Yana Center, Diego Schwartzman, Garbine Muguruza discussed on The Tennis.com Podcast
Automatic TRANSCRIPT
Very special guests this week. But before we talk to them, let's talk about what happened last week. We've got a yet another young gun emerging, taking advantage of a draw where there was no Novak, no Rafa. No fear. Yana center. Going all the way to the title last week and taking out Diego Schwartzman, two and two in the final. And probably one of the most impressive performances I've seen of his young career. And now we'll be another under 21 in the top 15 on the ATP side. On the women's side, we see a net condivi. In Moscow, coming back from a set and three love down to take a title and continues her red hot streak since July. We've always known she was deceptively athletic. Patiently aggressive. But last week was just a great display of her mental fortitude. How you can be a set in three love down and gain point and continue to fight and look up and see yourself in the third set, holding the trophy. Congratulations to in that contribution. And now for our first guest, two time Grand Slam champion. One of the most popular Spanish athletes on the cover of vogue, garbine muguruza. She opens up about what it was like to get to a Grand Slam final and lose it. It took the next year, get to a Grand Slam final. And when it beats Serena Williams, what the lob and what it felt like to see that ball hang in the air before finally drop on match point for her first Grand Slam title. And then I talked about what happens after you won a Grand Slam. The time in between her French Open title and her run to woman in the very next year. What happens? How life changes? How she has been able to have quite honestly keep it on track through coaching changes through all the obligations we hear grandstand champions to talk about are being muguruza has weathered the storm and been pretty consistently in the top ten. Welcome to the tennis dot com podcast. We are here with one of the greatest players. Today's era, this is a French Open champion, a Wimbledon champion, a celebrity off the court. I recently started following on Instagram and saw your photo shoots and stuff. I was like, I didn't know you had that in you. I've been in muguruza. Welcome to the show. Thank you. Thank you for having me. So the first time I heard about you was at the French Open. I think we lost in the forefront that year. And I went home. And then I remember the lob in the finals. And he beats arena. I know how like you're sitting on the side as a coach, just on the sideline and that ball goes in and you start gripping your seat and you come up, up, up, and like please go and please go in. Tell me what you were thinking when the ball was hanging in the air. Well, I love playing lobs. I don't know why. And that was the highest level I've ever played. And I don't know, I think everybody was in shock because the umpire was ensure Serena was like, was it in or not? And I was just so nervous and that's the way I won a tournament. What a weird way, right? I know. You expect like a winner like an ace. But who cares? I got it. It was well, I think the entire that was the best way because when the whole stadium is in suspense is like, it's out, it's in. It's out. And even Serena's like, oh, it's out. You wish, right? I think that added even more to the suspense. And tell me how life changed after that because I remember 2017 when someone U.S. open the next day it was like life is completely different. Tell me how life changed. Honestly, my life didn't change, because my close team and my surrounding didn't change. I definitely felt the popularity. But it's something that it didn't has never bothered me. It did affect me a little bit in terms of being more busy and having to prioritize and keep focusing on my tennis player. You know, and I have to focus on that. Because, you know, there's a lot of candies here and things to do and you know, you can easily start training less, let's say. But I don't know. It took a long time actually to sink it in and realize that when a major and at the beginning, I was a little bit, I don't know, shocked until I'm like, you know what? Yeah, I did it. And I was seeing videos and photos. I'm like, yeah, yeah, I have a French Open, like, come on, start believing in it. But yeah, it was a process. Like for everyone, I guess. Because you know, as a kid, I ever kid like, oh yeah, I want to turn pro. I want to win a Grand Slam. And then you get there and you're like, oh my God, it's like really happening. And you get kind of like scared. And always used to say, one of my old coaches used to say, fear is false expectations appearing real. And I remember like, you know, you get the night before and you're like, oh my God, it's kind of like, I mean, I know I said I could do it, but I didn't really think I could do it. But now I'm here, so I gotta do it. Did you feel like, oh my God, was the night before? How did you feel? I actually didn't doubt a lot because I had experience already a final that I lost in Wimbledon against Serena on 2016. So I knew what playing a fine of a Grand Slam was. And I knew that nobody was going to remember the finalist. Because everything that matters, it's the trophy and who wins it. And so I went to that French Open final against the same opponent feeling more confident on that surface. It wasn't grass. It was clay court. And I'm like, okay, here I can do more damage. And I didn't doubt. I was super confident after the whole winning all of the matches and I didn't feel that nervous actually. So you know, I think for Americans, the U.S. open is like the Super Bowl of our sport. To be an American one U.S. open. You know, the Spanish players own the clay. Do you think that winning the French was like sort of the perfect storm? Because back where you're from. That's like what you all grew up on. You all know how to work that clay better than any other country in the world. Yeah, I mean, when you're a little and you're practicing in Spain, you know, when you're playing the point, they're like, all the coaches would be like, imagine you're playing in French Open. Imagine you're there, imagine this is the match point of rolling garos. You know, so it's like, yeah, on an everyday conversation. So I grown up seeing all the Spanish players winning that tournament and yeah, it was like I have to win a major, which one would I prefer? Obviously, French Open. To start to start. So you're very versatile in terms of sports. You've had the opportunity to interact with celebrities and sports. So my brother, all my best Friends played in the NBA. And we always ask a question, what was your first big purchase after you got the bag? I Rolex. Yes. And now you get them for free. Well, I was always so since I was little, I was always, you know, my whole family loved the brand and I said, okay, one year when I can save some money, or I feel like I can do it. I'm going to go to the store. I'm going to purchase one. And so that was my guess, yeah, the first thing that really had a special value to me. So now there's a lot of Spanish up and coming players. You got Paula but those side, you got all these young talents. And I think your success has inspired them. Do you have any contact with the next generation or do you know the impact that you've had on that class? And how is it.