Roddick Reacts to Alcaraz Loss, Zverev/Shelton Practice Court Drama, Sinner’s Season Ending & More

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Andy Roddick (1:23)

Hey, everyone. Welcome to Served.

Mike (1:25)

Let's get right to it.

Andy Roddick (1:26)

Racket rundown time, I think.

SPEAKER_7 (1:28)

Yeah, kind of by Wilson.

Andy Roddick (1:29)

Qin Wenjian is quickly becoming one of the, listen, if it's not Rabacana hitting number one, if it's not Zverev winning his second slam, if it's not the obvious Carlos is back and has a mustachio, if it's not Sinner out, one of those stories, she is quickly becoming kind of that next undercurrent of biggest stories of the second half of the year with her win in China over Andreeva. Had dropped to 160 in the world.

Elbow issues, came back too soon, went away again, came back again, was 121 going into the US Open, has no ego about playing qualifying there, goes through qualifying, makes a massive run, is now 23 in the world after her win in China, JW. How significant is this heading into next season?

Jon Wertheim (2:20)

Significant for all sorts of reasons. I'll also point you to what happened the week before the Open, two weeks before the Open.

She played in Canada, it didn't go so well, and you know what she did, she said, you know what, I love Cincinnati as much as the next guy, but I'm gonna skip Cincinnati and hold a mid-season training block.

What, I believe she went to the IMG Academy, went to Florida and basically busted ass and reset. And I know that this is not reporting, this is kind of informed. I know there were a lot of coaches sort of circling and you know, she's a young player, she's from China, there are all sorts of opportunities, maybe the Federation pays the coaching. I know there were a lot of coaches sort of buzzards circling, looking to see if that job might come open. It didn't. She and Pere Riba went to Florida, had this mid-season training block. So I'm just thinking this through. She qualified in the open, as you said, and it was a great story. She didn't complain. She rode the bus. This is a player who, apart from being from a country of 1.4 billion people, is an Olympic gold medal winner, been a long time in the top 10, no ego. So if she qualifies, I think she got to the quarters. So I'm just doing this in my head. And she won 13 of her last 14 matches. So this is extraordinary. Tennis is better when she is at the top of her game. She is such a good, it was her birthday when she won. So if she is only 24 in a few days, this is a really nice development, not least for Zheng Qinwen. I'm just going to call her Jacob, if that's okay.

SPEAKER_7 (3:45)

Let's just cut to the chase.

Jon Wertheim (3:47)

Don't. Is this Australia? But yeah, this is a great development for her. It's a great development for the WTA. And I think you're totally right. I think this is really one of the stories, at least of the second half of the year. What an ascent.

Andy Roddick (4:02)

And when people come back from injuries, there's two things that kind of have to go right. OK? Let's assume with an arm injury, you're still in shape. Like similar to Carlos coming back with his wrist injury, as a dummy talking head, I would be stunned if someone who is a professional and has been at the top of the game would come back and didn't have their C legs, right? Didn't have, listen, just because you're hurt with your wrist doesn't mean you can't run up hills. It doesn't mean you can't cycle. It doesn't mean you can't lift your legs. It doesn't mean there should be, it's like a knee injury where all of a sudden you're going to have to find fitness along the way as well or as much fitness. Now when you have wrists and elbows and shoulders, all of those things, you worry about what's the top end again. Does this person come back? Will they have the same torque on a forehand? Will she be able to create the speed that she created before, which she is, she plays with the pace, she does need power to win matches.