Potential Third Round and Tournament Outlook

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I am reporting live from the Holiday In Express Valencia airport where I am staying one night before I go meet up with my other Atlanta gays. for gay games here in Valencia And let me tell you, I have never been so happy to see it a holiday inxpress I will never badly about a holiday In Express A again, I've been taking it for granted There is air conditioning Okay There is a snack machine downstairs, a vending machine with endless water Gate raid So does anything I need There is free breakfast in the morning in this lovely facility So yes, I'm only here one night, but I am so grateful for the holiday and expxpress. It is exactly what I needed after my day And despite how happy I am right now in this moment at eleven fifty seven PM Valencia time actually started my day in a better place, which is hard to believe because I am so damn happy here I started my day in London, England A a little place called the All England Club, Wimbledon for the draw ceremony. Okay? So I started my morning the way I have the last several mornings, getting ready in my tiny Airbnb with no AC sweating already, but I didn't care. I put on my cute outfit. I put in my headphones, I stomped the yard to Dmi Levato. littleittle bit of competris today as well, just to be honest, but stomp the yard to get to Wimbledon. My first draw ceremony and Serena Williams was going to be named in that draw ceremony I could not have been more excited. I was like pumped. I was anp. I was feeling so good. I've just had four great days at the qualifying tournament I walk in there feeling amazing, and then I'm like, oh, wait, hold on, what the heck do I do What do I do? Like, o, that's right. I came in very confident and then I remembered, o right, you have no clue what you're doing. You haven't really been to the main site much. I've been at the qualifying site go in, I check in Y'all, I have my own workstation at Wimbledon Okay, such a pinch me moment. Literally, it says the gay tennis podcast in this little workstation that is all mine. I'm so proud to be there. I'm so grateful that I was able to do that Anyways, they gave me a little welcome gift I'm like Honey, there' no stopping me. except I don't know where this draw ceremony is. So now I'm like, whereere's the main interview room? How do I get to the draw ceremony? I was like barely made it in in time, took the very last seat in the most Posh Beautiful little room. The main media center, as you would expect at Wimbledon, it's just posh. It's literally giving posh spice. That's the best way I can describe it. Everything about Wimbledon is so classy I say grass is the gayest season and Wimbledon is the epitome of that. It's just like crisp clean and the grass is so pretty and everything is fresh and fast and beautiful purple flowers everywhere. It is just like Perfect gay that I wish I was, you know what I mean? I'm like a trashy two hundred and fifty level tournament. you know they have the WT two hundred fif s and ATP two hundred fifty s that they like a lot of them. they kind of throw up in a parking lot That is what I am. That's the gay I am. I'm trying to be a gay like Wimbledon. You know what I mean On point always, everythingvery's set and perfect. That is how Wimbledon is. That is how the draw ceremony was, just posh. I'm trying to think of the best example of how to explain how I felt walking in there. And of course, my first thought that I had was of the real Housewives because that's how my mind works D don't know the real Housewives of Orange County. My thought was, I'm the Tamerra Judge. Tamerra Judge is someone who like showed up on a motorcycle, fake tits hair extensions. You know, that's me, ready to get messy That's me rolling into Wimbledon. and Wimbledon is like the Heather DBreu of Real Housewives of Orange County who's like classy, put together. always kind of on point And that is how I felt rolling into this draw ceremony where there is literally a woman up front who has a bag with chips in his oldld school style taking chips off and naming the names one by one for every every person in the draw justust like history and Just unbelievable. I was so grateful to be there Anyway, everyone knows the first thing I was thinking of. I was there for mainly one reason. Where is Serena Williams going to land Yes, everybody else there was freaking out that Jack Draper and Taylor Fritz are playing in the first round Okay, cool. loveove it. Thanks for coming. Don't care where' Serena landing What's her draw looking like by the way, circle and complete the circle of my day of how I started at the draw ceremony and now I'm in Valencia. I went to the draw ceremony immediately ran out of there, went to go get my wash and fold because I had to take all my cutest clothes. I had to get my cutest clothes that I' already worn washed and ready for these judgy ass queens who are going to be surrounding Valencia And here at K Games. So I wanted to look cute. So I ran, got my wash and fold, grabbed a bite to eat, got an Uber took it to the airport, looking for my easy jet If you listen to my episode with T Kyle, you know I a little nervous about using EasyJet. I've never flown EasyJet before. He put my mind at ease, said it was a perfect experience to him, the colors reminded him of Dunkin' Donuts, which is like his place of worship. So he felt like it was a sign and the perfect thing. And I have to say, I had a wonderful easyJet experience as well only thing, okay, here's the only thing that was weird about my experience flying There were two men on my flight who I saw with my own two eyes bathroom without their shoes on Okay, one guy had his hoves out. Literal his feet, he was barefoot, went into the bathroom and walked back to his seat barefoot. Like what Disgust And then the second guy which just had his socks on, but still no shoes, went to the bathroom, went back to his seat. I don't know if that's a European thing or easy jet thing or what the hell was going on, but that was a sight to behold. And listen, I normally trash Americans at the airport. People are showing up in their sandals, they're showing up in their pajama pants. Like I'm used to Americans looking trashy at airports, but I am not used to seeing people go to the bathroom with their hoods out Other than that, honestly, the flight was perfection, probably the gayest flight I've ever been to, maybe like one or two going to PV have been gayer than that. but I saw like rainbow sneakers. I saw people fanning themselves with rainbow fans So many queens on that flight to Valencia today because I believe the opening ceremony is tomorrow. I'm meeting up with all my friends tomorrow. I have no idea. I've been in deep Wimbledon mode. so I don't even know what I'm in for. but I know it's going to be fun based on my flight Anyways, so that is where I am today at now twelve o three I successfully got here and the first thing I wanted to do is give my instant reaction to Serena Williams draw You know, I go sit, I'm waiting for Serena's name to get called. And as I'm sitting there waiting, my mind is going and it's like Tony Do not get your hopes up too much. Okaykay. It's very likely that Serena Williams does not win a single match. It will be a miracle if she wins a couple games. Okaykay? This woman has been off the tour for four years at least. Really, it's longer than four years because she retired or excuse me evolved away from tennis In two thousand two after the US open But if you remember, she came back and just played like a handful of tournaments there in two thousand two before officially evolving away from the game And before that, she hadn't played for months We all remember her injury at the first round of the twenty twenty one Wimbledon tournament Not to bring that up. that is Th those days are long gone, honey. We are not slipping on the grass this year We all remember where we were twenty twenty one when that happened. and Serena really hasn't played much since then. So it's really more like five or six years since she's played. She's come in and played basically next to nothing Tw doubles matches She's been out raising her kids, living her life She's literally not played And so at this point, I just feel like I need to keep myself remembering like very low expectations, you know what I mean? Kind of think of it like you're going to a party and you don't really want to go, but you're like, u, you could go one of two ways. It could be like You know, I pretty much hate everybody, avoid them, come home early wish I had stayed home and just like You know, eating some sour candies watched the realal Housewives of New York reunions for the hundredth time and gone to bed Or You could meet a really cute guy or you could meet a new bestie, stay out till four AM, walk home buzzed, living, lucky to be alive, so grateful that you went. and that is the attitude I'm starting to have on here. Okaykay? I feel like there's we need to say the Serena butt. You know what I mean? And I don't mean the butt like come Like her tweet that she gave about Nadal, what was it? Me and Nadal are booty siblings. We see cheek to cheek. Y'all remember when Sra tweeted that about Rafael Nadal T iconic tennis butts, but I'm not talking about Serena's butt when I say the Serena butt. What I mean by that is It's Serena But it's Serena. So yes, she hasn't played. Yes, she has, you know, coming back in her forties She's only played two doubles matches But it's Serena And I'm kind of getting excited. I'm allowing myself to enjoy the moment and I suggest everyone else does too. about Serena as we head into this draw. I feel like there's a couple of key things that we need to be focusing on and looking for when it comes to Serena's return and her success The first one is always going to be the movement. That was the thing, the fitness and the movement was kind of the hindering factor of Serena's end of her first career in twenty twenty two. She just wasn't moving like she was when she was younger, obviously And That was something, the kind of the fitness side of things was what was holding her back. So that movement is going be extremely important We've seen the clips. she looks good in the clips. Okay, she's fit, she's moving, but it's different in match play. That movement is going to be very important when we're you know, kind of looking at Serena and how we think she can do The other thing is the return of serve If you watch those two doubles matches that she played, Her return was not what it needed to be I have played two GLTA tennis tournaments on grass. Thank you so much. So I'm basically a grass court expert. and I can tell you that even for me returning on grass, I found to be very difficult. It's just not like playing on hardcts It's just it's hard to return. The ball doesn't bounce high. It's not as easy to judge So I'm not surprised, especially given all my experience on Grass, that Serena is struggling with her return to comeb back And that's going to be super important for her because she's going to want to play You know, first strike tennis and her return was such a big part of her success Listen, we all know the serve. I think the serve will be there at least enough It's the return. you know, we remember those clips of Serena that we see going around where she doesn't even take a step and she's just whacking Return winners left right and center. sorry, Simona Howall. sorry, you Stremska Like we've all loved those clips and watched them a thousand times of've her just ripping return winners and walking to the other side of the, you know, the court, like what? Like it's hard. Okay, Ewoods So her return was not great in those first two matches. She needs to be returning well, She needs to be moving well. I think she'll be serving pretty well. And then the other thing to really think about is like how she holds up match after match because I'm about to get into these matches and I think she has a chance of winning a few. But we have to also remember like she just hasn't been on tour. So it's like you got to come back. Is she going to be able to come back physically and keep playing? All signs are saying We should not be expecting this from any human being This Arena butt It is Serena And I'm allowing myself to think about this. So low expectations. But let's see what happens. Okay. so Serena Williams name pops up right next to Maya joint Who is a tough player and a good player, a young Australian One of the few gingers out there. Okaykay, I know if she's been in London like I have, she's been slathering up so much Sntan lotion. They have made a lot of money off my ad joint this week withith her fair skin I've been dying in that heat and I'm half Lebanese So I know she's been going through it the last few days. But Mer Joint is a player who the last like over the last couple of years has grab people's attentions because she's good. However, this year has been a down year. She's only won a couple of matches And more importantly, I think, She plays a game that I think Serena can work with Serena has always kind of been successful against players who she can get a rhythm against. who hits with good power but like isn't always known for being the best mover, you know what I mean? And that's kind of what I think about Maya Joint. Like she's a good, solid player, but she's not going to be Lord, I keep bringing up all these ghosts of Wimbledon passast with Serena first the slip Now, Dare I bring up that mess disaster of a match in twenty twenty two where she lost a Harmony tan, God bless us, a match that never needs to be rewatched But Harmony Tan slices and dices and plays differently and That would give Serenena fits, I think, especially if she's not being on matches right now, like she's not So I think Ma joint is kind of an ideal choice. If you're looking for people, it's a person who's low on confidence, She's kind of a power hitter who's not known for variety And most importantly, she has not played a match anywhere close to the significance of playing Serena Williams on center Court I personally would be pissing my pants if I'm about to walk onto center court with Serena Williams Someone who's won there so many times, someone with such history, the goat. By the way, I cannot wait Let see what Serena Williams walks out in Can you believe that we are about to see Serena Williams walking out onto court with her outfit looking fierce Probably with those headphones in, like she's always had her headphones going in the year twenty twenty six, all we have been through. We deserve this Serena come back and I cannot wait to watch her walk out there. and you know Serena iss going to walk out there like a boss No questions As R is going to be come out there. I think she's going to be ready to play. She's going to be aunt, herer daughters are going to be up there And I think my joint's gonna be like, u She's gonna be slathering up that sunscreen, honey nervously. you know what I mean? Like, oh, I think I need to add a little more suncreen. I don't know. That's my thought I think Serena has a chance here. Again, like we shouldn't be expecting Serena to win this match, but I really do think she has a shot And if she wins that match pretty likely that she would play Alexandra Iala in the next match. Round two Iala is a completely different type of player She is someone who is used to playing with big crowds. She has a huge fan base behind her. She's a rising star on the tour She's a lefty. She's had good success on Gass this year. She's won many matches on grass already, which is key on grrass because it's such a short season. Probably most importantly for her is that she just played doubles with Venus Williams So she's kind of been around the Williams sisters, you know, she kind of understands the aura. It's not Serena But it's Venus and we all know there would be no Serena without Venus as she says So this one, I actually, when I was thinking about this match, I was kind of thinking it thinking about it in the terms of The second round match at the US Open that Serena played in twenty twenty two She played number two seed a net conivite. And that was the match that really Bue things up That was the match that was like, okay, she's playing a top player And it was an event. I mean, it's always an event with Serena, but that was a big moment. I think if she plays ola in the second round That will be a blockbuster match, cancel your plans Get a cocktail getet an edible, whatever it is you want to do, watch it stone hold overver. however the hell you want to watch this match, donon't miss it Iala is a player who is able to kind of use power, redirect You know, she's lefty She's someone who would be a tough out. E orr should I say but Serena Butt Yala does not have a big serve. It's by far her weakest shot is is her serve, which is why the old Serena, well, the old younger Serena Y'alls serve a Honey, she eat it up even on Row. Okaykay. No GLP one would stop Serena from eating up Y'all' serve So if she's returning anything like that She will eaty alla serve up and if she serves well, she can keep that match first strake match where the points are shorter I don't know. Now if Y'alla drags her into like a long match where the points are kind of crazy and Serena kind of gets wrapped up in a match. she doesn't want to be in She's in trouble If she can return well, she can serve well and she can stay aggressive I thinks she can push Yalla around. Again, I want to remind everyone She very likely could lose in the very first round, but I don't know, this draw could be worse I'm hoping Serena is able to come really put on a good show. and whenin One or two matches. I really think she could do that If she wins those two first those first two matches Waiting for her in the third round will likely be Well, I don't know if it's even likely But it is seedated to be. will'll put it that way. number three seed Egus Fonte, the defending Wbledon Champions. She won this tournament last year. She's a multiple slam winner. World number one for many, many weeks This would be a massive step up in terms of like class of player for Serena If she were to play Egos Fionech in the third round There's that butt again Okay, my booty sibling Egis's Fiancee is also not having the greatest year for her She's only played, I believe one match on grass this year and she just lost it to Ema Narro. She's been losing a lot of matches we're not used to seeing from her. I would I think you could say that Eos Fione' is in a slam which is why her tough draw is very interesting because guess who she plays in the first round Ms. Taylor Townsend And if you think Taylor Townsend is not going to be up for that match Let me tell you something else. and she's tough on grass as well. We all know what Taylor can do So she's going to be changing it up. She's going to be the kind of the type of player that I didn't want to see Serena playing. someomeone who's coming into the net, who's slicing who can hit every shot That's not who I necessarily want Sereinna playing. And I don't think Eagle wants to play that kind of player either And I don't think Taylor will like cower from the moment. I think she's going to go out there and want to play her game and give a good showing because that's going to be on center court But I do think Eagle will probably get through that match. If she does though, she's likely going to get Carolinea Pliscova in the second round. And Carolinea Fliskco has also been to the finals of Wimbled in, had a ton of success on Grass. and playing well right now So Eaga's draw is tough to even get to the third round of place arerena and Let's say it happens, right? Let's say that Ega gets to that third round It's kind of similar to the Iala match in that If Serena is returning well She'll eat up Yga serve too There's a good chance that Serena would have opportunities to break And if she can hold and Ega's forehand all crazy going all over the place Serena could be in that match as well Ega, we all know what Ega can do. She's so quick around the court. She can change direction, she can move you off the court. mean honey, We all saw the final last year where she beat I need some over O andL just moving all over the court And if she gets Serena in that kind of match, like that's going to be a tough one for her You know, and that's after Serena's already won two matches It would be a huge ask to have Serena beat Egus Fionech to make the fourth round in the second week of Wimbledon. Like the fact that I'm even thinking about that honestly is probably stupid But it's Serena. so I'm allowing myself, I don't know. We'll see, I have not seen one match. Like I said, this all could be a completely moot point. like she could lose first round ofaya joint easily. and I wouldn't be shocked by that, you know These are Professional athletes who have been on tour for all these years while Serena hass been raising her child and you know, making millions of dollars doing other things when she's evalved from tennis. But I'm just looking at this drawing and I'm like, it could be worse, it really could be worse. And this is just a hell of a section, honestly What a section of the draw. It's going to be so fun no matter what. L whether it's Ega, whether it's Townsend, Pliskva, Sherena I mean, Iala, like all of these names. this is an extremely fun section. If you're a tennis fan This is the section you want. This is going to be a fun section to watch no matter who gets out of it It very likely will not be Serena Williams, but I just wanted to come on here and say my initial reaction to this draw. is that It could be a whole lot worse for Serena Williams So we'll see what shape she's in. We'll see how she's looking. likeike I said, all of this is just instant reaction. She could easily not show up the way I'm imagining. but I don't know, we've seen the clips So if she is there and if she is playing well, I give her a shot in all these matches And let me tell you what I wouldn't want to see is Serena Williams into the fourth round quarterfinals of Wimbledon You know, if you're looking deeper in the draw, you're seeing names like Paolini Tssen Twson ain't known for her movements Haalini's had a down year You know, and we're getting get into the quarters now. It's like, if we're into the quarter finals I If Serena's in the quarters, I'll be back at Wimbledon by then Girl C't even. I can't even I can't even So we shall see. But yeah, I mean, she could be in the quarters. It would be Sinelina Costa If she were to somehow get to the semis, it likely would be Rabakana Anisimova. I mean these are the seated players. you know, we're getting in some really tough names at that point. You know what I mean? I mean, we're back going to be a very difficult match Anisimova, but this would be getting Serena into the semis. I really don't think we should be expecting Serena to make it that far at this point. especially like I said, two doubles matches like that's nothing If it were anyone else, I would say Serena would probablyroably los in the first round I don't know that booty sibling, you know what I mean Anyway, the women's draw is really looking fun Coco Goth has a pretty nice drow. She can get into it I'm also looking at the Madison Keys Anisa Mova section. They could play in the third round A lot happening on the women's draw, but That's my initial take on Serena Williams. I am really excited to see it. I'm really excited to watch her play doubles with Venus, even though I think their draw is extremely homophobic. I was so disappointed when I saw that doubles draw because of The William sisters win their first match. they would take on my current favorite doubles team Demi Ss and Ellen Perez. that would likely be a second round I am not ready for that. That makes me sad. so I'm focusing on the singles Rena's army. I mean, is Rena's army still a thing I assume Rina's army, they'll pop back up now that she's back. and I hope so. Rina's army was wild on Twitter back in the day So anyway, I'm really excited for for Rinna's Army, for myself, for everyone for Serena for the tournament for tennis like Y'all, this is what a time to be alive. Like I said, we put up with a lot of bullshit in twenty twenty six. So let's just sit back and enjoy this Serena Williams comeback I cannot wait to be back on site. Like I said, I am here now in Valencia. I'm shifting. My attention I've gone from Cassy Wimbledon Hopefully kind of trashy gay games. I'm looking to have some fun this week So mot exactly sure what my recording schedule is going to look like, but I've already recorded like what I think four Wimbledon episodes D substack. So I've got plenty of content out there for you h if you're interested