Journey to Jeddah ｜ 2025 Ep. 1 ｜ Learner Tien & Rei Sakamoto).

Yeah, I did go to Jetta last year. LernerTN battles his way into the final here at the Next Gen. Really happy with the win. Yeah, one of the dream tournaments for me. The Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF can make a player's career. He loves the big stage. When Lerner came back, it's like, oh man, it's one of the best tournaments that I've ever been to and how they take care of us. It's like kind of what you dream as a kid to happen. You know, it's a great chance to let the people get to know me. I give Ray a lot of credit for that. Super grateful that PIF is actually investing in sport. It's great because it kind of integrates these younger kids into playing tennis. An elite level tournament. That will be one of my goals too. I am really hoping to make it this year. I don't play any other sports besides tennis. I think that's for a reason. I think it's because I'm not really good at anything else. Tennis is kind of all I got and I'll just put all my effort into that. This is kind of like my first year on tour. All these tournaments I'm going to for the first time, I'm playing for the first time. It's a lot of new experiences and I'm kind of taking everything in. To see him grow up and he's more mature now. He understands that this is his career. So we've had much better mature conversations now as far as the game where he sees it going. It's pretty exciting. I try not to let it get too overwhelming. I just try to enjoy it as much as I can because I'm only going to be around these places for the first time this year. This is my first time actually. It's pretty cool. Next year maybe things will be a bit less exciting because I've been to a lot of these places already. So I'm just trying to enjoy it as much as I can. Lerner Tien has a very, very intelligent way of playing the game. He can figure things out. He can figure opponents out. End of 2024. The next NHL Finals presented by PIF was a breakthrough tournament in some ways. It probably elevated his status in terms of general tennis fans watching the game. So good. Magnificent from Lerner Tien. Took the first set off Fonseca and then there was a tie break in the second. So who knows what might have happened. What a get from Lerner Tien. Incredible athleticism. Might have gone on to lift the trophy. But you know, undoubtedly, it's almost sort of mesmerizing to watch on a tennis court. He's so calm for a young player. I just try to go out there. I try to enjoy it as much as I can. I feel like that kind of reduces the pressure, the expectation of the match when I just have more of a mindset like I'm going out there and I'm just grateful to be out on court competing. And I think that that helps me a lot. Going out there and feeling like it's you against another guy. You know, you're trying to find ways to beat each other. And I think that dynamic is really fun and I really enjoy it. Tennis never had boring spots in my life. I loved it. My whole entire life. You get tight? Being on the camera? No, I'm not tight. You? No. It's normal. I'm a little bit. One camera. No, no, no. Let's see. Let's go to the gym, yeah? Let's go to the gym. Check out the locker room first. Locker room. Who is Ray? Ray Sakamoto is a tall Japanese 19-year-old kid who's chasing for his dream to win a Grand Slam title. Has a unique personality. Has a good serve, I would say. We'll see, we'll see. Curveball. I know, right? You throw? You throw now? You remember the days we've been training in IMG? Of course I remember. Because you were a young man. You were a very young man. You came over. And I remember you on your first day. I wasn't even speaking English. No, nothing at all. Do you want to know something about your guard? Tell me. It's pretty good. It's pretty good? Yeah. Alright, three. Do you want to do it? Three, two. Wait, wait, wait. Ray is fun to watch. He's a guy I've had an eye on coming through juniors from time to time. A little flashier than someone like Lerner in terms of the way he plays the sport. He's a bit more explosive. He's a bit more unpredictable. He's got a lot of inner self-confidence and self-belief. The biggest challenge that Ray has faced in his tennis career so far is to challenge himself, understand how big the transition is from junior to pro. My motivation right now is getting to the ranking that allows me to play some more bigger tournaments. The next-gen ATP finals presented by PIF for this year is, of course, a nice objective and a nice goal, but we know that he has a chance for it also for next year. To have that as a process, it's a big step. It's a big step. He wants to show that he can play tennis at the highest level and he wants to do it on the big stage. I've been legit. I've been legit. Feet a little bit more active, okay? Good. That's the footwork. Yes, yes, yes, yes. Same mindset today in the practice. Good rhythm and good contact point. You're going to switch it? Yes. So you went with your gut, right? And what did we talk about on the court today? What did we say? We said go with your gut, right? I like this guy. Try to get better every second, every second, every second. Exactly right. Say less. Say less, huh? But on the other hand, we need to be a little careful to keep him hungry, to learn more and not that he feels like he's already arrived. I have to be hungry for more. If I could crack the top 200 this week, for now. I mean, of course, to improve my tennis in general. That's my goal. A young player like him has a very, very strong basis. Technically. Physically. Some of these young guys, they maybe have goals of becoming very good players, top 20, top 10, number one. But that goal is very far ahead. So it's good to keep them within reach of a goal. And the Next Gen ATP Final for sure are a goal for them to be motivated and be treated like top pros when they go there. Yeah, I think it's really cool to see kind of the old player fields from Next Gen and see, like, the paths they've taken and, you know, how well they're doing now. It's nice to feel like you're on the right track and you're almost following in those footsteps. It makes you feel like you're doing something right. The way PIF is investing in the next generation of talent is really remarkable. Getting kids to love tennis at the early stages is just imperative. Tennis clinics are absolutely enormous for tennis youth and all the progression up. And it's not about necessarily hitting a ball, but it's learning all the ball skills, running around, playing different games and making tennis fun. It's so good for learning and growth and I think everything is positive about tennis. I think it's very, like, surreal to go out and play at tournaments, especially, like, not in your home country and, you know, people come out for your matches and they're supporting you. I think it's everything you dreamed of as a kid, so I think it's really cool. Tennis has always kind of been around, I think. My family just played a good bit of tennis. My dad would still play in the men's league when I was younger. I kind of wanted to play tennis just because it was my escape from doing school. One was kind of a break from the other. When I got too much tennis, I went to go do school and then when I was sick of that, I'd go out and play with my dad, so... Good serve. Daddy. OK. Oh, nice trial in. That's kind of how it started and, you know, I was pretty good when I was young, so I just kind of kept on going. Well, I was actually, I was his national coach, so I met him around nine years old and then I was his national coach probably nine to almost 15. We've had a long relationship. I was also pretty close with his dad. You know, when he was looking for someone to help him out, it was kind of an easy ask for him to ask me to come on board. I love the one-on-one aspect of tennis, just going out there, competing against one other player. I mean, I'm pretty competitive, I feel like, in general, if I'm good at something. I think if I can get good at it, then I'll be pretty competitive. I honestly think all the young guys, all the up-and-coming young guys, all do a great job pushing each other. I think it helps a little bit when you see familiar faces in new places. Sometimes you forget that, I mean, so many other guys are living almost, you know, the same life as you. You're staying in the same hotels, you're eating at the same places. It's a little reassuring just to know that you share a lot in common with everyone around you. Your practice schedules are similar, so you're pretty much living, like, almost an identical life to some of these other guys, and it's almost comforting sometimes just because you feel like stuff can be kind of overwhelming, and then you kind of realize this is everyone's life. It reminds you a little bit of, you know, your life outside of tennis. There's people back home, you know, supporting you from wherever you are in the world, and it just means a lot. Right now, they're back in California. I think they'll come out for the Open, but they're just back at home right now. I'm in random time zones. Sometimes they'll stay up until 3, 4, 5 a.m. to watch my matches, and they're at home for most of the tournaments, but I definitely feel the love and support from across the world, for sure. It means so much to me to have family that follows my match, even though it's, like, midnight in Japan. Even though I didn't play the best match of my life, it doesn't matter. They will be there for me and cheering for me, so that means a lot. Why do I keep playing tennis? It's not really a suffering to be a tennis player. If I would have to work at the desk all day, Monday through Friday, I think that's a suffering for me. Suffering in the gym, suffering on the court, it's not really a suffering. It's just joy. If I wasn't playing tennis at all, I don't get this excitement every day. Even on the practice points, I hate to lose, I hate to lose, and I love the feeling of winning. I get to feel that every single day. It's such a joy. Love it. I've been having a dream to win a Grand Slam, but it's still a dream. When I was, like, 8, K gave me a massive inspiration. Yeah, it's 2014. He made finals at US Open, so that's where my dream started, kind of. It's a big thing. Yeah, I did go to Jetta last year. It was great. It was really fun. They take really good care of you. Like, they put a lot of effort into the event. They took us on, like, a yacht out on the water, which was really cool. You know, it's you, and it's the seven other guys, and I wasn't, and I don't feel like anyone else was really thinking about, like, wow, this guy next to me that's, you know, jumping off the boat with me, like, I could be playing this guy in two days. Seems to build the camaraderie between these guys, and you can, it just really shines through off the court. That's important, I think, as you take that journey through professional tennis, and maybe these kind of events, these kind of activities just help them bond as a group. Jetta really spotlights the next generation of tennis talent. It's just such a good indicator of who is going to be the next big thing in tennis. The intensity of every match is far greater because surely the sets are shorter. Often one break can be enough to win a set, or you almost immediately find yourself in a tie break, and then with the NOAD scoring, that, you know, they're fast and furious points. So I think this is serious stuff. All these young players want to be top dog. They want to lift that trophy at the end of the week. They want to win. We have made the conscious decision of playing a pretty tough calendar to be able to reach that goal. We could have probably chosen to play mostly challengers and not play 250, 500 and try to play 1,000 next week. But we also consciously know that this was the right road for him to elevate his level overall. So then maybe he doesn't meet this target, this goal, but then it's much better off for next year. I give Ray a lot of credit for that. The goal I set to myself was to make it to U.S. Open Qualies. So, yeah, I was... At that time I set the goal, I wasn't expecting me to actually be able to do that. So, I mean, it's amazing. Honestly, not a lot of people can dream about being a pro. It's not easy to do it. So he's getting better access. It's going to give a lot more chance to who actually have talent, but not able to play tennis enough. It's going to help a lot of kids. It's great because it kind of integrates these younger kids into playing tennis. In some places tennis isn't the most popular sport there is. It informs them a little bit about what it's like. And I think it brings a lot of new faces into tennis. And I think it's great for the sport in general. Super grateful that PIF is actually investing in sport. Any way that we can get tennis out and exposing young kids, maybe kids from different backgrounds as well, to be able to get them into the sport and grow the sport. You know, the first thing from last year when Lerner came back, he was so appreciative. And he's like, oh, man, it's one of the best tournaments that I've ever been to and how they take care of us from hospitality all the way to just making sure that they're safe and have a good time. So super appreciative about that. Do I hope that Lerner will make it to Jetta? Yeah, I mean, I'm fairly confident that he will. I think I will make it to Jetta.