1
00:00:02,350 --> 00:00:05,170
Speaker 1: Hi everyone and welcome to another episode of The Sit Down.

2
00:00:05,650 --> 00:00:07,690
Speaker 1: I'm Matt Trollope, a writer for AusOpen.com.

3
00:00:08,150 --> 00:00:11,010
Speaker 2: And I'm Viv Christie, Managing Editor of Australian Tennis Magazine.

4
00:00:11,530 --> 00:00:13,520
Speaker 2: And Matt, why are we sitting down this week with

5
00:00:13,650 --> 00:00:14,200
Speaker 2: Michael Chang?

6
00:00:14,560 --> 00:00:16,800
Speaker 1: We were pretty fortunate to get Michael this week because

7
00:00:16,960 --> 00:00:18,919
Speaker 1: it's a very relevant time of year for him. We're

8
00:00:19,040 --> 00:00:22,300
Speaker 1: currently watching the Cincinnati tournament and he's a two-time champion

9
00:00:22,320 --> 00:00:25,630
Speaker 1: there and actually made four consecutive Cincinnati finals. He was

10
00:00:25,670 --> 00:00:28,490
Speaker 1: also a Canada champion. He made the US Open final.

11
00:00:28,510 --> 00:00:30,330
Speaker 1: So this was kind of a time of year where

12
00:00:30,370 --> 00:00:33,950
Speaker 1: he thrived. In his legendary career, he won 34 titles

13
00:00:34,010 --> 00:00:36,030
Speaker 1: and more than half of them came on US soil.

14
00:00:36,050 --> 00:00:38,570
Speaker 1: So he was kind of the perfect person to pick

15
00:00:38,590 --> 00:00:40,690
Speaker 1: his brain about tennis at this time of year.

16
00:00:41,090 --> 00:00:45,350
Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely. And while we were looking forward with Michael Chang,

17
00:00:45,450 --> 00:00:47,659
Speaker 2: I was actually looking back a little bit as well

18
00:00:47,720 --> 00:00:50,600
Speaker 2: because he was the first interview I did with an

19
00:00:50,720 --> 00:00:55,200
Speaker 2: international player at the very start of my tennis journalism career. Oh, wow.

20
00:00:55,220 --> 00:00:57,500
Speaker 2: So he was as generous now as he was with

21
00:00:57,560 --> 00:00:59,920
Speaker 2: his time then. Let's have a listen to what he

22
00:00:59,960 --> 00:01:00,400
Speaker 2: has to say.

23
00:01:03,540 --> 00:01:05,759
Speaker 1: Thank you, Michael Chang, for joining us on The Sit

24
00:01:05,780 --> 00:01:07,960
Speaker 1: Down today. It's great to have you.

25
00:01:08,360 --> 00:01:09,380
Speaker 3: Thank you. Nice to be here.

26
00:01:09,750 --> 00:01:11,190
Speaker 1: This is a great time of year to chat to

27
00:01:11,220 --> 00:01:15,290
Speaker 1: you because we're now post-Olympics into the swing of the

28
00:01:15,350 --> 00:01:17,510
Speaker 1: North American hardcourt season. And it's kind of, you know,

29
00:01:17,530 --> 00:01:20,390
Speaker 1: the US Open is rapidly approaching. And when we look

30
00:01:20,430 --> 00:01:24,270
Speaker 1: back at your career, your first and final titles in

31
00:01:24,270 --> 00:01:27,690
Speaker 1: 1988 and 2000 both came on American soil. The first

32
00:01:27,709 --> 00:01:30,149
Speaker 1: was in San Fran, the second was in LA, and

33
00:01:30,190 --> 00:01:32,670
Speaker 1: more than half of your career titles came in the US.

34
00:01:32,730 --> 00:01:35,530
Speaker 1: So I just wondered what helped you play or helped

35
00:01:35,550 --> 00:01:37,730
Speaker 1: you find your best tennis on home soil?

36
00:01:38,120 --> 00:01:40,319
Speaker 3: Well, I mean, I, you know, I grew up in California.

37
00:01:40,860 --> 00:01:43,420
Speaker 4: Um, everybody who grows up in California plays on hard

38
00:01:43,480 --> 00:01:45,760
Speaker 4: courts and, uh, you know, it's a surface that I'm,

39
00:01:46,020 --> 00:01:50,010
Speaker 4: I'm most familiar with. Um, my biggest title obviously came

40
00:01:50,030 --> 00:01:54,090
Speaker 4: in on clay, but, uh, majority of my, of my, um,

41
00:01:54,450 --> 00:01:56,670
Speaker 4: my victories have come on hard court or something very

42
00:01:56,750 --> 00:01:57,480
Speaker 4: similar to it.

43
00:01:58,350 --> 00:02:00,190
Speaker 3: Um, you know, it's, it's interesting.

44
00:02:00,210 --> 00:02:03,810
Speaker 4: The, uh, the hard courts do vary a little bit

45
00:02:03,880 --> 00:02:06,500
Speaker 4: throughout the, uh, the summer, um, summer swing. And then,

46
00:02:06,870 --> 00:02:08,710
Speaker 4: I mean, I guess you can even count the spring

47
00:02:08,750 --> 00:02:12,010
Speaker 4: as well because any wells in Miami are two huge

48
00:02:12,510 --> 00:02:15,650
Speaker 4: tournaments that also obviously happen in the U.S.

49
00:02:15,690 --> 00:02:16,780
Speaker 3: On hard courts as well.

50
00:02:18,580 --> 00:02:22,400
Speaker 4: But I mean, I could almost go and talk to

51
00:02:22,419 --> 00:02:26,820
Speaker 4: you about each hard court event and what the tendencies

52
00:02:26,960 --> 00:02:28,780
Speaker 4: are on those surfaces. I could tell you what the

53
00:02:28,840 --> 00:02:33,280
Speaker 4: weather's like in certain places. I will tell you this.

54
00:02:34,040 --> 00:02:39,079
Speaker 4: By far, year after year, the U.S. Open in New

55
00:02:39,120 --> 00:02:41,620
Speaker 4: York is by far the fastest out of all of

56
00:02:42,200 --> 00:02:49,260
Speaker 4: the hardcore services, without question. It's actually probably one of

57
00:02:49,419 --> 00:02:52,889
Speaker 4: maybe only two that I can think of that I

58
00:02:52,950 --> 00:02:56,769
Speaker 4: actually have not won in the U.S. And, you know,

59
00:02:56,790 --> 00:03:00,230
Speaker 4: the slower surfaces obviously would suit me pretty well.

60
00:03:00,290 --> 00:03:01,770
Speaker 3: The medium ones were pretty good.

61
00:03:02,480 --> 00:03:04,960
Speaker 4: Um, but the ones that were tend to be, you know,

62
00:03:04,980 --> 00:03:07,060
Speaker 4: the US sub was just a little bit faster. Um,

63
00:03:08,139 --> 00:03:09,800
Speaker 4: certainly made it a little bit more difficult for me

64
00:03:09,820 --> 00:03:12,799
Speaker 4: to play against, you know, big servers, especially on, on

65
00:03:12,820 --> 00:03:15,340
Speaker 4: days that they serve really well, uh, like a Sampras

66
00:03:15,380 --> 00:03:18,460
Speaker 4: in the, you know, in the finals of, um, of

67
00:03:18,460 --> 00:03:22,600
Speaker 4: 96 or, uh, uh, or losing to Pat Rafter, um,

68
00:03:23,020 --> 00:03:27,160
Speaker 4: you know, in, um, in 97. So, uh, uh, yeah,

69
00:03:27,190 --> 00:03:30,260
Speaker 4: but I could almost literally tell you, what each of

70
00:03:30,300 --> 00:03:33,900
Speaker 4: those tournaments are like speed-wise and what to expect.

71
00:03:34,800 --> 00:03:37,080
Speaker 1: It's fascinating, you should say, that you've kind of predicted

72
00:03:37,160 --> 00:03:39,440
Speaker 1: a little bit my next question. This particular part of

73
00:03:39,460 --> 00:03:43,620
Speaker 1: the season, you won Canada and you won Cincy twice,

74
00:03:43,660 --> 00:03:45,600
Speaker 1: and they're the ones that are kind of happening right now.

75
00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:49,550
Speaker 1: We've also heard that this part of the season, it's

76
00:03:49,610 --> 00:03:53,810
Speaker 1: pretty brutal, like humidity, the heat. It's also coming like

77
00:03:53,910 --> 00:03:56,830
Speaker 1: eight months into a long year. What does it take

78
00:03:57,130 --> 00:03:59,270
Speaker 1: to thrive at this time of year? Because clearly you did.

79
00:03:59,890 --> 00:04:03,010
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, Cincinnati was a great stop for me.

80
00:04:03,780 --> 00:04:06,800
Speaker 4: I actually got to the finals four straight years, actually.

81
00:04:07,140 --> 00:04:10,580
Speaker 4: So I've won twice, but I lost twice as well.

82
00:04:11,480 --> 00:04:17,040
Speaker 4: But you're absolutely right. The conditions there are absolutely brutal.

83
00:04:17,080 --> 00:04:20,950
Speaker 4: They can be. Usually in all of these places, there

84
00:04:21,470 --> 00:04:24,390
Speaker 4: tends to be one or two days in the afternoon

85
00:04:24,450 --> 00:04:27,250
Speaker 4: where it just gets so hot and then thunderstorms come

86
00:04:27,270 --> 00:04:29,770
Speaker 4: and they cool it off just for a little bit. Um,

87
00:04:30,040 --> 00:04:33,780
Speaker 4: but it is very hot, very humid. Um, you know, I, I,

88
00:04:34,000 --> 00:04:38,100
Speaker 4: I can recall, you know, quite a few guys, you know, having, um,

89
00:04:38,520 --> 00:04:43,020
Speaker 4: you know, heat issues, cramping issues. Um, and I was certainly,

90
00:04:43,040 --> 00:04:45,900
Speaker 4: I was certainly one of them and, uh, yeah, it

91
00:04:45,940 --> 00:04:48,279
Speaker 4: was just not, uh, not that easy to, to deal with.

92
00:04:48,360 --> 00:04:50,640
Speaker 4: But I think, I think this day and age, I

93
00:04:50,680 --> 00:04:54,690
Speaker 4: think the players are I think they're a little bit

94
00:04:54,710 --> 00:04:57,090
Speaker 4: better shape. I think they're a little bit more well-prepared.

95
00:04:57,130 --> 00:05:00,460
Speaker 4: I think they're more educated as well. So I don't

96
00:05:00,500 --> 00:05:03,820
Speaker 4: think the heat is as much of a factor just

97
00:05:03,860 --> 00:05:06,880
Speaker 4: because I think the players are a lot more well-prepared.

98
00:05:07,480 --> 00:05:11,520
Speaker 5: Michael, you are obviously famous for wing Roland Gross, but

99
00:05:11,700 --> 00:05:15,360
Speaker 5: you actually won the most matches at a major at

100
00:05:15,400 --> 00:05:18,000
Speaker 5: the US Open and went deep at that Grand Slam

101
00:05:18,110 --> 00:05:18,930
Speaker 5: so many times.

102
00:05:19,570 --> 00:05:21,190
Speaker 2: What was it like to play in New York?

103
00:05:22,010 --> 00:05:24,610
Speaker 4: I mean, New York is exciting. I think for any American,

104
00:05:24,630 --> 00:05:28,850
Speaker 4: you know, this is our home Grand Slam. The New

105
00:05:28,870 --> 00:05:32,590
Speaker 4: York atmosphere is very unique. You know, there's a lot

106
00:05:32,610 --> 00:05:36,730
Speaker 4: of hustle and bustle. You know, there's a lot of noise,

107
00:05:36,810 --> 00:05:40,490
Speaker 4: you know, a lot of planes flying overhead, just a

108
00:05:40,550 --> 00:05:45,190
Speaker 4: lot of activity. And generally speaking, players that go to

109
00:05:45,240 --> 00:05:49,250
Speaker 4: New York, they need a little time to actually, to

110
00:05:49,310 --> 00:05:52,070
Speaker 4: kind of get used to the, uh, environment there because

111
00:05:52,130 --> 00:05:54,510
Speaker 4: it is so different from, uh, from a lot of these,

112
00:05:54,529 --> 00:05:58,000
Speaker 4: the other tournaments, um, very different from, uh, obviously the other,

113
00:05:58,120 --> 00:06:01,080
Speaker 4: the other slams as well. Um, but at the same time,

114
00:06:01,220 --> 00:06:04,020
Speaker 4: you know, New York is exciting place, uh, especially if

115
00:06:04,060 --> 00:06:06,780
Speaker 4: you're playing matches at night, um, you know, where the

116
00:06:06,820 --> 00:06:12,170
Speaker 4: crowd just really, um, can really get into matches and, and, uh, yeah,

117
00:06:12,190 --> 00:06:14,410
Speaker 4: I played some, some really late night matches there. I

118
00:06:14,430 --> 00:06:18,169
Speaker 4: played one match, You know, with McEnroe in 91, where

119
00:06:18,190 --> 00:06:20,030
Speaker 4: we finished at like 1.30 in the morning.

120
00:06:21,070 --> 00:06:22,170
Speaker 3: And John being from.

121
00:06:22,040 --> 00:06:27,360
Speaker 4: New York, you know, made it even more electrifying to

122
00:06:27,560 --> 00:06:31,979
Speaker 4: be able to play him there. So it's a special place.

123
00:06:32,779 --> 00:06:34,400
Speaker 4: But you got to love the atmosphere. You got to

124
00:06:34,440 --> 00:06:37,930
Speaker 4: love the excitement. And you got to be able to

125
00:06:37,990 --> 00:06:40,170
Speaker 4: still at the same time, you know, be focused and

126
00:06:40,210 --> 00:06:42,810
Speaker 4: stay focused because there are a lot of distractions.

127
00:06:43,350 --> 00:06:44,910
Speaker 5: Was it your favorite Grand Slam?

128
00:06:45,930 --> 00:06:49,680
Speaker 4: Um, I don't know if necessarily in certain aspects it was, um,

129
00:06:50,420 --> 00:06:53,840
Speaker 4: I have, uh, I have family there. Uh, so it was, uh,

130
00:06:53,920 --> 00:06:56,620
Speaker 4: nice to be able to, uh, to stay with family

131
00:06:56,800 --> 00:07:00,480
Speaker 4: and also to, um, to have family come out and support. Um,

132
00:07:00,680 --> 00:07:02,900
Speaker 4: but like I said, I mean, each, each Grand Slam

133
00:07:02,920 --> 00:07:05,300
Speaker 4: has a different flavor to it. Uh, you know, the

134
00:07:05,360 --> 00:07:07,380
Speaker 4: Australian Open I know is a favorite for so many

135
00:07:07,420 --> 00:07:09,020
Speaker 4: players because, you know, it's a.

136
00:07:09,000 --> 00:07:10,290
Speaker 3: Very relaxed atmosphere.

137
00:07:10,570 --> 00:07:12,920
Speaker 4: Um, it almost doesn't feel like a Grand Slam, which is,

138
00:07:14,070 --> 00:07:16,050
Speaker 4: which is what a lot of the players enjoy.

139
00:07:16,070 --> 00:07:21,410
Speaker 3: You know, you stay pretty close to the main site.

140
00:07:22,230 --> 00:07:26,410
Speaker 4: The French is, you know, very emotional. You know, people

141
00:07:26,470 --> 00:07:31,500
Speaker 4: love to see your emotion, whether you're upset, whether you're happy.

142
00:07:31,510 --> 00:07:37,120
Speaker 4: You know, and obviously Wimbledon is very, has their complete,

143
00:07:37,480 --> 00:07:40,920
Speaker 4: you know, different kind of environment, different kind of.

144
00:07:42,140 --> 00:07:42,860
Speaker 3: Flavor to it.

145
00:07:43,660 --> 00:07:46,820
Speaker 4: And, but yeah, I mean, in certain aspects, you know,

146
00:07:46,860 --> 00:07:51,200
Speaker 4: because it is the US Open and because I'm American, yeah,

147
00:07:51,240 --> 00:07:53,780
Speaker 4: in many ways it was my favorite. But, you know,

148
00:07:54,040 --> 00:07:56,800
Speaker 4: obviously the French will always have a special place in

149
00:07:56,820 --> 00:07:57,140
Speaker 4: my heart.

150
00:07:57,600 --> 00:08:01,370
Speaker 5: You reached the 1996 US Open final the same year

151
00:08:01,410 --> 00:08:04,110
Speaker 5: that you reached the Australian Open final.

152
00:08:04,230 --> 00:08:05,970
Speaker 2: Was that the season when you felt you were at

153
00:08:06,010 --> 00:08:06,450
Speaker 2: your peak?

154
00:08:07,190 --> 00:08:09,750
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, pretty close to it. You know, I

155
00:08:09,770 --> 00:08:13,120
Speaker 4: was playing some very, very good tennis games. I don't

156
00:08:13,140 --> 00:08:15,880
Speaker 4: know if you know this, but that 96 U.S. Open,

157
00:08:17,200 --> 00:08:19,780
Speaker 4: I was literally one point away actually from becoming number

158
00:08:19,860 --> 00:08:23,100
Speaker 4: one in the world. So obviously the finals, had I

159
00:08:23,140 --> 00:08:25,520
Speaker 4: beat Pete Sampras in the finals, I would have been U.S.

160
00:08:25,580 --> 00:08:27,320
Speaker 4: Open champion, but I also would have been number one

161
00:08:27,350 --> 00:08:31,110
Speaker 4: in the world. But there was a round of 16 match,

162
00:08:31,150 --> 00:08:35,550
Speaker 4: I believe, that Pete Sampras played against Alex Kurecha.

163
00:08:36,750 --> 00:08:39,489
Speaker 3: And they went five sets. Pete was throwing up in

164
00:08:39,510 --> 00:08:40,090
Speaker 3: the fifth set.

165
00:08:41,030 --> 00:08:43,569
Speaker 4: Uh, correction actually had a, uh, had a match point

166
00:08:44,110 --> 00:08:46,829
Speaker 4: and had he converted on that match point, um, I

167
00:08:46,850 --> 00:08:48,030
Speaker 4: would have been number one in the world.

168
00:08:48,130 --> 00:08:50,589
Speaker 3: So, uh, and then obviously it wouldn't have played Pete

169
00:08:50,610 --> 00:08:51,170
Speaker 3: in the finals.

170
00:08:51,490 --> 00:08:54,710
Speaker 4: Um, you know, probably, you know, probably one of the

171
00:08:54,730 --> 00:08:58,280
Speaker 4: tougher players to play, uh, in that day and age, um,

172
00:08:58,700 --> 00:09:01,620
Speaker 4: you know, because of the, the court speed and, um,

173
00:09:01,800 --> 00:09:04,500
Speaker 4: and the surface. But, um, but yeah, I mean, I

174
00:09:04,520 --> 00:09:10,020
Speaker 4: was playing very well that year. Um, you know, and, uh, Yeah,

175
00:09:10,090 --> 00:09:11,970
Speaker 4: it was a good run for me and unfortunately just

176
00:09:11,990 --> 00:09:12,770
Speaker 4: came up a little bit short.

177
00:09:13,210 --> 00:09:15,530
Speaker 1: It's interesting you mentioned that story about being one point

178
00:09:15,550 --> 00:09:17,670
Speaker 1: away because I read that recently at an interview you

179
00:09:17,690 --> 00:09:19,550
Speaker 1: did with Chris Clary. And I was just about to

180
00:09:19,590 --> 00:09:22,790
Speaker 1: quote to you another part of that interview. It was

181
00:09:22,809 --> 00:09:25,610
Speaker 1: a really good chat. You said to him, I look

182
00:09:25,650 --> 00:09:28,570
Speaker 1: at my career and I'm incredibly blessed. I'm so thankful

183
00:09:28,610 --> 00:09:30,950
Speaker 1: I had the opportunity to play the tournaments that I

184
00:09:30,970 --> 00:09:33,820
Speaker 1: played at the age in which I played. So we

185
00:09:33,840 --> 00:09:36,220
Speaker 1: were just wondering what were the tournaments you were referring

186
00:09:36,260 --> 00:09:38,140
Speaker 1: to and what was it about that era that made

187
00:09:38,160 --> 00:09:39,240
Speaker 1: you feel thankful?

188
00:09:40,200 --> 00:09:43,939
Speaker 4: Well, I mean, I think our generation for American players

189
00:09:43,980 --> 00:09:47,449
Speaker 4: was very special. Honestly, I don't know if it will

190
00:09:47,500 --> 00:09:52,090
Speaker 4: ever be duplicated. You know, so I'm the youngest actually

191
00:09:52,110 --> 00:09:56,110
Speaker 4: of our generation, you know, which includes, you know, Pete Sampras,

192
00:09:56,330 --> 00:09:59,970
Speaker 4: Andre Agassi, Jim Currier, you know, Malavier.

193
00:10:00,130 --> 00:10:04,220
Speaker 3: Washington, Todd Martin. This is all of our generation.

194
00:10:04,580 --> 00:10:09,040
Speaker 4: And, you know, I think what we've, you know, accomplished collectively,

195
00:10:10,200 --> 00:10:14,240
Speaker 4: I don't know if it will ever be duplicated. So,

196
00:10:14,740 --> 00:10:17,460
Speaker 4: you know, I think that made it very special. And

197
00:10:17,480 --> 00:10:19,459
Speaker 4: then to have the opportunity to play against so many

198
00:10:20,050 --> 00:10:22,920
Speaker 4: great generations of players. You know, when we first came out,

199
00:10:23,760 --> 00:10:27,940
Speaker 4: it was the Lindell, you know, McEnroe, Connors generation, the

200
00:10:27,980 --> 00:10:31,280
Speaker 4: generation after that, which was, you know, Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg,

201
00:10:32,179 --> 00:10:37,800
Speaker 4: obviously our own generation, which also includes Sergey Bruguera, Goran Ivanovic,

202
00:10:39,280 --> 00:10:43,579
Speaker 4: and then obviously the generation after that, which is Leighton Hewitt,

203
00:10:44,380 --> 00:10:48,939
Speaker 4: Murat Safin, and Roger Federer. So, you know, it's a

204
00:10:48,980 --> 00:10:55,650
Speaker 4: pretty incredible, you know, pretty incredible group of players, you know,

205
00:10:55,670 --> 00:11:01,970
Speaker 4: spanning those generations. And it was very unique and challenging, obviously,

206
00:11:02,770 --> 00:11:05,670
Speaker 4: but difficult at the same time. We had such a

207
00:11:05,880 --> 00:11:09,800
Speaker 4: mix of players, whether they were baseliners, whether they were attackers,

208
00:11:09,860 --> 00:11:12,140
Speaker 4: whether they were serving volleyers, chip and chargers.

209
00:11:13,230 --> 00:11:15,850
Speaker 3: You don't see that actually as much in this day

210
00:11:15,890 --> 00:11:16,250
Speaker 3: and age.

211
00:11:17,750 --> 00:11:21,010
Speaker 4: I couldn't even tell you three guys in the top

212
00:11:21,010 --> 00:11:25,430
Speaker 4: 100 now on the ATB Tour that are serving volleyers.

213
00:11:26,510 --> 00:11:30,020
Speaker 4: It's that different now.

214
00:11:30,679 --> 00:11:32,360
Speaker 3: It was a very special time.

215
00:11:33,280 --> 00:11:36,540
Speaker 4: Certainly, there were a lot of great competitors, which certainly

216
00:11:36,580 --> 00:11:41,000
Speaker 4: made it more difficult to win big tournaments and win majors. Um,

217
00:11:41,559 --> 00:11:44,439
Speaker 4: but I certainly don't have any, have any regrets because, um,

218
00:11:44,700 --> 00:11:46,720
Speaker 4: you know, to have the opportunity to play against some

219
00:11:46,760 --> 00:11:50,189
Speaker 4: of those great players, um, was really, really exciting. Um,

220
00:11:50,309 --> 00:11:52,290
Speaker 4: I miss Bjorn Borg by just a little bit cause

221
00:11:52,309 --> 00:11:56,730
Speaker 4: he retired early and, um, Novak hadn't gotten on tour

222
00:11:56,790 --> 00:11:59,330
Speaker 4: at Rafa was just playing challengers at the time.

223
00:11:59,350 --> 00:12:01,610
Speaker 3: Uh, so I missed those two guys by just a

224
00:12:01,630 --> 00:12:02,030
Speaker 3: little bit.

225
00:12:02,110 --> 00:12:04,760
Speaker 1: So when was your last year? Was it oh three

226
00:12:04,780 --> 00:12:05,580
Speaker 1: or two?

227
00:12:05,700 --> 00:12:06,880
Speaker 3: Oh, three, three. Okay.

228
00:12:06,900 --> 00:12:07,040
Speaker 1: Yeah.

229
00:12:07,260 --> 00:12:07,460
Speaker 4: Yeah.

230
00:12:07,840 --> 00:12:10,960
Speaker 1: It's amazing what those names you mentioned and what you spanned.

231
00:12:11,200 --> 00:12:11,700
Speaker 3: It's incredible.

232
00:12:11,720 --> 00:12:14,120
Speaker 1: You've always played them all. We have one more question

233
00:12:14,140 --> 00:12:16,920
Speaker 1: for you if there's time. And it was just more

234
00:12:17,000 --> 00:12:19,920
Speaker 1: about kind of the current era of tennis, because we're

235
00:12:19,960 --> 00:12:24,420
Speaker 1: in this transition period. We've had that incredible period of goats,

236
00:12:24,460 --> 00:12:29,670
Speaker 1: basically Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Serena, and one by one, they're

237
00:12:29,710 --> 00:12:31,750
Speaker 1: moving on from the game, which of course is going

238
00:12:31,770 --> 00:12:33,989
Speaker 1: to happen. They've all had such long careers, but At

239
00:12:34,010 --> 00:12:35,869
Speaker 1: the same time, we've actually got this generation of- I'm

240
00:12:35,890 --> 00:12:36,170
Speaker 1: not sure.

241
00:12:36,090 --> 00:12:38,730
Speaker 3: Novak's going to stop yet, actually. Actually, I don't think

242
00:12:38,750 --> 00:12:39,670
Speaker 3: he's going to ever stop.

243
00:12:40,050 --> 00:12:44,309
Speaker 1: Ever stop? Well, he said he was targeting the LA Olympics,

244
00:12:44,330 --> 00:12:44,690
Speaker 1: didn't he?

245
00:12:44,710 --> 00:12:45,480
Speaker 3: Incredible.

246
00:12:45,530 --> 00:12:50,020
Speaker 4: What he's done is just absolutely incredible. But you're absolutely right.

247
00:12:50,080 --> 00:12:57,220
Speaker 4: I mean, we've had this generation of players, Roger, Rafa

248
00:12:57,300 --> 00:13:00,800
Speaker 4: is winding his career down. You know, Andy just retired.

249
00:13:01,740 --> 00:13:04,250
Speaker 4: You know, Serena retired not that long ago. I mean,

250
00:13:04,260 --> 00:13:11,330
Speaker 4: you've got these incredible players. And thankfully, we've got great

251
00:13:11,910 --> 00:13:14,929
Speaker 4: young talent that are able to take their place.

252
00:13:15,030 --> 00:13:17,210
Speaker 3: And they're doing a great job. They really, really are.

253
00:13:18,530 --> 00:13:22,140
Speaker 4: You know, I mean, how can you not enjoy watching

254
00:13:22,260 --> 00:13:25,040
Speaker 4: Alcaraz out there? I mean, he's winning, but he's smiling

255
00:13:25,059 --> 00:13:28,230
Speaker 4: at the same time. Um, Sinner, you know, young Sinner

256
00:13:28,290 --> 00:13:33,210
Speaker 4: is just incredible talent. Um, you know, very humble, uh,

257
00:13:33,470 --> 00:13:36,070
Speaker 4: and has got all the, all the different kinds of shots. Um,

258
00:13:36,309 --> 00:13:38,230
Speaker 4: you know, so how do you not, uh, you know,

259
00:13:38,270 --> 00:13:41,850
Speaker 4: enjoy watching this new generation, you know, kind of grow

260
00:13:41,870 --> 00:13:44,470
Speaker 4: and mature and, and really start to take their, uh,

261
00:13:44,530 --> 00:13:47,170
Speaker 4: their place. Um, but like you said, I mean, at

262
00:13:47,190 --> 00:13:49,970
Speaker 4: the same time, what Novak.

263
00:13:49,910 --> 00:13:54,579
Speaker 3: Is doing, what he has done is mind boggling. absolutely

264
00:13:54,640 --> 00:13:55,320
Speaker 3: mind boggling.

265
00:13:55,720 --> 00:13:58,179
Speaker 4: Um, even, even in these past, um, you know, a

266
00:13:58,200 --> 00:14:02,839
Speaker 4: few months, uh, for him to, to play at the French, um,

267
00:14:03,420 --> 00:14:07,579
Speaker 4: you know, get surgery immediately after his, uh, um, after

268
00:14:07,600 --> 00:14:09,950
Speaker 4: his last match there. And then to go into, to

269
00:14:10,000 --> 00:14:12,929
Speaker 4: play and, and get to the finals of Wimbledon is,

270
00:14:13,050 --> 00:14:16,110
Speaker 4: is one thing. Um, but then to come back and

271
00:14:16,170 --> 00:14:19,730
Speaker 4: be Alcarez, um, you know, on clay at the Olympics

272
00:14:20,330 --> 00:14:24,580
Speaker 4: at Roland Garros, I mean, um, I mean, how do you,

273
00:14:24,600 --> 00:14:27,720
Speaker 4: I mean, I have no words for it. Um, it's

274
00:14:27,760 --> 00:14:30,520
Speaker 4: just incredible. And he's doing it at, at, at his

275
00:14:30,520 --> 00:14:34,860
Speaker 4: 37 years old. Um, it's just phenomenal. So, uh, but

276
00:14:34,880 --> 00:14:36,300
Speaker 4: I think it's been great to be able to have

277
00:14:36,320 --> 00:14:39,420
Speaker 4: these guys play for as long as they did, um,

278
00:14:39,580 --> 00:14:42,020
Speaker 4: because it was so good for the game. And, and, um,

279
00:14:42,580 --> 00:14:45,000
Speaker 4: and you know, I think tennis is in really, really

280
00:14:45,020 --> 00:14:45,650
Speaker 4: good hands right now.

281
00:14:48,940 --> 00:14:51,870
Speaker 1: Well, Viv, fascinating to hear Michael finish the interview talking

282
00:14:51,900 --> 00:14:55,350
Speaker 1: about how mind-boggling Novak's achievements are, because I found it

283
00:14:55,370 --> 00:14:57,910
Speaker 1: really interesting earlier in the interview how he talked about

284
00:14:57,970 --> 00:15:01,290
Speaker 1: he'd played so many generations that overlapped, but he'd narrowly

285
00:15:01,330 --> 00:15:04,390
Speaker 1: missed Bjorn Borg, and at the other end of his career,

286
00:15:04,430 --> 00:15:08,530
Speaker 1: he finished in 03, he'd narrowly missed facing Novak Djokovic,

287
00:15:08,870 --> 00:15:12,170
Speaker 1: who I think first appeared on tour around 04, 05.

288
00:15:12,170 --> 00:15:13,750
Speaker 1: You can just hear that he would have loved to

289
00:15:13,790 --> 00:15:16,080
Speaker 1: have played Novak, given how much respect he has for

290
00:15:16,100 --> 00:15:17,020
Speaker 1: what Novak's doing right now.

291
00:15:17,400 --> 00:15:19,880
Speaker 2: Yeah, that was very interesting to me too. I love

292
00:15:19,960 --> 00:15:23,540
Speaker 2: hearing about when the generations do overlap in tennis. And

293
00:15:24,250 --> 00:15:27,730
Speaker 2: didn't he compete in an incredible era and construct a

294
00:15:27,770 --> 00:15:28,970
Speaker 2: wonderful career in that time?

295
00:15:29,150 --> 00:15:29,990
Speaker 3: Yeah, absolutely.

296
00:15:30,590 --> 00:15:32,650
Speaker 2: And we'll be back next Monday when we sit down

297
00:15:32,710 --> 00:15:35,730
Speaker 2: with Simon Ray, who is the former coach of Nick

298
00:15:35,790 --> 00:15:38,890
Speaker 2: Kyrgios and Sam Stoza and now a data analyst at

299
00:15:39,090 --> 00:15:41,790
Speaker 2: Tennis Australia. And in the meantime, you can listen to

300
00:15:41,860 --> 00:15:44,740
Speaker 2: John and the team on this Thursday on the AO

301
00:15:44,760 --> 00:15:45,260
Speaker 2: Show Weekly.

302
00:15:45,750 --> 00:15:47,800
Speaker 1: And details for how to contact us are, as always,

303
00:15:47,900 --> 00:15:51,060
Speaker 1: in the show notes below. And please subscribe, rate, and review.

304
00:15:51,280 --> 00:15:52,150
Speaker 1: We'll see you next week, Viv.

305
00:15:52,330 --> 00:15:53,050
Speaker 2: Look forward to it, Matt.