Latest / The Baller Alert Show / Episode 333 Tennis Star "Taylor Townsend"

Transcript

Episode 333 Tennis Star "Taylor Townsend" · The Baller Alert Show

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Blerler, Blerler. I go by the name of Ferrari Simmons.
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: I go by the name you know, beat Taylor Town
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: said of the building, Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey the
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: snap what's up?
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: What's up y'all?
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Wimbledon twenty twenty four doubles winner, Yeah, who.
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: Got the little people made me some chains and bracelets.
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: It don't look like yours, but it's okay.
• 0:21
  Speaker 3: Yeah, you have the fans making you bracelets and stuff.
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: Educated me though when you win. When you win Wimbledon,
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: what do you get? Is it a so do you
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: get a chat? You get paid? Yeah?
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: Definitely that I made sure. That was my first stop,
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: said ma'am. We're my receipt, like it's good to see
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: you again. It's like, hey, no, I want to talk. No,
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: but they give you a trophy trophy. But the trophy
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: that we get in the ceremony is not actually what
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: you get to take home. So they gave you like
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: kind of a smaller replica of it. And then I
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: didn't realize, but they actually give us like a detached base,
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: so it's like a wooden base that they have your
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: name on it and everything, and like the Wimbledon emblem.
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: And then on the like then you put the little
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: cup on top of it. So I was like, it
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: would be fun to like take shots out of this.
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: How long have you been playing with your partner?
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: That was our third tournament together. Okay, yeah, so we
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: started in Rome and that was in May, and then
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: I got injured so I couldn't play the French Open.
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: And it's funny because I ended up putting her and
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: Coco Golf together and then they won the tournament. Co yeah,
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: one time for Cocoa Golf. She's amazing. So I was
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: just like, hey, I'll take five percent from you. Five
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: percent from you really for my you know, my fee
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: putting you all together, because that was Coco's first grade.
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: I was dead serious. Coco was like, I'll take you
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: to dinner. I was like no, She's like five percent
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: is a lot. I was like, yeah, but you just
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: got your first slam. So then we're in the locker room.
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: She tells me, how about this, how about you win
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: here in Wimbledon And then we're even and I was like,
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: all right, I guess, but you still take me out
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: to dinner in New York.
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: Wait, so y'all y'all just whitched.
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: Yeah, because I got so I was supposed to be
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: playing with my partner, but I ended up rolling my
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: ankle in the tournament right before the French Open first
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: point of the match.
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: This is three years ago, No this year. Wow.
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: So I went and did rehab. I did like three
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: or four sessions a day for five days, and I
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: was like, I'm not ready to play, Like I can't play.
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: So I ended up having to fly to Paris to
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: pull out of Rolling Girls, which is like the first
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: time I've ever pulled out of a major event, like
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: major tournament. And then knowing that my partner was not
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: going to have anyone to play with. I text Coco
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: was like, hey, you did you want to play doubles?
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: And she was like yeah, I put them together. Then
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: they win the tournament. So it's kind of funny because, like,
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: you know, it was unexpected, but you know, to be
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: able to come back and then you know, win a
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: Grand Slam. I was like, all right, I guess that was.
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: Worth because that's very difficult. Now you correct me. For all,
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: you went pro at sixteen fifteen? Yeah, get me right? Yeah,
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: how do you go pro as a young tennis player?
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: When did you want to start playing tennis?
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: Well, I started four four years.
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: Old, you started wanting to play tennis?
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: Sure, yes, so yeah, I So my sister actually was playing,
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: and like I'm the kind of person where I'm like,
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: if I'm old, she's two years so my older sisters
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: two years now. I have a half sister that's eighteen
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: years younger than me. My dad wanted to do something crazy.
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: But we're not gonna talk about it, understood.
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: Yeah. So but my older sister who I grew up with,
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: like she was playing before me, and like, I'm the
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: kind of person where I'm like, if you're gonna do it,
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: and I'm gonna do it, and if I can't do it,
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: you're not gonna do it. So that was my thought process.
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: So like she would be getting lessons and I'd be
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: in the back of the court like picking up balls
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: and like throwing them at her feet. So she'd try
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: and trip, like hitting her with balls and like throwing
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: them at her while she was like having her lesson.
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: And then my coach always like kick me off the
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: court because he's like get out of here, like what
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: are you doing? And I'm like I want to play,
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: Like if she's doing it, I want to do it.
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: So I was always around the game. My mom played,
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: and she's the one that introduced us us to tennis.
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: My dad played football, baseball, basketball, so like athlete. But yeah,
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: my mom put the tennis track in our hands, and
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: then from that point it was just like, all right,
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: I guess this is what we're doing. To be fair though,
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: Like I didn't get to try.
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: Other sports, So you only played tennis.
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: Yeah, Like I never got to play, Like my dad
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: won state championships in Chicago women's coaching with his women's
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: basketball team. Like we never got exposed to like other sports.
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: So that's what kind of sucks about that because I
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: was like, I really I felt like i'd have been
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: five by I you know, I'm not gonna.
• 4:24
  Speaker 3: Say, listen, if you found your talent at a very
• 4:27
  Speaker 3: young age, I mean that seems like that's what happens
• 4:30
  Speaker 3: to a lot of people, even with basketball, like a
• 4:32
  Speaker 3: lot of people that played basket.
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you got a career record of two twenty five
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: and eighty six six career titles. Highest ranking was number
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: five last year. You're currently number seven. This is in
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: the world. Yeah, wow, in the world, in the world,
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: So how did you know, Like, at what point of time.
• 4:50
  Speaker 3: Did you know, like you were good enough to go
• 4:52
  Speaker 3: professionally at fifteen?
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: You know, it's crazy, Like I'm gonna be honest with y'all,
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: Like I grew up watching Being Cincrina, Like obviously they
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: were a huge inspiration, and then obviously having a sister
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: that's two years older and we're growing up playing together
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: like that was like the it thing, right, But I
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: promise you, Like I didn't think that it was possible
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: for me to play pro. So it was like I
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: always get it's very interesting to me when I hear
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: like other people in the same realm as me, or
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: if I listened to like some of the top singles
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: players and stuff, were like, no, I knew that this
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: is what I wanted to do. Like for me, I
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: was like I didn't think that this was possible. I
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: was like, it's a dream, but I was like, is
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: it something that I really knew and felt like in
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: my heart like I could do no, you know. So
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: but for me, I just kept working and I was
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: just like, well, this is the only thing that I
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: was exposed to and that I was around all the time.
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: So I was like, you know, it's what I put
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: my heart and soul and you know everything in It's
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: what I grew up in. This was my entire childhood.
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: My mom literally works at the tennis center. We're there
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: all day.
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: So how difficult is it to play tennis? Because correct me?
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: It sets? Yes, man, these sets are there three sets?
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: It can be so women play two out of three.
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: Two out of three, yeah, so two.
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: Out of three full sets. And then they've changed some
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: of the rules. But I mean the matches can go
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: for three hours, two and a half hours, like usually
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: the average is about an hour and a half. But
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: to answer your question too, it's the rules for tennis
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: with going pro are a little bit different because as
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: soon as you accept money. For when I went pro,
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: so if you accepted money or if you signed to
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: like an agency or something like that, then you revoke
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: your basically collegiate insula status. So for me, I hadn't
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: I don't think i'd played a pro tournament yet, but
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: I had signed within with an agency, a management, you
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: know whatever, to be able to help do things, get contracts,
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: so forth and so on. So once you accept money,
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: and then whenever you accept prize money, then you're technically pro.
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: They've changed it now because there are a lot more
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: kids and people who are going to school and the
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: you know, the NAIA and all that different type of stuff.
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: So they have now caps on like how much you
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: can accept, So now you can accept money up to
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: a certain amount without revoking that you know, eligibility question. Dope. Yeah.
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: Is the prize money at a young age lucrative? Like
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: it's tennis?
• 7:20
  Speaker 3: Mu?
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: No? Hell no no, And That's what I'm like, like, no, no,
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: I'll tell.
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: You how you want a tournament? How much did you get?
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: It depends on the level, so like you can go
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: all the way from like the lower level events where
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: I can tell you the least amount I made at
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: a pro tournament. I made sixty six dollars and they
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: took out a forty dollars entry fee, so I walked
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: away with twenty six dollars in my pocket. I drove
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: to the tournament and I was like, I had a
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: little hon the CRV, so I was like, this will
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: fill up my tank to give me back home. Literally
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: that was my prize money. And I was pissed because
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: I was like, why are you giving me this in
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: a check? Just give me cash. I'm sorry, I can't
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: do that. Pissed. I was so mad. I was just like,
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: how old are you?
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: At this point, I was like.
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: How old was I? I was like eighteen, oh, so
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: I have been I had been playing eighteen nineteen. No,
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: how old am I'm twenty eight? No, I was in
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: my twenties.
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: Wow.
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: Yeah, twenty fifteens. Yeah yeah, I may have been twenty
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: twenty one. We'll be right back with more of the
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: Buller Alert show.
• 8:37
  Speaker 3: So the majority of the money that tennis players make
• 8:40
  Speaker 3: us from sponsors and deals when you sign with these.
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: That come, that's the like residual money. Like the structure
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: of how things are with us is like it's so
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: bad if i'mna be honest with y'all, because what we make,
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: like you have to put back into you for travel,
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: you pay your coach, so whoever's on your team, that's
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: what you have to pay. So for me, for example,
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: like right now I'm traveling with my coach, my physio,
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: So I pay my coaches fee plus you know whatever
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: prize pay my physio, his hotel, physio hotel, my hotel,
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: his coach, flight, physio flight, my flight, my food, physio food,
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: coach food. Like, so it's so many expenses so it's
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: like people don't realize and that's why it's like for
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: the women, we also make seven times less than the
• 9:33
  Speaker 2: men throughout the year. So that's why like there's such
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: a big emphasis on, Hey, the Grand Slams because those
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: tournaments are where we make the most money, Like, those
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: are the biggest those are the biggest paydays. So those
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: are the biggest pay days in terms of check and
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: then how many points you can get, so those have
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: the most ability to like elevate your ranking the fastest
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: if you do well at the Grand Slams. So that's
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: where we have equal prize money. But also, the men
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: are playing three out of five sets and we're still
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: playing two out of three. So I'm like, hey, if
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: they're gonna play through this is my opinion. If they're
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: gonna play three out of five sets, I feel like
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: they deserve to get paid more. They're playing a lot
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: more tennis. But how about we close the gap during
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: the rest of the year where everyone's playing two out
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: of three sets, We're playing the same amount of tennis,
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: we're traveling the same amount, we're doing all this different stuff.
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: We're doing all the same things. So let's like close
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: that gap because it's like significantly different between the men
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: and the women. But the expenses are like the expenses
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: are outrageous.
• 10:32
  Speaker 3: So they don't take care of the travel when you
• 10:33
  Speaker 3: guys are traveling to these different countries.
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: No, no, So you.
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: Got the budget. Everything has to be budgeted.
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: Yes, Like when I looked at my last year spending,
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: I was upwards of like over one point fifty k
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: on just flights alone. Who just travel airfare?
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: Now, I got a question for you. How do you
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: balance training, rest and tennis, because I know sometimes you
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: have to get rest, Like do you have to shut
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: down at like eight pm? I'm not doing nothing, I'm
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: going to bed.
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: Man. I wish I could do that. I have a child,
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: I got a baby.
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: I wish How do you Okay, let's add that in,
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: add that in, So how do you honestly are you
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: in a relationship with your child's.
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: With my child's dad. No? No, no, And that ended
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: this time well March of last year. So that was
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: hard too, because like that was I was like, it
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: was so much to navigate.
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: Is he supportive of No? Yeah, he's great tennis.
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, he's amazing, Like he's an amazing dad. Like
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: supportive of like he's great, like we're friends, like.
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: We're literally like this is good.
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: Yeah, but it's just like it.
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: Just didn't work out, yeah, which.
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: I'm okay with, Like, but I told him. I was like, yo,
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: like this isn't gonna affect our child, like because I
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: grew up in a split household, So I was like
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: that was the And that's why it was so hard
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: for me to like pick myself because I was like,
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: I don't want to do this, and like I don't
• 12:03
  Speaker 2: want to raise my son in that type of environment
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: because I know what it felt like on my end,
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: like on the receiving side and even with my sister
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: and saw how it affect her. So I was like
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: I don't want to do that. But I was like, yo,
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: like you have if you're not good, like it doesn't
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: matter like what you try and do or salvage or
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: whatever like that, it's not going to be good for
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: the baby. So yeah, I just had to choose myself
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: and like it was a really difficult decision, and like
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: I'm a very selfless person, so that was really hard.
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: But like, honestly, I don't want to say because it
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: sounds kind of fucked up. With like the best decision
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: I've made.
• 12:35
  Speaker 3: But like sometimes the hardest decision be the best decision
• 12:40
  Speaker 3: that you made.
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: Yeah, Like because I really I really have grown so much,
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: like as a woman, Like throughout this whole experience, I've
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: really learned a lot about myself. But like in terms
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: of balancing everything, yo, like it's a new day every day,
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: Like it's it's it's honestly so hard. And then what
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: I've realized my biggest struggle is is like when I leave,
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: because I don't travel with my son all the time.
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: So when I leave and I'm on the road and
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: I'm alone, Like, I'm fine because I can create my
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: own routine and structure and it's all revolving around me
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: and like my schedule. But I really struggle a lot,
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: and I'm getting better, but I struggle a lot when
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: I come back home because then it's like you go
• 13:19
  Speaker 2: from everything being about you to then everything being about
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: everything else. Plus the things that you have to do
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: practice workouts, recovery, this that grocery shopping, jiu jitsu, practice dogs,
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: like house you know, so it's like so many different
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: things that like I have to juggle when I come back,
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: and it's just like it goes from nothing to everything.
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: I'm so happy for sharing this with you. And I
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: got a question because this is funny because over the weekend,
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: I watch the WNBA All Star Game, first time I've
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: ever watched that one time for women in sports, because
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: I feel like you guys are having your renaissance. Yes,
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: you guys finally deserve, but for tennis, and correct me
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: if I'm wrong. It's not like it's a league. It's
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: a sport that you have to pick and choose where
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: you go, how you rank. So it's not like it's
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: an all You get like an all star team tennis player,
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: and you guys get to like talk and be amongst
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: each other, kind of like how basketball and football have,
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: like you know, the all star things. You guys don't
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: have that. You guys just have tennis and it's year long.
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: So how do you pick and choose? How do you
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: how do you do this? It's not a league, Like,
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: it's not is there a what's the person that's over
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: the whole league called commissioner? The commissioner? Is there commissioner?
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: There is like the CEO of the WTA, which it's
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: like the organ like the governing body but that's it.
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: So it's like tennis is an individual sport, so it's
• 14:48
  Speaker 2: just you. So it's you and your team. So that's
• 14:51
  Speaker 2: why it's like so important that you have and like
• 14:55
  Speaker 2: I see my team more than I see my child.
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: Like we travel forty plus weeks out of the year,
• 14:59
  Speaker 2: like the.
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: Last event, and it's fifty two weeks in the year.
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: Our last event is November thirteenth to the twentieth.
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: So sometimes it may be through Thanksgiving or right before Thanksgiving.
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: And we leave because we start in Australia, Like that's
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: where we start the season, so that's far.
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: So you leave.
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: Now factor in like whenever you're gonna take time off
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: because we've been playing all year, we leave the last
• 15:23
  Speaker 2: week of December, so our off season is six weeks.
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: Is that why Serena took that break because she.
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: Was she they like and it was they've changed the
• 15:35
  Speaker 2: rules now, but like she used to only play the
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: big tournaments and play the tournaments that she had to
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: play to maintain her ranking. And when she played, she
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: was like, I'm gonna win it and that's that. So
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: she would play eleven tournaments, ten tournaments, whatever was required.
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: That's what she played. And that was it.
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: But you can't do that because you need to maintain
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: your ranking in a different way, correct.
• 15:57
  Speaker 2: Yeah, And I mean obviously if I'm going in and
• 16:00
  Speaker 2: winning everything, of course you can. You can do things
• 16:03
  Speaker 2: a little bit differently. You can be more strategic with
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: like what you want to play. But then the tours
• 16:07
  Speaker 2: are also making it a lot more difficult for the
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: top players because they're we aren't a league and everything
• 16:14
  Speaker 2: is based on the individuals, and they're putting a lot
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: of weight on the individuals to drive the tour. So
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: the viewership of the tour, revenue, all that different TV contracts,
• 16:26
  Speaker 2: all these different things. So they're putting the business side
• 16:29
  Speaker 2: on the performance of the of these players. So now
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: they're requiring us to, hey, you have to play, like
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: these tournaments are mandatory. So it's like right now, I
• 16:39
  Speaker 2: think it's like eighteen to twenty tournaments that are like mandatory,
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: like you have to play if you're in a certain
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: ranking bracket. So they're making it a lot more difficult.
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: So like players now can't do what Arena is doing,
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: where I pop in here, pop in there, play the
• 16:52
  Speaker 2: four slams, play three or four other five other tournaments
• 16:55
  Speaker 2: beforehand or you know whatever, and that's that. So tennis
• 17:00
  Speaker 2: is like kind of a it's a different type of
• 17:02
  Speaker 2: sport in terms of how you get your ranking because
• 17:05
  Speaker 2: you know, every tournament has a certain point value per round.
• 17:09
  Speaker 2: But then also it doesn't like start over at the
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: following year, like you have to do the same or
• 17:16
  Speaker 2: better the following year in order to maintain your points
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: or keep progressing forward. But if you don't, then you're
• 17:23
  Speaker 2: ranking drops. So it's a constant like yo yo effect
• 17:27
  Speaker 2: that you have on like on your ranking, like a lot. Yeah,
• 17:30
  Speaker 2: it's a lot.
• 17:31
  Speaker 3: It seems like tennis is like a privately owned company. Yeah,
• 17:37
  Speaker 3: it doesn't same like an actual you know sports, Like
• 17:40
  Speaker 3: it's not just one person because you know basketball, football,
• 17:44
  Speaker 3: they have the commissioner and committee to make decisions.
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: And owners and yeah you have a league, So how
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: do you retire?
• 17:52
  Speaker 2: You'd be like, I'm out straight up that didn't.
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: Make as much money as possible within it.
• 17:58
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and also so like obviously monetizing like you said
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: on endorsements and all of the you know, like on
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: and capitalizing on like your motion that you have, like
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: and that's why it's important to have a great team
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: because you want to make sure that when you have
• 18:12
  Speaker 2: motion and you're popping, like everything that you can get
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: you get. You know, everything that you deserve you get,
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: you know, right, But it's just so much that's just
• 18:23
  Speaker 2: lacking within the sport. I mean to be honest, this
• 18:26
  Speaker 2: is like a country club, rich people, lily white sports.
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: So it's like it's that's what.
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: That's how I look at it, right, Yeah.
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: But it's like so you know, we've had people to
• 18:36
  Speaker 2: introduce like the culture and everything, like we have Venius,
• 18:40
  Speaker 2: we have to reading like at the beginning we had
• 18:41
  Speaker 2: out THEA Gifts and you know, we've had other people,
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: but it's like, you know, it hasn't it's really not
• 18:48
  Speaker 2: what's wanted, if that makes sense, you know, Like I
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: think the culture wanted, like the people want it, like
• 18:52
  Speaker 2: we love this, you know, but it's like is that
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: what we really want within the sport? And I don't know.
• 18:58
  Speaker 2: And also like it's all always been the stigma where
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: we it can only be one like a token one
• 19:07
  Speaker 2: of us, right, you know. And it's like they accepted
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: Vena Senserrenia because they came together, they came on together,
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: they leaving the kicking ass like but together, so it
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: was like it was undeniable. But it's like there was
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: always kind of this thought process where it's like it
• 19:21
  Speaker 2: can only be one, like we can only support women
• 19:24
  Speaker 2: only gonna big up one, you know what I'm saying.
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: And so it's like hopefully, you know, through supporting each
• 19:29
  Speaker 2: other and showing like constant support like that, it doesn't
• 19:33
  Speaker 2: have to be that way. But like growing up, I know,
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: I felt like I was always competing against other black people,
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: like they played me harder, you know what I'm saying,
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: or like it's it's.
• 19:44
  Speaker 3: More competitive to be like I gotta take this person's
• 19:46
  Speaker 3: slot because it can only be one of us.
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, to get these.
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: The companies only want this one, like you know, we're
• 19:53
  Speaker 2: gonna pour if it's one, and if it's one that
• 19:55
  Speaker 2: we like, we're gonna pour everything into it and the
• 19:57
  Speaker 2: rest don't get anything. Like it's always kind of been
• 19:59
  Speaker 2: like that unspoken thing. We will be right back, stay
• 20:02
  Speaker 2: tuned with more of the Ball or Alert show.
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: So what would you what advice would you give to
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: a young girl that wants to become a professional tennis player.
• 20:13
  Speaker 2: I would say, like the best advice that I would
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: give is to make sure that you have like a
• 20:17
  Speaker 2: great support system and people around you that can protect
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: you to where you're not having to take all of
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: the blows and the blunts on you. Like that's one
• 20:27
  Speaker 2: of the things. And I've talked to Coco about this,
• 20:31
  Speaker 2: but she told me. She was like, hey, like I
• 20:33
  Speaker 2: just want to say thank you. I'm like, what are
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: you thanking me for? She was like, because of the
• 20:37
  Speaker 2: things that you went through with the USTA and everything
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: like that, like my parents, we stayed as far away
• 20:42
  Speaker 2: from that shit as possible. And I was just like, wow,
• 20:45
  Speaker 2: I never really thought about that, but that's amazing because
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: look at where you are, so like the fucked up
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: stuff that I went through, Like, I know I can
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: handle I'm strong. Not everyone can handle that stuff.
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: But I'm like, because Coco is younger than you, Yeah.
• 20:57
  Speaker 2: And so she just turned twenty I think, not too
• 21:00
  Speaker 2: long ago, but she was like, the things that I
• 21:03
  Speaker 2: went through allowed her to be able to navigate her
• 21:06
  Speaker 2: pathth so that she didn't have to go through those roadblocks.
• 21:08
  Speaker 2: And I'm like, Okay, well, if that's the case, then
• 21:10
  Speaker 2: it's worth it. Like look at where you are, you
• 21:12
  Speaker 2: know what I'm saying. So it's like not everyone can
• 21:15
  Speaker 2: handle those different type of things. But it's like she
• 21:16
  Speaker 2: also has like so you navigated through experiences that other
• 21:19
  Speaker 2: people had, and also she has like her parents in
• 21:22
  Speaker 2: the forefront to be able to be like, I stop
• 21:24
  Speaker 2: that shit, don't come over here with all that, and
• 21:27
  Speaker 2: literally her dad does that constant. I've seen it with
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: her own two eyes. So it's like, you're not going.
• 21:32
  Speaker 2: That's what Richard Williams did with being Cincrina. He's like, uh,
• 21:35
  Speaker 2: don't come up here, she says, she going in what
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: you ask her more questions for? You know what I'm saying, like, no,
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: stop that exactly. And it's like this is such a
• 21:43
  Speaker 2: lonely world and a lonely sport, Like it's you out there.
• 21:47
  Speaker 2: Like I said, like you see I see my team
• 21:49
  Speaker 2: more than I see my family and like my son.
• 21:51
  Speaker 2: So it's like to have people where you are on
• 21:55
  Speaker 2: the road so often and you're traveling and it's very
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: mentally and emotionally exhausting physically as well because we're here
• 22:01
  Speaker 2: there like bouncing all over the world. So I would
• 22:04
  Speaker 2: just say to make sure that you have like a
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: good group, a good circle of a support system, because
• 22:10
  Speaker 2: that's the most important on those times where it's more
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: often not where you're feeling down, like it's more often
• 22:16
  Speaker 2: not where you're exhausted, you're tired and be like, why
• 22:18
  Speaker 2: the fuck am I doing this shit? Honestly, So it's
• 22:20
  Speaker 2: like when you have that, when you have your support
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: system to be able to keep you up and to
• 22:26
  Speaker 2: keep going, keep pushing you, like you know what I mean, Like,
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: I feel like that's the most important to be able
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: to continue to move along that process.
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: Wow, Taylor Townsend in the building currently number seven in
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: the world, in the world, we appreciate you pulling up
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: on us. Yeah, and you gotta come as much as often. Well, yeah,
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: can you be talking that shit? I like that? Yeah,
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: you really be popping your shit. I ain't you always
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: welcome to come back to I.
• 22:52
  Speaker 2: Would love to. Y'all are fun. We can talk about celebrations,
• 22:56
  Speaker 2: we can talk about you know, whatever we want. You
• 22:58
  Speaker 2: don't gotta be all tennis next time.
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: Okay, yes, all right, and now we got a pep talk.
• 23:03
  Speaker 2: What's up you guys. This is Taylor Townsend and I
• 23:05
  Speaker 2: got a little message for you. Don't let nobody steal
• 23:08
  Speaker 2: your shine. Don't let anybody tell you who you are,
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: what you can or cannot do. I just want Wimbledon.
• 23:15
  Speaker 2: People told me all the time that I wasn't going
• 23:17
  Speaker 2: to be nothing, that I wasn't gonna amount to nothing.
• 23:19
  Speaker 2: I wasn't going to be a great tennis player because
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: of what I looked like, because of the color of
• 23:24
  Speaker 2: my skin, or just because of where I came from.
• 23:27
  Speaker 2: People told me that because I was number one, it
• 23:29
  Speaker 2: wasn't good enough. I always had to prove myself and
• 23:32
  Speaker 2: the accomplishments that I made weren't enough. So it was
• 23:36
  Speaker 2: always something that I had to prove. But never let
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: anyone take away the accomplishments that you make. Make sure
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: that you acknowledge yourself. Make sure you acknowledge the things
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: that you are doing great, because you are doing great.
• 23:47
  Speaker 2: So that's what I tell myself. That's what I'm telling
• 23:49
  Speaker 2: myself now. Can't nobody tell me shit, So that's what
• 23:52
  Speaker 2: I gotta say.
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: I can't get enough of baller Alert. Follow us on
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: all social media platform at baller Alert. I'll go on
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: to ballurlern dot com