Paul Annacone On The Alcaraz/Sinner Era, Coaching Fritz, and The Future Stars of Tennis

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Hi, welcome everybody.

It's another episode of the Insight in tennis podcast.

I'm your host, Mitch Michaels.

As always, this podcast is part of the belief network

and available wherever you get your shows.

We are moving right along in clay season.

Got some exciting action,

Monty Carlow in the books.

We're on this long and winding road to roll and girls.

It's a good time to check in with a couple of months gone

to the 2026 tennis season by friend of the show.

You know him as a coach to many top players,

Pete Samperes, Roger Federer.

He works in tennis channel,

and he's a great dancer there.

He does some great work with Taylor Fritz right now,

as well as USDA.

I believe he's a member of a couple of hall fames

in the states of Tennessee in New York,

but Paul Anacone, welcome back to the show.

Nice plug.

I like that.

And a nice good pat on the back.

I like it.

Appreciate it.

Did I miss any hall fames?

Just one of them.

We all famed.

That's good.

Well, it was refreshing too, right?

Because I worked in tennis channel two,

and I was listening to you and Brad Gilbert

shopped it up on tennis channels.

A big tea podcast talking about the outcress center final,

but reminiscing about story time back in the day.

He was coaching Andre.

You were coaching Pete,

and I was getting a little reminiscing about my own

childhood watching those battles,

so I had to bring you back as well.

That was fun.

It was never at a loss for information.

So you always want to make sure you have plenty of time,

but you get your know pad out.

He's a maestro remembering all the good stuff,

and always fun to spend a little time with him.

So how have you been enjoying this start to the season?

The first couple of months we're into clay now,

and I always did wonder,

we're perspective as a player and a coach,

right, like the season is long,

but tens of flyby.

When you get to this, you know, inflection point,

you're changing surfaces.

Struggling maybe you're like,

okay, we can kind of just hit the reset button,

but if you're doing well,

it's how can I expand upon success as the surface changes?

So this specific time,

how have you been enjoying and falling?

You know, that's a great question.

And so much of it is about the lens you look through, right?

For someone like Taylor,

who's been frustrated with some injuries this year.

That's been tough.

You know, I got to the finals of Dallas,

and he's played some good tennis,

but he hasn't been healthy.

And for Taylor in particular,

to kind of get his teeth into the meat of the season.

And for me,

I think it's such a great reminder with people like Alkarez

and people like Sinner,

how they're able to really stay in the moment.

Alkarez starts off the year

and wins you Australian Open.

Sinner loses to Novak in a tough match.

And none of them,

neither of the two really had a huge reaction.

They're very practical about what's going on.

Then, you know, Sinner goes on

and wins the next 3-1,000s.

And Alkarez doesn't get to the finals

last week in Monte Carlo,

but doesn't.

So they both have a really good perspective.

And he listened to Carlos after he lost to Sinner,

and he's very pragmatic about it.

He was like, you know,

lost some matches, a tough match he played well.

You know, they understand that

there's a lot that goes on throughout the year.

And you just have to stay in the moment.

So for me, again,

I tend to have a view of looking at it

with my coaching rim on

and kind of go, okay,

let's see how well players adjust

and adapt.

Arthur Thesis back.

And again, he's healthy finally.

Tommy Paul was injured in the fall

and a lot of last year,

he comes back and he wins a tournament.

And he's now kind of on a little bit of a roll

because he's got that W from Houston.

So these are all the things

that you have to keep in perspective.

So I try to soak up all the information.

And I love to see the little ships

in the surface stuff.

Because to me, that's just kind of how

are you year unfolds, right?

And for some of them, I was just going to tell

her this morning on the court

and he's now going to take a little breather

and make sure that he's really healthy.

It's very easy just let the snowball

and stay hurt an entire year.

But you have to figure out

how to get yourself healthy.

Otherwise, it's going to be a brutal year

because there's too many good players out there.

So I like to just look at the information

and see how players react to it.

But as a fan, I love it.

I love the little switches on surfaces

that's fun to keep up with.

You know, that Dallas final made me think

and it was a battle with Shelton.

But the road there was tough

and Fritz was fighting, obviously.

We know what he's made of.

And it's not just a question for him,

but as a coach, Paul, when you're dealing with players

that are competitors that want to win so bad,

is it tough at times to get them to maybe

see, okay, it's taking a step back,

resting up is the right move.

Taylor's an obvious example.

That's the hardest.

Taylor wants to play every week.

It's really difficult.

He's such a great competitor

and just loves, is a great joy to compete.

So he wants to be out there and play.

So it's really hard for him to take a breath

and go, okay, yeah, I probably can play.

I'm sure I can play, but should I play?

You know, how long do I keep doing the same thing

over and over again,

where I don't let my body really heal itself?

So it's difficult.

And as a coach, it's hard to convince players

like that, that you have to sacrifice

the micro for the macro.

You're not able to train the way you want to train.

You're not able to train the way you want to train.

You're not able to prepare how you want.

You're not able to play an entire tournament without pain

and without it getting worse if you keep playing.

So you have to really try to understand

that the big picture is most important.

And I could tell her credit

because that's one of the reasons why I love working with him

is because he wants to compete so much.

And Mike Russell does an amazing job.

You know, and he said on the call yesterday

and when we talked, Mike just said,

you know, you've got to get better.

You're not doing yourself a service

by trying to compete through this.

You're actually doing yourself a disservice.

You know, David Nanken and I used to say this years ago

to Taylor, we used to say,

you know, your heart, which is so big,

is writing checks your body can't cash.

You know, you've got to make sure that they line up.

And so that's the idea.

So look, I much rather have that than the alternative.

I was looking for excuses that don't really want to play.

The pretending on a play.

But there's not unconditional competing involved.

So Taylor, it's all about the competition.

And I love that.

Yeah, absolutely.

And I think, you know, it is tough right?

Because it's the livelihood aspect of it.

You're playing every week.

You're by yourself.

You're an individual athlete.

So you don't have the luxury of being carried by teammates.

And it all falls on you.

In that dynamic that you shared about working with team Fritz,

coach Russell as well as his outstanding,

the rest of the sports staff.

I wanted to ask two Paul's event in the coaching world.

We talk about collaboration.

Now, do you think coaching has become more collaborative?

Because I did, I went back and looked at a little research.

I know we kind of think it was more isolated.

But it was the remnants of teams starting in the 90s with groups.

And there's main coaches and assistants.

But do you think tennis coaching in 2026 is becoming more of a team collaborative process?

I think so.

And selfishly for me, I much, I'd much rather do that.

And I've gotten really lucky to work with, you know, people like Severin Lutti,

who was amazing, who did a great job with Roger.

I learned a ton from him.

I got to spend, you know, three weeks with Magnus Norman when I helped

stand a little bit in 2017.

And that was cut short because Stan's knee got so bad.

But I was so looking forward to that selfishly for me.

And now to be able to spend time with Michael, I spent a couple years with David Nanken

when David, when USDA was allowing David to work with Taylor.

And I learned a ton from David.

And now I'm learning a ton from Michael.

And I get to share and collaborate and commiserate at times as well.

But for me, I love that.

I wouldn't want to do it any other way anymore.

I really enjoy that.

And that's just the coaching part.

I could spend time with Wolfgang Oswald, who's one of the best physios I've ever seen

in terms of knowledge, in terms of knowing the biomechanics, the kinetic chain,

all the stuff that happens to your body, and the why it happens.

So I love it.

That's probably the biggest reason why I'm still doing it is because I get to spend time

and learn from other people as well.

And I learn from Taylor.

You know, I learn from all the players as well.

I just really am very, very fortunate.

Well, that physio side too.

I think that is just such a crucial part to any of these top players or any players' success.

Really, it's a growing aspect in the game of all these important details.

It is. And it's really hard for individual athletes, I think,

because as you get older, your body acts and reacts differently.

So what was isn't the same as what is.

And you have to figure that out.

And for people like Taylor, and I remember this vividly,

I started with Tim Henman in his later 20s.

And I started with Roger when he was later.

And I remember talking to Pete at the end of his career about shifting how he trains

and shifting how they eat and shifting how they rest and recover.

You have to be able to do that if you want to get the same kind of energy,

sustained energy from your body for a prolonged period.

You know, Taylor's in that mode right now, he's 28 years old.

So now it's a time for him to have probably to have to make a shift.

We haven't had those conversations yet because he hasn't been healthy.

I mean, I had a big conversation mapped out for this year for him.

And I haven't even been able to have it with him yet because he hasn't been healthy enough to have that conversation.

So right now, it's just about trying to get healthy.

But yeah, things change with the body.

And you have to be able to shift and you have to do it from a position of strength, not panic.

And that's another thing that makes it really challenging because athletes tend to be huge creatures of habit.

And things change.

You can't do what you did when you're 19, 2021 and you don't have to.

You don't have to be in the court for and have five hours a day anymore.

Yeah, those, I guess late night, maybe Chipotle meals aren't going to go down as well.

And the practice court the next day, as you get older, so maybe the diet.

Chipotle, as long as he's in the right stuff, it's all good.

Yeah, for sure. Well, you know, you mentioned the top two players and it goes without saying what center and Alcras have done center on this terror.

With three straight masters, 1000s Alcras completing the career slam youngest ever at 22 years old, just remarkable mind boggling stuff.

But Paul, from the coaching perspective, I was hoping to ask you what the, what the perspective is of them in the locker room.

The psychological edge. So they've gotten to a place now where they've won the last nine slams.

But if you could talk us through what it's like for these two guys to have such a stranglehold of the game.

What's the locker room reaction, the intimidation factor, if you will, having to deal with these guys who know and have proven it.

Look, it's, you know, players are smart that they don't go into this blind.

And when they see their peers winning as much as Alcras and center or winning, they know that they're wrong above.

And what that means is it doesn't mean they can't beat beaten.

What it means is probably over an entire year, they're going to be a little better than everybody.

They're still vulnerable from time to time. We saw Carlos have a couple of tough losses during the sunshine double.

We saw no back who's still in my opinion, probably just the third best player on the tour, but he just doesn't play as much anymore.

Beat take care of center of the Australian open.

So the guys, they are vulnerable, so you have to be ready.

You know, the challenge is it's a little bit like, you know, the last decade with Roger, Rafa, no back and even Andy.

You're going to have to beat two or three of those guys to win a major back then.

Now it's two. So that's hard.

You know, you can have like no back dead.

You can have that really good day in Australia and beat one of those two.

And no back, especially Ken, but does he still have enough in the fuel tank to beat both of them to win a major?

So it's the players know that they're the best players, but that doesn't mean that they're unbeatable.

They'll lose the challenges.

How do you beat them three out of five sets and bigger challenges?

How do you maybe have to how do you maybe beat both of them?

Yeah, it's an impossible task right now.

It's crazy to think right like we have had dominant arrows, but the points total speaks for itself.

Right, you know, three to zero in the world is closer than three to two.

That's just the insurmountable lead these guys have.

It's amazing. Isn't that when you do the math behind all that and to see what they've done to spread that gap so much.

I mean, they have just been incredible.

And it's just all you can say. It's a tip of the cap and look, I know down cable pretty well.

And one Carlos Ferrero until this year was with the helm with with Carlitos.

And those guys just are continuing to try to get better.

You know, they're not just resting on their laurels saying I do this, I do that.

You look, take a look at center from two and a half years ago and watch him move out of the corners now compared to then watch him.

And volley now compared to how he volleyed two and a half years ago.

It's unbelievable. And they changed the service motion. He's a much better spot server now.

And he's incredibly difficult to break serve because of that.

And you look at Carlos and you listen to them after they lose to the other one.

They said, I've got to find new things.

So I just think it's really commendable that they're continuing to try to grow.

Yeah, they evolve. They tinker with their game. They're trying to add elements. It's what we want in sport.

Ideally, you want a rivalry that has the best playing the best, but we know with tennis.

Sometimes that just doesn't happen because the other player won't allow it.

And I heard you say this phrase before and it bodes well, especially for this era that it's all about the two C's right commitment and clarity.

But what strikes me is when you have these elite all time greats, which they already are, that they're able to just deliver time and time again.

Because as you know, it's one thing to be committed. It's one thing to say you're going to do it.

But to perform under pressure when the bright lights are on it seems like just about every time these guys are in full commitment to what they're doing.

And they have the clarity to compete at the highest level.

Well, I think the other thing is they also they're so great that they have the third C, which is the most important one, the confidence one.

And those guys back up the clarity and commitment with confidence.

So they know that whatever they have on the day more than likely is going to be enough to give them an opportunity to get into the match that play their way into a position where they can win.

They might not, but they know that they have that ability to get there, even if they're not at the top of their game.

And so when you combine all that stuff together, it makes for legends. And that's the legends that being built right now.

Well, we're not sure when we'll see them play again. We assume it will be very soon, but Alcarez has pulled out unfortunately a Barcelona with the wrist injury.

Hopefully it's not too serious. We're not sure what Madrid is going to lead if there will be both playing or now we're not going to speculate on that yet.

But it kind of does show you right that nothing's guaranteed in the sport. And the other fact, Paul, if there is just a lot of tennis in general, but in the road to Roland Garros, so being selective when you have that luxury of being a top player is a huge part of the battle as well.

Yeah, look, if I were, if it were me, I would not have center play Madrid. I would have center rest for Madrid and just haven't played Rome.

And if Carlos is not well, I wouldn't have him play Madrid either.

They don't, you know, when they're that good, they don't need a ton of reps to feel confident, obviously, and play great tennis.

So for them, it's about peaking at the majors and sure the Masters 1000 are awesome. And they're, you know, they are the cornerstones of the tour.

They're not the cornerstones of the professional tennis game. That would be the majors. And that's what those guys need to peak for.

And the Masters 1000 right behind it. And unfortunately now with the Masters 1000s for their lens, it probably isn't great to know that there are that many days at them as well.

You know, it's a 12 day event and it's two weeks basically. And everyone's argument, I've heard it a million times is, well, that should be better for them because there's days off.

But it's, I disagree totally because I think that if they're at the event, they're at the event. I mean, that's a more emotional energy spent to trying to prepare when sure it's better physically, but two out of three sets for these guys, they can handle two out of three sets.

For five matches or six matches over a week. And I, and I was a big believer. I love that the longer 1000s initially. And now I'm like, there's too much.

If, and I know your coach of top players, well, but if you were guessing or doing a straw pole players that are top, let's say top 10, the top sees, generally an event.

Do you think they prefer, or they would prefer to go back to the one week for their schedule and getting matches?

I mean, I think the majority would, I wouldn't, you know, I wouldn't want to wager a guess. But I would, I would imagine it's, it's significantly more than 50% would prefer it be a one week event.

That would be my guess, but I'm not in the locker room weekend and week out. But next time you get one of the hot shots on your show.

And I, you know, and ask for caution, be a great thing for precaution to ask for just randomly. It doesn't even have to be for air, but just just to kind of take the temperature. I'd be very interested.

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Absolutely. Well, we'll see.

More of Paul Anacone here on the Insight in tennis podcast.

Talking to the coach, former player, tennis channel, broadcaster.

Tundra great storylines of the tennis world in 2026.

And another name that you brought up was Novak Djokovic,

who is announced to be playing Madrid.

So he's all steam full ahead for Rowan Garros and trying to win that 25th major.

You know, I still part of me just marvels.

I just, I take the broadcaster and head set off, if you will.

And just look at it when I was watching the Draper match.

Paul Part of me is just like,

how is it possible, right?

I know he's not near number one or number two right now,

but going toe to toe with Jack Draper under the lights in Indian Wells at his age,

at his mileage.

I just marvel more than anything.

And the analogy that I kept coming back to as a sports fan yourself,

he's like that veteran quarterback, that Tom Brady type,

and that you can't really fool him out there.

The guy is so smart and cerebral that I feel like he has pretty much seen it all.

I know he has.

And I think, you know, the hardest part is,

I would imagine for him is trying to manage his body,

because no one's taken as good a care of their body as he has.

And he at this age is seeing that it's a little challenging to recover and to stay healthy.

You know, when he is healthy, like I said,

I still think he's, you know, top three in the world.

But how does he stay that?

How does he sustain that over a tournament?

And most importantly for him, how does he sustain that over two week tournament?

That's three to five sets.

He almost did it in Australia.

He did a great job.

But also he had a pretty,

didn't he have a couple walkovers here?

Yeah.

Who said he retired when he was two sets down?

And it was after that, right?

So he had, he had pretty good opportunity there.

And he took advantage of it,

including an unbelievable match with center.

That was great to watch.

And he played a terrific first set against Carlos.

But he's just great.

He's the most accomplished male player in the history of the game.

And I just don't ever want to bet against him.

And I wouldn't because you just don't know what he's capable of.

But I think he's doing a smart thing to just kind of pick and choose

when he plays to hopefully give himself enough reps.

So that he's ready at the majors.

If you talk about Courage Under Fire,

the two biggest performances that I've seen in the last probably

will take decade were him in the last couple of years,

the Olympics and then the Australian opening and center.

All those break points he saved just to be able to lock in

and protect his serve when he needed to.

It is interesting, right?

Because you look at him and how he's playing Paul.

And as the tactical side of your brain operates,

do you see the adjustments as being a necessity or him evolving

with the times it seems like by all accounts,

he's trying to finish points quicker.

He's trying to go bigger when he needs to.

And as a 38 soon to be 39 year old,

that just does make logical sense.

And it does.

And look, if you look at the beginning of his career,

look at some of the video,

how he used to hit his forehand.

And look at some of the video,

the different kind of term mutations of his service motion.

And also watch him volley.

I mean, this guy,

I give him so much credit.

I'm such a fan of no back joke of it,

which is evolution and his continued kind of steadfast attitude

to keep trying to get better.

And I'm sure that's what he's doing now.

And I think it's a little bit of both.

It's probably a little out of necessity.

And it's probably a little bit out of

I want to try to get better too.

And that will help me be better.

Still trying to get better.

And again, I get it.

He can walk away.

Has nothing.

Literally nothing left to prove.

But then part of you is like,

why would you?

You're still so good.

You're still just so good.

Yeah.

Look, you got to them.

Didn't you get the semis of all four majors last year?

Yeah.

And so,

No warm ups by the way at the last three.

Just one, two, three.

Well, there you go.

So, I mean,

if he was out there and he wasn't winning any matches,

and it was always, he was always heard.

And you get nothing to fall back on.

I get the frustration level.

He's playing at such a high level.

And as a fan, I just,

I hope he just keeps going because I love him.

I was looking at other players too.

And you mentioned fees of players that

not going to say any time relatively soon,

but are showing improvements and trajectory to maybe get to the top.

And the trendy one is Fonseca.

And I understand given where he's from

and the way he plays and the investment

that the game and a lot of people around have in him, Paul.

But I do think, I mean, you could look at the tape.

These last couple of months have been a breakthrough

depending on how big,

but how he's been able to play

and how he's been able to push himself against the best

has been pretty impressive.

Yeah, look, I think Fonseca is not,

it's not just a, you know,

it's not just an if, it's really just a when.

And I think,

you mentioned ortho fees.

And it's the same with him.

If he can stay healthy,

he's incredibly talented and has so much firepower.

I don't, I don't see him being,

he's not as consistent,

but he's unbelievably dangerous.

And it can beat anybody on anything at any time.

So, so both of those two are names

that should be in and around the top five.

And we'll see how healthy they can both stay.

And Fonseca too.

I mean, he needs to mature a little bit physically.

I mean, he's still in the kit.

You can look, you know,

it just doesn't have the growth and the strength yet

of a 23, 24 year old.

So, get him a few more years.

But you watch him hit the ball and you see the power he generates.

He is just awesome.

They both are.

And one of the critiques I've heard about Fonseca

and it's fair, obviously,

given smarter people than me have said it.

But it was something you reference about center right

that his growth a lot was moving out of the corners.

Is that something that you think,

not maybe not just in Fonseca's case,

but is that a teachable,

improbable thing?

Yeah.

100% teachable and improbable thing.

And as he gets stronger,

you know, his balance and his power

and the ability to adjust positioning

will become easier for him.

So, as he gets stronger

and as he gets to where he can move a little bit

better, more explosively on balance,

it won't be so difficult to do it.

But more importantly,

it won't be so difficult to sustain it over a long period of time.

And that's what the top guys do.

You know, you watch,

or you watch Algross,

and you watch Novak in particular coming out of corners.

And after three hours and 40 minutes,

they're still able to do it, you know.

And that's just really tough for a teenager

who's still growing.

And so there's a lot of physical stuff going on

to really get to that level this quickly.

But no reason to panic.

He's doing great.

And he's on the right track.

Yeah.

And was banged up at the beginning of the year, too.

So that's all with overcoming and injury.

So, good to point out.

I'd love to add the Americans to this discussion.

So, I think there's a reason to be optimistic

about the depth of the game, Paul.

Another point that I wanted to bring up with you

and it was another coach who's been around a while,

maybe even longer than you actually,

Brad Stein brought up the fact that he thinks

that this generation,

this current landscape of American tennis,

is about as close as he's seen.

There's more camaraderie than he's seen,

and maybe ever.

So I don't know if that's how you see it as well.

Yeah. Well, let's just look, you know,

Tommy and Taylor and Riley,

and those three in particular,

but Francis too, they've all kind of grown up together, right?

And they've reached each other all through the junior.

So I think it's a really healthy rivalry

with those four guys.

And then you have the guys that are a little bit younger, right?

Is in subcortal,

a little younger,

Michelson's a little younger,

Nakashima's a little younger.

So there's guys that are,

you know, there are more good players

that are there, they're about.

And I think that will help each of them

hit new heights with their talent search.

And I think that all the names I just mentioned,

if they haven't been at the top 20,

I would be shocked if all of them weren't.

At some point,

because they're an incredibly talented players.

Yeah, it's going to say also,

like Warner or Tim,

we know Ben Shelton,

but I don't even mention Warner.

He's a little teenager and look at what he's done.

I mean, he's amazing.

He's already top 20 in the world.

And I've been fortunate enough to watch him for a few years

at a carston.

I think he knew Warner when he was 15 maybe.

And we'll start practicing out there.

And I got to talk to him and his dad a bit

and practice.

He practiced a bunch with Taylor over the years.

And he's just a,

he is just a very unique player.

He's a little Marcel Rio-esque.

Doesn't have one big weapon.

He does everything pretty well.

He can open up the court just as good as anybody

changed directions down the line.

The contrast between his heavy forehand

with a ton of spin and the flat to hander

is very awkward to get rhythm against

the difference in spin and trajectory.

And he's not just a pure server.

He's going to be a serve game player.

And I think Michael has done a great job helping him.

You know, Eric Cortland,

who worked with him for many, many years.

And I've got to have a good portion of working with Eric.

A number of times, Eric is an amazing coach.

And he really helped learn.

I think grasp some of the big picture things

that are going to come out when you turn pro.

Right.

Eric really built a great foundation.

And now learner is starting to understand the difference

between a server and a service game player.

And he's a service game player.

And he's doing it great.

So he's just at the beginning.

And it's going to be a fun ride to watch.

Second person on this show.

It was also tennis channel's own Jam Michael Gamble,

who threw the Rio comparison on this show.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So.

Yeah.

It's a sync conversation with him.

That's awesome.

It's very unique though.

That was the word that came out.

And it's interesting to hear the perspective

of seeing him practice with Taylor when he's young

and the growth there.

I think it's special.

I do think that, you know, we can talk about how nice everything is.

But they definitely don't want to lose to each other.

Is that safe to say?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Taylor doesn't want an American getting one over on him.

Probably.

I wouldn't want it any other way.

You know, really, which I think is a good thing.

You know, that they genuinely respect each other

and enjoy each other's company.

But sure, they won't get beat the heck out of each other.

They play each other, which is great.

That's what it should be.

This certainly is.

Certainly is.

I'm the women's front though.

Paul, I did want to mention, you know,

we can't talk rivalries and tennis

without Seville and Cameron Bakano, which has been fast

saying to see also the amount of times they played already

with three meetings before we even got to Clay season.

So I always thought the depth of the women's game had been improving.

We've seen it for the last couple of years.

But to add emerged and we'll see Coco go off Jesse Pogula

if others can join them in the biggest and brightest tournaments.

But it was Seville anchor who's been there finding a word

of the adversary now in Olena, Rebecca.

Yeah.

You know, Seville anchor, I think her confidence level

is a little bit more consistently high.

More Bakano's is.

But Rebecca's game is so big.

And we saw her beat earlier in the year.

She knows what she needs to do to win titles.

And there's no, it's really simple with Olena, Rebecca.

And I love watching.

It's a big serve and it's power groundies.

And she just goes about her business very methodically.

So I think, you know, it could be really dangerous

if she gets on a streak because whenever you get a power player

like that that gets even more confidence,

it's so hard because they take the racket out of your hand

and so little is up to you.

So I think all the women would be hoping that she's a little more vulnerable

because then it becomes a little bit better of a matchup.

But Seville link it to me has been amazing.

She seems to be having a great time with herself and her light.

And I think she's one of those emotional players

that if she does find that happy place,

she's impossible to deal with because she's really enjoying beating.

And it's a treat to watch her.

I look at it too with Seville anchor like in all sports.

There are players that embrace the spotlight, love the spotlight,

and there are players that it may not be for them.

Seville anchor embraces it.

And she's having fun with it.

It brings out the best in her too.

And yeah, you're 100% bang on with her buck

and when she's on a roll like she was at the WTA finals last year,

there's a five straight matches against the best players

in the world one after another.

It is tough to beat.

And I know it's not a true comparison in a lot of different ways

other than the fact that it's servers.

But you work with somebody and obviously Pete Samperist

that had that weapon and could get into that groove

and just be a master when the chips were down.

Do you see the similarities with how we're blocking approaches serving?

I know it's a different style, but when she's in a groove

and her second server is going as well.

Well, she can just take the racket out of your hands.

And Pete was like that too.

A lot of times you just walk from side to side.

You get to sit in targets and very difficult to read a serve.

And her blocking is the same way.

If she gets on a roll with her serve and sitting all the targets,

you only have just a glimmer of hope on the few second serves

that you get to see.

So I think it can be really challenging.

I'm really interested to see how Oko does on the play.

And also Jesse.

I think that they are two people that are outside the immediate vicinity

of those two, but are right there.

And I think already we're ready to see another breakthrough.

And I think just Coco Gough is a huge fan.

She's one of the best competitors in anything that I've ever seen.

So she wills her way to a lot of good positions.

Yeah, just the ability to stay out beat right when your serve's not there.

Obviously, or other issues are going on.

The conditions are bad, but it's not going to completely.

It just completes you up.

And that creates a lot of problems when you're athletic as she is.

And you're as disciplined in terms of staying in rallies as she is.

And it was very cool.

What a little inspiring, too, to hear a friend of the show,

a friend of mine, Mark Knowles, on here talking about Jesse Pogoo

and how they're still treating it like an opportunity.

Okay, Robachina's got your number now,

but there will be an opportunity if you keep playing well.

And I know that that might be the hardest part for some of these players, right?

Paul is like looking at them when they're just up against it.

Maybe have a four or five match losing streak.

How do you raise up again and go into a match optimistic like Pogoo is?

Yeah, you just have to find your, you know,

and that's why some of the stuff of sports science is so great.

Now you can find your way through analytics and metrics

that you have created opportunities in the past.

And that's why you have people like Knowlesi around that can do all that stuff

and dig it up and then figure out how to create patterns

that can repeat themselves with your strengths going against your opponent's weaknesses

that can stand the test of time in the big pressure situation.

So, you know, I do think there is an opportunity.

There always is.

You know, I just think that you just go out there and every day can be different.

You just have to live your way to it. That's all.

That's all.

Absolutely.

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A couple more things.

Paul Anacone here on the inside in tennis podcast.

We've got a lot to discuss on the world of tennis right now.

Going into Clay Court season, we're amped up.

And yeah, mentioning on that conversation with the women's game.

Some great names at the top.

But also like the men's game, we've got some new faces too.

It's been interesting to see the trio, I would say.

Like you had Andreva arrive first.

But Victoria and Boku and the EVOVitch.

So Calzone, EVOVitch coming out.

Teenagers that are, I think they're going to be around while I'll say.

Well, they're all amazing.

And Evis was another one that was out at Carson when she was a young, a young lady.

And I got to see her as an early teen with Modias who former USDA coach

who is, I think, one of the best in the business.

If you ever have the chance to work with Modias, you're doing just what we're just doing just fine.

She's amazing.

And she spent a lot of time with EVOV, a lot of the other younger girls at that stage

kind of helped build the right habits.

And now we're seeing EVO just watching her flourish.

I mean, she's so comfortable, so quickly on the tour.

It's been amazing to watch that.

And, you know, Vicki and Boku is awesome.

I mean, talk about, you know, talent.

Talk about the ability to just smack the ball.

She has a lot of talent, can play a lot of different styles very comfortably.

And she'd have any fear.

You know, that's what's amazing.

We saw that from Andrea, the last two and a half years.

Even as a, even the younger woman, young lady, she had no fear.

You know, she was, they're crushing the ball.

And now Andrea has even bigger, stronger.

So it's an exciting time for women's tennis, too.

I think there's a lot of great opportunities.

You know, we've seen people like Emma Navarro, who's had a bit of a struggle.

But she didn't get top 10.

Emma Navarro didn't get top 10 at a luck.

You know, she's a great player who worked her way up.

So I'll be shocked if Emma's not back there, they're about what she gets everything put together.

Because she's a tremendous competitor, too.

So I think tennis is in really good hands right now.

It's going to be a very, very fun period of time to watch all these players face off.

Especially in the case of Yovic, like you see Eva handling losses.

Like that was the last thing that you were wondering about when the essence good.

Okay, you're going to have some tough losses.

But as you said, just embracing what it's like to be on the tour.

There's one winner each week and we're on to the next and not going to stay down.

I watched play in the Billie Jean King Cup.

And I saw her embrace with LD and they were both in tears.

And it's just, that's the hardest pressure I think an athlete will ever feel.

An individual athlete to all of a sudden play for your country.

Nothing to me that's more pressure packed than that.

Because representing you, your team and your country.

And it's really hard to deal with that.

And I think Eva did a good job in a really tough situation.

She came up a little short, but that's the way it goes.

That's just part of the learning curve.

But she, I think, has a really good understanding of the macro picture.

It's, it's very fascinating to just to think of because it's why we like the team competitions.

We want to see I'll say a little bit of a revival in the team competitions.

But you had national pride, the tennis, it's just special.

I know, I know I'm talking to right in the 90s.

The Davis Cup team for the USA was pretty, pretty loaded.

Yeah, now they had some pretty decent talent on those teams.

But even those guys didn't, you know, I remember one year Pete was in Russia.

And the team won in December.

And there was just like, you know, barely even mentioned, you know, over here in the States.

It just doesn't get the same kind of coverage.

So it felt weird to me because I was like, these guys just did a monumental thing.

And, you know, there was a little article in arms or whatever.

Maybe you had a little mention on sports center or something.

But it was so minuscule.

And I was like, therein lies the problem with tennis.

It's very, very challenging to get that broad scope visibility.

Well, I'll do my part.

We'll try to just do ground campaign and get it going.

We'll do our best.

Well, before I let you go, Paul, this is obviously been an awesome chat.

Love sitting at the learning tree of Paul Anacone here on the inside in tennis podcast.

But, yeah, I mentioned it before.

You've done some, you know, awesome work with the USDA SoCal.

And, you know, in looking at what you've done, it's not just the on the court stuff with the juniors.

It's also dealing a lot with parents and how they're dealing with, you know, raising a kid

and maybe a foreign land, a foreign tennis space that they're not accustomed to.

So what's that experience been like working with the USDA SoCal juniors?

And great.

I've been very fortunate with Trevor Cronin and with all the good folks at Team SoCal

and Jason Cook and Diane Matias has done a great job.

They've all done such great things about trying to throw a wider net.

You know, they're really trying to throw a wider net.

And part of what I do is I go to camps and do stuff at camps.

We do Team SoCal calls where we do the Zoom where people are welcome to come on.

And we spend an hour talking about different topics we bring in specialists from different parts of the tennis world to come and talk.

I try to make myself available to some of the parents when they want to ask about the journey, et cetera.

So I think it's really been me.

I've been very fortunate to be part of it.

I enjoy it.

I'm doing something again this weekend at a camp at Claremont Club on the Barry Freedman's Place on Sunday.

So I get the opportunity to participate, to help.

And like I said at the beginning, just like when I coach, too, I learn, too, as I go through this.

When I hear parents' stories about what they're doing with their kids and what they're trying to go through decisions they're trying to make.

So it's a win-win situation for me.

I love it.

And USC SoCal has been awesome.

Now the USDA is going to have a new chief at the helm with Craig Tiley.

So that's going to be interesting to see what happens as well.

Yeah, it really well with the boom that the Australian Open had under his leadership.

And now he's coming over to the USDA.

It's exciting.

Yeah, I'm just wondering, too, if you have parents at these events that are all like telling their kids, hey, this was my guy when I was a kid, Paul Anacone.

Ever once in a while, there's never a member, you know.

I used to watch, you know.

I used to watch, you know.

All right.

Pete was my favorite or, you know, so you got a few folks.

But the people have been so genuinely lovely with me and have afforded me an opportunity to chat with them and learn about them and their kids.

And if I can add a little value to their journey, that's awesome.

I feel great about that.

Well, Paul, always a blast.

Again, I appreciate you taking the time to do this.

I did want to end with this because I...

Well, I won't get to talk to you on here beforehand, obviously.

But they're going to induct this guy, Roger Federer, into the Hall of Fame.

So I hope that you're in that first six section of thank yous.

But in all honesty, you know, working with a legend of his stature.

And then the fact that he's getting inducted the book end on just an extraordinary career that we'll never see again.

What's that experience going to be like for you having been a part of it?

Well, look, I've been so lucky throughout my tennis career.

And that was kind of... I guess that was icing on the cake, you know, being able to spend some time with Roger and his team.

And he has so many great people around him.

But I think the thing that's most amazing about Roger is as great a tennis player as he was.

I think he's a better person.

And that's... You can't say that lightly about...

You know, with everything that he's done, it's not what he's done.

It's the way he did it.

And every time I see Robbie and Lynette as parents, some like...

I don't know what you guys did, but you should write a book.

And just send it out there.

Because Roger truly appreciates life.

And he truly has enjoyed the journey he's been on.

And he doesn't take it for granted.

So I will be very excited to see him in the hall of fame.

But it's still sad to not see him playing.

That's still sad about that.

I miss him playing. I miss Rina playing.

I miss these legends that aren't there anymore.

But it's great to see him get into the hall of fame.

We'll always have, you know, the tennis channel app, you too.

We'll always have ways to just...

I'm good at this, you know.

We're getting there.

Paul Anacone.

Always a pleasure.

Appreciate you giving me time.

It's a blast talking tennis with you.

Best of luck with everything.

The team for its USD.

So Cal, tennis channel.

Thanks again for coming on The Insight in Tennis Podcast.

Thank you, pal.

Look forward to the next time, Mitch.

That was Paul Anacone.

This was The Insight in Tennis Podcast.

This is your first time.

We appreciate you listening or watching.

You can find every episode on all your podcast platforms.

Just go to Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, I Heart Rubber.

You get your shows.

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You can leave a nice rating in the review if you're so kind.

And subscribe to get every episode automatically downloaded to your listing device.

The YouTube channel is at Mitch Michaels for the full video episodes.

And we've got plenty of content coming down the way.

It's going to be fun.

So for Paul Anacone, I'm your host Mitch Michaels.

Thanks so much for listening to The Insight in Tennis Podcast.

And I'll talk to you soon.

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