Speaker 1: I'll set myself in some ice, hopefully get about fifteen
Speaker 1: massages and see if fucking walk in a couple of days.
Speaker 2: Time, Good day, and welcome to the tennis. For day
Speaker 2: two of AO twenty twenty five, John Whovenar is bringing
Speaker 2: you all the big news from Melbourne Park every day
Speaker 2: of the main draw. Today on the tennis, Djokovic through,
Speaker 2: but not without a challenge.
Speaker 3: He's a nice boy. I mean he's a teenager.
Speaker 2: Still magic. Michelson sends Steph packing, I.
Speaker 1: Came in with the proper mindset and yeah, I executed
Speaker 1: a game.
Speaker 2: Plan and Aussie assault. A preview of day three and
Speaker 2: Janick Sinner opens up on life and loss.
Speaker 4: I believe we are tennis player and tennis players are important.
Speaker 3: At end of today we are nothing.
Speaker 2: That's all ahead on the tennis.
Speaker 5: Scrambling is Garcia the floating forehead. Osaka is there playing
Speaker 5: game to the forehead. And that's long from Garcia. I
Speaker 5: GOTSI from Naomia Soaka, who knows this court.
Speaker 6: Only too well.
Speaker 2: Now me Osaka has shone under the lights of rod
Speaker 2: laver Arena, edging past Caroline Garcia in a cracking battle.
Speaker 2: The world number fifty one showed glimpses of the sort
Speaker 2: of form that saw her win two AO titles in
Speaker 2: three years. Breaking the frenchwoman served twice in a thirty
Speaker 2: seven minute opening. Stanza Garcia had the answers in the
Speaker 2: second set, blasting ten winners past her opponent to level
Speaker 2: the match, but Osaka found an early break in the
Speaker 2: deciding set and managed to hold Garcia at arm's length
Speaker 2: to prevail six three, six six ' three.
Speaker 7: Overall, I'm just really grateful to I guess get the
Speaker 7: opportunity to play on rod Leaver again. I was a
Speaker 7: little shocked when I saw the schedule and it's a
Speaker 7: really big honor for me, So thank you guys for
Speaker 7: sticking around. Yeah, I just I really hope that I
Speaker 7: got the chance to plan in front of you all again,
Speaker 7: and thank.
Speaker 2: You for the Supporta's next opponent will be number twenty
Speaker 2: seed Carolina Mukova.
Speaker 8: Djokovic had advantage and five to two for a place
Speaker 8: in the second round. Serves an Asou wide and wooks
Speaker 8: with a little bit of frustration in himself, not with
Speaker 8: his opponent, but with his own game, and there's a
Speaker 8: warm embrace at the net between the pair and Novak Djokovic,
Speaker 8: the ten time champion, starts his campaign for an eleventh
Speaker 8: title with a four set win over Nishesh Bassafarreati of
Speaker 8: the United States.
Speaker 2: Novak Djokovic is safely through to the second round of
Speaker 2: the Australian Open, but not without his nineteen year old
Speaker 2: opponent throwing a spanner in the works. American wild card
Speaker 2: Nishesh bassav already stole the first set from the ten
Speaker 2: time champ, incredibly the first opening set of an Australian
Speaker 2: Open campaign. Djokovic has dropped since two thousand and six,
Speaker 2: but the number seven seed soon found his groove and
Speaker 2: was never headed, winning four to six, six three, six,
Speaker 2: four six.
Speaker 3: Two in the end.
Speaker 9: It was great and I think he was a better
Speaker 9: player for set and a half and he deserves every
Speaker 9: bit of applause that he got when he was exiting
Speaker 9: the court.
Speaker 2: Bus have already a finalist in Auckland, recently announcing himself
Speaker 2: on one of the world's biggest stages in his Grand
Speaker 2: Slam debut.
Speaker 3: The Quintas.
Speaker 10: Is a little surreal. Just seeing him in front of me,
Speaker 10: like you're going to be competitives today is a core
Speaker 10: feeling for sure. And then obviously on the court he
Speaker 10: does everything really well. Just serving really well. I think
Speaker 10: that's the biggest thing that he's improved in his career,
Speaker 10: and today that was a big difference between me and him.
Speaker 10: I think that ended up giving him the win. And
Speaker 10: just how solid he is and all that. I think
Speaker 10: there's a lot to learn from SGM, so definitely learned
Speaker 10: a lot today.
Speaker 2: Nick Kurrios has failed in his bid to overcome an
Speaker 2: abdominal strain, slumping to a straight set's loss to Jacob
Speaker 2: Firnley on John Kine Arena. While the home favorite looked
Speaker 2: solid in the opening set with some blistering serves, he
Speaker 2: was found wanting in a first set tiebreak. Then the
Speaker 2: floodgates opened for the young Scott, who pounced on an
Speaker 2: out of sorts curios to win seven six six three
Speaker 2: seven six.
Speaker 9: Yeah. Obviously extremely nervous before the match, didn't get too
Speaker 9: much sleep. I knew it was going to be a
Speaker 9: rowty march, and but no I thought I thought I
Speaker 9: played good. Sorry for for a neck, I could tell
Speaker 9: he was he was dealing with some stuff. But I
Speaker 9: thought it was a great match and I really enjoyed
Speaker 9: playing in front of you guys.
Speaker 2: It brings to a premature end the campaign of Curios,
Speaker 2: who hasn't reached the second week of his home Slam
Speaker 2: in five years.
Speaker 11: Realistically, I can't really see myself probably playing singles again here. Yeah,
Speaker 11: it was it was special, like taking that, taking that
Speaker 11: in it was pretty good.
Speaker 3: It was good. Yeah.
Speaker 11: So yeah, I mean, look, I knew that I had
Speaker 11: I have doubles, so I didn't want to you know,
Speaker 11: I kind of was taking everything in tonight, you know,
Speaker 11: in those moments. It was yeah, it was.
Speaker 2: It was nuts heartbreak for compatriot Chris O'Connell, who battled
Speaker 2: for four hours before succumbing to Tommy Paul. The Aussie
Speaker 2: had the crowd behind him all the way on Kia Arena,
Speaker 2: trading sets with the American twelfth seed in a tug
Speaker 2: of war of epic proportions. O'Connell had his chances in
Speaker 2: the decider, but Paul came up clutch in the big moments,
Speaker 2: despite showing signs of fatigue the twenty twenty three semi finalists,
Speaker 2: securing a six two three, six, six one sixty seven
Speaker 2: seventy five victory.
Speaker 10: Chris played some some awesome tennis, and I mean as
Speaker 10: always that the energy in here was amazing, So thank
Speaker 10: you guys for coming out.
Speaker 12: I know you didn't want me.
Speaker 4: To win, but.
Speaker 3: It's it's always a lot of fun playing.
Speaker 5: In front of you guys.
Speaker 2: Meanwhile, destiny Iava played the match of her life in
Speaker 2: front of a home crowd on court three, stealing a
Speaker 2: win from Great Minn in a ten point super tie break,
Speaker 2: the Aussie coming from behind to triumph five seven seven,
Speaker 2: five seven six.
Speaker 13: I believed I could win before I stepped on the court.
Speaker 13: It was just I felt like I wasn't playing my best,
Speaker 13: and yeah, I was getting a bit negative in the
Speaker 13: first set, and then yeah, she had a lot of momentum.
Speaker 13: And then I just told myself, if I have to
Speaker 13: say come on every single point that I win, then
Speaker 13: I'm going to do that, and I need to do
Speaker 13: whatever it takes.
Speaker 2: I will now take on twenty twenty two finalists Daniel
Speaker 2: Collins in the second round and men's third seed Carlos
Speaker 2: al Karez has blasted his way into the second round
Speaker 2: and a tick under two hours with a straight sets
Speaker 2: demolition of Alexander Chevchenko.
Speaker 14: Honestly, the first month of the season, you never know
Speaker 14: how I was going to be I had the confidence
Speaker 14: to think that he was going to be good, but
Speaker 14: you never know. So just really really happy with the
Speaker 14: level that I played with everything I've I've done, I've
Speaker 14: done today, but I really want you to be better
Speaker 14: in the nest run.
Speaker 2: An amazing day two of action here at the Australian Open,
Speaker 2: particularly for the Aussies, but there were some shock results
Speaker 2: among the international players, not least of which Stefanos Sitzipas,
Speaker 2: Who's bundled out in four sets in the first round.
Speaker 2: John whoven I was here on the spotlight with me
Speaker 2: Xavier Mueller BArch Hello, welcome for your debut on.
Speaker 15: That I've never been on before. It's a bit of fun.
Speaker 2: Simon rays back from the GIG team. Hello, Simon, John Isaave.
Speaker 2: Good to be with you and for but playing now.
Speaker 2: Commentator Chander Ruben, Welcome, Chanda Happy.
Speaker 16: This is my first official obligation Gig enjoyment here and
Speaker 16: down Under, so.
Speaker 17: I'm looking forward to. Obligation is a strong word it is.
Speaker 16: I couldn't think of one, but it's it's I get
Speaker 16: to be here.
Speaker 2: It's apprivileged. He love it absolutely is and it's a
Speaker 2: pleasure to have you thank you. So a lot of
Speaker 2: big seeds have fallen today. We didn't have many yesterday.
Speaker 2: I think Linda Noskova was the biggest at twenty nine
Speaker 2: in the women's Let's start though with Titsipass, who's been
Speaker 2: bundled out by a compatriot of yours by the name
Speaker 2: of Alex Michelson in four sets seventy five, sixty three,
Speaker 2: two six six ' four and by Gollie Gosh. Michelson
Speaker 2: has a game on him. He does.
Speaker 16: He's a big hitter and I'm just twenty years of age.
Speaker 16: He's learning literally on the job in real time. He's
Speaker 16: got the big serve, he's got the weapons from the ground,
Speaker 16: and I think against Sitsipass it the matchup that helped him.
Speaker 16: His ability to go down the line with the backhand
Speaker 16: and really expose that area, open that area up against
Speaker 16: Sitzi pass was huge and he knew going into this match,
Speaker 16: playing against a top seed, that he had to go
Speaker 16: after it. And sometimes knowing that frees you up as
Speaker 16: a player, especially a young player, you know you have
Speaker 16: no other choice if you want to have a shot
Speaker 16: to win, and he handled the moment beautifully.
Speaker 2: Cizibas hasn't gone out this early at the Australian Open
Speaker 2: since twenty nineteen. This has been a happy hunting ground
Speaker 2: for him. What went wrong today?
Speaker 6: Yeah, Well, China makes a great point in about the matchup.
Speaker 6: It's now too zero in Mickelson's favor. So we saw
Speaker 6: Mickelson get over the top of sitsupas in Tokyo at
Speaker 6: the back end of the twenty twenty four season, and
Speaker 6: we saw it again today and I think and China
Speaker 6: makes a great point as well about the dominance of
Speaker 6: the Michelson backhand. But I want to identify what I
Speaker 6: think was a technical mistake from the Sidsapas camp. So
Speaker 6: we know sitz APAs he wants to find his four
Speaker 6: handedt all costs and it starts on the return of serve.
Speaker 6: So what we see from him today quite unusually, we
Speaker 6: don't typically see it, not to this extent on the
Speaker 6: second serve return, on the juice side in particular, so
Speaker 6: not so much the ad side, where he's not prepared
Speaker 6: to give up as much width and depth. He goes
Speaker 6: way back five and six meters behind the baseline and
Speaker 6: what Medvedev terak what he does when you give up
Speaker 6: that type of territory against someone like Alex Michelson with
Speaker 6: the type of backhand that he's got, is you allow
Speaker 6: Alex Michelson to then have ascendency in the point and
Speaker 6: he dominates thereafter. So what it then turns into, and
Speaker 6: trying to mention the backhand is this backhand exchange and
Speaker 6: I ransom numbers on the backhand side. So Mickelson's winners
Speaker 6: versus eras ratio just off the back end winging this match.
Speaker 6: Of the total number of back ends he hit, fifteen
Speaker 6: percent were winners, eleven percent were eras. When you flip
Speaker 6: that script, sit sur passes backhand side, which has always
Speaker 6: been the whole we know about that, that's where opponents
Speaker 6: try to get to. It's not so easy to do,
Speaker 6: but that's what they're all trying to achieve. Four percent
Speaker 6: winners off the backhand side, seventeen percent errors. So I
Speaker 6: think a lot of this trace is back to serve
Speaker 6: and return and his decision to go so far back
Speaker 6: on second serve return and looking for his forehand. There's
Speaker 6: a trade off there, there's a price you pay, and
Speaker 6: Mickelson was able to make him pay that price.
Speaker 15: Toret me through the last couple of years. So I
Speaker 15: was actually standing next to Tormy dred Craig Tarley twenty
Speaker 15: twenty three Men's final, since Pass was there, the crowd
Speaker 15: was loving him. It was an epic knight. Since then,
Speaker 15: how are we now talking about a first round loss?
Speaker 15: What has anything changed in that two year period or
Speaker 15: are we talking just little tweaks in the last few months.
Speaker 6: Well, I think there's been some substantial change in the
Speaker 6: CITs of Pass camp. So we know the relationship clearly
Speaker 6: that he's had with his father from the coaching perspective,
Speaker 6: that's now shifted. And I think the gains or the
Speaker 6: margins here are so fine that it doesn't take you
Speaker 6: being a long way off your game as an elite athlete.
Speaker 6: Alex Michelson's a coming star in the game. So if
Speaker 6: you are a little bit off, and I think we've
Speaker 6: spoken about a couple of the areas where in this
Speaker 6: particular matchup there's the potential for CITs best to get exposed,
Speaker 6: then you pay the price. And I think you know,
Speaker 6: just to double down on the point made before. I
Speaker 6: don't know what Sitzpass was doing going so far back
Speaker 6: on second server return because he wants the points short
Speaker 6: when the points were short in this match zero to
Speaker 6: four shots, he wins eighty two. Michelson wins seventy one.
Speaker 6: When the points start to lengthen the script totally flips.
Speaker 6: So five to eight shots, thirty seven rallies one for Michelson,
Speaker 6: twenty four for Sisu plus nine plus it comes out
Speaker 6: in the wash fourteen twelve. So if you want short points,
Speaker 6: don't go back five and six meters behind the baseline
Speaker 6: on second server.
Speaker 15: Now, what's going the daddy? You're looking at coaches, they
Speaker 15: haven't have that in hand.
Speaker 6: Yeah, well, clearly it was a plan going in, and
Speaker 6: I think Change is identifying what it is he's looking
Speaker 6: for his forehand there on second server return. So to
Speaker 6: get that you need time. But the trade off in
Speaker 6: creating time is you're giving up space. And my hypothesis anyway,
Speaker 6: or what I'm putting forward to the panel tonight, is
Speaker 6: that it didn't work in his favor on this occasion.
Speaker 6: So next time, and it won't be at the twenty
Speaker 6: twenty five AO, look for a change on second server
Speaker 6: time from Sizer person that matchup.
Speaker 2: It's two wins in a row now in this matchup
Speaker 2: for Alex Michelson big things to come from him. Well,
Speaker 2: another upset Chanda on day two happened in the women's draw,
Speaker 2: and Elena Ostapenko, who tends to do a lot of
Speaker 2: damage around these parts in January, is out of the competition.
Speaker 2: Belinda Benchitch strikes six, three, seven six.
Speaker 16: I think we've been looking to see when Belinda benchicch
Speaker 16: with makes some moves after coming back from maternity leave.
Speaker 16: And I saw her play a bit at the end
Speaker 16: of the season and also to start this year, and
Speaker 16: she has that type of game that can handle pace,
Speaker 16: that can handle big hitting, and that's what Astapinko serves
Speaker 16: up me. She's looking to hit big and bigger, and
Speaker 16: the redirect from Benchic. She's been playing more confidently, getting
Speaker 16: the fitness side of things back, and you could see
Speaker 16: that coming and I think that came into play in
Speaker 16: a big way against Ostapinco. And remember this matchup between
Speaker 16: these two, they go back, they go way back into
Speaker 16: junior into junior days, and so I think, you know, again,
Speaker 16: you look at matchups on these courts first round coming in,
Speaker 16: you're not quite as confident Ostapinco, maybe not as many
Speaker 16: wins coming into this year's aos as she might have liked,
Speaker 16: and against an opponent who can redirect the way Benchic can,
Speaker 16: who can return and take the ball a little bit earlier.
Speaker 16: That was the perfect counter to the pace of Yolene Ostapinco.
Speaker 16: And I also was impressed with how well Benchic handled
Speaker 16: the moment. That's always what you kind of wonder with
Speaker 16: a player coming back who was off for so many
Speaker 16: months off tour. But she handled the moment well. Defending
Speaker 16: when Ostapinko saved match points, she kind of kept her poise,
Speaker 16: saved a couple of set points herself into that tie break,
Speaker 16: and so I think handling the moment, handling the pressure.
Speaker 16: I mean, we're seeing Belinda Bencicic coming back in real
Speaker 16: time and it's a fantastic win for her and against
Speaker 16: a player who she matches up well against.
Speaker 15: And she had some really cute photos when she was,
Speaker 15: you know, not Akapabliev, when she was playing in sit little
Speaker 15: her daughter was on court with her little kiss on
Speaker 15: the side of court. I just love watching the outside
Speaker 15: of the match play players seeing their real selves, you know,
Speaker 15: their family, their friends, following on social It's just it's
Speaker 15: where you want to look at them.
Speaker 6: In the surface definitely seeing that type of insight, and
Speaker 6: I reckon that's.
Speaker 15: A really insight you can get from a player on
Speaker 15: their social media if you really think about it, you
Speaker 15: can go, Okay, they're out having a big night and
Speaker 15: I'm playing them tomorrow.
Speaker 17: This is going to be good.
Speaker 15: Oh they've got a new baby. They're going to be tired.
Speaker 15: This is going to be good. Oh they've got a
Speaker 15: new coach and they're doing an ice bath. I'm in trouble.
Speaker 15: I need to get myself one of those.
Speaker 2: So yeah, look a little deeper, folks, you heard of
Speaker 2: your perennial fan favourite. So how did she chant to
Speaker 2: use the word redirect? But how did she absorb some
Speaker 2: of that power game coming?
Speaker 6: I think first of all as well in the preparation
Speaker 6: phase that leads to getting here today on the opening
Speaker 6: Monday of the opening week of the twenty twenty five
Speaker 6: straight up and so Belinda benchit goes and bees a
Speaker 6: part and is a part of the Swiss team at
Speaker 6: the United Cup, then goes to Adelaide, has to come
Speaker 6: through qualifying man to do that, picks up another couple
Speaker 6: of matches, couple of tough matches, gets her retirement over
Speaker 6: Kellen Skyer, but goes three sets with sam Sonova and Adelaide.
Speaker 6: So it's time on court, it's building, it's the type
Speaker 6: of preparation you want to see. And then today and
Speaker 6: Chinda mentioned it and makes a great point. If you
Speaker 6: have a poor serving day against Belinda Benchic, she is
Speaker 6: going to come after you on second serve return. There's
Speaker 6: not many players in the world that return more aggressively
Speaker 6: than Belinda Bencicic. Well, unfortunately for us to Pinco, she
Speaker 6: had a poor serving day. She serves at fifty two
Speaker 6: percent today in terms of first serves in play, she
Speaker 6: wins just thirty four percent of her second serve points.
Speaker 6: And that's the benchitch pressure. That's what she does to you.
Speaker 6: She will not hold back on second serve return and
Speaker 6: she will keep coming after you no matter what. And
Speaker 6: then it turned into a little bit of a battle
Speaker 6: of the foehands and it was that the hole for
Speaker 6: us to Pinco today from the back of the court
Speaker 6: was on four hand side. Of the seventy nine fourhands
Speaker 6: she hit, twenty two were eras. That's a twenty eight
Speaker 6: percent error rate on the four hand side. Belinda Benchic,
Speaker 6: by contrast, thirteen percent error fourhand side. So those are
Speaker 6: a couple of things. You have a poor serving day,
Speaker 6: you cough up too many ears on full hand sawd,
Speaker 6: you're in trouble against an athlete the caliber Blenda Benchic.
Speaker 16: Yeah, I think you know when you look at Benchic
Speaker 16: and I think, you know she's still building, you know,
Speaker 16: I think in terms of the instinctiveness of her game
Speaker 16: and the movement and some of those things you've got
Speaker 16: to have live match play to really get to a
Speaker 16: high level. I think she's still building in that area.
Speaker 16: But she still has such a high tennis IQ and
Speaker 16: she understands where to put position herself on the court,
Speaker 16: what the likely reply is going to be from a
Speaker 16: player who is kind of playing one way. In Ostapinko,
Speaker 16: you know, she's just hitting the ball and it's not
Speaker 16: as thoughtful at times, especially when she's not as confident.
Speaker 16: So I think it was in terms of the matchup,
Speaker 16: a little bit of a mismatch down the stretch in
Speaker 16: that sense, even though it was a very tight second set.
Speaker 16: But this I think played right into Benja's hands and
Speaker 16: she was ready for the moment. And we talk about
Speaker 16: her personal life and being happy off court and being
Speaker 16: a new mom which she's coming back incredibly quick as well.
Speaker 16: It's phenomenal to see. But a lot of that takes
Speaker 16: the pressure off and just allows you to handle those
Speaker 16: moments that Blenda Benjach handled so beautifully today and that upset.
Speaker 2: Turning the spotlight to day three now, a couple of
Speaker 2: really interesting matchups to look up. Firstly with the man Simon,
Speaker 2: Australia's number one Alex Deminor has a tricky first up encounter.
Speaker 2: Baltic funders On School, the Dutchman who took down Raphael
Speaker 2: and Nadal at the Davis Cup finals.
Speaker 6: Yeah, and these guys have played before too. You have
Speaker 6: to go back a few years, but you're back in
Speaker 6: the twenty twenty two Davis Cup campaign. I think they
Speaker 6: met and it was a tight three setter between Demonor
Speaker 6: and Vanderson Scoop on that occasion. So it's a dangerous matchup.
Speaker 6: Vanders On School the last couple of seasons not as
Speaker 6: successful from his perspective as when he was at his
Speaker 6: career high. From a rankings perspective, He's got a big fourhand,
Speaker 6: can do a lot of damage with the forehead, uses
Speaker 6: the slice backhand more than we would see from most players.
Speaker 6: So there's a couple of different things or a couple
Speaker 6: of elements of danger there for demon. But I think
Speaker 6: we're all waiting, certainly those of us down under, all
Speaker 6: waiting with baited breath. I think we've all got an
Speaker 6: asterix on on Alex and we're all just wanting to
Speaker 6: see him have a good hit out, a solid hit out.
Speaker 6: Perhaps be challenged, but not to the point where you know,
Speaker 6: our palms are too sweaty. We'd like him to get
Speaker 6: through with a degree of comfort and build his momentum
Speaker 6: across the fortnite. That's what we're all hoping for.
Speaker 15: We're seeing it up a bit though. Does he really
Speaker 15: have a lot to worry about or it just be cautious?
Speaker 15: He should he be optimistic? Taught me through it.
Speaker 6: I think it's probably somewhere in the middle. So certainly,
Speaker 6: if you're in the in the camp, you're always on
Speaker 6: red alert, and as an athlete, you can place never
Speaker 6: afford not to be. Is it a realistic through Yeah, Look,
Speaker 6: I think on paper, sure, yep, he's a red hot favorite.
Speaker 6: But you know you've got to go and play the game.
Speaker 6: That's why they don't just send you through to the
Speaker 6: second round because it's not done on pat.
Speaker 15: That's why he gets this is why it's my first
Speaker 15: and last.
Speaker 2: I think it's great confidence in the body. Alex spoke
Speaker 2: about getting the legs back at United Cup. He finally
Speaker 2: feels like all his weapons about how important would that
Speaker 2: be for aply and knowing that he's at one hundred
Speaker 2: percent going into his home Slam.
Speaker 16: Yeah, I think it's huge. I mean, when you go
Speaker 16: into a major, there's a different kind of nervousness. Even
Speaker 16: if you aren't the nervous type, you know, there's just
Speaker 16: that little bit of tension that comes into play. These
Speaker 16: are the big events you want to do well at,
Speaker 16: So those are the intangibles you're dealing with as a player.
Speaker 16: And then you add to it, this is your home major,
Speaker 16: and it's just huge. So in terms of how your
Speaker 16: body reacts and how you go out there and play,
Speaker 16: there's sometimes things you can't explain. Even though you see
Speaker 16: a player and you go, I mean, he should be
Speaker 16: beating this guy hands down, it's not going to be
Speaker 16: the case. There is an equalizer that that occurs at
Speaker 16: these events, especially in the first round. And Vanda Zenskulp,
Speaker 16: he's a dangerous guy. I mean, he's twenty two in
Speaker 16: the world at his high that was a couple of
Speaker 16: years ago. He has this ability to match up and
Speaker 16: play big time tennis against you know, top players, against
Speaker 16: top tenors. He's gotten a couple of wins, you know,
Speaker 16: significant wins over top ten players, you know, the last
Speaker 16: couple of seasons ago. And he always is an unknown
Speaker 16: quantity in that sense if he can put it together. Mentally,
Speaker 16: that being said, I think Demonor from a mental standpoint,
Speaker 16: is just the more solid player. He's got a much
Speaker 16: better vein and history of winning and winning tough matches
Speaker 16: and big matches under pressure. I think that's going to
Speaker 16: come into play. And if it does get into that zone,
Speaker 16: you gotta favor Demonor all day long. That's a Van
Speaker 16: de Zensculp can keep it close. He's a good athlete
Speaker 16: vand Zenskulp. He has that ability to play in the
Speaker 16: different areas of the court. He's going to have to
Speaker 16: bring that type of game. But with that being said,
Speaker 16: I think Demonor, with his movement, with his ability to
Speaker 16: come forward, take some chances, take some risk. You know,
Speaker 16: he's such a smart player around the court. Demonor and
Speaker 16: I think that's going to come into play and it's
Speaker 16: going to be too much for Vanderzensculp to handle overall.
Speaker 16: But you know, we'll see when you toss the balls up.
Speaker 16: That's kind of the fun of it. And I think
Speaker 16: Demonoor is going to accept that challenge. And that's the
Speaker 16: first important part of it, you know, to not show
Speaker 16: away to.
Speaker 15: One of the real tests for vander Vantsko is going
Speaker 15: to be the Aussie fans. How's he going to cope
Speaker 15: when there are fourteen thousand plus Aussies screaming for demon
Speaker 15: and he's maybe have a little contingent.
Speaker 16: Remember at Davis Cup against the doll there was nobody
Speaker 16: wanting him to win.
Speaker 11: He came and just there we.
Speaker 6: Got some recent practices.
Speaker 16: Secret actually better in those situations than when he's expected
Speaker 16: to win good. So you know, that could that could
Speaker 16: be interesting. I still think Demonor is going to have
Speaker 16: what it takes, but it could be interesting.
Speaker 15: I mean, he's loving underdog, but we also love an Aussie.
Speaker 15: So five gripping sets and we'll see what happens to.
Speaker 6: Taking the game.
Speaker 15: You probably just want to win.
Speaker 2: Four Well, it might not have been the night for
Speaker 2: curios Or O'Connell, but it was still a pretty good
Speaker 2: day to be an Aussie. Nine out of twelve Australians
Speaker 2: won through to the second round, with young gun Talia
Speaker 2: Gibson setting the trend. Earlier in the day, the twenty
Speaker 2: year old notched her first major winner for her career,
Speaker 2: and it was closely followed by a triumph from Isiler
Speaker 2: Tom Lanovich, while the men's contingent of Jordan Thompson, Alex Vukich,
Speaker 2: James Duckworth, Tristan Schoolcate, James McCabe and the Nasi Kokinakis
Speaker 2: all secured spots in the round of sixty four. Kochin
Speaker 2: Arkus particularly relieved to make it through after a physical
Speaker 2: three six six three six three seven six win.
Speaker 1: Just another one of my stupid long matches. I could barely.
Speaker 3: Sleep last night.
Speaker 1: A lot of anxiety coming out here. I knew the
Speaker 1: crowd was going to be packed and it was going
Speaker 1: to be incredible. Like you wait for moments like this,
Speaker 1: you train for moments like this, so to play in
Speaker 1: front of you guys was incredible.
Speaker 3: You guys whirled me through.
Speaker 1: I was struggling there and.
Speaker 2: You boys were unbelievable.
Speaker 1: Sit myself in some eyes, hopefully get about fifteen massages
Speaker 1: and see if I can walk in a couple of
Speaker 1: days time.
Speaker 2: Ozzie wildcard Ala Tomlanovitch has brushed off first round nerves
Speaker 2: against American Ashland Krueger in a three set dogfight. It
Speaker 2: was only last week that Kruger took the points in Adelaide,
Speaker 2: but today the Ossie had the last laugh, winning sixty
Speaker 2: four four six sixty four, A positive sign for the
Speaker 2: thirty one year old as her body gets back on
Speaker 2: track after an injury hampered past two years. As she
Speaker 2: explained to Craig Gabriel on AO Radio.
Speaker 3: Heil Tomlanovitch, nice to see you.
Speaker 18: Nice to see you as well.
Speaker 3: How have you been?
Speaker 13: You had to pull out of Brisbane there was a niggle,
Speaker 13: so physically generally, how are you feeling?
Speaker 18: I feel really good, you know. It was really sad
Speaker 18: that Brizzy couldn't happen for me and it was just
Speaker 18: a bit too early. I had a bit more to
Speaker 18: go just with my match prep. But feeling really good now.
Speaker 18: I mean, probably my best match physically since two years
Speaker 18: ago that I played.
Speaker 13: Today, really two years ago.
Speaker 18: Yeah, I mean I even though I've played you know,
Speaker 18: on and off last years, it just haven't really gotten
Speaker 18: it right, and I've you know, it wasn't for the
Speaker 18: lack of trying. I definitely have been trying to find
Speaker 18: so many solutions just to feel how I used to feel.
Speaker 18: And it got pretty close today to really just focusing
Speaker 18: on my game and not completely forgetting about my knee
Speaker 18: and my troubles.
Speaker 13: Yeah, tell me about how satisfied you were with this result.
Speaker 18: Oh it's pretty up there, I will say, especially having
Speaker 18: lost her last week, And honestly, I thought I didn't
Speaker 18: play badly at all, especially after it being my first
Speaker 18: match back in a while, and I feel like I
Speaker 18: came in with with a bit more knowledge about her
Speaker 18: game and her tendencies. But also you know, there it
Speaker 18: was a rollercoaster today, and to keep my emotions and
Speaker 18: check and just not give up and try to at
Speaker 18: the same time enjoy the moment, which we tend to
Speaker 18: forget sometimes when we're out there. I just thought to myself,
Speaker 18: you know, I'm playing in front of a you know,
Speaker 18: on my favorite cord, in front of a pretty full crowd,
Speaker 18: and this is what I kind of work for, and
Speaker 18: the fact that I get to produce some good tennis
Speaker 18: was a great thing as well. So I just tried
Speaker 18: to embrace it and really try to win, because there's
Speaker 18: no other feeling like winning.
Speaker 2: Tom Lanovich next faces Diana Schneider, who accounted for Italy's
Speaker 2: Elisabetta Cocciareto.
Speaker 19: He's one of his last thirteen matches in straight sets,
Speaker 19: and now that becomes match number fourteen in straight sets.
Speaker 19: He's on a sixteen match winning streak. Takes out Chilli's
Speaker 19: Nicholas Jarry in straits seven sets, seven six, six, one,
Speaker 19: two hours and forty minutes. It's job done for the
Speaker 19: world number one.
Speaker 2: Janick Sinna has withstood a gallant performance from Nicholas Jarry
Speaker 2: in his first match of the season to win through
Speaker 2: to the second round. As predicted by Simon Ray on
Speaker 2: yesterday's episode, Jarry took it up to the defending champ,
Speaker 2: taking him to two tie break sets without a single
Speaker 2: break of serve. But I found a chink in the
Speaker 2: Chilean's armor early in the third set and broke a
Speaker 2: second time, closing it out seven six, seven, six, six
Speaker 2: to one.
Speaker 4: No, he was playing really really well, to be honest,
Speaker 4: especially serving incredibly good and important moments.
Speaker 3: Also from the back of the court.
Speaker 4: He was returning really well, playing aggressive, so you know
Speaker 4: I could have forallceolastic first couple of sets.
Speaker 3: You know, you know we're not sinner.
Speaker 2: Now faces Ozzie wildcard Tristan school Kate, who turned around
Speaker 2: a first set deficit to beat Tarot Daniel in four.
Speaker 5: It's a serve down the tee on the forehand of golf.
Speaker 5: It's a short ball ken it all. She's made a
Speaker 5: hash of that. A fourhand at the open court, missed
Speaker 5: by some Marchin and Coco goff Is.
Speaker 2: Through Coco Gough has moved through to the second round,
Speaker 2: beating compatriot Sophia Kennon in straight sets. The former AO
Speaker 2: champion gave GoF a run for her money, breaking her
Speaker 2: serve in the first, but the world number three quickly settled,
Speaker 2: sending down twelve bases across the match. As midday some
Speaker 2: threatened her ball toss. GoF zeroed in to win eighty
Speaker 2: eight percent of her first serves in the second set.
Speaker 12: On the first, like you know, you can like change
Speaker 12: your toss a little bit and you go for more
Speaker 12: of on the second. It was a bit tougher because
Speaker 12: obviously most people kind of throw their second serf tofts
Speaker 12: to the left to get that kick, and that was
Speaker 12: kind of right where the sun was and it kind
Speaker 12: of like didn't move at all like the match, So yeah,
Speaker 12: I was a bit struggling, and it was kind of
Speaker 12: one of those things like when she served on that side,
Speaker 12: she I noticed she went a bit slower on first
Speaker 12: serves to get that higher percentage, and I kind of
Speaker 12: kept serving the same speed because I was getting so
Speaker 12: many aces. So it's one of those things. I think
Speaker 12: that's just like a decision that I have to make
Speaker 12: in the moment.
Speaker 2: One of the queens of Melbourne Park has been dethroned
Speaker 2: on day two, with Victoria Azarenka falling to Italy's Lucia Bronzetti.
Speaker 2: After dropping the opening set, the two time champion managed
Speaker 2: to take the second set to a tie break, but
Speaker 2: was soon staring down the barrel of five match points,
Speaker 2: Bronzetti storming into the second round for the second time.
Speaker 2: Six two seven, six.
Speaker 20: Yeah, I'm very I'm very happy and proud of myself today.
Speaker 20: I think that I played really well against a great champion,
Speaker 20: so yeah, it can be more happier.
Speaker 2: Francis Tiafo has overcome cramping and nausea to outlast Arthur
Speaker 2: Rinderknek in a four hour, five set drama. Tiafo took
Speaker 2: a two sets to one lead before his body betrayed
Speaker 2: him in the fourth set, vomiting on the side of
Speaker 2: court and forcing play to be momentarily paused to clean
Speaker 2: up the mess. Minutes later, he lost the fourth set
Speaker 2: tiebreak before bravely fighting back to win the decider, ceiling
Speaker 2: a seven six sixty three four six sixty seven six '
Speaker 2: three result. Tiafo a bit coy after a tumultuous post
Speaker 2: game recovery.
Speaker 21: Walked around for a while in locker room, just stitches
Speaker 21: and cart to manager. They're finally going to shower, finally
Speaker 21: a pastille, not film ray. But at the same time,
Speaker 21: you do feel great. You can see in another day,
Speaker 21: so you're feel even worse if you know you feel
Speaker 21: like this and you're out of the term. But you
Speaker 21: know I'm still in so promisly sleeps and I have
Speaker 21: a little chuckle on my face for sure.
Speaker 2: Second seed, Igish Fianceek made light work of Katerina Sindi Arkiva,
Speaker 2: winning six three six four, adding to her incredible first
Speaker 2: round record in Melbourne.
Speaker 22: Yeah, I only I think lost once in the first round.
Speaker 22: It was at Winbroom twenty eighteen, so I wish this tournament.
Speaker 22: I wish I didn't play so my start would be
Speaker 22: a perfect But yeah, I mean, I'm happy. It shows
Speaker 22: that I'm consistent and I always kind of I'm just
Speaker 22: more confident. I think before some I'm even paying this
Speaker 22: first match. I know that no matter what's going to happen,
Speaker 22: like I have, I have kind of the stats, so
Speaker 22: I should just do what I always do and it
Speaker 22: will be good.
Speaker 2: Other winners on day two Jess Pagoula, Elena Fittalina, Marta
Speaker 2: kostyuk leod Mila sam Sonova, Carolina Mukhova and Anastasia pavlo Chenkova,
Speaker 2: and for the men, Jack Draper, Felix u Ja see
Speaker 2: seb Quarter and lucky loser Francesco Passaro, who led a
Speaker 2: set to love when his opponent Griggordomitrov was forced to
Speaker 2: retire with a hip injury, and qualifier Yanna Fett was
Speaker 2: just inches away from a free pass into the second
Speaker 2: round when Wimbledon champ Marquetevon Drusova withdrew due to an
Speaker 2: injury she suffered in Adelaideluy loser Harriet Dart took her place,
Speaker 2: ultimately downing Fete in a third set tiebreak. Well, yesterday
Speaker 2: we heard Ersin's car ride with Arena Sablenca. Ersin's back today.
Speaker 2: Is this all you do, go around with professional tennis
Speaker 2: players in cars?
Speaker 17: I wish because we really kind of managed to get
Speaker 17: their personalities out a little bit more in the car
Speaker 17: rather than a in a studio in a one on
Speaker 17: one interview. So yes, I'm all for it. I did
Speaker 17: a few of those interviews. But now that the tournament's
Speaker 17: up and running, you know, it's back to the studio.
Speaker 2: And today we're going to hear one that you took
Speaker 2: with the defending champion in Yannick Cina, who's actually a
Speaker 2: resident of a town not too far away from your
Speaker 2: own hometown.
Speaker 17: Yeah, my hometown is in the Swiss Alps, and it's
Speaker 17: about a five hour drive down to the Italian the
Speaker 17: Northern Italian Alps, where they speak German as well, where
Speaker 17: Yannick Cina is from a town called Sexton. And we
Speaker 17: spoke a bit about, you know, about our Christmas is
Speaker 17: because we both spend Christmas in the mountains. White Christmas,
Speaker 17: and then it suddenly got turned into turned and it
Speaker 17: got quite reflective and a bit sad as well.
Speaker 2: Oh, let's hear a little bit from your journey with Janickxina.
Speaker 17: This is the first time driving back to Melbourn Park
Speaker 17: since you won your first Grand Slam.
Speaker 3: How do you feel about it?
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's a very hot day today. You know, coming
Speaker 4: back to the place I said defending champion is it's
Speaker 4: a nice feeling. It's a different feeling. It's a very
Speaker 4: special place for me where obviously many things started.
Speaker 17: Do you get the penhouse sweet or something at the
Speaker 17: hotel now that you're an AO champion?
Speaker 3: I have the I have the same room as last year.
Speaker 4: I do remember the thirty six on my room last year,
Speaker 4: and I have thirty six again.
Speaker 17: You want to repeat not just the room number, but
Speaker 17: also what you did last year.
Speaker 4: I am in a different position at the moment. This
Speaker 4: year was so different for me because of the loss
Speaker 4: of my aunt last year, and.
Speaker 3: I was they are just different.
Speaker 4: It was like I could talk with her about everything,
Speaker 4: even when she was sick, and she always tried to
Speaker 4: put you know, her effort in trying to let me feel.
Speaker 3: A loved person and that she was a very lovely person.
Speaker 17: Do you feel like in a way you'll be carrying
Speaker 17: her memory with you.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 4: I'm here now and in this stage with a different mindset,
Speaker 4: you know, because I believe we are a tennis player,
Speaker 4: and tennis players are important.
Speaker 3: By the end of the day, we are nothing in
Speaker 3: this world.
Speaker 4: So you know, I'm trying to have the people around us,
Speaker 4: the people we love from our heart is much more
Speaker 4: important than in winning tournaments, even if winning tournaments is
Speaker 4: that what we work for for.
Speaker 3: Years and years. Here is already a match feeling, you
Speaker 3: know when you come here, When on.
Speaker 4: Match day you step out of the car, the beginning
Speaker 4: of the Grand Slam, there are so many people around,
Speaker 4: and it's.
Speaker 3: A nice Grand Slam.
Speaker 4: That's because they change always small things to try to
Speaker 4: make it better. Were the first day here, first time
Speaker 4: going on the court, and hopefully I can also play
Speaker 4: some good tennis this year, but obviously it's it's going
Speaker 4: to be very difficult.
Speaker 2: Well, Victoria, the Rankers AO campaign may have come to
Speaker 2: an abrupt ending today, but it doesn't undermine her incredible
Speaker 2: record at this event. The dual champion recently spoke to
Speaker 2: Matt and viv from The sit Down podcast to discuss
Speaker 2: her relationship with the Australian Open.
Speaker 18: Have you ever stopped and thought about how much this
Speaker 18: tournament has changed your life?
Speaker 20: Oh?
Speaker 23: Yeah, Actually I don't think really that much, but it
Speaker 23: definitely has. It changed my life since the junior days
Speaker 23: when I came here for the first time, I just
Speaker 23: fell in love with this place and I think I
Speaker 23: just wanted to do good because when I feel good,
Speaker 23: I play good, you know, So coming back here, but
Speaker 23: Australiana Opened definitely has changed my life. Tennis has changed
Speaker 23: my life drastically, and I'm very, very grateful for not
Speaker 23: only you know, the achievements that I've had on the
Speaker 23: tennis court, but all the things that I was able
Speaker 23: to achieve off court, all the friendships that I've been
Speaker 23: able to build my friends. You know, the diversity of
Speaker 23: my francis My best friends is Turkish, Japanese, Mexican and
Speaker 23: Belarusians and stuff. So it's very cool the pool that
Speaker 23: I've been able to create. I think while I play,
Speaker 23: it's very hard for me to have that reflection and
Speaker 23: understanding of what I've done in the sport. And I'm
Speaker 23: not the best in talking about myself, but I definitely
Speaker 23: feel it. In a few years, so whenever I decided
Speaker 23: to start playing, I'll have hopefully the moment of that reflection.
Speaker 2: And you can hear more of that conversation with Victoria
Speaker 2: as a nker and more episodes of the sit Down
Speaker 2: by searching for The sit Down wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 2: That's all for Day two of the Australian Open. Join
Speaker 2: us again tomorrow for all of the big stories from
Speaker 2: Day three the conclusion of the first round. Be sure
Speaker 2: to subscribe to never miss an episode, and please consider
Speaker 2: leaving a rating in review so more people can discover
Speaker 2: the tennis. You can also watch out daily spotlight segment
Speaker 2: on our YouTube channel, Australian Open TV and I'll catch
Speaker 2: you tomorrow for more of the tennis