Halford & Brough in the Morning - Canadian Tennis Star Genie Bouchard

Episode Date: August 6, 2025

In hour three, guest hosts Josh Elliott-Wolfe and Randip Janda tell us what they learned (3:00), plus they chat with recently retired Canadian tennis icon Genie Bouchard (24:02) about her playing career and the National Bank Open. This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

Now for my favorite part of the show, what I say? Talk to the audience. Oh, God, this is always dead. It's what we learn time. It's what we learn time. It's what we learn time. On the show. Welcome back to Halford and Brough.

No, Halford, no Brough. But the show is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Learn how a consumer proposal reduces your debt by up to 80% with no more interest. Visit sands-trustee.com. And this hour of Halford & Brough is brought to you by Campbell & Pound Real Estate Appraisers. Trust the expertise of Campbell and Pound. Visit Campbell-Pound.com today. And we're broadcasting live from the Kintech studio, Kintech footwear and orthotics,

working together with you in step. You got messed up something? I tried to hit. I kind of messed it up because I didn't, I didn't hit it properly. I'm all about the business, guys. I had to take care of business. That was nobody's fault. There's no, there's fault to go around.

I'll take the fault. Business matters, boys. You're right. Guests on SportsNet 650 call in on the hotline powered by Power West Industries. Don't get caught in the dark when it matters. Most visit them at powerwest.ca. Today, they keep the lights on. Yeah, Randeep made the right decision.

He was a... Always thinking about the business. Fair enough. I'm just stime. That's all. I don't got that dog in me. That's on me. Keep your text coming in, 650, 650.

On the Dunbar Lumbert text line, you're what we learns. We'll get to them as the segment rolls on. We're doing them early because we have Jeannie Bouchard coming up at 830. We have a few of our own and we'll go around the room. Let's start with Laddie today. Laddie, what do you got? Mine has an audio component, so let me play this clip for you first.

There's a swing and a drive. Deep to left field, we are tied. He's second in the ball game. And Gurriel brings the Diamondbacks right back here in the eighth. Lordus Guriel, second home run of the game for the D-backs. What was unique about that home run? Well, it came off a 104-mile-per-hour pitch. That is the fastest pitch to be homered on in the stat cast era

And it happened last night Lourdes-Guriel Mason Miller was the pitcher That the Padres just acquired from the athletics He's a fireballer Can throw a hundred and four Oh, yeah, sorry, my bad So we're rounding up to 104 But to hit a home run

Like I remember back in the day like maybe 15 years ago We're like a 99, 100 mile an hour pitch You're like man, we're just looking to make contact on a pitch like that He hit it out at 100,000, 104 like that's that's some incredible stuff yeah there's a lot of guys that have thrown the heat over the years but for some reason maybe it was my fandom at that point joel zumaia used to play for the tigers and he would hit 99 100 and it like you couldn't you couldn't touch it if you fouled it it was like okay you kind of won to hit a home run like I feel like for the average human being that's like close your eyes and just take a swing dude I don't even think I could like if I even if I knew a hundred mile per hour pitch was coming I knew exactly where it was going to be I would not even be close to making contact. Most people, I think, would be like that, too. It's incredible that they can do that now.

And not just the eye to pick up the ball, but the bat speed to make solid contact on a pitch like that. Like, that's incredible. I don't think humans should be able to throw 104 miles per hour, to be honest. We've come too far. We might have reached the limit, honestly. We need to go back to the curveball era. Well, with the way shoulders are exploding nowadays, everyone can throw hard and everyone is

getting hurt. So I think there's a correlation there, right? never used to happen at this level in the past. Well, also younger and younger pitchers were getting Tommy John. Back in the day they used to have, okay, maybe the occasional guy, now everybody's getting Tommy John. It's a right of passage now. It's almost like

you want a guy that's already gotten Tommy John because then they're past the Tommy John. And it's just like... But then there's lots of pitchers they get multiple Tommy John. It's crazy. It's just such a bad. It's where the sport is going, so it kind of has to be there, but it's tough. It must suck to be a pitcher

and be like, you know what? I'm going to have to get the surgery at some point. Well, you're not going to pitch you any other way, right? It's the way you get the most results. And I explain to people, like, I'm a goaltender, and, you know, the butterfly destroys your hips. But we're never going to change how we play because the butterfly gets the best results.

So it's the same thing with pitchers, right? They're not going to suddenly start teaching them to not throw hard. It's still going to happen. Okay, so Mucow that one. Brand deep, what do you got? Well, what I learned today was that the Canucks, former Canucks run the KHL. with Vitali Krausov signing back with the Canucks.

Welcome back. The KHL lost their number six points score. Oh. But don't worry, other Canucks are still running that league. Josh Levo led the KHL in scoring last season, 80 points in 62 games, and Sheldon Rempel, remember him? Yeah.

Ranked fourth in the league scoring. This does make me significantly less hopeful about Vitali Krabsoff. Former to Nimo Clippers. I'm not done yet, boys. Number 15th in league scoring. Gly Goldobin All right Around the 50 mark

Sergei Shirokhov Still kicking around At the age of 39 All right Yeah that's tough That's tough Josh Levo number one Like good for him

I remember being 49 goals Yeah Crazy I remember being like Pretty hopeful about Josh Levo And then he I think he had the injuries And stuff

And then he kind of left Those point totals are actually More impressive in the KHL Because the way they count Secondary Assis is different too Yeah It's harder to rack up Those secondary assists

80 points in 60, whatever game is pretty good He's elite He is Aliveo is coming back to the NHL I'm going to be a superstar Josh Elitevo is going to make a return Could you imagine though Like the career arc on that Let's just say one of these guys

Maybe Levo Like he goes there and we're all underselling him He comes back at the age of whatever 30 whatever And it's like a top 15 score in the NHL Like the career arc on that It'd be crazy You see it in other sports sometimes

And other sports, but like... Not hockey often. For a guy that was a fringe NHLer, and at the end of his NHL career, he was, I believe he won a Calder Cup and then made the switch over to Europe. He was almost a point per game with the Chicago Wolves and won a Calder Cup in 21, 22.

Justin Bourne is in Fan 5-9. He's a huge lover of Lano, because he was with him with the Marleys, and he thought he had just otherworldly talent. So I was talking to him when he was doing this incredible stuff in the KHL, and he was like, yeah, I still think he can do it in the NHL. I just never was in the right situation. So it could be there.

Could be something there. He's 32 years old now. So it'd be a tough sell for a team to not only bring him back, but then have a lot of hope in what he's able to provide to them. But good for him that he's producing at a high level in the KHL. Mucow that. All right. Mine is, oh, and by the way, I should mention that what we learned is brought to you

by AJ's Pizza on East Broadway. Expand your palette with AJ's. white pies made with rosemary and infused with cream sauce or garlic oil only at AJ's pizza online at AJ's dot pizza mine for today and Sheldon and Surrey shares it so we'll split the credit for it the NFL has banned smelling salts saying this is this is the reason they are banning smelling salts they say the products aren't proven to be safe and I assume the bigger sign is that they could mask signs of concussions in players. So, NFL obviously worried a lot about CTE. Wait, wait. The NFL is actually, sorry, sorry. The NFL is actually

acknowledging concussions. Wow. The NFL is worried about legal ramifications. There we go. Regarding CTA. That makes more sense. And so they're probably trying to cover their butts a little bit. So the league sent a memo to teams on Tuesday explaining the decision to ban smelling salts and any other ammonia inhalant during pregame activities, games, and half time on the sideline or in locker rooms. So I do wonder if this is something because NHL players, they also use the smellings all the time. Well, Gold Tangers, Lottie, this is your file. I've never done it. Thatger Dento before every game. Like every, I swear every time they show his stats pregame, it's like him just doing it. It can't be good. The repeated use can't be good. Yeah, can't be good. So, yeah, I've never tried.

Have you guys tried it before? I have. I have not. Is it work? Um, yeah, I guess. Like, I used it once and I was just like, ah, this is not for me. But Dr. Dempco, you talk about him using it. Every time they show that shot, there's always two fans sitting behind them, like reacting to him, him kind of going nuts on it. But exposure to ammonia gas and large concentrations for prolonged periods can be toxic and fatal. Of course. But this is the gas, as we know.

But if you use too much, if it's too, uh, inhaled close to the nostril, it can burn the nasal or oral mucosa, which, um, is. That's a worry. If you're doing that 82 times or 60 times a year or whatever it may be, not great. So I think it was George Kittle, like invaded an NFL network broadcast when it was announced. And like the memo was sent out to to players. And he says that he does it every drive. Before every drive, he would do smelling salts, which is an insane amount of times to be doing smelling salts. That'd be like before every.

well, maybe not before every shift, but before every second shift in the NHL if a player's like, I gotta get fired up right now. So I do wonder what level of impact it'll have in the NFL because it does seem like based on that and based on how many players do seem to be upset about it. It seems like more of a thing in the NFL

than it is in the NHL and it's already a pretty big thing in the NHL as well. Is it going to end up like the chewing tobacco ban in baseball where they just do it in the dressing room and then like, We'll do it on camera kind of deal. I mean, they said they're still not allowed them in the locker rooms. I don't know how they're going to enforce that. Like, are they going to have someone from the league go into the locker room and search everything? Like everyone's bags.

Yeah, open up your bags, guys. There are other ways to have that same effect, though, right? Yeah. What was it, John Henderson with the Jacksonville Jags used to get slapped in the face by a trainer? This is what I was going to say. I'm like, are players going to be getting slapped on the sideline just to feel something? Yeah. Yeah, speaking to feel something,

T.J. O'Shee used to have the getting the slash to the rear end in pregame warmups. That was an interesting ritual that he had. A paddling. He used to get a paddling since this is a Simpson show by his teammates. So there's going to be more natural kind of things that you could do.

Yeah, so maybe just energy drinks? I don't know. We'll see. Too much of that is not good either. Yeah, but I mean, I don't know. Too much of getting... Oh, you better believe that to peddlin. too much of getting tackled or hitting head is a bad thing too

I feel like they're committed already if TJ Oshy gets hired as a player development role you know he's bringing that ritual to the locker room yeah okay so mookow that

let's print out the listener humanoid submission and we dive into the 650 650 dumbbar lumber tax line Justin and East Van what we learned

a former Miami heat security official has been accused of stealing and selling millions of dollars worth of team memorabilia allegedly selling including a LeBron James NBA finals jersey for nearly $100,000. Yeah, the athletic is reporting this now. But last week, Amina al-Hasin, former executive with the NBA reported this on a show with Israel Gutierrez, I believe it was the Dan Lebitard show. this is pretty big apparently it goes back 18 months and you mentioned the nearly four million dollar jersey for lebron james but this is like the golden area of the miami heat like a lot of dwayne wade lebron james material and apparently

like we're talking about i'm going to pull a a good fellow's reference here's kind of like like the lathonsa heist of memorabilia like this is a big big deal when it comes a multi-million dollar potential scam job here so we'll see and it seems like allegedly an inside job yeah i mean i mean i assume you have to have multiple people involved in this too but so maybe one guy's just taking the fall and he's like you know what guys it was my idea i'll i'll take credit for it but he is uh yeah a lot of memorabilia a lot of dollars worth of memorabilia and you mentioned yeah it's during like the prime of lebron and and and dwayne wade and their winning championships and all that too, so it's like, man, this is

this is stuff that is worth a lot. Yeah, we're not talking about like Ronnie Cycli jerseys from the 1990s. We're talking about like, this is not the Gris costume, which I would pay just obscene amounts for to get it here in the Sportsnet 650 studios. Like 50 bucks, I would pay 50 bucks for it.

If you bought a highly priced LeBron James jersey in the last 18 months, you might want to store that away for a little bit. Like, if it was near 4 million bucks, I know there's a lot of money in Vancouver. Just maybe put that in the attic or something. Can you imagine the guy who bought the jersey is listening to this show

and he's like, oh no. I'm going to hide this in my crawl space. Really bad. 650, 650. This one, Mark and White Rock. What we learned, this is more of a more, more of a what I just realized. Within a six month span

next year, we will get the Winter Olympics, the hockey tournament, all, everything that comes with the Winter Olympics, the World Baseball Championship and the World Cup of Soccer, 26, will be a fun sports year. Of those three, which are you the most excited for?

Well, I guess I should say of the two, because I feel like the baseball, like the WBC's fun, it's not on the level of the other two for most people. Yeah, if there was an opening act of those three, it's definitely the World Baseball Classic. For me, it's the World Cup of Soccer. Yeah. Like, A, it's in our backyard. B, it's also the M.

global tournament. When we talk about viewership, it dwarfs the Super Bowl. Like this is, even if you're not a soccer fan, you remember what the Olympics was like here in 2010, it's going to have that type of vibe. It's not going to be solely here, but the fact that there's going to be people traveling here, I'm so amped for the World Cup of Soccer. I think it's going to be something that this city, this country is going to remember for a very, very long time. And yes, our team is actually competitive, which makes it even better, which we've got skin in the game so I'd go with that one

I think this is the first time I would end look I'm not a soccer guy but this is maybe the first time I would lean World Cup 2 just because we are getting games in Vancouver and there is the element of it's just feeling different because it's close to home

what I will say though is like NHL players are going back to the Olympics and that plays a big part and that it's I assume a lot of our listener base because a lot of people are mainly hockey fans are going to lean to the Winter Olympics, but I do feel like it's going to be a different vibe in the city

when the World Cup is here. Yeah, and I think another issue with that is like, yes, you're right about the a lot of this first time we're going to see Connor McDavid and Crosley play at the Olympics together, right? Like we're going to see this, sure, the Four Nations face off help with that and we got our

fix, so to speak, but now we're going to see what they play for, what means that much more to the players. But it being in Europe and a slight time difference and there's always going to be like we're not going to be able to follow it the exact same way we would do it in north america like we would be i think it'd be all-encompassing if it was here if it was just think about it being a north american olympics with the world cup it's going to be like killing umbap is going to be here it's going to be you know go through the list

jude bellingham whoever like all the best of the best players are going to be on the continent they might be playing they might be staying at the pack rim downtown like you know like that's That is a wild concept for global football where you've got some of the best players on the planet calling your city home for maybe a week at a time. Maybe they're having training camp, I don't know, at Clarnie Secondary. That's tough.

Don't break for them. No, they're building a world-class facility there, man. I guess. But, like, it's going to be very Olympics-like. Like, remember, EA Sports was hosting the Russian team. They have a rink out there, and they were practically... Like, it's going to be, like, literally in your backyard. I think that's going to take it to the next level.

Where are the Olympics in 2030? They are in, you know what? I can Google this. This is a Googleable question. 2028 will be LA, the summer games. So the next winter Olympics, because I'm just wondering when we're going to, oh, it's in the French Alps. Nice. So we're not getting a North American games for a bit.

I think it's 2034 is in Salt Lake. Yes. So 2034 is in Salt Lake. So that's the next time we get a North American Winter Olympics, which you're right. It does have like any time the Olympics or the World Cup. any major event is in North America does feel different. Like when the Summer Olympics

are in L.A. in 2028, I think it's going to feel a little different than it did in 2024. And prime time, right? Like, the ability to watch these games... It's on our time zone now. Yeah, in L.A., like when that 100-meter sprint final goes, it's going to be prime time.

You're not going to have to be getting up at 2 a.m. to watch it or, you know, early morning, have your breakfast. No, it'll be 7. 8 p.m., maybe 5 p.m., whatever. But that makes a difference on how you enjoy the games. 650, 650, Dumbar Lumber Text Line, another what we learned here from Justin Aeneas fan. With a combined score of 25 to 5 in their last two games,

Mark Shapiro has asked MLB schedule makers if the Blue Jays can play the remaining regular season games against the Colorado Rockies. Would be nice. Would be nice. The Rockies are just so bad at baseball. Yeah, they're like the closest thing to the Washington Generals right now in pro sports. Are they not?

I mean, they have to be. Are White Sox fans rejoicing that they're no longer the... Oh, you know what? I also saw this is another what we learned from Josh, what we learned. The White Sox and the Yankees have the same amount of wins since June 1st. Oh, no. Yeah, that's a great company to keep. That is awesome.

I think it's 24 wins each. Not the team you want to be hanging out with in the American League. Same color scheme? Yeah. Similar teams? Older teams? teams like to kick the ball around the infield a lot. One has had a lot more success than the other historically, all right?

Sure. Just saying. Sure. Yeah, one team had Mark Burley for years. Yeah, perfect game. That's true. Not a fan of that. That's true.

I don't know how to remember. Kick us while we're down. Slightly more success for the game. That's fine. Slightly more. As I mentioned with the interview with Don Legreca, that series at the beginning of September, I'm going to actually be in Toronto for the final game. of that series in enemy territory when the Yankees play the Blue Jays.

So that one will be big. But hey, Blue Jays fans, you got to do with the Dodgers first. You got the Cubs coming up. There's some big matchups coming up here. I'm interested in seeing what this Dodgers series is going to be like because it's, I mean, the Dodgers are a really good team. I know they're beat up a little bit right now, but they are, they're the team that I think any fan base or other team would be most afraid of

come playoff time. And still during the regular season, I am very aware or afraid of what they can do. So if the Js show up in that series, that's another big test for them. And if they, if they perform well, that would go a long way in gaining confidence as well. 650, 650, Rob and Surrey, what we learned. What I've learned is that Jim Rutherford declaring big things for the Knucks in the off season than going out and acquiring a Vander Cain and Vitali Craftsoff is no different than genius Blue Jays fans, them the best team in baseball, then getting blown out a handful of times, including a humbling

16 to 4 loss to the Baltimore Orioles and throws a hashtag most overrated team in pro sports on there. I think the premature celebrations, let's call it from the Blue Jays fandom after the Yankee series. They're at the top of the American League. Premature celebration. Top of the world, essentially. Top of the world. Best team in sports.

What do you mean? I do, I feel like, so when a team loses big, like in one game, I don't really get too worked up about it. Like if the Yankees lost... Unless you're the Colorado Rockies. Unless you're the Colorado Rockies. If the Yankees lost 16 to 4, right now you'd be like, well, that's eight in a row and this is really bad.

But if they were on a winning streak and they lost 16 to 4, you'd be like, oh, that was a bad game. Especially baseball. You play it every day. There's going to be stinkers. On that point, though, it did lead to an overwhelming series against Kansas City as well. So, like, it wasn't in isolation. If they had won, you know, that series and dominated Kansas City, then you're like, okay, there's nothing. Yeah. It was part of a worrisome week.

Yes. I guess. This is like, it was still a week. This is like playing a video game at difficult mode and then going to three games on easy mode, you're going to have to go back to difficult mode at some point. The next series is going to be that. It'll be fine. It's okay. But going back to Robin Surrey, yeah, you know, on the Canucks aspect of this. What was the quote from Jim Rutherford. It's going to be expensive to get a center, but it's also going to be expensive if we don't. I'm paraphrasing. It'll be more expensive if we don't, I think, is what he said. I think the price is going up right now. They are on the more expensive side. At the moment, we'll see if they get to the other side and do find a way to acquire a center before the season gets

underway. Or as the season gets underway, I don't know, we'll see. I feel like a lot of teams, we were talking to Luke Fox about it. I feel like there is going to be an element of some teams, if they commit to selling early, I think that can be a good idea for some teams. Nazim Codry Watch. I'm telling you right now. Yeah, get pumped. 650, 650, Dunbar Lumber Text Line.

Keep the text coming in there. On the other side, really excited to speak to Jeannie Bouchard as she has retired from professional tennis. She is covering the NBO for SportsNet as well. So we will talk to her about her career and what's going on with Vicki and both. in the tournament, too, as she plays in the semis tonight in Montreal.

It is Halford and Brough, Josh L.A. Wolf, Randy Janda on SportsNet, 650. Welcome back to Halford and Brough, Josh Ali Wolf and Randy Bjanda, filling in for the aforementioned Halford and Ruff. And the show is brought to by Sands and Associates. Learn our consumer proposal. could get you on the road to being debt-free in just two weeks. Visit sands dash trustee.com. This hour of Halford & Brough is brought to you by Campbell & Pound real estate appraisers.

Trust the expertise of Campbell and Pound. Visit Campbell-Dashpound.com today. Very excited to go to the hotline powered by Power West Industries as we bring in Jeannie Bouchard, former tennis pro, now retired, and SportsNet analyst for the National Bank Open. Appreciate you taking the time, Jeannie. you. Hi. Yeah, I'm great. Thank you for having me. No worries. And again, we appreciate you taking the time. I'm sure it's been a whirlwind of a week for you. Can you put into words how it's how it's felt, you know, these past seven days? Yeah, it's definitely been a lot. I feel like I have an emotional

hangover. There's been a lot of mixed emotions from last week, obviously. For me, it was such a great way to end it all, to be able to do it in my hometown, where I was born and raised on these courts where, you know, I played as a kid and went to the tournament and all of that. And to actually win a match and play some good tennis, have my whole family there. You know, there's sadness that it's over, but also, you know, happiness, excitement for the future. So really, uh, I felt like I experienced the full spectrum of human emotion last week. Yeah, congrats on a fantastic career as well, Jeannie. And, you know, having that moment to speak to the crowd after your hometown.

Take us through that. What did that mean? Just to have that one-on-one conversation, you mentioned your family who was there, but also tennis fans from the region. Yeah, and that's part of the reason I wanted to do it in Montreal. I've really felt so much support from my Canadian fans and specifically in Montreal,

the fans there as well. They're so passionate. They really support one of their own so well. So I wanted to give them a chance if they wanted to come out and watch me one last time. So it was for them. and then it was also for me, you know, being able to do it with my family and everybody and nearby.

So to be able to, yeah, just express to them how much I've appreciated their support over the years has meant so much. And I tried to spend so much time with my fans, you know, all the time, all over the world, of course, but especially in Montreal. So after the match, I took a picture and signed autographs with every person who wanted one. So I was out there for over an hour for sure. But I don't know.

I just wanted to show them that, like, like I appreciate the love they give me and try to return it back to them as well. It might be too soon, but have you had the time to reflect on your career and are there any moments that stand out to you as ones you look back on most fondly? I've definitely like slowly started to reflect,

but then, you know, after playing my last match, I flew to Toronto and have been doing Sportsnet all day every day since then. So focused on the tournament and other matches for now. But of course, you know, I can look back and appreciate. In terms of results, you know, of course, making the woman final is one that stands out. But non-result one for me is playing in the Olympics.

I won around. I lost second round to Kerber, who was the second seat, and she ended up making the finals. So I was kind of close to a silver medal, if you think about it. But I just really appreciated being part of a team, playing for something bigger than just myself, because in tennis we're so used to that individual aspect. So playing in the Olympics for Canada was in Rio in 2016, a highlight for sure. That's awesome. And you talked about, you know, picking up the mic, putting the racket down.

You're not the only one that's retired after this tournament, Vashik Pospasol, of course, from the West Coast. We know him well. He's kind of going through the same process. Like, what has that experience been for you in terms of just, it's not the first time you picked up the mic, but just having to go through this process with somebody who kind of shares a path with you? Yeah, and I've known Vashik since we were kids, so we've known each other more than half our lives and we know each other very, very well. So it's kind of funny to be doing this with him the same week and we're at the desk with each other every day.

And it's kind of nice because we can relate to each other so much and relating with the emotions and being on TV and our family and friends and just like every little aspect, we're going through a very similar path right now. So it's nice to kind of have a buddy to go through this with. And he obviously did some great things for tennis and Canada as well. so we also got to acknowledge his great career too. And shifting our attention to the National Bank Open currently going on. The main story, the main headline, has been 18-year-old Canadian Vicki Mboko

and what she's been able to do. Playing in the semis tonight, what have you made of her tournament so far? I know, this is turning into the Vicky tournament. We talk about Vicky all day, every day. I'm so happy for her. I know her a little bit. She's a nice kid. She's humble.

she has a good head on her shoulder she's smart and so you know I'm so happy for someone like her to get success like this and you know it doesn't have to stop at least at this tournament and of course for her career I think she has so much upside because she has great weapons you know she has that serve she has that powerful game

and that's what's led her to get to the semis so far and her poise as well her mental you know her mentality she's just been so calm and like handling the moment so well very maturely I would say for an 18-year-old. For sure. And she's also mentioned

that your support has been an inspiration for her as well during this tournament. So she's definitely watching a lot of tennis. She's watching the reactions from the crowd.

But what I'm really impressed by is her mentality. It feels like she's playing without expectation and to be 18 years old, the spotlight being on you, like that's got to be a pretty unique thing. Maybe like us regular folks,

non-athletes, it's tough for us to kind of understand. But when you're in that position, and it's your first go-around. Is that normal, or is that something that you have to learn? Yeah, well, you know, I do have to say, so obviously when you're a younger player, you have that freedom because you have those no expectations.

Earlier this year, she was ranked in the 300th. So she's playing free, she's swinging free, that's how most players start to play at the beginning of their career. That's how I felt. And the trick is now is to see how she will begin to handle it once that shifts. So now she'll be a player, she'll be ranked around 30 or more, depending how she does in the tournament. Now she'll have a target on her back.

She'll be the next up-and-comer. She'll be the girl that other girls want to beat. And so it'll be interesting to see how she handles the pressure mentally from going to the unknown underdog to now the next it girl with expectations. And that's a really hard transition, and that'll be her next task. It does seem like a difficult transition. What would be the key to handling that tradition? transition and handling the additional pressure on that will be on her moving forward.

Yeah, it's tough, you know, because right now, every match she wins is like a surprise, and if she loses, it would be normal. And then that's going to shift to if she wins, it's normal, and if she loses, it's a disaster. And I went through exactly that situation in my career, and players who have, you know, a quick breakthrough, they go through that in a short amount of time. So I feel like it can be hard to deal with. the important thing would be to just keep working on her game and keep trying to improve because now once she starts winning matches on the big scene

all the top players are going to watch and they're going to start analyzing her game and start trying to poke holes and try to figure out what her weaknesses are and so she keeps developing and keeps trying to improve her weaknesses you know it's like you have to kind of stay ahead of the bad guys and keep and keep improving and also just stay focused you know don't listen to the outside noise just stay listen to your immediate team and kind of disregard the rest How difficult is that on home soil? You know, we often hear, you know, pressure is a privilege, which it is, of course,

but pressure is still pressure, especially on your home turf. Playing in Canada, like how difficult and how much noise is there as you're just trying to focus on the task at hand? Yeah, there's a lot that goes into it. And with every match she wins, she's doing more media than she's ever done. She's signing more autographs and things like that can kind of pull you out of your bubble. And these are things she's not used to. She won a bunch of challengers at the beginning of this year. I guarantee you she wasn't doing that much press during those challengers

and she wasn't signing that many autographs. So this is a whole other world for her that she's going to have to get used to. And that can kind of tug at your focus a little bit. And especially being in Montreal, you know, the attention is just, you know, times 10 or whatever you want to say. That's, it's very important to stay grounded, stay in routines. Like I said, she seems like a very humble kid. And she has this, like, youthful innocence to her.

and she's very sweet, and I just want her to stay grounded and keep her focus. And looking ahead to today of the semifinal, she's taken on Elena Robocana. What will be the key for Vicky if she's going to beat Vibakana? Yeah, we actually spoke about this on Sports Night yesterday. What I'd like about this matchup is that actually I do feel she doesn't have the pressure at all. I would say after being Cocoa Golf, her quarterfinal match, people were looking at her and she had expectations. and she had an opponent ranked 50 and Vicky kind of was expected to win.

Now she's playing a former woman and champion and she played Robocana a week ago in Washington and lost and throughout my career whenever I played a player weeks back to back which is pretty rare whoever won the first match I felt always had more pressure and whoever lost kind of had a chip on their shoulder

and wanted to win. So that's Vicki's situation right now. Robocana has all the pressure she's playing the underdog the young kid with the crowd behind her and Vicky kind of has nothing to lose. I mean, to me, everything is gravy, no matter how she finishes this tournament.

She's got to be able to handle Rabakana's big strengths, which is the serve, her big shot. She has to absorb that, stay in the point, and try to dictate herself. She has her own great weapon, like her serve, like I mentioned. She really has to be able to use that in the match tonight. And in terms of, you know, don't like highlighting the weaknesses in games,

but is it getting Rabakana on the move? Like going side to side. Is that the way to win this match? For sure. Robocono is a taller girl, and she likes to do first strike tennis, big serve, big shots, and she likes to go for it. Keep the points short. So you have got to stay with her and handle those tough shots and then give yourself a chance to get into the point so you can dictate and you can move her around. So for sure, her movement is not her strength. So Vicki will be wanting to step in. Also, you know, try play close to the baseline. It's something she's been doing well this week. even trying to do that on second serve returns.

She's often been actually with her feet inside the baseline. Obviously, Robocana's serve is better than some of her recent opponents. But yes, to stay true to her game is also, you know, an important thing. Well, Jeannie, it's not every day we have a tennis pro in the highest level. You would have done scouting reports on the other two tennis players as well. So I want to get your scouting report on that matchup. Naomi Osaka versus Tossin of Denmark. Like, what do you see in that matchup?

And can Osaka make this final? Does she have a good shot at this? Look, we've seen a different Naomi Osaka this week. She has played five quality matches. What we've talked about is that not only has she shown some really good tennis in her matches, but she's done it consistently over five matches, which is something she has not done since her return. So I think she's finally finding her bearings since her return.

You know, the beginning was a little bit tough. She definitely was not playing the way she wanted to. she's just playing vintage tennis so it's been so fun to see and so great for the sport of tennis to have such a champion have this comeback like this and so yeah and Towson

oh my God like she's been knocking off Grand Slam champions right left and center she has a big game she hits big shots Naomi does as well so it's kind of a battle of hitters as we're going to see tonight

I think Towson her bigger weakness is the movement so Naomi's going to want to exploit that but she's been doing so well, taking advantage of the point so early on, serving really well, placing it, that Nomi has to kind of handle that first to give herself a chance to dictate with her big shots. Jeannie, we appreciate you taking the time. Once again, congratulations on a great career and all the best moving forward. Thank you so much. I appreciate talking to you guys. No worries. There is

Jeannie Wouchard, former tennis pro, and now an analyst for SportsNep for the National Bank Open, along with Fashech Pospicil, who we spoke to a couple of weeks ago, I believe it was on the Halpert & Brough show as well. If you want to go find that on the podcast, he can't. He's been on the station a couple of times. We had him last week as well. So he's doing the rounds. Pre-retirement and post-retirement. We got you covered here. He's going to be

a regular. You have his own theme song. Maybe you can wrap it to that beat we had earlier on. Nobody wants to hear that. Yeah. Well, I believe in you. I want to hear it. It might be a one time here. Yeah. We don't want to hear it over and over again. He's not going to do hits after he hears it. Well, I think with Jeannie,

it's going to be, uh, she'll be on networks moving forward. Like she is really good with her analysis. You heard her. And also at the same time, just somebody that's been doing scouting reports up until like last week. Like she's got the lowdown on every single player. And so, you know,

you've got Vashik, you've got Jeannie and our guy Rob Faye as well. Yes. And yeah, Jeannie, uh, once again. Sorry, Brad Faye, Rob Faye. Which one is he? Brad Faye. Brad Faye. Yeah, Brad Faye. I was got the Fays. Yeah, yeah, it's, it's fair. The two syllable names. Yeah.

Yeah. So yeah, Jeannie Bouchard, joining the show, really appreciate it. She did have a great career. And you think back to the Wimbledon final, the one thing, you know, with her, with Andrescue, who did win the U.S. Open and she won the Canadian Open that year as well, the Indian Wells. You want to see Mboko kind of go on a similar run and have similar results because it is fun. It does kind of take over the sporting conversation in Canada, especially when it's happening over the summer. you know there's no hockey happening or anything like that it's kind of just baseball and and these individual sports and it is it is an opening for imboco to kind of go on a run here and get some of the maybe unwanted pressure but there is going to be pressure on her moving forward past this tournament and and potentially into the u.s. open as well yeah i think that was a really important comment from genie about how do you carry on and manage the stress

manage everything in your career because you go back to 2014 for Jeannie Bouchard. She was a finalist at Wimbledon, semi-finals at the Australian, semifinals at the French Open, fourth round at the U.S. Open. Like, that is an unbelievable season. She was also in the third round of the 2014 Australian Open. Like, that is immediate success just like that. Yeah. But you heard it from her dealing with that, understanding, you know, how your life changes.

That's not for everybody. I think Emma Radikano is a great example as well. She had the ultimate success. But then you have to manage your schedule. You have to understand that, oh, you know, I am going to be targeted by the other players. They see me as a threat, therefore they're going to prepare for me very differently. So, you know, it's kind of growing up on the court. And for some people, it happens a little smoother.

For others, it doesn't. But you hope for Victoria Mboko is that she's given time to kind of like ease into this. because to go from ranked 300 in the world to be potentially, Josh, like, she could be a top 25 player. Yeah, if she wins the tournament, she would be in the top 25. That is, yeah, that's a steep learning curve. So you hope for the long term, you know, obviously this is a positive story right now, but you want it to be a positive story moving into X amount of years, right? And hopefully there's longevity there too.

But so far, heard really good things about Vicki and Boko in terms of your interviews, but you just got to make sure that, you know, tennis is a tough sport for a young, young player. As we've seen, that success doesn't last. So you have to make sure that, you know, you kind of go into it the right way and you get the right learnings out of it. Yeah. And it starts, once again, it starts, or not starts, continues today for Vicki Mboko as she plays in the semis, center court in Montreal at the National Bank Open, taken on ninth seed, Elena Rabakana at 3 o'clock. So for your sports viewing pleasure, it's a really ideal day.

Noon, the Blue Jays take on the Rockies in the series finale. You can hear the call for that one here on Sportsnet 650. At 3 o'clock, the semi you can watch on Sportsnet with Mboko and Robocana. So just an ideal day. And then after that, do what you want. Yeah, listen to the radio, listen to SportsNus, 650. Catch up on your podcast. Yes, exactly.

I'm sure Saty Arshan Bicknasar, I believe they are on three to five today. I could be super wrong. I'll check the schedule, but they'll be on today as well, and I'm sure they will be covering everything going on with Mboko and what's going on in her semi-final as well. So stay tuned here. It's 4 to 6 here on SportsNet 650, so I'm sure they'll have the result of whatever happens in the semis as well.

Before we go, it is Halford & Brough, Josh Ellie Wolf, Randy Bjanda, filling in for the guys. we did want to mention, so Thomas Mueller obviously is going to come to Vancouver, but it is not yet officially been announced by the club.

What's going on here? Yeah, some feelers out. I'm trying to figure out what's going on here. The longer it takes, the weirder it gets. It does. This is kind of like a, you know, Fabrizio de Omano came out with the tweet last week, and generally when he gives you the seal of approval

in the soccer world, that means it's as good as done. But it hasn't been officially announced. A team's been working on it, from what I understand, but until it's official, it's not official. We do have some other news in the soccer world, though that is kind of Mueller-related.

Right. So Song-Hung Min, who played for Tottenham Hotspur, he ended up signing for LAFC. And there was a rapport out from Manuel Veth last week, or two weeks ago, I think, about how L.AFC decided that maybe they weren't in the running for Mueller. They were aligning somewhere else or they wanted to spend their money elsewhere. We now know that that's where they're going to spend their money.

This is a 33-year-old Korean International that had a lot of success, even though the team didn't do much of anything in Tottenham, but he was a club legend there. So they spent $22 million on signing him. So that's just for his signature, not his contract. So we now know why maybe they took themselves, out of the Thomas Mueller running. So that deal is done, but the white caps, as of right now,

have not announced Thomas Mueller to the white caps. So Mueller Beobachten. Yes. That's how you say watch in German, by the way. Continues, boys. Okay. Mule Bailobachten. All right.

I'm not even going to try to say that. I'm probably saying it wrong. Well, I believe in you. I'll take your word for it. It is weird. Andy's right. The more it goes on, the more it's like, oh, this is weird. Why does it take it so long?

And it does, as you know, a bank. Cooper sports fan your alarm bells start going off and it's like man is this going to end up bad is something is it's not going to work out you're going to be left at the altar waiting yeah we can't have nice things so yeah the curse the curse is real I'm still I am confident still okay it's just yes the delay generally you know plants seeds of doubt of course but I'm confident yes it would be I think and look I'm not as familiar with how soccer transfers work as some other people, but it does seem like once it's reported to a pretty solid amount, that it would be very, very weird if it didn't happen.

And he is a free agent, so this is not really a negotiation with Byron Munich, because he is a free agent. Right. He didn't renew the contract there. This is more about the discovery rights with Cincinnati, which you have to trade for those and find that dollar value or whatever, GamTam and all those other imaginary things that the MLS has, and then eventually signing the player as well. Really good system there.

Ah, yes, Gamm Tamm and Discovery Rights. Those are my favorite channels on... Basically, the equivalent of Monopoly money, I believe, is like Gammon Tamm. Like, that's the way I see it. Mueller doesn't have any brothers playing for a New York area MLS team, does he, that he might end up going to? Two of them? How are there two of them? Oh, God, not again.

How is this happening? You know what? If Quinn Hughes plays in Vancouver until he's 35, though, then he can go to New Jersey. I'll let him do that. I think he's allowed to do it. Oh, his best years will come 35 to 40. Fair enough. Didn't Mark Giordano win a Norris at 35?

True. You know what? It's possible. Yeah. Nick Lindstrom. At the age of 35, who wouldn't want to go to the lovely state of New Jersey? The Garden State? Yeah.

You know? Retire in New Jersey. It's very, it's very like dark and brown for being called the Garden State. I've been to New Jersey a few times in my life. Yeah. Riving experiences. Seen a lot of brown. There's just like a lot of mud.

Why is it called the Garden State? Yeah, what's the deal? There's trees, I guess. There's going to be gardens somewhere. It's not where Randy. Mud grows trees, obviously. Because what is they were colonizing it and they saw it and we got to make this sound nicer than it is. Yeah, guys, we need a selling.

That's like Greenland. We got to build this up. Exactly. Yeah, yeah. That's a good point. Yeah. Trying to attract people and then they get there and it's like, what? New Jersey, the Greenland of North America.

Tough. Don't tell Greenland. See, maybe this is the Kinnock's selling future. It's like, do you really want to go to New Jersey? man? Have you been to New Jersey? Have you seen pictures? Yeah. Did you hear Randy describe it on the radio the other day? They're going to clip this. Jim Rutherford's just going to play it over and over again in the locker room. It is not fun. I think when it'll just go practice facility. Yeah, they got one. It'll be the same as we're talking. They got three

sheets there. This is crazy. Sorry, maybe Mueller, Mueller. Muller? Muller. Yeah. Oh, the guys are saying Mueller though. Are they? Alfred says Mueller. I kind of trust him. Maybe it is Mueller. I don't know. Alfred says Mueller. He might be just doing it to mess with this though. Fair enough. Maybe Mueller is waiting for the Canucks to get a practice facility before he signs. That's part of his negotiation tactics. That'd be a win-win for everyone involved. Yeah, it doesn't necessarily affect him one way or the other, but he really wants the Canucks to have a practice. Maybe he's a big Canucks fan.

Yeah, we don't know why he's coming. He holds leverage, guys. You're right. We didn't actually know about this until now. Mueller is a big Canucks fan. It's like, I will not come here until you build a practice facility. You know what? He's already helping out the city.

Not on the line. Okay, I appreciate it. Everyone texting in 650, 650 on the Dunbar-Lubber text line. listening as well. Thank you to A-Dog. Thank you to Lattie producing the show. Thank you to my co-host, Randipe Janda. I've been Josh L.A. Wolf. This has been Halford & Brough on Sportsnet 650.