the academy boys going up to vale asking advice on how to answer difficult questions and vale holding an unlit cig in one hand thinking about the time he was asked about his fetishes and if he had an abusive childhood
THE DEFINITIVE VALENTINO ROSSI HAIR TIMELINE (1996-present)
- as composed collaboratively with fellow valentino rossi scholars on the basis of many (many) hours of determined and hair-pulling (haha) research.
(some conjecture required for the early years but hopefully more or less accurate)
The summary of Andy's appearance on the Tennis Podcast that nobody asked for but that I ended up doing anyway.
he likes talking to the media now because he doesnāt have to do as many interviews anymore, he thinks itās āfunā now?!
he loves being a dad and being at home with the kids, e.g. watching his daughterās hockey comp (even though it was in āthe pissing rainā :D)
confirms he was loving retirement and was not eager to get into coaching when Novak called but that he felt like he would regret it if he didnāt go for it (āI was very lucky that my wife agreed to let me go and do it for a periodā)
āHeās not just one of the best tennis players, heās one of the best athletes of all time [ā¦] Novak, like myself, is a challenging character in terms of the way he goes about his tennis, is extremely demanding, and I fully expected that. I look back on it and Iām glad that I did it. Itās an amazing experience that Iāve had. Iāve learnt a bit. Obviously didnāt last that long. But I put everything into it that I had, like, I tried my hardest to help him.ā
āI watched him play, in that tournament [AO 2025], like, ridiculous tennis. In my opinion. I saw him play some amazing tennis there. Speaking to his team about that, Iām just like āso so good, so impressive what heās doing.āā
āAfter the injury it was certainly a difficult few months, certainly for him but also for the team and all of us.ā
āProbably didnāt get the results I would have liked for him, but I learnt a lot, I learnt a lot about what coaching isā
āMade some good relationships along the way with his team as well. I stay in touch with quite a few of the team members.ā
heās not entirely happy with the coaching pods at AO because āitās not a good place to watch tennis fromā and says the coaches should have the best seats in the house i.e. best view of the court. the pod was great for communication but it was difficult to see what was going on during a point
he didnāt find the matches that stressful, it was more the buildup, lots of things needing to be done in the leadup to a match (making sure the racquets are right, the practice court is booked, the practice partner is appropriate, preparing videos, going over strategy). he wasnāt asked by Novak to do all these things himself but viewed them as part of his job and wanted to do them, to be in control of them and make sure everything is done right
āobviously, sometimes before the matches the player needs a bit of encouragement, a bit of motivation or something as well ā trying to make sure you find the right words, the right moments to do those thingsā
[about whether he does a good pep talk] āYouād have to ask Novakā
āitās important for a coach to bring a good energy, you donāt want, on an important day, that your team comes out and is super flat but also nervous energy is not, in my opinion, what a player needs before they walk on to play a semifinal, final of a grand slam [ā¦] a bit of confidence as well, so that the player feels like you believe in them. Whether or not I did that well I donāt know, Iād have toā¦ Novak would have to answer that.ā
[asked whether anything about Novakās training surprised him] āNo I wouldnāt say so. Because Iāve played against him a lot. I also practiced with him a lot, particularly in our younger years. Been in the gym with him a lot at tournaments and things.ā
āActually, itās quiteā¦ well, I think itās a funny story anyway. On the first day I started working with him I turned up to the training camp and we did the practice session. Which [snickers], his team were all kind of laughing at me because, whilst Novak was warming up I was out on the court, practicing my feeding. Like, warming up my feeding. Which they were like āIāve never seen anyone do that beforeā And I was like, well, as a player I used to hate it when the coach fed poorly [ā¦] But then after the tennis session his physical trainer was like āOh Novak is going for a long slow run in the park later, would you mind joining himā and I was like, oh my god, I didnāt run since I was about 25. On the court I did, but it was never part of my training. And I was like, itās my first day on the job, like I canāt say Iām not doing this. Iām like āyeah yeah no worries Iāll do thatā; bearing in mind that I also hadnāt been staying in great shape since I finished. I mean I had been training a bit, but not loads. I told him that and he was like āitās fine, itās gonna be a gentle run. Anyway I went, and I think it was about 50 minutes he was running for and it was in a park and it was kind of up, quite a few hills in there. Very slow pace. But after four or five minutes my left calf cramped. And I was like āoh nooā. But I canāt say anything, like, this is embarrassing. You know, like after four or five minutes. And anyway, I finished, I completed the 50 minutes; I was in so much pain. And when I finished I said to his team āguys, you need to help me out hereā [ā¦] I felt like I couldnāt stop, like I didnāt want to show to him, like, oh my god thereās someone Iāve been competing against for such a long time and after five minutes, you know, heās struggling, training with me. So, I did tough it out but was a pretty embarrassing moment for me.ā
[asked whether Novak was testing him with that] āThat run should not have been a test, it was so slow. We would all have been able to complete it. I donāt know what happened, if it was just because I hadnāt run for a long time or if I was dehydrated or nerves or whatever.ā
preparations for the Carlos match at AO were done during the off season, Andy spent a lot of time with Novakās analyst trying to figure out patterns of play that would work well for Novak vs. āguys like Alcaraz and Sinnerā; he thinks you have to do this kind of work during the off season āand not enough people doā
[whether heās proud he coached Novak to winning a match vs. Carlos] āUhmā¦ yeah. I mean, wasnāt me that won that match. Novak won that match. And he could win that match whether Iām sitting there or not. But I did the best I can to help him in that match.ā
āThe thing thatās hard with tennis is that I think the strategy [ā¦] was quite clear. But thereās a difference between seeing a strategy and actually going out on the court and executing it as well as he did. And my opinion is that thereās very few people in the world who can do that. So you could give a guy ranked 50 in the world the best strategy to win against Alcaraz but heās still probably going to win that match. Whereas Novak is that good that heās able to execute a strategy perfectly - because he is so good. So yeah, I felt like the strategy for the match was a good one, but he played a ridiculous tennis match as well [tiny proud smile]. And thatās why he won the match.ā
he had trouble going to sleep after that match because he was still buzzing from it. āIt was so good to watch. I loved it. I loved being part of that match and being courtside, it was awesome. I would say winning as a player and being the one on the court still would be a greater feeling. But it was still really, really special.ā
right until the end of his career he enjoyed getting up in the morning to practice and trying to find ways to get better
he doesnāt feel like he misses competition, he wouldnāt mind experiencing winning Wimbledon again, but he doesnāt miss trying to get there, and he doesnāt feel the need to fill the void of competition with something else
āI gave everything I had to the sport. I donāt look back with any regret. Well, thereās things I would do differently if I could have another go at it but I feel like I gave everything.ā
if he had another go he would have trained slightly differently and taken more breaks, would have enjoyed the successes more
the hip was pretty bad by 2016 and he struggled a lot throughout the year in long matches, especially five setters, it impacted the serve in particular; that year he lost multiple matches from 2 sets up which was unusual for him and his hip was hurting badly throughout those and he knew it was impacting the serve
he was on the player council when the masters series got changed to 2 week events and he was ācompletely againstā that change, ATP reasoned there would be less injuries (more recovery time between matches), he argued against it by saying players then donāt have time to recover between matches. he feels like thereās more mental fatigue now because of that, the amount of time players are on the road is an issue
while he was competing his own achievements felt insignificant because there were these guys getting to 10, 15, 20 Grand Slams; he sometimes felt rubbish as no 3 or 4 in the world and like getting to the final of the AO for the 5th time was a terrible result and [sarcastically] āyou know, the media will also help you feel that way at times, as wellā
āsport is difficult in that sense in that you have a great achievement and youāre made to feel like it is a failure as wellā
his daughter finished 7th out of 100 in a race and he was very proud of her; compares this to feeling like a disaster when he finished second (i.e. lost a final) in a Slam
if he comes across a video of himself playing on socmed now, he likes watching himself and feels like he played well, whereas during his career he would have picked apart the imperfections
in the matchup with Roger it helped him that he had watched Roger playing a lot when he was growing up; in the big matches he found it tough psychologically to see past the aura
he says heās āfully aware of where I sit in the pecking orderā when it comes to the big 4 and that what the other 3 achieved on the court was āfar superiorā
is clearly aware people sometimes question the 'big 4' and says he wouldn't have shown up at Rafa's retirement uninvited (and also will only go to Novak's retirement if he gets asked)
gets asked about how Rafa was different to play against on grass than on clay and launches into a long explanation of how Rafa served differently and how serves behave differently on different surfaces and how the shot can be used tactically (ca. minute 49)
[during a technical discussion of Roger playing more offensive against him over time] āmy second serve was. um. average. at best.ā
Novak was a difficult matchup for him because āvery similar gamestyle, but everything was just a little bit betterā, the only area where he felt like he was stronger was at the net, but difficult to exploit that because you canāt try to bring him forward every single point
he loved that before on court coaching the player had to decide for themselves when a strategy wasnāt working (and is it not working because of bad execution or because of the opponent coming up with something unexpected or was it just a bad plan all along)
he says Rafa was brilliant at adjusting strategy during matches but gets a little barb in: āhe did always get a little bit of additional help from Toniā
wearable technology was only allowed on the ATP tour last year so he feels like tennis is quite behind in that compared to other sports, and data has also only become available to many players recently, top players used to pay a lot of money for it and gain an advantage based on it
Kim put up a trophy cabinet when they moved house āitās downstairs, out of the wayā [it must be pretty big?] āyeah itās pretty big, decentā¦ decent sizeā, heās fine with the trophies being there but āI donāt go and look at them dailyā
his kids sometimes wear the Olympic medals (āand I was quite precious about them at the beginning but now Iām like. whatever, yeah. itās fine.ā)
he was competitive about getting as many Olympic pins as possible (āyou get rejected all the timeā because most people want a good pin in exchange) and got most of his tennis teammates into it too
things he would change in tennis: (age-related and other) exemptions for participating in all the masters; a two year ranking system so players feel less pressure to compete constantly (but difficult to achieve because it messes up records and their comparability)
he loved bo5 as a player, more time to figure your opponent out, but he wouldnāt watch a full bo5 match now probably (āI have a family, Iāve got other things to doā)
for things to actually change in tennis, players will have to be very clear and agree on what they want to change (e.g. lower ranked players might not want to play less, top players do; top players liked the new mixed doubles format at USO, lots of doubles players hated it etc.)
says that the new planned masters event in Saudi would have been difficult for him to turn down as a player (whereas he always turned down exhibitions there) because itās a mandatory event on the tour; also acknowledges that itās tricky to say that the tour shouldnāt go there purely based on the human rights record when the tour goes to lots of other places that are questionable in that regard as well
āheavierā tennis balls problem comes from players hitting harder and courts becoming grainier; could be solved by balls being changed earlier/more often during matches
says he hated being on the player council because it was frustrating but went back and did it a second time because he was asked to; players arenāt well educated enough to have informed conversations on lots of the topics
the schedule could be improved by having AO 2 weeks later (but they donāt want to do it because currently itās in the school holidays there)
favourite thing he gets to do now that he couldnāt do while he was playing is skiing
heās given up on cooking because he would panic when he was following instructions and something wasnāt going right, he had no idea how to adjust to that āso then I retired from cooking as well as tennisā [grins]; his four-year-old would let him know when something wasnāt quite right
his oldest daughter had trouble adjusting to him getting attention when he was going somewhere with her; he talks about how she just recently allowed him to walk next to her on the way to the car for the first time
talks about his six-year-old getting into board games and just like he launches into tennis analysis he describes his sonās strategy and tactical errors at monopoly
thereās some golf talk towards the end that Iām not summing up... and thatās a wrap
i think its crazy that I never followed u despite being an f1 fan and reblogging ur posts all the time but ive recently gotten into tennis and I was going thru the andy Murray tag and u kept appearing and I was like right wots all this then. love ur account btw. would love to know any thoughts u have on novandy
my ass in the andy murray tags likely place for it to be ššš
i love novandy it's genuinely so peak. i love old man yaoi i love old man yaoi that ends in disaster like what even happened in the fever dream of the start of this year. if they never did the coaching arc you could say they're a great sports rivalry ship but the coaching saga pushes them into GOAT category to me
it's literally a case of i could talk about it more if i loved it less like how they were childhood friends or born a literal week apart which means all of andys early career achievements of being the youngest X were all broken by novak by a week, both of their need to be loved, both of them growing up as little weirdos suddenly becoming The Singular Hope Of Their Nation or how andys career is bookended by novak in all the most important ways (first grand slam, first wimbledon, world number 1, losing 5 AO finals to him, first post retirement coaching) their similar play styles and hour long rallies to win a single game not even set, that one instagram live where they were building their ideal tennis player and kept choosing each other, andys retirement post being a tribute to novak and condoning rpf in caption then novaks video that andys coaching him which is basically a love letter, novak being so grateful and hopeful about their coaching relationship, literally nobody understanding WHY novak wld drag his long term rival out of retirement with zero coaching experience to be his coach or why andy who retired to be with the wife and kids and even 3 weeks prior said he had to plans to go into coaching hopped on a plane to follow novak around for 5 months, the way it's so intimate being on the same side of the net, when he went to andy for comfort after beating carlos, the fact they were supposed to continue till wimbledon (or even indefinitely) then andy pulled out but to save face they said it's a mutual decision to end the partnership and then meeting a month later at rafa's retirement RG and andy saying novaks winning now that he has a Real coach bc he felt the pressure he couldn't give the technical feedback novak needed, and novak saying he didn't take it as a joke... GRAHHHHHHHHH. insane. i literally can't think about it for too long
but i digress. let's enjoy their decades long career of holding each other like lovers reunited after the war
(present day novandy pics by @purblind-dragon, all credits to their journalism)
do you have some sincaraz / tennis rpf fic recs?? would love to know your favourites :)
hello anon, sorry it took me like a billion years to get to this, but I wanted to make it a good chunky rec list (it's gen tennis, but leaning a little sincaraz heavy) + rec some underrated fics imo.
Sincaraz
sol invictus (I cut down the original quote for brevity) | mature
" [...] Who was he compared to Carlos Alcaraz, wunderkind? Nobody. He, Jannik Sinner, was going to die."
[Jannik Sinner, before and after The 71st Hunger Games.]
the summons | not rated
In the middle of the time war, Carlos loses Jannik. Heās determined to get him back.
made of outer space | not rated
āWhat do you usually do in your free time?ā
As soon as the sentence leaves Carlosā mouth, he cringes.
Jannik gives him a strange look. āI look for extraterrestrial life. But you know that.ā
somewhere beautiful together | teen
Carlos is retired. Holger canāt win a Slam, and needs a new coach. Jannik canāt win Roland Garros. Desire is eating them all alive.
locked in | teen
Jannik Sinner's lock screen gets exposed during the US Open. To the shock and surprise of pretty much everyone it seems to be a picture of Carlos Alcaraz.
gut feelings | teen (but leaning mature imo)
CA: Should I text him about it ?
JA: NO
AA: No
SA: no lmfaoo
CA: Ok š
comfort zone | teen (but also leaning mature)
The door handle clicks and Jannik stands up, remembering how Carlos had greeted him three months ago and anxious not to fuck up the protocol. "Congrats," he says when Carlos comes in, holding his hand out. "You were incredible today."
everyroom | not rated (but pretty much explicit imo)
Felicidades Jannik!!! how do you celebrate?š„³
Novandy
naturalization | teen
Novak was always smiling, and Andy had never seemed like someone destined for happiness anyway.
[Alternate reality where Novak chose to play for Great Britain.]
if i'm not made for you | mature
'Omals', that was what they called little omega kids who acted alph all the time ā oh, Andyās in that omal stage, short hair, always wants legos and toy guns rather than Barbies, they go through that sometimes, itāll pass.
and all at once | explicit
Novak starts wearing Andy's gear, and Andy... well. Andy loses his shit. A little bit.
There's a lot of unresolved history between them, but also something completely new.
as we fly south | explicit
After being friends for so long, Andy really should've learned by now not to let Novak Djokovic call the stakes. Especially when said stakes involve the words 'bet' and 'bondage' at the Olympics.Ā
Even if it's what he wants.
come to heel | teen
It shouldn't bother him that Novak's playing around.
janainaart
areudirty
andulkaphoto
kianamaiart
pixelskylines
yousharknotpass
gummygunk
romaincrisis
