Speaker 1: It's say hello to our first guest of twenty twenty six.
Speaker 2: Our next guest is a legend of the courts ranks
Speaker 2: world number one by the Association of Tennis Professionals. He's
Speaker 2: won four of the major tennis opens.
Speaker 3: He's done it. Please welcome to the show.
Speaker 4: Tennis champion Jim car Hey, honey, good morning, and Mite
Speaker 4: may I just joined the chorus of birthday wishers. Greetings forty.
Speaker 3: I believe it.
Speaker 4: I don't think you look a day over thirty nine plus.
Speaker 5: Thank you day. Well, this is going to get really
Speaker 5: old quickly.
Speaker 6: Thank you. I've been very spot for my thirty ninth birthday,
Speaker 6: including the boys.
Speaker 5: Rolling in a bunch of forty balloons.
Speaker 3: Yes, this is just tuned in nature.
Speaker 4: To let me crash now.
Speaker 7: Jim, I know you as he's one of the nicest
Speaker 7: blokes I've ever worked with. By the way, part of
Speaker 7: the Nines Austrain Open coverage. But also what on you
Speaker 7: doing in an ouberates jacket?
Speaker 4: Well, I mean, come on, guys, isn't it fairly obvious?
Speaker 4: This was my destiny. I think it's it was a
Speaker 4: natural fit for me, honestly, like the Uber eats, people
Speaker 4: came to me and you know last year and and
Speaker 4: put this script out and I was like, how in
Speaker 4: the world had we not thought of this? Nose?
Speaker 7: Right?
Speaker 6: And if you haven't seen it, I guarantee you will
Speaker 6: because it's playing a lot at the Australian Open.
Speaker 3: Yeah, here's a little taste.
Speaker 7: Jim Kre's new career decision did take us by surprise.
Speaker 1: Hut.
Speaker 5: I think how career was.
Speaker 2: Jim Courier.
Speaker 4: Bengal nailed it.
Speaker 5: It's so good.
Speaker 4: Well, Todd Woodbridge is the star of the ad though.
Speaker 4: Todd's just incredible.
Speaker 1: LOGI winner.
Speaker 5: Everywhere, isn't it this time of year? Are you an
Speaker 5: Oberts kind of guy?
Speaker 4: Though?
Speaker 5: I like because tennis players are pretty fit and healthy.
Speaker 5: What's on your What do you go through?
Speaker 1: Oh?
Speaker 4: I do a lot of Mexican food. Yeah, yeah, I've
Speaker 4: got a couple of Mexican restaurants here in Melbourne. I've
Speaker 4: already hit up Fonder pretty strong, get a little burrito
Speaker 4: ball action.
Speaker 5: Yeah yeah, yeah, they're good strong.
Speaker 1: Let's talk tennis. What a turnout even last week and
Speaker 1: the AO hadn't officially even started, so.
Speaker 3: They could they called that week zero. I think the
Speaker 3: AFL have.
Speaker 7: That they were calling it weak zero and you're right, Jase,
Speaker 7: because there were gym there were exhibition matches. It was
Speaker 7: a one point slam and opening ceremony. Is this the
Speaker 7: way of the future.
Speaker 4: It definitely is the way of the future if you
Speaker 4: think about it, then these are these are the playoffs
Speaker 4: for tennis, right. This is when our non core tennis
Speaker 4: fans come in and you bring them in and you
Speaker 4: hope that then they stick and go see other tennis tournaments.
Speaker 4: Besides this, this is a chance to really open the
Speaker 4: floodgates and look, honestly, the Australian Open has grown so
Speaker 4: much during the two weeks when tennis is underway with
Speaker 4: the main draws, been tough to get tickets for a
Speaker 4: lot of people.
Speaker 6: Now, you know, you hear the tennis players come here
Speaker 6: every year and they go, oh, this is our face,
Speaker 6: this is our favorite Grand Slam.
Speaker 5: Like do you say that everywhere you go? Or is
Speaker 5: the estray and Open really the best?
Speaker 4: I think I think it is their favorite because first
Speaker 4: of all, they come in fresh right, and second of all,
Speaker 4: the facilities are just ridiculous. I mean, you're five minutes
Speaker 4: from your hotel, like you're in New York City. You
Speaker 4: could be twenty five minutes from the courts to your hotel.
Speaker 4: It could be an hour and a half. You don't
Speaker 4: have like the inconveniences don't exist here. So it's been awesome.
Speaker 1: Did you retire two thousand, right? And you know how
Speaker 1: like what technology and stuff? Yeah, these kids these days,
Speaker 1: they try totally different ways. How do you reckon? You
Speaker 1: go out there now against the top players?
Speaker 4: Well, I think I'd go okay, but I don't think
Speaker 4: i'd like my chances much against Center and Alcoraz, to
Speaker 4: be honest, those guys are so so good, so strong,
Speaker 4: and they just don't have any weaknesses.
Speaker 7: Are they sort of those two unbeatable at the moment.
Speaker 7: I know one of them has to beat the other
Speaker 7: to win the title, but as a duo where they
Speaker 7: sort of they're the ones to beat.
Speaker 4: This is as close to as it's felt in men's
Speaker 4: tennis to back when Federer Nadal broke away from the
Speaker 4: pack about twenty years ago, before Djokovic really became who
Speaker 4: he is today, it just felt like it was inevitable
Speaker 4: that you were going to see them in the finals.
Speaker 4: And that's what it feels like. They'll lose at times.
Speaker 4: They no one's perfect, but their skill set and there
Speaker 4: is just so different.
Speaker 5: But more about Djokovic. Can he could he win the
Speaker 5: Australian Open.
Speaker 4: He could, He certainly could. But his biggest obstacle besides
Speaker 4: those guys is his own body. You know, they got
Speaker 4: thirty eight, he's almost your almost funny.
Speaker 6: You see these athletes and when people are like, oh,
Speaker 6: you know they're getting really old and he's thirty eight.
Speaker 1: Oh we missed out window. Clinton Novak was on the
Speaker 1: nose a few years back during COVID times and stuff.
Speaker 1: I feel like the country's got around him now yeah.
Speaker 4: I mean I think look time heals a lot of
Speaker 4: the wounds right, and Novak has been I think it
Speaker 4: seems fun he's been gracious.
Speaker 5: I think funny.
Speaker 4: You'd love him. I mean, he is super smart and
Speaker 4: he's interested and he's interesting.
Speaker 3: No, that sleep smart.
Speaker 7: They don't have much in coming there.
Speaker 6: Now, what about the Aussies. Have we got any chances
Speaker 6: with our Australian tennis plays? Who's our best shot?
Speaker 4: Well, first of all, you've got a young female player
Speaker 4: and Maya Joint, a teenager who's fantastically talented. She's raw,
Speaker 4: she still needs some time, but she's one to keep
Speaker 4: your eye on for sure. And then you got Alex
Speaker 4: Dimenar's number six in the world, six in the world.
Speaker 5: Amazing.
Speaker 4: Yeah, the demon's incredible. It's hard to keep your eyes
Speaker 4: on him because he's so fast. Like the guy's just
Speaker 4: all over the court. He's an Alcoraz's quarterfinal, so he's
Speaker 4: going to have to do some hard yards to get
Speaker 4: through because he's trying to break through that round. That's
Speaker 4: been his his sort of ceiling at the moment. They
Speaker 4: got the quarterfinals the Australian Open, last year, got the
Speaker 4: quarterfinals of the US Open. Trying to get to the
Speaker 4: Semis is the next step up. But I think, I mean,
Speaker 4: he's definitely good enough to do that and maybe go beyond.
Speaker 3: Hey one more, I want to ask you about Jim
Speaker 3: because we were talking about sort of older players. Lauren
Speaker 3: and Venus Williams was in action yesterday.
Speaker 7: Was she She's here forty five years in the double
Speaker 7: still she's playing singles. So she was given a wildcard
Speaker 7: for the Australian Open singles, which is a little bit
Speaker 7: controversial because people like, let's let's reward the younger generation,
Speaker 7: Let's let's sort of nurture the stars of tomorrow, bring
Speaker 7: the Williams sisters back anytime.
Speaker 3: Out of Mummy.
Speaker 7: I mean she showed, she showed last night why she
Speaker 7: deserved a wild card.
Speaker 4: Yeah, she barely last She lost six to four and
Speaker 4: a third and she was up for love in the
Speaker 4: third set against the quality player. Just just couldn't close
Speaker 4: the door. But she's forty five years old, still competitive.
Speaker 5: That's amazing. So who is the woman to be?
Speaker 7: Does it?
Speaker 5: Soblenka?
Speaker 4: It is what do you love about I used to
Speaker 4: be thirteen or no?
Speaker 1: No, it's not just that she just seems she seems
Speaker 1: fun and a bit cheeky. Yeah, used to be a
Speaker 1: Naomi Asaka guy.
Speaker 5: And she's still boring though. Ye, she's a bit boring.
Speaker 3: And you know what, very sad.
Speaker 5: And I said this a lot in sports.
Speaker 6: I love the characters that bring so much entertainment to
Speaker 6: the game.
Speaker 5: That's why we love.
Speaker 6: Nick Kurrioss when he plays with cockon Arkus in the doubles. Like,
Speaker 6: the characters bring so much to the sport. And I
Speaker 6: think we we had it a whole era of these
Speaker 6: amazing characters, and then we had this era of amazing
Speaker 6: legends and now there's like some characters coming back into
Speaker 6: the game and it brings so much excitement.
Speaker 4: And I've got a new one for you. Also to
Speaker 4: add into the mix. There's a guy named Sasha Public
Speaker 4: who's he's number ten in the world. He was number
Speaker 4: eighty in the world this time last year. And he's
Speaker 4: got a lot of curios in him as far as
Speaker 4: his mercurial nature on the court, his shot making, his unpredictability. Yeah,
Speaker 4: he's fun. Okay, I love that Greek stallion. You're the
Speaker 4: hot sportspas.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I like Bearristina too. But he's pulled out. He's
Speaker 5: good to he said that on radio.
Speaker 3: Hasn't see that.
Speaker 5: What did I say?
Speaker 3: He withdrew? He withdrew.
Speaker 4: I'm not sure you can say that.
Speaker 3: You can tournament, Please pass, Please pass my best onto
Speaker 3: t J. I miss dearly.
Speaker 4: Yesterday, did you?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 3: Yeah? What did you do?
Speaker 4: But we're just catching up on life, tucking country music,
Speaker 4: which is.
Speaker 3: His big thing. He loves the country guy.
Speaker 1: You're lie Jim Curry John Us on the air this morning.
Speaker 3: We'll let you go.
Speaker 1: We know you've got some deliveries to do. Definitely did
Speaker 1: We will see you on the telecast. Thanks for popping in.
Speaker 1: This morning mate.
Speaker 4: You see me on an Eat Bake, you know.
Speaker 3: Who it is.
Speaker 1: It is just on a quarter past seven.
Speaker 4: Lauren wake up feeling good following them on the socials