Jerome Coombe: Candy, thank you for taking the time come on the show. Candy Reid: Thanks Jerome. Hi Sam, how are you both? Before we get started, I'm taking over because I want to know about your paddle skills and what happened when we played on the paddle court in Jeddah. Sam, would you like to start? Jerome Coombe: Yes. Sam Jacot: Yeah, it wasn't the best morning, I would say. I blame the heat and the late night finishes, but then it was the same for you. So maybe that's just excuses. It was a tight defeat, would we say? Jerome Coombe: will also blame you, I won't blame myself, I'll my partner Sam for that shocker of a performance. Okay, that's a great way to start Candy. moving on. no, just, yeah, let's go back to the beginning. mean, you've obviously gone from competing and playing college tennis like you love to talk about, you love the college tennis route, you played it in Tennessee. Sam Jacot: ⁓ you're playing me. Candy Reid: Okay. The fact that you've lost to a 48-year-old woman, is that where we're going here? That's swiftly. Sam Jacot: Haha. Jerome Coombe: And you've gone from that now interviewing some of the ⁓ biggest names in the sport on the biggest stages. When you look back, ⁓ does that feel a planned ⁓ journey or into broadcasting or how did it work out? Candy Reid: Yeah, it was a bit planned, I suppose. It's always difficult to know, isn't it? Because I was in Uzbekistan when I was, I think I was 16 or 17. I was playing at 25K in Tashkent. And at this point, I was sort of wanting to be a tennis player. And I talked about winning Wimbledon five times, I think, when I was 10. And I'm lucky that I'm quite naturally sporty. My father was kind of a just below England international cricketer. My grandmother on my maternal side. Sam Jacot: Hello and welcome to episode 10 of Tales from Tennis with me Sam Jaco and my co-host Jerome Coombe. This is an independent podcast that is not affiliated with the ATP in any way. This week we spoke to broadcaster Candy Reads. Jerome, it was an interesting start to the episode. Let's just start there. Jerome Coombe: Yeah, it didn't take her long to quickly roast us for our paddle skills. When we played out in Jeddah, we teamed up to give her and one of our colleagues at a game. Candy Reid: at Junior Wimbledon, swam for Australia as a girl and my mother was a professional ballet dancer trained at the Royal Ballet School. ⁓ She didn't have the sporty side but my dad had the sporty side and maybe my mum had the flexibility side or I don't know what maybe everything just coming together so I always found sport very ⁓ So I started playing short tennis at school when I was eight and about three or four months later I was in the Nationals ⁓ playing again I think it was like the top eight or top 16 in the country. Jerome Coombe: it's fair to say she ⁓ blew off the court, you know? mean, she said, you know, losing to her, we be embarrassed ⁓ to lose to 48-year-old woman, but. in reality in the grand scheme thing she's using next professional tennis player you know she's she still got it you know and she showed in jenna but ⁓ not just of the episode and ⁓ a great episode overall actually really am really passionate broadcaster someone that loves the sport and loves her job and not really really comes through in in the episode which is is great to hear Candy Reid: after playing for three or four months. So I just picked it up easily. It wasn't something I trained for at that young age. I just really was natural at hitting the ball or catching or doing everything. And I did have two brothers, so that certainly helped. And I was always playing sport. So I in Uzbekistan at a hotel that only had CNN in English on the television. And at this point, I'm still thinking about becoming a professional tennis player, but in the back of my mind, do I love it enough? Was I good enough? Sam Jacot: hear her discuss right at the start of the episode. It was what, 4-4 and then we ⁓ got broken and they went on win the set 6-4. We're playing at like 11am in Saudi Arabia. Very hot conditions, you know. We'd been working hard that week covering the next-gen finals. Kandi probably been working hard too, so maybe that's not an excuse. ⁓ Candy Reid: And the answer probably to both of those is no. Sam Jacot: Yeah, one to reflect on and hopefully put right. But the episode itself was fun to record. As you say, she's so enthusiastic. She does a lot of work now at various events, working for various broadcasters, a lot with ATP Media and Tennis TV, on-court interviews and commentary, and had some real stories from behind the scenes of Sinner and Alcaraz at the recent ATP 500 event in Doha. And yeah, she's just got a real passion for her job, Candy Reid: And I started watching CNN and I saw Christian Armampour, who's an absolute legend, in the middle of some war zone. And it literally, it was like a bolt of lightning to me. I was just like, that's what I want to do. Sam Jacot: which fills you up as well and makes you excited ⁓ to work in the industry. Candy Reid: So when I, knew I was going to go to university in America on a full scholarship, which was incredible. I didn't know how much I was going to love that. and I absolutely loved it. That was an incredible four years. But I picked the university. So this is quite sort of forward thinking at 17 that was closest to CNN, that was kind of the best tennis that I could get. So it was top 10 University of Tennis, and it was a three hour drive to Atlanta, Georgia, which is where CNN was. So to cut a long story short, I applied for an internship in my third year because university courses over there are four years. I did broadcasting and economics as kind of a double major. Jerome Coombe: Yeah, precisely that Sam. Yeah, celebrating the 10th episode this week. It's a bit of a milestone for us. When we first thought of releasing this podcast, It's only gone from good to better and we're happy to see the feedback that we've got on it and to see it come to life. One of the aims was to get people from all corners of the sport and we've done that so far and we looked forward to growing even further. Candy Reid: ⁓ I got the internship as a tour guide which was a paid position. It wasn't really what I wanted to do but it got me in the building. So for two months during the first summer I just spoke to everyone, I made connections, I went to various parts of CNN which is massive because they have CNN International, CNN Domestik, CNN Espanol, CNN Headline News etc etc etc. So I just spoke to everybody I could. The next summer I got the news and the sports internship. Jerome Coombe: and we're always keen to hear everyone's thoughts. So we hope you enjoyed this episode and please make sure to follow us on the socials, join us for the journey and ⁓ yeah, we've got some great guests coming up. So we hope you enjoy. Candy Reid: I decided to sign with the sports people. Best thing I ever did. I love sports. It's been an amazing career. So that's kind of how it all started. Sam Jacot: Yeah, some journey and going back to of CNN to now your, yeah, a mainstay, guess, across tennis broadcast network and have a great job interviewing the players and being right in the center of it. How do you kind of make the move from the CNN's out to kind of role now Candy Reid: about this every day. I'm so lucky to do what I do and it is an element of luck. It's also an element of pushing though. And ⁓ I a lot of women don't want to talk about that. ⁓ And almost, look, you can see the other women going, ⁓ well, or the, you know, some guys as well, like, because you can't get anywhere if you just sit back and wait for people to come to you. And I do think I got that from America and being out there for 22 years, as it turned out. So I did 12 years at CNN on air. did world cups, football, European championships. I got to go to the masters. My clubs have played Augusta National. That's probably a story for another day. I haven't played Augusta National, but my clubs have. I've interviewed the likes of Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus. I mean, it's just crazy. And Tiger Woods, I did a whole interview with Tiger Woods from a studio. He was on a golf course and I lost my receiver. My receiver battery went out, so I couldn't hear a word he was saying. and I conducted this whole interview, which was about five minutes, him talking and me asking questions. And I just, when he stopped talking, I asked my next question. It was awful. That was like the worst feeling I've ever had. But anyway, we got through it. So you just go through all these ups and downs. You're horribly bad at the beginning, really bad. I had an amazing boss who gave me a chance and I kept doing practice tapes just to get better and better and editing them myself and producing them myself. and just getting better at my craft. then somebody, a wonderful man called Howard Sappington gave me a chance to get on air, which was just the most incredible thing. I think I didn't sleep for a week before I went on air for the first time. I was so nervous. Sam Jacot: you've really built your career hard work and ⁓ success has followed. that success leads you to events like well, last month now in February when you were out in Doha and ⁓ after matches with a players and you had Carlos Alcaraz, ⁓ the champion there. What's it like, going into that emotional bubble a little bit after a match when you're... ⁓ you get that direct contact with a player like Al Kharaz who's just won a big title. how does that feel for you to have that opportunity to be on court with them and soak it in a little bit ⁓ Candy Reid: It's the best thing ever, Sam. I mean, there's no better feeling because obviously I'm not a champion, but you're of sort of slightly living vicariously through them. And it's just incredible. mean, obviously Alkraz wins a lot, but just in the last sort of six months, everywhere I've gone for a 500, he's won the tournament. And so you kind of get that rapport. You get to speak to them before the tournament and media day. So you sit down with them between five and 10 minutes with the players. And I've done a lot of the next-gens now for the best under 20-year-olds. So I've seen Jakub Mencik at the beginning of his career, professional career, Lerner Tien, Giovan Fonseca, Flavio Coboli, Luca Nardi, Hamad Miljedevic, Art Afis. So these guys are really quite familiar with me now and they trust me, I think. So a lot of them come up to me and give me a big hug when they see me, which is just the best thing, because they're kind of my son's age. My son is 18. They're a little bit older than him, but... It's just so lovely because you kind of have a great rapport with them. They know that you're not out to get them, which is something that really you need to build up because a lot of these players, you can understand. Some of the questions they get asked, some of the people that approach them are not there for the right reasons. They're trying to get gossip or good for their followers on social media. I have no interest in any of that stuff. So it's just the most wonderful feeling when you go on court and you interview. And something I really take pride in. is asking a player different questions. So I really like to kind of understand and having played a lot of tennis myself, I did have a world ranking in singles and doubles and I have traveled a lot, obviously nothing to the level that they are. And I really, really admire these people. I think that hopefully comes across as well that I think these men and women who do what they do are incredible athletes. I think tennis personally is the hardest sport in the world to get that good at. It's the number one sport for women in the world. It's not far off there for the men. Many of the women now, the highest paid women in sports like Cocoa Golf, incredible athletes. So I find it's very important not to criticize and sometimes that doesn't work, but these guys that do what they do. So I'm always trying to find a different way to ask a question, something that they might go, ⁓ hang on a minute. And just one question that I asked last week to Carlos was, are you astonished by yourself? because I'm astonished by you. We watching, you guys I'm sure feel the same. Like some of the stuff he does is absolutely mind blowing. And he, I was expecting him to go, you know, maybe sometimes and he answered without ego. He said, well, no, not really because I do all the hard work. I know what I'm capable of. And that answer blew me away because he was so honest, but it wasn't from look how great I am. It was just like, I've done the work. I know how good I am. I deserve this. Sam Jacot: Yeah. Candy Reid: And if someone's going to beat me, then they'd better bloody play well. And I just find that so admirable for a 22 year old. It's absolutely bananas, isn't it? Jerome Coombe: Yeah, one of the many questions from last week's tournament that I do remember, there was a funny one, think. I think it was after the final you asked him about his, you what would you grade yourself on the week? And yeah, I think you mentioned it there before about the relationship that you've built with some of these players. I think the fans, some fans wouldn't understand how much contact there is between the media and players behind the scenes at a tournament whilst it's going on. And obviously we've... Candy Reid: Yeah. Jerome Coombe: been able to see how you operate at tournaments. Can you take us through maybe what a typical day looks like when you're on site working, what the preparation looks like? Candy Reid: Well, that job I do when we're on site and lots of other people do it as well. When we're on site, it's different from the commentary. So we are doing a lot more producing. I'm holding ⁓ camera sticks a lot. I mean, I'm doing a lot of the brunt work. We work with amazing cameramen. Unfortunately, I say cameramen, there's no camera women. So it is cameramen only at the moment. And I love them all. They are absolutely the best at what they do. But a lot of it, I'm holding the sticks that hold their cameras on. So it's not glamorous at all. So the first thing is essentially making sure that we've got what's called an MVP. So that makes our broadcast. When we do the interview with Alkaraaz, it's going live through the line to London where it's produced from. So that has to be right. The batteries have to be made sure that they've been on charge overnight. We get the order of play so we know exactly what's happening. We get the practice list so we know where the guys are practicing because we do, we shoot what you see sometimes in slow motion, sometimes we'll kind of get the arty bits of Alcaraz maybe, you know, hitting a forehand or a shot through his leg, something that you don't see from the regular camera on court. So it's a lot of organisation, a lot of preparing the cameraman and yourself for what's coming. Before the tournament, as I said, we do all the media interviews, so knowing what time the players are going to be there. One of my first ones, I was a little bit late for Taylor Fritz. I got the time wrong and we were still eating. and we had to like sprint there because Taylor's always early. That's like a panic moment. So you have to make sure that you're on it because that is unacceptable for someone like me. So I hopefully will never do that again, but I make mistakes, definitely human. I make mistakes every day, unfortunately, and a lot of it is just trying to avoid the mistakes. So it's just preparation, making sure you're on it. And then of course we have to be there early for a match to end because we go on court to do the interview and... Sam Jacot: You Candy Reid: As we know in tennis, we don't necessarily know when that's going to be. So kind of as a match is nearing the end, you have to turn the MVP on, make sure the signal is good. In some places in Beijing, for instance, the SIM cards take a lot longer to get going. So the machine needs about 20, 15 minutes to set up. Other places you can turn it on, it's ready. So obviously you don't know what's going to happen on the day, so you have to do it early. So there's a lot of rushing around because sometimes we'll be on court three doing practice. And then we have to keep an eye on the time to get back to the main court to do the interview. And you've got to be there 10, 15 minutes early. You need to have watched some of the match so you understand what's happening. I'm looking at the stats. I mean, it's just bananas. You have to be really on it. There's a lot of stress involved. And my job also is keeping the cameraman with low stress. Then the cameraman shoots the match point. So he'll film the match point. Then we have to change the lens. This is all bananas and there's lots of little bits and... Remember these lenses are like thousands of pounds so I have to be really careful I don't drop it. Another thing that I haven't done yet but there's lots of little bits like the cap on the end of the lens and the end bit and that has to go in the bag that's safety and then the other one has to come out and be fixed on time to go on air and meantime the main host broadcaster generally is doing the on-air interview for the house so we've got a few more minutes then the player might hit a few balls out of court then we go on. And then afterwards, the cameraman will then go and shoot the beginning of the next match. So we have to again change lenses. I have to pull the microphone out of the camera socket. There's a lot that's going on here. And it's very difficult. You kind of have to remember everything. So I write lists of what I do well and what I've done badly, and then try to ignore what I've done badly and only do the stuff I've done well. But there are some mess ups, I can tell you that. We just try to do the best we can not to make them. Jerome Coombe: Hmm Candy Reid: So it's a lot of momentum, it's a lot of adrenaline, but it's so fun. Sam Jacot: ⁓ hectic but enjoyable for sure it seems ⁓ with that, Candi, guess as you're running around backstage, you're also to, keep on the match in a way as you you know, question sort of ⁓ lead the right narrative, I terms what's happened. When you are going in those stages ⁓ seeing the players, we spoke to Stuart recently and other on the podcast who enjoy looking at Candy Reid: Amazing. Sam Jacot: I guess the quirks and personalities of the players that you see away from maybe the core and I quite enjoy that when I'm on site much do you enjoy that side of role and yeah any kind of stories or any players little quirks in particular you want to pick out like Rafa for example I remember Rafael Nadal in Madrid a few years ago literally like holding the door open for everyone and waiting for about 20 people to pass Candy Reid: yeah, I love the nice guys. That makes such a big difference. really, to be a brilliant athlete, brilliant tennis player and be really nice. I mean, that's why we all love Roger Federer, isn't it? Because he's just really, really nice and he looks like, you know, he could meet your grandmother, he could meet your child and you'd all be friends. And the same with Rafa. I mean, they're just two of the best ever. I think just going onto a story, something, a bit of recency bias. But Janik Sinner lost to Jakub Mencik in the quarterfinals in Doha and he really wasn't playing well. You could tell when we were doing practice a lot, he was mishitting. He just didn't look like the Janik Sinner that wins things a lot. I felt he wasn't going to win that title watching practice. So he loses in the quarterfinal to Mencik. Mencik has the best day of his life, biggest win of his career. He's all smiles. Sinner turns up at the flash zone. So sometimes there's press conferences. If there's not enough for a press conference, which is a big deal. Journalists wise they'll go to a flash zone. So all the sponsor board will be behind them You guys know but maybe people listening don't and so there's kind of a board with all the sponsorship and the players will come and maybe a two or three journalists will come and interview them So he and Jakub Mencik turn up at a roughly the same time. I think it was around 2 a.m. In the morning I'm hearing this from a journalist because I wasn't there. I've gone back to bed by this point. We've done our stuff And they turn up at the same time Mencik has won Sina hasn't so Sina says to Mencik You go first, because you've got a play later today in about 12 hours. You know, I'm done with the tournament, which I thought firstly is amazingly gracious because Sinner had had a bad loss. He's the number two seed. He could have gone, right, I'm doing this and getting out of here. He didn't. He let Menchik go first. Then Sinner does his chat with the media. Then about 20 or so fans had stayed back all this time to get his autograph. And I know this because they were asking me, where's Yannick Sinner? When's he coming? When's he coming? This is about midnight probably. And I was like, I'm not really sure. But they'd waited until 2.30. Sinner, only after his splash zone interviews, goes and signs every autograph, goes and takes all the pictures. Remember, he's lost. He has lost in the quarterfinals of a 500 level tournament. He could have been, I'm out of here, you know, just pay the fine. I'm not doing press. I'm going home. He does the press. He does the interviews. He does the selfies. He's such a gentleman. And I really respect that. I think that's absolutely amazing. and what another ambassador for tennis. mean, at the top of tennis, we've just got incredible, incredible people. What was the first part of your question? Because I've gone on a bit, sorry. Jerome Coombe: Mmm. Sam Jacot: No, I think you've kind of answered it terms of just, important it is to maybe know those personality quirks in terms of building relationships with these guys. And I think what we've got in tennis across both the men's game and the women's game are, ⁓ yeah, great personalities at the top. I don't know if that's, ⁓ ⁓ coincidence. But I think if you, I think if you're grounded and humble and have good morals and good work ethic and good principles, I'm not surprised it leads you so much success. Candy Reid: Yeah, just about that. I mean, you can see from the families, I think tennis players largely are quite educated people. They come from pretty decent backgrounds. ⁓ I think parents insist on good manners, generally speaking, not always. I wish it was always, but I think that is the case. And I also think, and you guys know this, tennis makes you humble because you could be the best player in your county, in your team, in your club, in your nation. Once you start playing international tennis, everything changes and now you are no longer the best. And so if you had an ego, it's no longer there because you know tomorrow you can be humbled and made to look really silly very fast. So you can't go around going, look, I'm the woman or I'm the man, I'm the best here, because that's probably not the case. Even sinner, someone as good as him gets beaten in the quarterfinals. So I think tennis does teach you that lesson quite quickly. And if you come in with kind of like, look at me, how great. going to change very, very fast. And the other thing is, think, because tennis is an individual sport and these guys and women are traveling all day long, you know, they're in different countries, different hotels, different situations, you have to have friends. You have to be a relatively decent person to have quite a decent life. Because if you're on your own out there and it's just you, maybe with a coach, and you have nobody to speak to, I think that must be just the worst thing ever. So I think for that reason, personalities are developed and understanding of how to make friends, look people in the eye. and generally be a decent person is amazing. I also think just having met the parents say of Jalfon Secker or from Jakub Menšić or from Havad Vjerović, the parents are so lovely. Artofis's dad, and he gives me like the biggest bear you've ever seen. They're nice, they're just so nice. And Alkaraž's dad is almost always there. And Sinner's parents, as we know, he's got an adopted brother. I think they're just so caring and lovely. And he said in the media day interview, and this may not have come out live, that He wishes his family could watch him more. You they're really ⁓ a close unit. And after all, they're incredible tennis players and they've got lots and lots of money. But if you're not a decent human being, you what kind of life do you have? I'd rather be a decent human being. I think we all would, right? Jerome Coombe: I think it's the same for those in the media and those who work in tennis. It's kind of like a close knit circle. You're going to these tournaments and you're seeing the same people week in, week out and from your perspective being on the tour for many weeks across the year, let's start with the ATP Tour. Are there any trends you're noticing in terms of the state of the game? Any fun predictions you may have? Candy Reid: Well, I think the state of game is just getting incredibly physical, isn't it? I these guys are hitting the ball so hard. They are working so hard. I love to speak to the strength and conditioning trainers. Lapo Beccarini, the S &C coach of Art of Fies is a good friend and I know how hard he works. His demands on himself, not only Artur, are incredible. There is a plan for everything. And I heard a snippet, this is outside tennis, but Justin Rose, the British golfer, was talking about how he's got an RV now and it's kitted out. with a cold plunge. It's got a sauna in there. He's got a eucalyptus shower. I mean, this science behind professional sport nowadays is mind blowing. And obviously you can't do that if you don't have his kind of money. If you're not top 50, you know, we're close to doing that kind of stuff. But they're all the marginal gains are incredible. I had Dr. Brian Moore, who works for Orico on my podcast last month. And he was talking about how they now can predict hamstring injury within 11 minutes. Sam Jacot: ⁓ wow. Candy Reid: The science behind things is just getting to a point where I don't really understand it. And it's a little bit scary if you're not in the know, because you think, well, all my competitors maybe know this stuff and I don't. So you're trying constantly to get, you know, talking to the racket stringer, to get the balance of your strings right, to work on your strategy, your technique, your tactical, your material you're using. know, everything is down to a fine art. And it's just getting more and more, the marginal gains everyone's realizing half a percent can make me into the top 50 and another quarter of a percent can get me into the top 20. So the fine details and the people that you surround yourself with is so important. And we see the entourages largely getting bigger and bigger, don't we? Because everybody's realizing they need that specialized knowledge. So I think that's the part of the game to me that is really getting slightly even out of control. Jerome Coombe: Hmm. I think I saw an interview the other day with with Holgerun as a prime example, know, with his injury, you the normal recovery time was probably a lot longer and he's obviously worked out a way that he could be back within within the next month, I think. But we'll see if. Candy Reid: Yeah, I think that's true. spoke to Lars Kristiansen and his mum, Annika Roonout in Doha, and obviously they don't want to put a number on it and they're being very, very cautious with the comeback. But yeah, he's in Doha for a reason. And I saw an Instagram picture I think he put on him. He looks like the bionic man. He's got this whole outfit and he's on a treadmill. And they obviously are looking at how he's running his gait, like how the Achilles injury that he suffered in Stockholm last year is... healing, you how much load he can do. I mean, it's incredible, isn't it? The preciseness. Sam Jacot: yeah, he's very driven as which I think these guys all are, aren't they, in terms of they get told the science, ⁓ this is what you need to do, and if they go and it, they don't, you know, they don't question stuff, which is important. And then on the WTA side, there's ⁓ a load of depth now right through the game and quite compared the men's game of Alcraz and Cine, you've got many more challenges, I guess, at the top. Candy Reid: Yes. Yeah, I think there's so many people that now can win a major, aren't there? If we were just thinking about it at the Australian Open, I think I saw 10 potential candidates. I mean, obviously, Irina Sabalenko is the world's best and there's somebody who's really put the effort into finding out the best ways of doing things. She's got Jason Stacey, who's not just S and C, he's kind of like the whole guru of how she can make herself better. She's added Max Mianni onto the team alongside her coach, Anton Dubrov. She's got guy who's a hitter called Andrei Vasileski, his name is, and apparently he can, ⁓ what's the word, he can, ⁓ let's just say Sabalenka's playing Jessica Pagula, he can practice with Sabalenka like Pagula plays. He can mimic, that's the word I'm looking for. So yeah, isn't that crazy? So if she's playing Cocoa Golf, he can then add like spin, or if she's playing Eager, he can do what Eager does, apparently. Sam Jacot: Wow, it's impressive, yeah. Candy Reid: I mean, to have someone on your team like that. And obviously he's, you know, he's being paid well, he's traveling all the time. But she is someone who's taken fitness and strength to another level. I mean, the woman hits the ball so hard. And she also looks like she's having fun out there. And I think a little bit of it is an act because you have to, you can't always be having fun and have a big grin. But it seems like Sabalenka quite enjoys her life off the court. She's always posting videos and making life good. And then you've got Elena Rabakhanov. I actually did predict she was going to win. the Australian Open, it wasn't a massively wow prediction because she'd won the WTA finale. And I think off the court, she's a lot more settled. For so much of the time when Stefanoff Vukov, her coach, was outcast from the WTA Tour, she just kind of pale and withdrawn and like she wasn't very happy. So think having him back in her corner is really helpful. Amanda Anismova, twice major finalist, is incredible. Jasmine Paolini's lost a little bit, but she's exciting for the game and hopefully she'll be back and doing really well again. You've got Coco Goff, twice major singles champion. ⁓ I really believe in the right hands, Coco Goff could have won eight or 10 by now. I think she should, and I think it would be a shame if she doesn't. I think personally, she's the most important person for women's tennis because she's young, she's exciting, she's vibrant, she is the highest paid woman in sports. I mean, she's got great parents behind her. Whenever I see her, I don't know Coco at all, but she always looks you in the eye and says hello, which I mean, for a youngster, I think is brilliant. She's had so much pressure on her shoulders since she was 15. I really hope that she is able to find a way to win majors consistently for the WTA Tour. That would be unbelievable. So I hope that will happen. But yeah, the cast of characters, Eges Fonteck having now... won Wimbledon. I mean, how crazy was that that she hadn't won a title in 2025 and the first ones on the grass at Wimbledon? It was a shame about the final, but still amazing player. And she's so driven, isn't she? And then we've got some youngsters coming up like Ivo Jovic, who's what 19. She's incredible. Vicky Mboka, what a revelation she is. Karolina Mukova is my personal favorite player to watch because I just love her all court game. And now she's she's won another title. Can you imagine? mean, her first title, her only title. Jerome Coombe: Hmm. Sam Jacot: Yeah. Yeah, for our two. Candy Reid: before she won in Doha was in Seoul in 2019. She hadn't won a title since then. Sam Jacot: Yeah, she's way too good not to as well. Candy Reid: Exactly. Sam Jacot: linked to that, with the next gen tournament that you've obviously done a lot of work at, who from the men's side then would you want to keep an eye on year. Yeah. Jerome Coombe: I think we know answer to this. Candy Reid: Oh, yeah, you know, aunt, so in Jow from Seiko, I just absolutely love him. I've said it before, and I'm going to say it again, but I'm hoping he's going to be my potential future son-in-law. This is going to be in about 10 years. I mean, it does sound a bit weird when I say that, but I have a 16 year old daughter and they would make a great couple. I've already spoken about her, you know, it with her and I've actually talked about it with Bia Haddad-Meyer. I haven't spoken to Jow himself, but I'm sure he'll be fine with it. Sam Jacot: Ha! Ha ha! Jerome Coombe: Mm. Sam Jacot: Ha. Ha ha. Candy Reid: I've met his parents, it's all good. It's not too weird. But I absolutely love the way he plays and the boy, mean, the audience, the crowds that the Brazilian gets whenever he plays, matter if he loses, it's absolutely, it's like a football game. It's like the World Cup final when João Fonseca is playing. Lerner Tien is amazing. I did his, funnily enough, about four years ago, I think he was in the final of the US Open boys. And I did that match. And quite honestly, I was thinking, I'm not sure his game is going to translate to the ATP tour. Sam Jacot: Yeah. Candy Reid: I was wrong. He is brilliant. And I think with Michael Chang behind him, I love the way he plays. So close to the baseline, opens up angles that you don't even believe exist. He does it all with an average serve that stays low. It's not pacey. He's brilliant for the game. I'm hoping that Hamad Majedovic comes up again. He won the next end three years ago and he's had some injuries. Coached by Jorge Aguirre, who used to coach Alejandro Davidovich. You know, I think he's a brilliant coach. So I'm hoping he's going to do really well. I really like Luke O'Nardy. He had that massive win, he, over Novak Djokovic, but he's been injured recently and he is such a nice guy. Flavio Kaboli was also there three years ago when Hamad won and he's just won another title. Kaboli, he won in the US. He's an exceptional talent and such a fun guy. That tournament really produces some great players, doesn't it? You were there last year, that's when I met you two. Sam Jacot: Mmm. Candy Reid: Maybe you could answer the same question. Who's your favorite? Jerome Coombe: Well, there's one player that you didn't mention, which I thought you would have, which would be someone from your college roots. You know how you love to talk about your college roots, Rafa Khadar. Candy Reid: I love Rafa. And he's just gone pro, hasn't he? He's left the University of Virginia and gone pro. Raphael Hoda, I think he and Alexander Blocks, the Belgian guy, are going to be better a little bit later because of how tall they are. I think kind of mid-20s to late-20s, they're going to come into their prime. That would be my prediction, especially with Blocks as well. Jerome Coombe: what in what in what way what makes you say that Candy Reid: Well, I just think they are very tall and very lean. So I think there's some muscle that's going to be built. I think they need to be very careful because I think their bodies will break down just given their height. They're not like a Lerner Tien or a Jauffre Fonseca, a little bit shorter, a little bit stocky and stronger. So I think they'll get better as they get older. Alexander Blocks is very exciting. And Raphael Collignon from Belgium as well. I think he's really good. There's a young German guy called Justin Engel who's extremely exciting. Sam Jacot: Mmm. Candy Reid: He's great. think Nikolai Budkov, who was in Next Gen and I actually did him in Davis Cup action, Norway versus Britain. He's really good and he really believes he's good as well. There's Dino Prismich. mean, the names are just absolutely bananas. And these guys are all so lovely and you kind of see them in Next Gen being quite raw to the media. You know, they're not quite sure what they're doing and you know, who's with them and they're all just really lovely. And then they become really kind of... Sam Jacot: Yeah. Candy Reid: and glistening, but we capture them right at the beginning of their careers. So so exciting to see the journey. Sam Jacot: Yeah, that's what I like about that event. My first one for Next Gen was the year Alcraz won in 2021. And he was just, yeah, amazing to kind of see him. Yeah, so raw at that point, especially with his media stuff. Even more smiley and yeah, just so lovely. Yeah, there's loads. Fee's obviously played ⁓ Next Gen before and he's a little bit more established already. Candy Reid: ⁓ amazing. Yeah. Sam Jacot: Landalufe, the Spanish guy, but we could go on. But instead we'll just wrap up with some quickfire questions ⁓ finish. based on the players that you've interviewed over the years, who do you think would transition into the best broadcaster? Candy Reid: ⁓ yeah. Ooh, that's a good one. That's a really good one. I think, let's say on the men's side, I go for Flavio Cavalli, because I think he's got a great personality. And I think he- Jerome Coombe: Mm-hmm. Sam Jacot: He does the ATP, ATP social admin stuff, so he takes over the admin account, the account for a day for bit of fun. ⁓ Yeah. Candy Reid: Yes. Yeah. I will say that I've beaten Flavio Caballi at a three-point basketball game in Hamburg. So whenever you interview him, you have to ask him about the British journalist, the female that beat him in basketball. So make sure you mention that. But he took that really well, actually. I think I nailed 11 three-pointers in a row. And he did. I think he missed on his third. So it was just lucky. I was lucky. Sam Jacot: have you. Jerome Coombe: Wow. Paddle and basketball. Sam Jacot: ⁓ wow. Candy Reid: And it wasn't quite from three point range. I have to admit that as well. But yeah, I think he'd be great. And on the women's side, I think you've got to go for Coco. I mean, she's just so bright, isn't she? She's got all the questions. I think she could conduct a really good interview and ask some really thoughtful, kind of provoking questions. Jerome Coombe: And what's your favourite event that you've ever worked at? Candy Reid: That's really tough. That's nasty, Jerome. That is mean. I thought you were a nice guy. Wimbledon's, mean, Wimbledon's kind of like so close to my heart. I absolutely love Wimbledon. Every time I go there, the hair's on the back of my neck stick up and I get to practice there sometimes and it's phenomenal, but oh gosh. I mean, I love Acapulco. I really enjoyed Doha when we went. Hamburg and Barcelona. I'm going to go for Barcelona because the year I did it was 24. Jerome Coombe: Hmm. Candy Reid: and it was Rafa Nadal's last Barcelona. And you were talking Sam just about earlier about kind of the nuances of the players behind the scenes. Rafa was there with his whole family and Rafa Junior, I was kind of like throwing a little tennis ball to Rafa Junior and he was throwing it back. Oh, and Rafa's mum is like so nice. So, so, so nice. So yeah, I'll go for Barcelona. Sam Jacot: Carl. Jerome Coombe: Hmm. Hmm. ⁓ Sam Jacot: the last one to finish with, would you describe ⁓ life on tour in one word? Candy Reid: Sensational. Sam Jacot: That's a positive, that's good. That's what we like. Jerome Coombe: Perfect ending. Candy Reid: I absolutely love it. I mean, you guys know we are the luckiest people in the whole wide world. I would do it for nothing. Don't tell anybody that, but I would absolutely do it for nothing. It's the best, it's the best thing in the whole, whole world. Sam Jacot: Yeah, no I agree. The you get when you're boarding a flight to ⁓ an event is pretty special. It's more exciting than a holiday. ⁓ Jerome Coombe: We complete. Candy Reid: Yeah, and just, yeah, it's absolutely, and seeing the best in the world do what they do in front of your eyes and getting a front row seat. That's nuts. It's a privilege, perfectly said. Jerome Coombe: Hmm. Sam Jacot: privilege. Jerome Coombe: Yeah, we completely agree. Candy, thank you so much for coming on. We really appreciate it. Candy Reid: Thanks, Jerome, Sam. Thank you. Thanks for listening to me. Sam Jacot: Yeah, and I'll just add as well that you should check out ⁓ Kandy's podcast as well, Diary of a Professional Tennis Coach, which we'll link in our show notes below. Candy Reid: Thank you. It's quite hard to say, isn't it? I should have rethought that the title. Jerome Coombe: Only And we will have to sort out a paddle game next so we can level our head to head as well. Yeah, exactly. Sam Jacot: No, I've just stumbled. Candy Reid: No, I stumble all the time. Okay, ⁓ you want some revenge? All right, I'll get practicing.