so I'm gonna try and really pick a dark horse. I'm gonna go for Ignacio Buse, or how you pronounce his name.

 

Candy Reid (57:37)

Oh, I going for him. Oh, I was going for him.

 

Mike James (57:40)

Now look, look, there's...

 

Freddie Nielsen (57:42)

Hey!

 

Dan Kiernan (57:43)

I'm going for him. He's good. He's really good.

 

Freddie Nielsen (57:45)

I'm going for him. He can.

 

Freddie Nielsen (57:49)

Seriously play and he's in shape. He's having a good Hamburg as well and he's got really high ceiling I think.

 

Candy Reid (57:56)

He's just beaten Cobolli, the defending champion in Hamburg, and he lost three games today to Jakub Mensik. Six love was the first set. It lasted less than half an hour. The guy is very good.Hahaha. 

 

Dan Kiernan (58:09)

Well, just to give you a bit more, just in case you don't believe he's on my bit of paper, he's 22 years old. He was born in Lima, Peru, 25th of March, Aries like myself, two days before me. His career high ranking of world 57 achieved today, 18th of May, so that was a couple of days ago. Mentored by 2002 Roland Garros champion Albert Costa. And his nephew, he's the nephew of a world renowned chef called Gaston Accurio. Anyone heard of him?

 

Freddie Nielsen (58:43)

There you go, mean what can go wrong?

 

Dan Kiernan (58:46)

my, this is not last fact on him. The Davis Cup Stadium in Lima is named after the Buse brothers, his grandfather and great uncle. He's like you, he's like you, like you Freddie.

 

Freddie Nielsen (58:59)

Tennis heritage. That's tennis heritage. Well, no, no, But yeah, so that's my pick. And to jump to the winner, think I'm going to argue that there's not been a bigger favorite in the men's game maybe ever. I think he might even be a bigger favorite than Rafa was in his prime. Almost. I'm just throwing it out there for...

 

Dan Kiernan (59:04)

I thought I was going to get you guys with him.

 

Candy Reid (59:22)

Yeah

 

Dan Kiernan (59:23)

Is he, is he, is he, is he gonna fall down physically or mentally?

 

Freddie Nielsen (59:28)

No.

 

Dan Kiernan (59:30)

That's the one, he's not got an opponent he needs to worry about, but if it's hot, he's not good in the heat. Best of five sets, he's putting so much tennis over the last few weeks. That's the one danger.

 

Freddie Nielsen (59:42)

But he always seems to get through it anyway, doesn't he? He never really loses. One can only assume that he's going to get better and better at dealing with it. My answer would be no. I think he is the overwhelming favorite and that something completely unforeseen will have to happen for him to not win this year's tournament.

 

Dan Kiernan (59:50)

 

Okay, who's the Dark Horse winner? It can be anyone outside of Sinner. 

 

Mike James (1:00:13)

How'd I?

 

Candy Reid (1:00:13)

Yeah.

 

Freddie Nielsen (1:00:14)

If it's a Dark Horse winner, I'm going to pick the home favorite Arthur Fils.

 

Candy Reid (1:00:19)

That would be nice.

 

Freddie Nielsen (1:00:21)

I think he has unbelievable potential. He is very emotional that he plays, but maybe just the French crowd might be able to pull him through a little bit more, but he can seriously ball.

 

Dan Kiernan (1:00:32)

He's really good. Mike, you're shaking your head. What's wrong with Mr. Fils?

 

Mike James (1:00:35)

I don't want to go too deep on players that I'm around a lot and stuff like this and I see but like no it won't be Arthur Fils. I think Jodar.

 

Freddie Nielsen (1:00:47)

Hehehehehe

 

Dan Kiernan (1:00:48)

That's quite deep. That was quite deep.

 

Mike James (1:00:50)

Yeah, so I think Jodar, Jodar is my dark horse who actually genuinely believe and in our code tennis we actually work with two of the Spanish guys who are flying at the moment and one is Jodar and one is Landaluce. And you know if I was to go down the of the the booster sort of ranking I say Landaluce will have a deep run here and he will sort of announce himself to the level. But I think Rafa, Rafa Jodar. I mean this kid is incredible are we had him trending in our metrics at a top 10 level back in February before it kicked off with his level, okay. 

 

 So we were monitoring him looking at many things and we were predicting he would be top 10 by the end of the year in February now the sort of the last players that were doing that  were Holger and Carlos at that age? so the Well, he basically

 

Dan Kiernan (1:01:46)

What's he good at? What's he so good at?

 

Mike James (1:01:50)

He's got cannon of a serve and his ground strokes off both wings. He's hitting the same ball speeds and spin rates like Jannik and you can't, he has touch, he can move and mentally he's a bit of a warrior, I Spanish gladiator. And it's like, you know, the only question mark, which I have, I'm not giving any Intel out here and saying this is physically, what's he going to be like over five sets on clay?

 

If physically he's good over five sets, I'm telling you this guy's, if he's the opposite side of Jannik, I can see this guy in the final.

 

Candy Reid (1:02:26)

And shout out to the University of Virginia because as of December 2025, he was still at the University of Virginia. It's incredible.

 

Dan Kiernan (1:02:35)

You know what their recruiting class was that year? Do you know this, Freddie? University of Virginia.

 

Freddie Nielsen (1:02:40)

Yes, do because one of my best friends is a coach there.

 

Dan Kiernan (1:02:46)

Really? So come on you can tell us.

 

Freddie Nielsen (1:02:47)

Yeah. Well, I definitely know that it was him, Fonseca. Yeah, so they do well in picking there. They almost do too well.

 

Dan Kiernan (1:02:54)

Yeah, there you go. I mean, how is, how's that for recruiting class? Jodar and Fonseca. Freshmen. Do you know what I mean? Obviously, Fonseca.

 

Freddie Nielsen (1:03:08)

Yes, but I think that's a great choice.

 

Candy Reid (1:03:09)

That is absolutely great.

 

Freddie Nielsen (1:03:11)

The reason why I picked Buse over Jodar is that I think he's more of a dark horse.

 

Dan Kiernan (1:03:18)

Yeah,

 

Mike James (1:03:19)

Not for sure.

 

Freddie Nielsen (1:03:19)

I think Jodar has, mean, he's undeniably good.

 

Candy Reid (1:03:24)

And how nice are the guys? Jodar is an absolute gentleman and Martin Landaluce have met his entire family and they are just diamonds. These guys are so, so nice, so respectful, so grown up, just quality human beings.

 

Dan Kiernan (1:03:41)

 You might be amazed to know, but he was my second one. I'm not just jumping on your, no, no, Jodar. So it was also on the list. They coached entirely by his father, a PE teacher who taught himself tennis. Do know that?

 

Mike James (1:03:57)

The father also worked in round Madrid basketball ⁓ team and I think even maybe round Madrid's football team, but definitely the basketball team. So he's been around high level sport and yeah, yeah, right now it's every man and his dog is trying to yeah, speak with the father to do, to be in the team and this sort of stuff. And it's quite interesting on at some point. He will need to build a team around him and it will be interesting to see how that how that develops.

 

Dan Kiernan (1:04:32)

Do we, I'm gonna throw one more out there. See what you guys think of this guy. Prizmic.

 

Freddie Nielsen (1:04:40)

Yes, also a good shot.

 

Candy Reid (1:04:40)

Good one. And then we'll—

 

Mike James (1:04:40)

been on a good one.

 

Candy Reid (1:04:41)

—look at next-gen players.

 

Dan Kiernan (1:04:45)

Another 20 year old. He's only 71 in the world.

 

Freddie Nielsen (1:04:47)

We played them in Davis Cup earlier this year and he was nails, really, really competitive, great player, I have to say.

 

Dan Kiernan (1:04:57)

He's a beast, huh?

 

Candy Reid (1:04:58)

He is a beast.

 

Freddie Nielsen (1:04:59)

Yeah, it's not even that he played that well when we played him. He was just so tough to beat. I was very impressed by his attitude on the court and the way he raised his level when he needed to.

 

Dan Kiernan (1:05:14)

Yeah, that's going to be, it's going to be interesting how the draw falls with some of those guys, right? Any other dark horses? Candy?

 

Candy Reid (1:05:19)

I'm going to... Yeah, Mariano Navoni. I'm going with him since she took Luce. I'm going to go with him. Winner of Bucharest. Very good clay court player.

 

Dan Kiernan (1:05:24)

Yeah. Beat Cameron Norrie this week already, is that right? Yeah, feel like he's beaten Cameron Norrie a couple of times maybe, on this clay court season. I'm not making that up.

 

Candy Reid (1:05:40)

think that's true. I'll check.

 

Dan Kiernan (1:05:43)

That's another good name to look out for, for sure.

 

Mike James (1:05:48)

I've got one more which is a third one. don't know whether we're allowed three. Is that the part of the Alexander Blockx. Alexander Blockx another young one and the young ones are starting to come now aren't they into the rankings and with

 

Candy Reid (1:05:53)

Just keep them coming.

 

You're naming everyone who was at Next Gen last year. We just haven't mentioned Learner Tien who won it.

 

Mike James (1:06:04)

Wow.

 

Well, yeah, I mean, you could argue, Learner. I think I'm clear at the moment, maybe a little bit off, but you could argue, yeah. I mean, if anyone said Learner, Tien, which obviously is top 20 now, I mean, yeah, Blockx says again, a cannon of a serve and super aggressive player, great athlete. He some issues off the court now, which you can go and Google. Maybe they affect him.  

 

Dan Kiernan (1:06:33)

Yeah, what is that? What's happened with the coaches?

 

Mike James (1:06:37)

Not going to say that on a podcast.

 

Dan Kiernan (1:06:39)

Really? But it's out there.

 

Mike James (1:06:44)

I don't know I didn't Google it. But I know what happened.  So everyone wants to give me tips, you know after the podcast do we do like a donation fund?

 

Dan Kiernan (1:06:48)

All right. Because I just know that in Madrid, his coach for long time wasn't there. Ruben Bemelmans was there, taken over, but nobody was allowed to speak about it. And you're now teasing us as well. Not letting us.

 

Mike James (1:07:03)

Yes, I think it's long time coaching relationship, is there great stories in tennis when you're taking someone from effectively mini red, know, tops to tour. It's every coach's dream when you start out in coaching and you think you're going to have a Wimbledon champion and your mini red kid is you're going to take this kid all the way. And some people do it right. And it's absolutely amazing. Lars did it with Holger. Stan had his first coach do it close when he when he got to top 50, I think. 

 

Yeah, it's a shame that that one didn't go the way it should have gone. But if that's not affecting him, I think he's a, he's a great dark horse. If we can, if we can put that in there.

 

Candy Reid (1:07:45)

His coach, by the way, Philip Cassian, I think that's the one you talked about, has this amazing gravelly voice. He's like a, I mean, it's incredible. He looks a little like Fernando Vicente and sounds like the Godfather.

 

Dan Kiernan (1:07:46)

And the winner, it...

 

Mike James (1:08:00)

Ex-coach, but yeah.

 

Dan Kiernan (1:08:04)

I'll tell you, I know what I'm Googling after this, Flip. Do you know what my Google is? Do you know what my Google is? WhatsApp, Mike James. I might even just write the question now. I'm intrigued. I hope it's not as bad as it could be, but okay, let's move. 

 

Winner, winner. Winner, winner, Jannik Sinner. Yeah, it's hard to go again.

 

Mike James (1:08:32)

So I'm going to controversial because why not? It's my first time debuting on here and if I'm going to be remembered, it's not going to be for picking sinner. I don't think physically, I think physically he'll have problems. And he's shown signs of cramp in Shanghai last year. In Indian Wells this year, he managed to get through in straight sets where he was on the air. 

 

Yeah, so I do believe that is something that they did solve and then they're now not solving again. Like it went through a bit of a... Like for example, like this time last year, like they solved it, right? He played the longest final, you know, ever. But I think now it's come out the way again, like it's changed a little bit and...

 

Dan Kiernan (1:09:16)

That wasn't the massage cream, was it, that solved it? 

 

Mike James (1:09:19)

No, no, no, no, this is with her. Don't get me in trouble there, mate, come on.

 

And, you know, but, but, but honestly, you know, again, I think you could have a new Grand Slam winner. And I do believe it's going to be something a little bit crazy, like a Jodar, or something that I, you know, I don't see Novak again, I don't see, I mean, but again, the guy changes his own reality, right? You know, how many times have we wrote him off and he finds a way somehow, you know, I don't think anyone thought he would beat Jannik over five sets. Not just beat him, but actually beat him over five, you know.

 

Dan Kiernan (1:09:56)

Who's second? Let's reframe this question. Freddie's given us Fils. Who's the second favourite?

 

Candy Reid (1:10:03)

It's gotta be Zverev or Ruud.

 

Mike James (1:10:06)

I hate saying this, but I was going to say Casper as well.

 

Dan Kiernan (1:10:10)

Casper, that's what I think.

 

Freddie Nielsen (1:10:11)

I'd pick Zverev.

 

Mike James (1:10:11)

I like that.

 

Freddie Nielsen (1:10:12)

Or Casper. I think he's got more depth in him.

 

Candy Reid (1:10:18)

I'm going for Zverev. Zverev's going to win Roland Garros. You heard it here.

 

Mike James (1:10:22)

Wow.

 

Candy Reid (1:10:25)

That is a gamble.

 

Dan Kiernan (1:10:48)

I actually think Casper Casper Ruud is when I looked at it, was just looking through the names there I was like, my god, it's it is. Freddie's right. It's the most single dominant tournament probably in in a long, long, long, long time.

 

I think, I think Sinner has to be all the while my favorite, but if something does happen to Sinner, now what we've got to remember, Mike, in order to cramp, he's got people that got to keep him on the court as well. Do you know what I mean? Like there's not a lot of like, there's not a lot of getting, you know, keeping them on the court for long enough, but yeah, I think it's Zverev and Ruud probably the next two, aren't they?

 

Candy Reid (1:11:21)

If, just say, Sinner does lose early, everyone else in the draw is going to get so tight, aren't they? All the top guys, the big names are going to get so tight. Mike, carry on.

 

Mike James (1:11:31)

 

It would be amazing to see and I think what Jannik created is this Roger. I remember when Roger was going through this period, know, 04 to 06 where the guys had just given up before they go on the court and they weren't keeping him out there very long like Dan said. So Jan has created this scenario quite rightly so. So that's why I do believe these young ones, you know, your Buse, Blockx.

 

Candy Reid (1:12:05)

Yeah.

 

Mike James (1:12:20)

You know, Jodar will have a go and also Arthur Fils, you know, and I do think  there's a section of guys that just will just cave in and go, I'm not good enough. I've not got this guy's level. And, you know, there are more younger guys now that will have a go, but whether they can actually maintain it over five is, is the biggest question.

 

Dan Kiernan (1:12:43)

What about Medvedev?

 

What a season he's having, in fairness. Think he was kind of falling off a cliff a bit, wasn't he? But he's boy, boy has he got it back.

 

Candy Reid (1:12:48)

Yeah, really good.

 

Mike James (1:12:54)

He's 0-0 to Berettini and Monte Carlo. 0-0. Imagine this. I mean, guy, talk about resilience and just pushing off your shoulder and getting on with it. I you know, and for a guy that hated clay for so many years, I mean, you can YouTube all of his comments about clay and fighting with the umpires and moaning about the surface and..

 

Dan Kiernan (1:13:16)

Bloody hell, I've got a lot to Google after this, Mike. I've got a pack to go. Stop chucking these. I not? Bloody hell.

 

Candy Reid (1:13:26)

Now he's having a crazy season.

 

Mike James (1:13:26)

And it pains me. No, but it pains me because we, Holger beat him in the 20-23 Monte Carlo quarter-final quite comfortably and then we played him in the Rome final and you know, you're thinking, you know, he hates clay and you know, the level isn't quite sort of what it is in terms of a clay quarter and he played a great final in terms of his mentality and what he was doing.

 

Dan Kiernan (1:13:50)

You adapt so well.

 

Mike James (1:13:53)

Wow, what a player. know, so, you know, and again, he's a Grand Slam champion, he's been world number one. You know, why not?

 

Candy Reid (1:14:04)

He's got to the quarterfinals. That's his best Roland Garros appearance, 2021. He's playing some great tennis. He's so good for tennis, Medvedev, because he's so intelligent. He's so insightful at the end. Best interview after the matches by a long way. He is absolutely brilliant. And he's teamed up so well with Thomas Johansson now. It's so good to see him play. I just, I don't think he's going to win on clay courts. I think he's going to win maybe another Grand Slam on hard courts, depending on what happens.

 

Dan Kiernan (1:14:23)

He has, yeah.

 

Candy Reid (1:14:33)

What else happens. Yeah, but he's fun. He's a lot of fun.

 

Dan Kiernan (1:14:40)

And last, last, last thing, any, any storylines to look out for might not be winning, just a different storyline. It might be the heat in Roland Garros that's going to cause problems. It might be the French crowd that somebody's going to react to. You know, what, what are we got to look out for?

 

Mike James (1:14:57)

Well,

 

a boring one potentially, a politics one, but I just read before we came on air that the top players are not going to do any interviews apart from the mandatory interview as a boycott to all of the media channels about the prize money scenario. So this is an interesting progression. It's a little bit boring because basically they're to do the mandatory one that they need to do after the matches in the press room, but they're not going to do everything else for you, your TNTs and your France TV and all of this sort of stuff. 

 

Well,  so I do think there's some legs in terms of what's going to happen with the prize money scenario, but you know, Patch said it best of the day. There's two things he said is first of all, you're comparing apples with oranges in terms of you're looking at NBA and NFL and all of this and they're team sports, they're franchises.

 

Dan Kiernan (1:15:29)

Candy's gonna be out of a job, this is not good candy.

 

Candy Reid (1:15:33)

I know!

 

Dan Kiernan (1:15:53)

Yeah, soul traders, yeah.

 

Mike James (1:15:54)

Why are why are we comparing tennis with with those sports? Let's compare with golf and we're comparable to golf. Why are we going after more money at the Grand Slams when it's the main tour events that are paying nothing? Mean, you know being on the women's tour mainly this year. You know It's it's it's you know, you're playing a 250 and you know, the player is not breaking even until what I know they make a quarters or semis so it's like…

 

Candy Reid (1:15:56)

You can't.

 

Dan Kiernan (1:16:10)

pitiful.

 

Mike James (1:16:21)

four or eight players are breaking even at 250 if they're having a mini team or something. So, you know, for me, we need to actually look at the prize money in the tour, not the grand sum. The grand sum, the money I think is fantastic for the players. It's, you know, if Linda qualifies on Friday, you know, she's taking home nearly 100,000 euros. And, you know, think that's sort of, that's where we need to look at it a little bit more. So it's interesting that going after the slams.

 

But I think it's the wrong way and I agree with Petch when he said that on the tennis channel the other day.

 

Candy Reid (1:16:55)

That's the unfortunate thing because I think the players lose sympathy because we're looking at the majors going, well, this is a lot of money. What are you worried about? And we're not looking at what we should be, what we're looking at. yeah, I think that maybe at the top end, there's a few of them that maybe are getting a little greedy and they're not actually thinking about the players rank kind of 100, you know, down there where they and the doubles people, of course, are doing such a great job. So it's being lost in translation, I think we're looking at the wrong spot.

 

Dan Kiernan (1:17:27)

But is that not also to defend that position a little bit? The figures that are coming out of Grand Slams are astronomical in terms of profit. mean, there was something like, I mean, US Open, people are paying $300 for a ground pass on Labor Day weekend. And I mean, you can hardly walk around the grounds. Then you've got that, I would never drink such a drink. What's that drink?

 

Mike James (1:17:39)

Hmm.

 

Dan Kiernan (1:17:56)

Honey juice. I, well, I did. Look, yeah, exactly. So like, and even if we take the honey juices, when Gabby and Erin won US Open last year, we might have had quite a bit of Moet champagne afterwards. Half of it was over my bloody head. I went around the grounds and in my potentially a little bit tipsy state, I let the people behind the bar know that my team have just won won a Grand Slam and could they give me a honey juice to celebrate? 

 

And they said, yes, we can. That would be $27. And I was like, no, no, no, but can you not just give me one? Do you know what I mean? Like, I don't think you understand. You know, they've just won on that big court over there. They've just won over on that big court. They are taking, they are taking that $27 off everyone, right? So it's, the money is, they are the talent. At the end of the day, the tennis players are the talent.

 

Candy Reid (1:18:32)

Good thing you're not tight, Dan.

 

Dan Kiernan (1:18:53)

And these events are making millions, millions, millions, millions, millions. So in all fairness, I don't know if the ATP WTA are quite making that amount of money. I know it comes down to percentages and we could jump into this for the next half an hour, but I also can see, it's a bit like any human nature. If it's out there, we're making all this money and everyone knows the slams are making all this money and we've got this power.

 

Okay, well, we're the ones that people are coming to see. So it gives us a bit, you know, that's the mentality. Whether it'll only work if everyone does it right. And if the top guys really nail into it and then maybe it starts moving down into, like you say, the qualifying players and stuff like that. We'll see. I've got a little bit more of a, I don't think that's a boring one, by the way, Mike. I think it's an important topic, but.

 

Mine's certainly not boring, but it's also certainly not that serious either. But I just hope that Moutet manages to keep his pants on during the French Open. And with the French crowd, if they start booing him, God knows what he might resort to doing if he's having a bit of a bad day.

 

Candy Reid (1:19:56)

Hahaha! Hehehehe. I'm just glad we're on the back side of that problem.

 

Dan Kiernan (1:20:14)

You've been watching Arsenal. You've been watching the Arsenal. Do you see the Arsenal match the other day when the guy slid and his pants came down because he was bit more unfortunate. Yeah, it was. So what about you, Candy? From a media side, what's the story? What are some of the storylines? What are you looking out for? Not just the winners, but what are the talking points? So you're going to have to have storylines to talk about.

 

Candy Reid (1:20:23)

It was a Gordon Strachan moment almost.

 

Well, I'm just worried about we're not going to be able to do any interviews now. Mike, do you know...

 

Mike James (1:20:41)

Yeah.

 

Candy Reid (1:20:45)

Do we know if there's going to be interviews on court? Because of course the players generally when they win, are they going to do those?

 

Mike James (1:20:50)

Well, literally the article that I read in the Athletic was, I think, published like one hour before we came on here. I skim read it, I don't know that. Sorry. 

 

Candy Reid (1:20:58)

Okay.

 

Dan Kiernan (1:21:04)

Just naming other podcasts, naming other broadcasts, these are all our competitors. These are our competitors, Mike.

 

Mike James (1:21:11)

I'm desperate for a job, I'm desperate, I'm desperate to come into this world.

 

Candy Reid (1:21:17)

Yeah, what's the story? I just think I'm very excited. I mean, I'm not very excited, but I think on the ATP side, if Jannik Sinner loses early, I think it's going to be absolute carnage. It's going to be carnage. I just think the quality of the likes of the players that could win, they'll all start thinking about it and it's just going to get horribly, like tense. And for the viewer, it's going to be really exciting.

 

Dan Kiernan (1:21:29)

Be amazing. Yeah, sorry Jannik, but it's what we all want.

 

Candy Reid (1:21:48)

I love Jannik Sinner. I just think he's top-notch.

 

Dan Kiernan (1:21:50)

I love Jannik Sinner, I love him, but it's boring. I said it earlier, it's boring, it's too, it's too good.

 

Candy Reid (1:21:54)

Because he's too good.

 

Mike James (1:21:55)

Where, where we hang on. We're we paying that about Roger in 04 to 06 which is a long time ago now but you know, Roger was doing, mean, he's also doing maybe arguably more than Roger because he's now gone and cleaned up all of the Masters at 24 instead of 31 but it's what what Novak did but like where are we bored of Roger or is it is his tennis? Do not compare him to Roger in terms of

 

Candy Reid (1:22:09)

Never.

 

Dan Kiernan (1:22:25)

It's different. How dare you speak about Roger like that? You know, it's different. I think it's different. I don't think, I think, I think Federer, you always felt there was a chance of a slip up. You always felt there was a bit of that. It's, I like Sinner a lot. I don't like.

 

Dan Kiernan (1:22:48)

The cluster ball story that leaves a sour taste in my mouth. But I like Sinner a lot. you know, seeing him in person, he's always so lovely to everybody. I think he seems like an absolute gem of a person. I find his tennis boring. I do. I find his tennis boring and I find it boring that he's just winning so easily all the time. Like Rome, and I was in Rome pretty much towards the end.

 

It was boring. You knew it was like, he's five, two up. Oh, he's playing, he's playing Rublev. There wasn't even a consideration of maybe Rublev plays well today and has a chance.

 

Mike James (1:23:25)

Did—

 

Candy Reid (1:23:25)

Yeah.

 

Mike James (1:23:25)

—you see Safin's, if it was translated correctly, we have to always add this in, Safin said, no he wasn't boring was he? You can Google him, you'll enjoy that. I know you know him, but what he said in the box, you know, during the match, he said, I won't swear, but he said, how can you not believe that you can beat him in this match now? And what he's basically saying there is, he can see his player doesn't believe that he has a fighting chance. So what the hell are we doing here?

 

And, you know, Rubilev's ranking is one of the top, top 15 right now, whatever, like, you know, and that's just the state of where Janik’s got everyone in, you know, and this is the, this is the problem. The tennis court hasn't changed size, right? So it's the, been the same size since the day of time and players have become more efficient with the movement and the technique and all the technology and all of this. 

 

And Sinner has got to this point of, you know, it's been coined so much that he's Djokovic 2.0 because he does everything faster and closer to the base line than Novak did and he moves arguably better than him. So what do you do? You know, unless he has it, I mean, he looked like he was having an anxiety attack against Medvedev before the rain delay. The other night, quite a bad one. You know, maybe the pressure will go.

 

Candy Reid (1:24:38)

Yeah.

 

Dan Kiernan (1:24:47)

He seems to, as he, do he's like, in touch with God or something? Because every time he struggles, it bloody rains. Like it happened to Australia twice. Oh no, the net fell apart.

 

Candy Reid (1:24:55)

Yeah.

 

Mike James (1:24:59)

I was on the court in the players box for that match and I couldn't believe Holger had him, you can argue this, Holger had him on the ropes, was once at all and the net broke and Jannik was sick and he had food poisoning which I know now afterwards and the team were like we need something to happen here.

 

Dan Kiernan (1:25:07)

Dimitrov at Wimbledon, two sets of love up, went, the injury went. This year in Australia, he was playing, he was cramping against, and then they stopped it because of the heat, but they did stop it, they stopped at five or 10 minutes, they stopped at five or 10 minutes before the outside courts. And then they closed the roof.

 

Mike James (1:25:25)

No, it's incredible.

 

with the roof? What happened? 

 

Candy Reid (1:25:34)

And yeah, I did that much. Yes then they close the roof they close the roof yeah

 

Mike James (1:25:39)

Yes, I'm fine.

 

Candy Reid (1:25:47)

Yeah, that's true.

 

Mike James (1:25:48)

Yeah.

 

Candy Reid (1:25:50)

Was that against Spizzirri, Eliot Spizzirri, wasn't it? That was crazy.

 

Dan Kiernan (1:25:51)

Got someone on his side. Spizzirri. Yeah. Yeah. So look, there'll be a match. There will be a match. There'll be a match in Roland Garros that losing is a possibility for Jannik Sinner to every losers or not. If he can get or you get, know, yeah. So let's see. 

 

Guys, it was a pleasure. Mike.

 

Mike James (1:26:10)

I like to say God, but God will intervene, so then it doesn't matter anyway.

 

Dan Kiernan (1:26:17)

Thank you for making your debut. Sorry for calling you a virgin at the start. You know what I mean. Debut your virgin appearance on Control the Controlables panelists. Candy as ever. Thank you so much. And obviously Freddie Nielsen. A big good luck on Friday to Linda. Well done on a great start to the year and be nice to qualify for another major after Australia as well. So good luck. A big, big thank you guys and hopefully see you out in Paris in a couple of days.

 

Candy Reid (1:26:25)

He's always hopeful to work for Richard Branson anyway. See you in a few days.

 

Dan Kiernan (1:26:50)

So there we have it. We have lots of opinions. We're not shy of an opinion. Some of them I'm sure you will agree with, some of them you won't. But I always feel energized at the end of those conversations. I feel very lucky to have the opportunity to speak with these amazing people about our incredible sport. And I myself, the next time you hear me, I will be out in Paris myself.

 

We'll try and get in touch. We'll maybe try and do some live shows on YouTube once we're out there. If you want to hear from us, please do reach out as ever. Thank you for your support on the podcast. Let us know who is going to be our Roland Garros champions of 2026. Is it going to be winner winner Jannik Sinner ? I think we all expected or the panel going to be right. Is it going to be too much for him? He's won so many matches over the last few weeks.

 

And the women's draw wide open and let's see, let's see who it's going to be. Think it was obvious who we thought it would be a few weeks ago, but the landscape is changing all of the time. And then we've of course got the doubles events, which I'm going to be heavily involved with on the men's side with André Göransson and Evan King. And on the women's side with Gaby Dabrowski and Luisa Stefani and then mixed doubles as well. We all love the mixed doubles. Know, US Open has taken that to another level, you know, in terms of the profile of the Mixed Doubles event.

 

And then we've got our juniors, we've got our wheelchair tennis. There's a lot of tennis to look forward to. Hope you enjoy it wherever you are. 

 

But until next time, I'm Dan Kiernan and we are Control the Controllables.