Ep. 43: Pre-Wimbledon Tune Up

Alvin Owusu (00:03.25)
until like week, the last week of the tournament. And then at that point, it's like, now you got space. Now you got space and you got time.

Torrey (00:09.422)
Yeah, but you got space. But to me, it takes three days to get through the first round. Let's be honest. That's when you're to have your biggest, I'm going to say your biggest pushback in the schedule is if each match were to take an extra 30 to give or take our and some change. I'm not saying it has to happen. I'm not saying it should. I'm saying it would be great for the fans if it were the at the end of the day.

Three out of five allows the fan to get completely vested in the match. And unfortunately, especially for the players that are making it for the first time, some of the younger players, they've just gotten their legs under them by the first set, you know? And I just feel like, and for the veteran, I really think that Sabalinka is going to be thwarted by going an extra set for four matches?

Alvin Owusu (00:57.278)
Yeah, no, that's true. That's true.

Torrey (01:09.118)
in that match where she does play somebody who's really good in the, I say really good, they're all really good. Somebody who's top five or top eight in the quarters or semis. Do I think that match would be phenomenal to watch? I do. And I think that it would, right. And for those four times a year, we're not talking change the tour entirely. Those four times of the slams a year, which is what the men do. I'm just saying I, as a fan, I would love it. So anyway, there's my, there's my last nail in that coffin of

Alvin Owusu (01:20.618)
Right, think that's where you get, yeah, that's where you get it back.

Torrey (01:39.256)
Three out of five.

Alvin Owusu (01:39.466)
Well first and foremost, for those, welcome to another episode of the Best 3 Podcast. This is a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a,

Torrey (01:46.03)
Soon to be renamed best of five podcast

Alvin Owusu (02:08.787)
Friday of this week, why wait to talk a little grass until Friday? We got plenty of time to talk about the draw on Friday, but this is a good time of year. This is a good time of year, except on the court I hit this morning, to it's hot.

Torrey (02:14.392)
Yeah. Yep.

Torrey (02:21.176)
Yeah, yeah it is.

Torrey (02:26.168)
Buddy, it is hot Lana right now, Alvin. It is hot Lana. I gotta get back to the courts in about an hour, some change, and I'm gonna tell you right now, I am hydrating. I've got my drinks, I've got my, I mean, it's even too hot to drink a Coke right now, Alvin. I mean, for lunch, I I have to drink sweet tea with a little extra ice and a little water down. I mean, I don't want anything too heavy. I'm eating salads, I'm you know, wraps. mean, it's, I don't want anything.

Alvin Owusu (02:27.581)
Bro.

Torrey (02:55.264)
anything too heavy. is hot outside and it's only going to get hotter this week. I guess there's a heat dome all over the Midwest right now. And buddy, we didn't need any help. It was hot last week. It's warm this week. Make no mistake.

Alvin Owusu (02:59.603)
Heat dome.

Alvin Owusu (03:06.281)
Yeah, a heat dome is like a heat wave that doesn't move. So that's fantastic. But we are in this kind of, you know, we were talking about best of five tennis and how it, you know, the women probably, no, not probably, scratch probably, the women deserve the opportunity to show that they can do it and show, you know, how much more depth there is to the women's game and how much depth there and complexity there can be.

Torrey (03:10.06)
Yeah.

Alvin Owusu (03:34.409)
within a women's match that you only get with the extra time that comes with playing three, four, five sets. Or I guess for the women, an additional potential fourth and fifth set.

Torrey (03:35.307)
can be.

Torrey (03:45.087)
I want to add one.

100 % and I'm so sorry for cutting you off. There was a great quote by Jimmy Connors and I wanted to say it before it slipped my mind. Jimmy Connors and it's one of my favorite quotes. got several of them that go through my brain that I appreciate more as I get older. Jimmy Connors famous quote and many of the viewers will appreciate this and will likely remember it. I never lost a match. I just ran out of time to make an adjustment. You sit with that for a second, right? You sit with that.

Alvin Owusu (04:14.473)
That's tennis man

Torrey (04:18.097)
All that comes back to your three out of five. Give that player an additional set to see what they may try next. In the rock, paper, scissors of things, they may try something else simply because, you know what? I tried this and I tried that. Let me just try it. You got three different sets to figure it out. Come on. They're certainly playing for quite a bigger purse. Why not?

extend the match time a little bit. And I'll be honest Alvin, and we had this conversation before, it's still my biggest argument for the whole prize money thing. It has nothing to do with male and female, this is not in the third. It's three out of five sets. I'd like to see more tennis and I'd like to keep it to that point. I don't want to go down that wormhole, but I do want to say, I think the fan would appreciate it. I think the player would appreciate it. I the top players, they play a lot of tennis already. I can see the pushback from them. I understand that and it's changed.

I can understand from a tournament director standpoint, that's a lot more time per match, per round, per, I get all that to your point, the logistics, TV. I see everybody's issue why not to do it. I only say, you know, you made a comment just then about give them a showcase to show they can. I know they can, they do it all the time. They play practice sets, they play three or four sets a day when necessary. It's not a issue of can, it is.

Alvin Owusu (05:19.581)
It is, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Torrey (05:42.313)
We would, the fan would like to see it. We're coming up, this is my last comment on it. We're coming up Alvin on games, or just past game seven of the NBA final. Right? You recall the time Alvin, I know you do, when everything used to be three out of five in basketball. Right?

Alvin Owusu (05:58.014)
Yeah, they flip plot. changed the first rounds every like it used to be a best out of seven. Then they went to three out of five and then back to best out of seven. Yeah.

Torrey (06:05.163)
Right. And now I feel like what, especially with the home away, home away and whatever the whole format is, it used to be one, two, one, and then one, one, whatever the format was right. far as the home and away, you get the fans more involved, right? Was it really about them playing an extra game or two? They've already played 82, you know what I It was about the competition proving beyond a shadow of a doubt. We beat you at home, we beat you away and so on and so on. And it helps.

home court advantage means something obviously later in the playoffs. So I only say it to say, was it really for the players or was it for the fans? You know, to me it was more for the fans. You could put a small point in there for revenue too because that's the Kwan as always. Anyway, we can move on and I, it's funny you mentioned this. was, when you sent me that text about some thoughts of Wimby, I haven't been back to Wimby in 20 years and

Alvin Owusu (06:43.855)
I was about to say, would never overlook the coin, if you will.

Torrey (07:00.764)
I was thinking about the heat and you're talking about the preview for grass and buddy, we were there. Skull got to the semis one year would have played Monfies by the way. He had pulled a groin and lost six and six in the semi would have played Monfies would have been an epic match. think it would junior, junior, junior Wimby 2004. and in fact, he played Rohan then no, no, no, no. They, Rohan was before Rohan was week before.

Alvin Owusu (07:14.013)
that Junior Wimby, and they play that at Roehampton or at, it has to be Roehampton, yeah.

Okay, where do they play the junior event? Like, do they play it? on the outside courts, like week two. Yeah.

Torrey (07:28.232)
Right there on the grounds at Wimby. Outside courts. And one of them was whatever the smaller stadium court. I got the Langley up here somewhere. I'll look it up. But the Long Tennis Championships, as they call it. The only one that doesn't have a map of the site on the back. All the rest of them do. Anyway, long story. The point I'm making is it's right there on the grounds.

Alvin Owusu (07:41.693)
the lawn tennis championships.

Alvin Owusu (07:49.327)
okay.

Torrey (07:56.638)
brought me back because when we were there a week, well, two weeks with Roe Hampton, how chilly it could still be in England around that time of the year. And when it gets hot, people were, I mean, people were getting sunburned at like 70 and, you know, barely 80 degrees. And I remember looking around and when I see, I'm talking like tomato burn, like they were some of these, you know, the Brits can be a bit pasty sometimes, you know, because they don't see a lot of the sun.

Alvin Owusu (08:05.776)
Yeah.

Alvin Owusu (08:22.003)
Little bit, little bit.

Torrey (08:24.17)
And man, I I saw women just getting just and happy to be in their little sundresses and loving the weather, but starting to fan themselves. And I'm like, it's 10 o'clock in the morning. It's it's 75. You know what I mean? This is 95. Anyway, it brought our heat, what we're used to over here, obviously in Atlanta and what what the Brits are used to in London. SW 19 was is a bit is a bit different, you know, so I wanted to just lead off of that.

Alvin Owusu (08:34.865)
Right, yeah. So.

Alvin Owusu (08:49.385)
SW19, yeah. Well, I think that's a good place to start because the grass court, quote unquote, season is more like it's over in a sneeze, right? It's a very compact season. There's three weeks between the end of the French Open and the beginning of Wimbledon, right? So at best, you're gonna get two events in. If you do well enough, you're gonna play one. For instance,

Torrey (09:02.878)
It is.

Torrey (09:09.523)
Right.

Torrey (09:13.802)
Right.

Alvin Owusu (09:16.327)
the Alcarazes and the centers of the world and I think even Sabalenka and Coco, they're all one event. And then head over to the All-In-One Club and then just start training on the outside courts there. So it's very quick. And I find that it's hard to really deduce anything from the results for the most part in terms of how players will turn those warmup events into, you know,

Torrey (09:29.962)
Yep.

Torrey (09:40.215)
Right.

Torrey (09:45.357)
Right. Right. There's just too few of them, right? I mean, there's just, and the grass and the grass is, is, is hit or miss. mean, let's be honest, the, you know, early in the week, it's slick, it's low, it looks beautiful, but toward the end of the week, it's a little more chewed up. It's a little more, you know, it's just, do you have the type of game that, you know, that helps or that is enhanced by the grass?

Alvin Owusu (09:46.181)
into results come slam time next week. There's too few of them, yeah.

Torrey (10:12.668)
and, on the flip side, do you have the kind of skills, body type speed, whatever balance, you know, that will allow you to really counter a few, a few of them that do. that, that to me, you know, as much as the clay helps the clay quarter, you know, and the grass helps the harder, you know, more driving player. I've, you know, I've, I've seen, I've seen too many, you know, matches on the grass where

It didn't really matter. The better player, be they ball striker, be they court coverage, they found a way to make it work on the grass. You know what I mean? Just saying, you know, they used to say, oh, you can't stay back on the grass. Now everybody stays back on the grass. I mean, it's like I'm just saying I've seen that. I've thrown that myth out years ago.

Alvin Owusu (10:43.226)
Right. Yeah. Yeah.

Alvin Owusu (10:52.093)
Right. And I think that's.

Right, yeah.

Alvin Owusu (11:00.883)
I think you have to take all that out. And this is almost a, can level this up to just tennis in general. The better players generally will win the match. I don't care what surface we're playing on because tennis is a game of adjustments. Macro adjustments, micro adjustments, whatever. And being a great player by default means you are good at making adjustments. Champions adjust.

Torrey (11:15.592)
100%.

Torrey (11:27.514)
Exactly. Champions are just.

Alvin Owusu (11:30.343)
by chance that the greatest players ever play our sport have all won Wimbledon. I'm just saying, they've all won it. So I'm also willing to toss that out. I look at Wimbledon kinda like Monaco for F1. It's very unique, there is nothing else like it. is that the Monaco Grand Prix is a very straightforward race. Once you get in front, you're kinda in front.

Torrey (11:35.272)
Yep. Yeah. Yeah.

Torrey (11:48.066)
Mm. Mm. Yep. True.

Alvin Owusu (11:59.006)
They're racing in a line pretty much the entire time and Wimbledon, much like the stripes behind you, straight up and down. It's not a lot of finessing your way out of, maybe poor choice of words for finessing, but it's very.

Torrey (12:00.005)
Yeah.

Right.

Yep. Shrubbed out.

Torrey (12:11.379)
Right.

Alvin Owusu (12:17.763)
shot maker's paradise. It's almost like pick up. It is like we're just gonna get dirty and we're gonna see who's got the shots. That's it comes down to. You're not gonna grind your way to Wimbledon Championship. And that's why, it's not my favorite slam. I'll be the first to say it's probably my least favorite slam to watch. I don't enjoy watching the tennis. I can't get into it.

Torrey (12:20.232)
sure

Torrey (12:27.995)
Yep. Yep. Yep. Right. Right. Right.

Torrey (12:38.024)
Hmm.

Torrey (12:41.507)
Yeah, right.

Torrey (12:46.661)
in terms of.

Alvin Owusu (12:49.033)
I the way Wimbledon is presented on television. I do not enjoy watching grass court tennis. I'm not saying it's boring, but of the varieties of surfaces, it is the one that gives me the least amount of feels. What say you?

Torrey (12:53.928)
Sure.

Torrey (12:59.214)
Okay. Okay. Okay. Fair enough.

Torrey (13:14.509)
I've gone back and forth on this in my years on this terra firma. As a kid, I thought that was the best terminal round because it was grass. was, it meant what it meant. Right. And I was watching Bjorn Borg, you know, win five in a row, you know, back in the late seventies, early eighties.

I, as I got older, realized, you know, in the days I mentioned Kevin Kern on this podcast before it became server's paradise, not just shop makers paradise. So if you could bring it and being a big guy myself, I like to serve hard. I started seeing the monotony, you know, of big serve tennis, no return and so on. Um, I went there in 04 and I realized this is hallowed ground.

Alvin Owusu (13:42.483)
Mm-hmm.

Alvin Owusu (13:51.891)
Yes.

Torrey (14:03.812)
You know, and I said, wow, this is big time right here. You know, and I realized how the history of it all kind of made sense. know, my wife was raised Catholic and went to Italy and then visited the Vatican. And all of sudden she was like, wow. Like she wasn't really the strongest Catholic by any means, she said she felt a little more spiritual when she got there for some reason and she's not.

Alvin Owusu (14:23.461)
Yeah.

Torrey (14:33.328)
Catholic right now, but I say it to say something about the building, something about everything there. It was years ago, but she made that compliment in a bit of a joke, but I laughed. I'm like, yeah, a building like that, a place like that will make you feel something. You know what I mean? And so I think that's where I'm getting that long way, long winded way to answer your question. I think Wimbledon is my

It's tied for third because of the place it holds and the, in history and obviously to the throwback with that, how the game was invented, but it's also, it's the last holdout for the shop maker, the big server, the, you know, the, the player that hits through the court. And I feel like it holds its place to hold the game in balance. And I say that to say, I wish.

Alvin Owusu (15:28.083)
Hmm.

Torrey (15:31.878)
more players. I wish Wimbledon the whole grass season was longer. I've mentioned that before on this podcast because I think it would favor more different types of games and so on. I just feel like if it were gone or the other events were shorter, we would have an onslaught of grinders on the tour that would not make the game have much variety if the game is all hardcore.

Alvin Owusu (15:36.019)
Sure, yep.

Torrey (16:01.414)
I think that would also be an issue. I just feel like it's a, it holds a place to hold the game in check. I guess that's the easiest way I can say it to keep the variety because I, Alvin, love the variety and I love the change of it all, especially following Clay, right? And I'll be honest, I'm looking forward to another epic battle potentially between Al Kharaz and Yannick. Not looking too far ahead, but on,

Alvin Owusu (16:08.104)
Yeah.

Alvin Owusu (16:29.598)
yeah, yeah, yeah, let's not go there. Let's not go there.

Torrey (16:31.254)
on what, but I want to say it for this one reason, to see how different that battle will be or whoever it is in the final. That's my point. It's not about them per se. It's about, we just saw a phenomenal, phenomenal, one of the best of all time. Now I'd look forward to see now how much does the surface change? You remember that match where Fad played the doll in that half grass, half clay court, right? That was just, everybody was thinking.

Alvin Owusu (16:53.832)
Yeah, yeah.

Torrey (16:59.535)
Yeah, but could he do it on grass though? Yeah, but could he beat him on clay? And then all of a sudden they, I don't know how many, I guess a million or two they made for that one court, but they put it out there it was one of the best televised kind of things at that time. I'm just saying it changes things and it forces you to your point of just how you are good and the good players will show you.

Alvin Owusu (17:20.489)
I'll say I appreciate what vegetables do for my body.

Torrey (17:27.333)
here we go. I feel a ding coming off.

Alvin Owusu (17:28.423)
I don't want to eat them all the time. I need to have some. No, no, I need to, I know, I know. And I'm not saying get rid of grass court tennis. I am with you in that we could have, we could do with another week. We could do with another week. Push Wimbledon back, have a proper four weeks in between Wimbledon and French Open.

Torrey (17:32.893)
all the time it's it's once a year bro yeah

Torrey (17:49.497)
for four weeks and take a few weeks off the clay court season while you at it.

Alvin Owusu (17:52.816)
Nah,

Torrey (18:04.645)
Yeah.

Torrey (18:18.789)
Right.

Alvin Owusu (18:22.825)
It's another story for another day. And I took a sojourn out to the Aldingham Club, went out to Wimbledon, the neighborhood, and it was a really, really cool experience. I took the train out, then took the little bus, and then I walked up, saw the town of Wimbledon. It's a real town, it's great. Very cute, if you will. And got a chance to take the tour. I saw the museum, they took us into Center Court.

Torrey (18:25.003)
Uh-huh.

Torrey (18:35.219)
Yep. Yep.

Torrey (18:40.345)
Mumbling in park, yeah, do a desi, yeah. Yeah, Yeah.

Torrey (18:50.255)
Yeah.

Alvin Owusu (18:51.111)
Like it was, they still had the scoreboard on from the previous year, Djokovic-Federer 2015 final. The scoreboard was still on with the scores on it. So was like that place was like frozen in time. Yes, yeah, it was fantastic. then, so yeah, that was 2016 and then 2019, I got a chance to go back for the tournament. And my wife and I were planning on going, but she was.

Torrey (18:57.049)
Well.

Yeah. Like a true museum piece. Like it was still standing in time, frozen in time. Yeah.

Alvin Owusu (19:19.529)
just short of, she was like two weeks away from having our second kid. And it was a, it was a plan C section, like, was like we had a date, and I was like, okay, I'm gonna go. I have my friends were living in London at the time, so I flew in, I hit the ground running, had a great day in London. The very next day, got up like 3.30 a.m., took an Uber out to Wimbledon, and I queued. I went through the queuing experience.

Torrey (19:23.972)
Yeah.

Torrey (19:46.275)
Yeah, and cueing, cueing, that's the whole experience.

Alvin Owusu (19:48.554)
Bro, was, mean, it's like going to a day party, but you're standing up for seven hours before you actually get in. I mean, to your point about the weather, I'm in jeans, shirt, sport coat, and I'm a little chilly, but I'm comfortable. I think we got there about five o'clock in the morning, and you're in line till like 10.30, and then the line starts moving. People are being camped out, and the process, I'm not gonna go through it, but.

Torrey (19:53.846)
Right.

Torrey (20:01.879)
Yeah.

Torrey (20:06.669)
Yeah, right.

Torrey (20:12.781)
Yeah.

Alvin Owusu (20:17.929)
once you get in and I got my pass and everything, I'm ready to go. And I saw some really good tennis, but also it was day one and the place was pristine, pristine. I was like, this is, I mean, was a perfect, this picture right here. That picture is from day one, 2019, I took that picture out on one of the outer courts, getting ready to watch Felix play.

Torrey (20:33.879)
Yeah, beautiful looking,

Torrey (20:41.047)
Yeah.

Alvin Owusu (20:48.265)
And I was just blown away by how perfect everything looked. It was unreal. And officials dressed to the nine, you can see some of the, I mean people with the lanyards on, those lanyards were thick. There was no strings around there. I things were thick with gold clasps. I'm sure the clasps were real gold. I was just so, every single detail was perfect.

Torrey (20:53.985)
Yeah, and officials are dressed to the nines, the court looks

Torrey (21:03.299)
Yeah. buddy. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. But they don't mess around. Yeah.

Alvin Owusu (21:17.413)
Not one bit. The downside was damn dude that place was tight cramped. my it's it's

Torrey (21:23.873)
Yeah, everything was tight. Yeah. The hallways going into other museum as it's tight. Going into center court is tight and low.

Alvin Owusu (21:30.875)
It's a country club. Like it's just a country club in a very small area in a small neighborhood. It is a country club.

Torrey (21:32.993)
Yeah. Yep.

Torrey (21:37.891)
Yeah, yeah. It's funny to say that I've never been to the Masters. I've driven past it the many years we've gone to the tournaments in Augusta, right? But I felt like that's what it is. For those two weeks, the world gets to come inside. You know what I mean? And every the other 50 weeks of the year, you know, don't, it's their club, you know what mean? That they let us into for two weeks. That's how I always kind of, you know.

Alvin Owusu (21:43.717)
Yeah, with you, yeah.

Alvin Owusu (21:52.784)
Right.

Alvin Owusu (21:59.05)
Yeah, exactly. Funny thing about the Masters, right? And I tell this story often, right? So the Masters in Augusta, Georgia, we here in Georgia go down to Augusta a lot for tennis tournaments, right? The old Augusta two pointer, top 16, the whole deal. I couldn't tell you how many times, it's more than 10 times I had been to Augusta as a child between the ages of 12 and 18 before I realized that Augusta Newman Tennis Center

Torrey (22:28.163)
It was the same Augusta, right?

Alvin Owusu (22:29.509)
was no, was like literally damn near across the street from Augusta National. Not till I was working for you, we went back for a tournament and then like you and Shoemaker, like one night we just drove back there and I'm like, so you mean like those trees that I'm looking at from the courts of Augusta New Montana Center are on the other side of those trees is Augusta National.

Torrey (22:34.593)
Right.

Torrey (22:41.846)
Yep.

Yeah.

Yep. Right there. With all that, with the big thick windscreen material throughout the fences. That's it, right there.

Alvin Owusu (22:55.081)
Yeah, and Wimbledon is very much to the same. It's just this club and this neighborhood. yeah, it's great. Everyone should go. I will never queue again. My feet have not yet recovered and that was six years ago.

Torrey (23:00.451)
I almost like that.

Torrey (23:07.779)
Yeah.

And there's several queues. People don't understand. There's queues all around the complex to get in. Whatever, the three or four different gates. mean, it's... No, trust me. The other thing that people don't understand, and I'll put this in there that you probably know. They may have changed it since, but I'm sure it's probably similar. There aren't many hotels and it's not in London. So you are staying in people's homes, either a room or the upstairs or whatever.

A lot of people in that area have built on add-ons and obviously everything's vertical. It's like New York, there's not a lot of space. And you're not staying at the Hyatt or the Grand Hyatt or whatever nice and high, know, Ritz Carlton, Wimbledon Park, no, no, no, no. That's London and you are an easy train ride from just to get out to Wimbledon Park and that whole area. But the point I'm making is it's not like you can just

walk, know, get a, you know, get a hotel, you know, get out there, get breakfast and, you know, and take the train or take the Uber cab to where I drop off the front. Everything there is a process. Is it from the queuing to getting there to, mean, you, it's, if you get, if you get tickets or, mean, to go see it, you put in some work, you put in some work to go watch that match, You know what I mean? So, and back then it was, it was Hinman Hill. And this is, course, it was going to end up being renamed Murray Mound.

Alvin Owusu (24:19.881)
process.

Alvin Owusu (24:27.238)
yeah. yeah, it's hard work. It's hard work.

Alvin Owusu (24:37.053)
Murray Mound, yeah. Or did they rename it or did build another one? I can't remember.

Torrey (24:38.401)
You know, for,

Torrey (24:42.605)
I think they rebuilt that one and made it bigger is what I think they did, but I'm not sure. have again, I have been there a years, but Andy was obviously in that same class with Skoll and with Monfise and the rest of them. So was a pretty cool time to see it. I know Judy Murray and obviously her other son, Jamie, who's obviously a very good doubles player and still playing to this day. anyway, good stuff, Alvin. I'm looking forward to what we're going to see.

Alvin Owusu (25:01.373)
Jamie. Yeah.

Torrey (25:12.287)
And I'm looking forward to about three different players, all the players, but three in particular. Booblix has been having a nice little surge as of late and I could be happier for him. I am looking forward to seeing Taylor Fritz. Looks like he's back healthy a little bit, which is great to see him. I'm not in your notes. I'm just telling you. Is that what you're about to come up with?

Alvin Owusu (25:27.933)
Did you steal my notes? Are you in my notes right now? What do I need these notes for? I wrote down, Booblick has got a hold of his crazy. He's got it in the perfect spot right now.

Torrey (25:39.56)
Man.

that's good for him, man. I'm so happy for him. I haven't seen a guy that borderline crazy, but that talented sense probably Goran and Morat. he's, he's kind of right. He's an, and the fact that he's, he, he's, I'm going to use the term.

Alvin Owusu (25:53.181)
The Merak comp is good. It's a good comp.

Torrey (26:04.671)
beleaguered like Morat was. Morat was fighting Morat half the time. And you knew that he was fighting Morat. And every once in a while, the two Morats made peace and allowed him to play some great tennis. Bublik reminds me of that. Goran had to get ahold of his crazy. Goran was just crazy and just more emotional and almost that genius. If I can make this, you can't touch it.

Alvin Owusu (26:20.23)
Yeah, yeah, like, I think it was like...

Alvin Owusu (26:31.229)
Well, yeah, Goran was like, right.

Torrey (26:34.676)
But Morat was talented, not that Gorn wasn't, Morat was talented, but almost afflicted. Like he was so pissed at himself half the time that he couldn't get out of his own way. And he knew how good he was. We all knew how good he was. And it was such a, it was such good tennis to see when he was actually calm and in good spirits. Because man, when he was on, buddy, there was nobody that could touch him. The greats at the time.

Alvin Owusu (27:00.817)
Yeah, when he put it all together, I think that was like 2001, 2002, somewhere in there. I didn't look it up, give me the year, when he, I think Australian Open is when he came out and he beat the brakes off of everybody. And it was like, he's got it, like he's got it. And he even said it as much like, yeah, I've got it together right now. And Booblick is a little bit different where I just feel like he's matured.

Torrey (27:02.995)
Fed knew he couldn't beat him if he was on his own.

Torrey (27:08.959)
So.

Torrey (27:24.925)
Yeah. What? Closer to going in that that in in that in that in the comparison to me of the two.

Alvin Owusu (27:30.341)
Yeah, he's matured just enough.

Yeah, he's matured just enough to realize that a little bit more focus. When to use the imagination. But he's playing some actually pretty disciplined tennis and then it turns out he's got all the goods. He's got all the goods. And I do feel like that's, very curious. At this point in the week, it is, I'm curious to see where he lands in the draw.

Torrey (27:42.845)
Right. Yeah.

Torrey (27:51.582)
Yeah.

Yeah, 100%.

Torrey (28:03.517)
Right. Right. But, I'll kind of that doesn't matter where he lands in the draw. You know, he's, if he's playing well and he's serving well and he's a big guy, he will disrupt whoever's there. I feel bad for who's in his draw. It's more of what I would say because he could, he could come through. There's so many players in that, in that 10 through or eight through 20, without getting too much into the draw, this and that, that are the size and stature.

Alvin Owusu (28:03.603)
Taylor Fritz, like you mentioned.

Torrey (28:32.477)
right of your Alex Demon arms, right? That would, but just physically speaking are a bit of a mismatch when you kind of got like Alexander Bublik. So you own grass. So you got a big guy, big serve, big strokes, you know, and the surface aids the penetration of that ball. And at some point you just can't retrieve enough. I mean, you just can't retrieve. So that's what I'm saying. And I think that's what I'm getting at is those kinds of guys would not fare as well with a Bublik who's playing good ball.

Alvin Owusu (28:39.227)
Right. On grass. On grass. Yeah.

Alvin Owusu (28:48.339)
Mm-hmm.

Torrey (29:01.411)
And that's like, you can't, can't just be a good server anymore. You got to have the rest of the goods. Bublik has the rest of the goods. It's just a matter of can he stay healthy? Can he stay focused and stay in this mental space he's in? which brings me up to one more big hitter who I hope and he, and we just talked about his coach. Can Andre Rublev stay, can he catch fire? at Wimby this time? I know, I know it's incredulous now.

Alvin Owusu (29:06.493)
Right.

Alvin Owusu (29:26.697)
What are

Torrey (29:29.617)
I only say it to say nobody hits it bigger. And then, and I feel like if there was a tournament for him to do it, it'd be this one.

Alvin Owusu (29:36.041)
I'm gonna let you I'm gonna let you I'm gonna let you I'm gonna let you say that by yourself. I'm not I'm not not touch not no no

Torrey (29:41.247)
I'll say it. I'll say it. I'll say it just because of the game style and the fact that the guy's been only top 10 in the world for the last several years. So to me, you can't tell me he's not been Keith's chicken feet, but I...

Alvin Owusu (29:52.158)
from it.

And from henceforth, you will not hear this guy right here talk about Andrei Rublev again until he gives me a reason to. That's all I'm saying. That's all I'm saying. You briefly mentioned Taylor Fritz. Yeah, mean, Taylor Fritz might be, yeah, he's gonna be a top four seed. No, he's five. He'll be five. He'll be five. Because Jack was able to sneak in there and get the four seed. I mean, Taylor creep in between five and eight there.

Torrey (29:59.163)
No more comments about Rubel F? Done.

Fair. Fair. Fair.

Yes.

Torrey (30:14.728)
Yep. Okay.

Yeah.

Alvin Owusu (30:25.085)
That's, you know, it's obviously it's Bublik, it's Taylor. Where is Novak gonna land? It's gonna be interesting. I'm looking forward to seeing how this draw shakes out.

Torrey (30:31.666)
Yeah. Yeah.

Yep, could be some great matches because that's a real tricky for a five through eight right there. You know what I mean? That's a real tricky five through eight. And depending on who of the five through eight draw the three, four, right? It is really where your fireworks can happen. You know what mean? 100%.

Alvin Owusu (30:40.817)
Yeah, absolutely.

Alvin Owusu (30:50.281)
Right. Yeah, and I'm looking, I mean, honestly.

between, I feel like Alcara's is gonna be solid. I don't really change my opinion on his, on what he can do at Wimbledon based upon who he plays. Unless it's like Novak. Like maybe if he gets Novak in a quarter.

Torrey (31:03.985)
Yeah.

Torrey (31:08.508)
Right. Yeah. He's, I don't, I don't, I don't think, I think, I think he's playing about as good a ball as he's ever played. He has no reason not to. He loves the grass plays well in the grass. He moves well in the grass. Help provided healthy. He's not an issue. I'm looking more for the matches leading up to it. Sandwich center. I don't think there's a chance. There's a, there's always a chance, know, dumb and dumber. So you're saying there's a chance, right? There's a chance, but.

Alvin Owusu (31:36.465)
I'm gonna, let me say this, it's gonna be weird. I'm gonna say it, but it's the truth, so I'm gonna say it.

Torrey (31:45.809)
Okay.

Alvin Owusu (31:47.089)
Yannick Center has lost two of his last three matches. What are you going to do? What do you, how do you feel about that?

He's going, you don't feel anything about it. You feel nothing about it. Zero.

Torrey (31:54.398)
I don't feel anything. I don't feel anything. Zero. Good friend of mine, Adam Guski. Goose, if you're watching, what's up? Goose would tell me, TH, I used to beat Peter Corden sets back in the day. Played him in tournament. He beat the breaks off of me one and oh, he was like, it was like, I was playing a different guy. He says, I'm going to tell you right now. He says, when it comes time for the bigger tournaments to kick in, these guys.

take it up a notch. He says he used to hear about Pete getting beat all the time in practice sets. Doesn't matter. He says in warmup tournaments. And I think we both know Pete's record on the grass. I think he, he's one of those guys that won it a few times. So I say it to say Alvin, no, I'm not worried about center at all. What I'm worried about is who plays center and thinks they have a chance. The guy just moves too well. I think he's, you know, we talked about this with, with, with Ken Wen, you know,

playing my girl Sabalenka at a warmup before the French. I don't call that a loss. I call that a good win for her and you know, just keep it moving. So there's my thought. Now you tell me, do I think he's vulnerable more on grass? Yeah, of course I do. Do I think that that will affect his trajectory in Wimbledon? Absolutely not.

Alvin Owusu (33:18.601)
Okay, okay, that's fair. I'm fine with that.

Torrey (33:21.916)
Who else were you thinking of in your matchup? I had Fritz and obviously Andre and Bublik. Who was your extra person that you think might? I was disappointed, sorry, just came to my brain. Feast, man, he's starting to play good ball and then he has to pull out. I'm like, are kidding me? Obviously he can't affect that with the back, but I'm like, oh.

Alvin Owusu (33:39.944)
Yeah, I mean, he's young that that back. Let's just yell. Let's yeah, I want him. I'm glad he did pull out. Did try to push it. I mean, even if we don't see him at the US Open, that's fine, too. Like he's young. Like now's the time to like fully recover. The game's obviously there. Not a lot of points to defend like the rest of the year. So like it's fine. It's fine. It's it's with the public, the feast. It's you know, Medi's always there.

Torrey (33:52.944)
Yeah. Yep. Yep.

Alvin Owusu (34:10.365)
Big serve, and this is what I feel like you're gonna, it's gonna be pretty straightforward. I feel like it's gonna be pretty straightforward on the men's side, save for where a Bublik or a Novak falls in the draw. Like that's about it. But yeah, and I was.

Torrey (34:28.227)
I'm taking your route on Medvedev. Just pass. I'm just gonna be an absolute pass. No good, no bad, no nothing. Show me from the show me state, show me. And then we can talk about it. I'm gonna counter your, I'll take one half of the best friend duo.

Alvin Owusu (34:34.121)
okay.

Torrey (34:51.568)
and you'll take the other.

Alvin Owusu (34:51.785)
It's not that we're dismissing Russia out of hand. They're so present in the top of men's tennis that it just happens this way.

Torrey (34:54.716)
They are, they are. And Saffin, and Saffin set a pretty high bar that I would love for one of them to, to bring some more fireworks. This would be a great time to see it. As I said, pass.

Alvin Owusu (35:12.125)
Fair, fair. I was thinking, and this kind of goes back to my Wimbledon, it's not necessarily my favorite of the Grand Slam. It's not, it's my least favorite of the Grand Slam. God, I hate saying that. Because it sounds dumb when I say it out loud. Because there's so much, especially here in the United States, because Wimbledon usually falls right on and around Fourth of July. It reminds people of summer.

Torrey (35:23.836)
When you say it out loud, it sounds bad.

Torrey (35:34.886)
Yep, yep, yep.

Alvin Owusu (35:36.714)
whether you're on vacation, you're out of school, it's got this thing, it used to be on NBC, the, dun, dun, like it, I have a lot of memories of Wimbledon on television. And I've been, and it's cool to go, it's not necessarily fun to watch the tennis there, right? And I didn't really per se enjoy being there. And so I'm looking at this from a very big standpoint of all the things that go into enjoying.

Torrey (35:50.14)
Right.

Torrey (35:56.4)
Yeah. Yeah.

Torrey (36:02.64)
Yeah. Yeah.

Alvin Owusu (36:06.491)
watching tennis. I enjoy watching, court tennis is my favorite tennis to watch, like hands down. The full expression of our sport on clay, so that's my favorite.

Torrey (36:06.778)
Yep. Yep. Yep.

Torrey (36:16.88)
Yep. Sure.

Alvin Owusu (36:24.457)
Australian Open's actually second. I love the Australian Open. I've been three times, I love Melbourne, I love the Australian Open. It's so much fun. It's right in the middle of the city. It's the best. if you're not there and you're in the Northern Hemisphere, it's cold and dark where you are, you turn the TV on, it's bright and sunny. Blue courts, fantastic. US Open's kind of a shit show.

Torrey (36:26.99)
Hmm. Yep.

Torrey (36:35.512)
Yup. Yup.

I agree.

Torrey (36:49.102)
Yeah, I agree.

Alvin Owusu (36:54.119)
I don't particularly, it's not for me. It's too much, it's too much. And I'm going this year, I haven't been since wait, I'm going this year. It'll be fun, I'm sure.

Torrey (36:55.502)
Wow, wow, just, hey, tell us how you really feel.

Torrey (37:02.01)
Okay.

Torrey (37:08.25)
Looks like they're really twisting your arm to go with that, Alvin.

Alvin Owusu (37:11.136)
I mean, I'm going with Jerome, brother Jerome and the rest of the travel crew. Yeah, yeah. And it'll be, New York's great. Like it's gonna be in New York. But like as a tennis purist, do I really wanna be in New York watching tennis? Not particularly. I'd rather go to Charleston to watch tennis.

Torrey (37:16.43)
My main man Jerome, OU's finest, my man.

Torrey (37:35.268)
Yeah. For the tournament itself. I know what you're saying. I feel like you're conflicted. You're conflicted for you are a well traveled, well versed brother who has seen a lot and been to lot of places and with choices, right? To me, this is just me. And I've known you for a long time. I feel like you are at a crossroads of

Alvin Owusu (37:38.973)
It's, yes, for the spectacle that is the US Open.

Alvin Owusu (37:52.51)
Yes.

Yes.

Torrey (38:05.434)
Travel right tennis and and let's face it quality of experience slash, you know engagement and I I feel like Any number of those things can be variables, Who plays who the day the draw the match, know weather right? The proximity to the players is a big deal, you know that to me is a huge deal

Alvin Owusu (38:25.107)
Yep. Yep.

Alvin Owusu (38:29.754)
yep.

Torrey (38:35.45)
The city itself. mean, dude, I'm right there with you. Melbourne was one of my favorite places. I mean, that I went to, loved it. Wasn't that keen on Paris? Love the French. Wasn't that keen on Paris? I really wasn't. So to your point, I get you. I'm just saying. But speaking, speaking strictly from a tennis standpoint, not the travel, not the ticket costs, right? Not the who's playing who, right? You know what I'm saying? I mean,

Alvin Owusu (38:45.033)
Mmm, I love Paris

Alvin Owusu (38:59.867)
Don't get me started with ticket costs. Jesus

Torrey (39:04.824)
Trust me, if I'm looking just at the tennis, you know, and...

The, the, the tennis alone to me, if you're looking strictly from a tennis, I think that each of them have, you know, have their own, but you can't tell me that the U S open hasn't had some of the best matches you have watched. I bet if you listed your top 10 matches, you can't tell me that U S open wouldn't be four, if not five of those 10 of the best maxes of all time that you've seen watched on TV or what have you.

Alvin Owusu (39:37.801)
It would definitely have at least 30 % of the matches in there at least three. Yeah

Torrey (39:42.532)
Third, at least 30 of the four of them is what I'm getting. I'm not talking about matches of all time. I'm talking matches of the slams. I would say, you're saying three?

Alvin Owusu (39:48.114)
Yeah, yeah, it would have, yeah, probably three. Probably three. A night session at Ash is unique. It is unique. Watching an American on an outside court at the US Open, I'm getting chills right now because that is, no one rides harder for their home players than the Americans. Like, I've seen Heather Watson at Wimbledon, I've seen Alex DeVendure at the Australian Open.

Torrey (39:56.809)
yeah.

Torrey (40:05.215)
It's sure, it's awesome.

Torrey (40:13.806)
I agree with that. Yeah.

Alvin Owusu (40:18.121)
It's different, it's different. So yeah, I am conflicted. I am conflicted. And maybe I'll have some different thoughts when I get back. We shall see. We shall see. I was thinking from the Wimbledon standpoint.

Torrey (40:18.903)
Right? Right? Right?

Torrey (40:29.069)
Yeah. Yep. Yep.

Alvin Owusu (40:37.469)
favorite matches I've ever seen at Wimbledon. The ones that stick out. Not necessarily the best matches, but the ones that stick out. I struggled putting together like four of them, but I was able to put together four of them. I'll give them to you. And I'm younger, right? So I'm...

Torrey (40:45.901)
Yep. Yep.

Torrey (40:54.617)
list yeah

Torrey (41:04.205)
Okay.

Alvin Owusu (41:06.857)
in my early 40s, so a lot of this stuff doesn't register for me until after high school and beyond, but kind of starting there. 2000, semi-final, Agassi versus Rafter. So they went five sets in that one, and they met three years in a row, 99, 2000, 2001, at Wimbledon, and 2000.

Torrey (41:21.625)
That was a big match, I remember that one. Yeah. Right. More than a few dives on the grass for the low cup volley from Pat Rafter. Yeah. With the red Prince rackets with the old, remember those? Man.

Alvin Owusu (41:34.826)
Oh, Pat Rafter. Pat Rafter made you believe in the Serpent Valley. yo, of course, of course. The sunblock on the eyes and the ponytail up top. Pat's so cool. But yeah, that one, mean, that one was really cool. I remember being at this restaurant called Top of the Hill in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and we were playing at the Southern.

Torrey (41:45.815)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. And the white with the yeah. Palm tree, whatever you had.

Torrey (42:00.875)
Okay, I've been there. Yeah.

Alvin Owusu (42:04.297)
play court event that was in Cary, think at the time.

Torrey (42:09.049)
Yeah, I think it was in Carboro, if I'm not mistaken. Carboro, remember that? Carboro, North Carolina, I remember that. I remember that match, yeah. that tournament. Yep, correct.

Alvin Owusu (42:11.209)
Carbor yes, yes Carbor, correct. Yeah, the 18s. 18s played there before going to Clay's and So I was there with some friends travel some friends and we were having lunch and I remember watching that match during lunch there And that was just that just felt really cool three fed versus Philip Poussus Feds feds for nothing not for the quality of the match, but that I saw fed hit the coolest shot. I Remember I remember that shot like it was yesterday and I was again again. I was in North Carolina

Torrey (42:30.969)
So, yeah.

Alvin Owusu (42:41.427)
but I was with my brother and I think he was at the 16th event so I was traveling with him. And Fed hits a serve, first serve, tags it. Philip Husis unloads on a forehand, hits it so hard that Fed is forced to hit the ball as soon as he lands on the ground, the ball's back on him, takes it out of the air, backhand, boom, open court. And I was like, what?

Torrey (42:41.539)
Yeah.

Torrey (42:46.103)
Yeah.

Torrey (42:51.001)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Torrey (43:00.281)
I remember this ball. I remember this ball.

Torrey (43:05.686)
Right. I remember that, I think it was a backhand. Yeah, like a backhand one, he's swinging volley right away.

Alvin Owusu (43:13.033)
Yeah, I mean, maybe three feet inside the baseline. And I was like, that's not... Yeah, it's like surf, land, knock it off. I'm like, what was that? Yeah. Yeah, and I think that was his first Wimbledon win. Yeah, was the final, so yeah. 08, yeah, 08, FetnaDoll.

Torrey (43:17.003)
Yeah, from his land of his serf. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that's when Roger was wearing the headband and had the longer hair. Yeah, I remember that.

Torrey (43:33.495)
I think he won it in 03. Yeah, I think he won it that year. Oh, there you go. Yeah. It's good. Yeah.

Alvin Owusu (43:42.121)
True story, I didn't see that match live. I didn't. was on a guy strip in Virginia Beach. That one, that one, that, wait.

Torrey (43:42.743)
Yeah, that's.

Torrey (43:46.997)
Okay.

Torrey (43:50.871)
Now which one was the long like crazy fight? Was that was 08? Because I thought there was one in, wasn't the one in 10 as well that was pretty long. Wasn't that fed the doll again?

Alvin Owusu (43:59.274)
maybe, but this is like the one where like if they had played one more.

Torrey (44:02.923)
The one when they beat him the first time at Wembley. wait. Right, right. No way. That's that's that was what I was thinking of there. I kept the years, but I remember that match.

Alvin Owusu (44:05.671)
Yeah, lights can't like it's dark the whole deal like it yeah that that iconic match

Yeah, I didn't see that match live. I woke up.

Torrey (44:18.197)
We had to sell, we were coming back from a tournament. had to, I, we stopped. only saw the last two or three sets. We stopped to get off, to go get something to eat because we're heading back from a tournament just to finish watching that final. I remember that. I remember that. That was, that was absolute epic.

Alvin Owusu (44:29.129)
I was unfortunately quite hungover that morning and didn't get up till like damn near noon. And all my, was traveling with some friends, two of them, which I played college tennis with and they were just going crazy. And they're like, dude, you just missed the best match ever. And I'm like, I want to go back to bed right now. I don't think I watched it until like 2020, to be honest with you, like recently. then 2023 Alcaraz Djokovic.

Torrey (44:34.633)
I hear you.

Torrey (44:45.143)
Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Right.

Torrey (45:00.427)
That's up there with one of yours, okay?

Alvin Owusu (45:01.827)
That was a yeah that was a special match that felt like a like a moment in tennis time.

Torrey (45:04.651)
Okay.

Torrey (45:09.631)
Okay, that was that's his last slam. He's won, correct?

Alvin Owusu (45:13.452)
No, Alcaraz won that one. Yeah, was the, we didn't win five, lost first at 6-0 in the first, and then came back and then won it in five. Djokovic breaks his racket on the net post, like that whole, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Torrey (45:16.075)
Alok Resma, I think I was 21 last year. Beat him in five.

Torrey (45:27.959)
Right, right, right, right. I'm thinking about last year when he had the tape on his leg and he beat him in four. Yeah, that was 23. Yep, yep. To my point about Alcarazzo on grass, I forgot about that match, about 2023. Why was that a bigger moment to you than-

Alvin Owusu (45:44.541)
That one felt like a passing of the torch. Like because Djokovic was playing good ball. Like he was playing good ball. And Djokovic just beat him at the French Open in the semi-finals a few weeks before that, right?

Torrey (45:52.791)
100%.

Torrey (45:57.727)
Right. You think that was more of a torch passing than center's match on the, in the French and the semi.

Alvin Owusu (46:06.217)
I think the torch had already been passed considering where Djokovic is right now in his career. At that point, I believe Djokovic won the US Open that year. like, he's still right there. Like, he's still right there. Did he? Yeah, I believe so, yeah.

Torrey (46:14.281)
Okay, okay, fair. That's fair.

Torrey (46:28.655)
I knew in 23 was his last slam. I was trying to remember which one was his last one. Okay.

Alvin Owusu (46:30.961)
Yeah, I think he won US Open that year. And he also won the French Open right before that. So yeah, he won Australian that year too.

23, yeah, he won Australia and he beats, he Sits Pass, I believe in the final, maybe. Won the French. Lost Wimbledon, won the 07. Anyways, not important. But yeah, those are the ones that kinda stick with me. And I also host the French Open parties. I mean, a Wimbledon party, Fourth of July at my house. So like that's a, not a complete hater.

Torrey (46:55.059)
Yeah. Hi.

Torrey (47:00.277)
Right, right, yeah. That's a big deal. Yeah, no, no question, no question. And nor am I taking your thoughts to be a hatitude, know, haterade. I think Wimbledon is...

Torrey (47:20.157)
an acquired taste for anyone. It looks great on TV for most people, but it's an acquired taste because it has so much pomp and circumstance and it looks so unbelievable. And to your point, there can be some very suspect points that you're not running that hard because you'll slip and fall and bust your head open. There's so much, there's so much.

that tennis requires balance and some level of traction and you don't have much. I forget where we were when I was warming up school one time and Alvin, I swear to God, I'm bouncing the ball about to serve and it's hitting this mound of a little bit of dirt. I don't know if we were at a Rangy Park, Cross Street or whatever. The bounce of my ball, Alvin, is going every which kind of way.

Alvin Owusu (47:52.424)
Mm-hmm.

Torrey (48:15.133)
It got to the point where I was like screw bouncing the ball. Like I was literally having to find a spot, a level spot to bounce the ball. Now, Ringgit Park doesn't have the same quality of well maintained pristine courts as Wimbledon, All England club. But my point being, it's just what you think it is. And the fact these people are hitting the ball shows you how hitting the ball well, you know, off of a not pure bounce, a not pure surface.

Alvin Owusu (48:23.966)
Sure.

Torrey (48:43.157)
you know, and trying to find traction somehow, let alone hitting it pretty clean. And then you have those artists among those phenomenal players that make it look like it's an art form. You know what I mean? So it's, to me, it's when you realize how hard it is to hit a ball on the grass and how low it skids and how, you know, and it's, dude, it's nothing short of inspiring if you've actually hit on grass to know how hard it is to do. I mean,

Alvin Owusu (48:54.409)
Ugh.

Alvin Owusu (49:11.763)
Right.

Torrey (49:13.233)
I was slicing everything. I was slicing forehands, Alvin. I was, because it was on you so fast. I was like, whew.

Alvin Owusu (49:18.053)
Look, look, as a person and as a tennis player, I don't like being rushed. Okay? I like to manage my time. Don't rush me. I played on grass one time. One time at the Tennis Hall of Fame in Rhode Island. Yeah, Newport, Rhode Island. I was there for an event and finished up and we had about an hour left of daylight. Courts were, like, hadn't had been courted, so I was like, gotta do it, gotta do it. I get out there.

Torrey (49:24.947)
right and buddy buddy you you will be yep

Torrey (49:35.347)
Yeah, yeah, Newport. Yeah. Yeah.

Torrey (49:46.58)
Yeah.

Alvin Owusu (49:47.848)
Like within five minutes my hips were on fire. Like why do I have to stay this low? Like this is hard, this is very, very difficult. And then every ball is on me so fast. So fast. I'm hit with my.

Torrey (49:50.984)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Torrey (50:01.896)
Your prep has to be before, almost pre-hit. know? Here we go.

Alvin Owusu (50:05.321)
Oh my God, I'm hitting my girl Spicer and like she hasn't hit a topspin ball since like, I don't know, 85. And like, this is, it's just on me. Every ball is on me. And I'm like, this is not the tennis that was made for me. Not for me. It's for some. It's not for me. Not for me.

Torrey (50:12.294)
Right, right.

Torrey (50:19.667)
Right, right. Yeah, no, it's, as I say, for those of us who've hit on grass to be able to see it and to be able to, know, and then understand what they're doing, their midichlorian level is beyond, you know, what most humans have. I mean, the prep to read the field, and I understand it's, you know, they played on a lot and they understand what to do. Go hit on grass and come back and talk to me. You know what I mean? Go hit on grass first and then come back and tell me.

Alvin Owusu (50:45.224)
Yeah.

Torrey (50:49.011)
how easy it is or how easy it looks. know what mean? Tennis itself is hard. Right. Oh my God. And when you whiffed the ball, because you were four inches above the flight, you know what I mean? a... And we almost fell from the whiff of your swing on a hard ball that you thought you were going to tag. You know what I mean? And so...

Alvin Owusu (50:51.751)
and tell me how it felt when that first time the racket felt like it was coming out of your hand.

Alvin Owusu (51:00.521)
Definitely above. above.

Definitely above.

Torrey (51:18.481)
Maybe or maybe not a true story their album, but I mean just saying. Buddy, woo, I mean crazy fast. You know what I mean? Crazy fast. So anyway, I'm looking forward to it. I'm always looking forward to Wimby. Looking forward to coming over to your shindig on the fourth. I'm looking, as I say, I'm looking for a nice change. We've just had some phenomenal rallies, long points, build up. Now we're gonna see who can get in, who can come forward. You know, who can.

Alvin Owusu (51:20.233)
Yeah, I don't disbelieve you one bit. It's very, very difficult. It's very, difficult.

Alvin Owusu (51:32.423)
Yeah, baby.

Torrey (51:46.393)
Who can slice? Who can move? Who can come forward? To me, I miss the volleys. I miss the volleys that the games has, we've kind of gotten away from, ironically. And this habs at every so many generations. You start seeing a certain play style kind of phased out. And then for whatever reason, another one kind of makes a comeback. then the next wave kind of comes back. There was a time period back in the mid-

mid 80s to early 90s where I literally saw the one-hander die. And you could just see every good players coming through from, you know, from Vlondor to, you know, to, to Agassi. The two handers were just taken over, right? And then along comes Pete. And I'm like, yes, yes, we have, we have one, you know, and then, and then you had my, and then obviously a few others came through, you know, obviously, over after Scott, you talk about Mark had a one-hander. There's so many.

Alvin Owusu (52:35.325)
Rafter or Kafelnikov. Yeah, yeah, Philippas is, yep.

Torrey (52:40.531)
And then came to it, then of course you brought, then the big, big hitter came in. Obviously Satham was big guy, big hitter. And the power game came in, you're like, yeah, this is it. Everybody's got the hitting ball big, come forward, hit big, and then all of a sudden, then there's this little guy named Layton Hewitt started coming in and started countering everything and running balls down. I feel like in every generation where we're starting to, everybody was.

pounding ground shorts for the last several years. then now the guys, Novak in particular, is starting to come forward more on the grass. And you're starting to see if anybody I would have thought wouldn't come forward, it'd be Novak Djokovic. And the guy comes forward better than most. He's got darn good volleys, Alvin. Like phenomenal volleys and touch and feel like he's doing all his life. know, Skoll played with Novak, you know, in 04. He had no volleys. Zero. mean, serve was horrible, no doubt. But my point, it wasn't like he always did it.

Alvin Owusu (53:20.116)
yeah, yeah.

Alvin Owusu (53:29.949)
Well, I mean, you got 20 years on tour. You're to figure it out at some point.

Right, right.

Torrey (53:37.458)
I hear stories of Chris Everloy back in the day and Chris Evans said, could always volley. She just didn't do it. But she always said good volleys. Novak did not have volleys. And that brother has got phenomenal volleys. Like he's been indoors all his life. mean, like, of course I volley. And I just say it to say, it's good to see that style or those players with those additional skills start to use them more. When you didn't realize how good they were or how good their B game or in some of these guys' cases, their C game actually is.

for moments like this, for tournaments like this. So that's the part that I look forward to seeing is seeing it change up a little bit and seeing how else they can beat you. I guess it was a point I was trying to make earlier is seeing the other ways of their greatness and then you can really appreciate how good they are.

Alvin Owusu (54:19.365)
or start to see how unspecial some of the rest of them are. Right, yeah. Yeah.

Torrey (54:23.042)
Or some of them can be, 100%. 100%. So I'm looking forward to it. I'm not gonna say his name, because I'm not gonna call him out. Lorenzo was saying. But I'm looking forward to seeing your boy come through strong. We're gonna see. he's your boy, Don't sleep on your boy now. You have held candlelight vigil for this dude.

Alvin Owusu (54:47.601)
Okay, fine, fine, fine, fine, fine, fine, No, no, he's probably like six, seven, something like that. You know what, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter what his, it doesn't matter what he's ranked. We know he can play. He's semi-finaled Wimbledon, he's semi-finaled, he's semi-finaled French Open. He's the truth, he's the truth. I would really like to live in a world where we come into the US Open.

Torrey (54:51.354)
Peace for the world!

Torrey (55:02.32)
Yes, he can play. Yes, he can play. Of course he can play. He's a darn good player. my God, now he's the truth.

Alvin Owusu (55:16.893)
with some stakes. I want number one in the world to matter. And it feels like it doesn't matter to anyone anymore. It's like, the top players seem to care less about being number one and more about winning slams. I would love to pop up in Turin and the number one player in the world title is really on the line. It's on the line. Winner of this event.

Torrey (55:34.044)
Mmm.

Alvin Owusu (55:46.665)
is number one in the world for the year 2025. That would be really cool.

Torrey (55:50.256)
And you don't think that's a point situation, a structural thing.

Alvin Owusu (55:55.122)
It's a, yeah, it is, it is. But now we have, yeah, but now we have, it is, they're too well incentivized. They're making a lot of money, a lot of money. And so whether or not you're one or three, it doesn't really matter that much to them. But I want it to matter. I want the year in championships to matter. And I think for that to matter, we need something like, kind of need Alcares to win this thing and like center to lose in like the third round. Like that.

Torrey (55:58.674)
A bonus pool thing, you know what I mean? I'm just saying.

Torrey (56:04.944)
Right. Yeah.

Torrey (56:09.895)
Yeah.

Torrey (56:23.762)
Okay, okay.

Alvin Owusu (56:23.975)
Because Alcras has the point, he has the points to defend, right? Sinner lost in the semis last year, so he would have to fall short to then like need have something to chase this summer. it just, that's again, it's the points of the thing that I don't want to be thinking about, but that's the points make up this, that's the game, right? That's the game. Yeah. Anyways, I got nothing left. I feel like I wanted to talk about some grass, I to talk about some woman, we did that. We got to draw.

Torrey (56:32.429)
I see what saying. Yeah.

Torrey (56:38.362)
Sure, that's the game, unfortunately. that's the game.

Alvin Owusu (56:51.623)
coming out on Friday, which we will tackle on Friday. And then we got another Grand Slam next week.

Torrey (56:55.418)
Yep. Yep. Looking forward to that.

Torrey (57:01.274)
Do you have any, just a few minutes of what you look forward to seeing from the ladies.

Alvin Owusu (57:11.719)
We did spend a lot of time talking about the men. And in the last episode where you were out, and I caught up with my old buddy Patrick, we also spent a lot of time talking about the men. And that's a bit of an oversight on my part because I also, think anyone who's been watching this podcast for the last nine months, however long we've been going here, know how much we ride for the women's game.

Torrey (57:21.497)
Yeah, yeah, Pat.

Alvin Owusu (57:40.613)
since

Torrey (57:41.668)
Let's put a pin in it and we will dedicate a segue for the women going into it.

Alvin Owusu (57:46.396)
No, no, I'm gonna, gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna say this. Since Ash Barty left women's tennis, the lack of creativity in the women's game, like the game is, the game is fine, the game is fine. The game is, our stars on the women's side play a brand of tennis that is so much fun to watch. I oftentimes find myself when I'm at Miami Open, I go watch the women play, or so then I watch the men play, watch them practice.

Torrey (57:56.343)
Mmm, you're going there.

Torrey (58:09.306)
Well.

Torrey (58:14.138)
Sure. Sure. Sure.

Alvin Owusu (58:15.005)
Charleston was my favorite trip in the last 12 months. At Wimbledon, it kind of makes the tennis a little more, even more so homogenous. Yeah. I mean, of my favorite Wimbledon champions who recently announced she's gonna retire, Petra Kvitova, is like, yeah. I mean, Kvitova, she ran through that tournament with a big lefty serve and a big lefty forehand.

Torrey (58:35.344)
Yeah, I that.

Alvin Owusu (58:43.175)
Like she is the female version of like Richard Krychek, like just being left handed. Very boom, boom, boom, that's it. Even Von Droseva, who's playing good ball right now? I when she plays good ball, she tends to win tournaments. She did, she did.

Torrey (58:44.087)
out

Torrey (58:48.036)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Torrey (58:56.56)
Right. Yeah. Beat Sabalinka. Beat Sabalinka just a or two ago. And that was really who I was wanting to mention too was, is it Marquetta? Is that her first name? I've heard it pronounced both ways. I think it's Fondrusova, but I've always said Fondrusova just because I like to pronounce all the letters. Is it Marquetta is her first name?

Alvin Owusu (59:07.005)
Is it von Drosova or von Dros?

Yeah.

Alvin Owusu (59:16.233)
Yeah, we're good.

Torrey (59:21.26)
I've loved her game and she's got just because she brings in that nasty lefty and that little slice and the and the out wide open stances. I love her game. That was the only one I was mentioning was a couple of flying under the radar types like Marketta and you know, your girl Madison can always be dangerous on this kind of service just because of her servant around show. So I'm looking forward to seeing her.

Alvin Owusu (59:25.681)
Yeah!

Torrey (59:47.885)
you know, doing some good things. Though there's several. Anissa, I'm always playing some good ball again. She starts starting to play. Hopefully she's healthy. And obviously, you know, I got to throw in, know a few of the viewers are hating on me. I got to throw my girl J-Peg in there one more time. You know what I mean? It wouldn't be a women preview if I didn't throw in something for Jessica. In all seriousness, and the viewers need to understand this, some of these players I've known since they were.

10, 11, 12 years old. ran the girls 12 nationals for seven years. So I've seen so many of these Coco, you know, from the time they're little kids. So I think it's, you have to appreciate the, I've had coached a lot of good young ladies myself that were, that had played this tournament, you know, a shout out to Ansley who's now married to Adam, who, you who was a top player, got to 80 or so, 88 or so in the world herself back in the day.

former Duke All-American and standout. There's just so many, Jamie Hampton, of my favorite players, right? We worked with for a long time. There's so many. So my point is I've seen a lot of these girls, you know, and know a lot of them when they were younger kids. So that's why I am so pro some of the girls that I have seen come up through the mix. So just appreciate that when there's a personal connection as always the case, you root for those that you know a whole lot more than...

Alvin Owusu (01:00:47.987)
Jamie Hampton, don't forget Jamie Hampton.

Alvin Owusu (01:01:00.521)
Hahaha

Alvin Owusu (01:01:10.321)
He's compromised. He's compromised.

Torrey (01:01:12.682)
So he's compromised. know somebody's wrote that. And I was like, you know what? I'll take that. I'll take that.

Alvin Owusu (01:01:15.881)
That's fair. And I'm irrational about Madison Keys, which it's like, we all have our hangups. We all have our hangups and apparently Lorenzo Masetti as well.

Torrey (01:01:25.784)
Yeah. Yeah. Which is what makes the sport fun. And again, it makes the sport fun. am, and this is last thing I'll say and then we could both put a pin in it. Which is why the weird yetis of the game like Bublik are so fun because they throw such a weird, they throw such a weird thing in the mix. know, the English would say a spanner in the works.

They put such a spanner in the works that because you're like, wait, I forgot about him. And all of a sudden that changes everything. And that's what I like about it. Both attitude, the, you know, the fiery, you know, those are the players that you know, you know, it's one reason why I love to hate Yelena Ostapenko, you know, because she's so fiery half the time, you know I mean? And it looks like she'd get two cents half the time, you know? And when she's playing ball, you're like, wow, the girl can play. I forgot how good she is.

And so, but that's what you love about the tour is all of these personalities are all competing and you got this, you got this, they all come together at these, at these slams for two weeks to all kind of, as everything kind of gets settled in and buddy, it's, it's a, it is a, it is an amalgamation of a whole lot of things. mean, tension, skills, weather, nerves, you know what I mean? At points, you know, it's all that, but that's, that's what makes the slam a slam. You know, that's, that's, that's what makes the game.

Alvin Owusu (01:02:48.937)
Yeah, we're blessed to have this to talk about. We are blessed to have this to talk about, have this to watch as fans. And don't let my shade for Wimbledon overlook my appreciation for the variety that grass does sprinkle in for us. But yeah, that's it for me. That's probably it for you.

Torrey (01:02:55.222)
I agree.

Torrey (01:03:03.792)
no, we know.

Torrey (01:03:08.376)
Yep.

Torrey (01:03:14.925)
And for me, big boy, looking forward to coming and seeing y'all. Looking forward to our little draw party, whatever, on Friday. I'll do some extra research and be ready to roll here. And it's gonna be a fun one. It's gonna be a fun one.

Alvin Owusu (01:03:19.143)
Yeah, well, yeah, we'll do the- we'll do the-

Woof.

Another slam, another slam. All right, that's the three. We're out.

Torrey (01:03:32.354)
Peace.