Speaker 1: The time for talking is over the match clock showing
Speaker 1: four hours or twelve minutes. It's eable lots. I'm short
Speaker 1: for inthe inside mariche, the erotic.
Speaker 2: What's a smash like?
Speaker 3: It's good?
Speaker 2: It's good, good start.
Speaker 1: It's about eight.
Speaker 4: Love says love late like Lada and there's ten as
Speaker 4: a like crest Emitch. Hi, everyone, welcome to the AO Show.
Speaker 4: I'm Matroloe jumping in again for John hooven Us. This
Speaker 4: week Wimbledon is almost upon us and today we preview
Speaker 4: all the storylines and spotlight the players to watch ahead
Speaker 4: of the game's grass court Grand Slam. Here's what's coming up.
Speaker 4: Casey de Lakworth sees Carlos el Karaz as the biggest
Speaker 4: threat to Novak Djokovic's crown.
Speaker 5: That could potentially help al Karaz having a little bit
Speaker 5: more time on the ball.
Speaker 4: Todd Woodbridge takes us behind the curtain at Wimbledon, where
Speaker 4: he is an honorary member.
Speaker 6: Such a big goal of mine to be able to
Speaker 6: get in to the members seated locker room.
Speaker 4: And King Klaisters discusses Nikkurios's chances a year on from
Speaker 4: the Aussi's exciting run to the finals. That's all ahead
Speaker 4: on the AO Show four days out from the main
Speaker 4: drawer at Wimbledon. Here are the headlines. Elena Rabeikiner hopes
Speaker 4: to recover from the lingering effects of a virus in
Speaker 4: the countdown to her Wimbledon title defense. Elsewhere, patri Kviteva
Speaker 4: and y Elena Ostapenko announced their intentions with grass court titles
Speaker 4: last week, while eagersh Fiontek is into a first ever
Speaker 4: quarter final on grass in bad Homburg. Number one seed
Speaker 4: Carlos Alkarez has notched to milestone, becoming the first player
Speaker 4: not in the Big four to earn the Wimbledon top
Speaker 4: seeding in twenty years. Alcoraz last week won the Queen's
Speaker 4: Club Tournament, his first title on grass and one that
Speaker 4: saw him take the world number one ranking back off
Speaker 4: Novak Jokovic. And speaking of Jokovic, hear after at the
Speaker 4: All England Club this week for his first hit out
Speaker 4: on the grass, where he's targeting a fifth straight Wimbledon title.
Speaker 4: I'm joy on the AO Show this week by Australian
Speaker 4: tennis great Casey de Laqua to talk all things Wimbledon.
Speaker 4: Thanks for joining us today, case Hi, Matt great to
Speaker 4: see you again. Great to see you too, And I
Speaker 4: wanted to pick up on something you said on the
Speaker 4: podcast when we chatted two weeks ago, and I found
Speaker 4: it very interesting you said, I don't see anybody stopping
Speaker 4: Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon, and kind of when you dig
Speaker 4: into the stats, there's been a particularly great one that's
Speaker 4: come up in the last week or so that Djokovic
Speaker 4: has won more matches at Wimbledon than the rest of
Speaker 4: the men's top twenty combined, which is extraordinary. And so
Speaker 4: it's probably you know, what you said holds a lot
Speaker 4: of sway, and I think a lot of people agree
Speaker 4: with you that he's one of the most overwhelming favorites
Speaker 4: we've had. So maybe we can look at who his
Speaker 4: biggest challenges are now that we've got you know, we're
Speaker 4: into week three of the grass court season, and we've
Speaker 4: seen most of the big names have at least one
Speaker 4: or two hitouts on the grass. You know who's impressing you?
Speaker 5: Yeah, well, look, obviously, firstly, on Novak, it's it is
Speaker 5: one of those things, isn't it. Where I mean, the
Speaker 5: statistic you've just you know, reeled off is pretty incredible,
Speaker 5: and I guess we've had this era of you know,
Speaker 5: wondering if is it going to be Federer coming up
Speaker 5: or Nadal or who's going to kind of win. But
Speaker 5: to have an overwhelming favorite lack in Novak is you know,
Speaker 5: something that we haven't probably experienced in the men's game.
Speaker 5: But I do just believe that he's just way ahead
Speaker 5: the rest of the field in terms of, you know, ability,
Speaker 5: in terms of Grand Slam tennis, in terms of best
Speaker 5: of five tennis, Novak is definitely going to be extremely, extremely.
Speaker 3: Tough to beat.
Speaker 5: But obviously we saw some good tennis from Carlos al
Speaker 5: Krez last week.
Speaker 3: He played, you know, really.
Speaker 5: Well, played a great match against Alex demon or our
Speaker 5: own Alex. But you know, I think there's definitely, you know,
Speaker 5: a sits of pass on the.
Speaker 3: Grass will fire up as well.
Speaker 5: I think, you know, there's obviously definitely players that can
Speaker 5: hold their own against Novak, But in terms of being
Speaker 5: able to break down Novak's game, you know, over the
Speaker 5: length of a five set match, I'm just not sure
Speaker 5: that you know, even in ol koraz As physically in
Speaker 5: Nepteers and that on a grass court, is going to
Speaker 5: be able to stop Novak.
Speaker 3: Djokovic.
Speaker 4: Yeah, will be interesting because the way the seedings are,
Speaker 4: they could only meet in the final, which would be
Speaker 4: a pretty extraordinary Wimbledon final. Elkoraz sounds like he almost
Speaker 4: surprised himself by how quickly he improved on grass. This
Speaker 4: was just his third grasscourt tournament ever at Queens and
Speaker 4: he won it, which I'm not sure if that's a record,
Speaker 4: but that's pretty quick progress. Even if he might not
Speaker 4: be completely ready at this stage just yet, he's still
Speaker 4: being raw on the surface.
Speaker 5: Yeah, And I think Wally and I spoke a little
Speaker 5: bit about when you have obviously he had a great
Speaker 5: clay court season, and I think when you've had great
Speaker 5: momentum even from the clay sometimes transitioning to grass. Yes,
Speaker 5: there's probably some physical things around getting lower and staying
Speaker 5: lower and that, but in terms of, you know, that
Speaker 5: confidence and that momentum that he's taken into the grass,
Speaker 5: I think is really well. The interesting thing for me
Speaker 5: is the grass at Wimbledon. I'm not entirely sure how
Speaker 5: Queens was playing, but I know that the grass at
Speaker 5: wimbled in the very first week plays very different to
Speaker 5: the grass the second week. So I think, you know,
Speaker 5: the first week is always pretty tough to find your feet.
Speaker 5: It can be slow. I think people just think that,
Speaker 5: you know, grass, the ball is going to hit and
Speaker 5: fly through, but it can actually be quite slow. So
Speaker 5: I feel like that could potentially help al Koraz having
Speaker 5: a little bit more time on the ball and then
Speaker 5: as the grass kind of you know, gets played on
Speaker 5: a fair bit, quickens up a little bit. So yeah,
Speaker 5: I think there's going to be a few factors in
Speaker 5: play over you know, the Wimbledon time. But obviously, you
Speaker 5: know Carlos al Koraz, you know, he's won two level titles.
Speaker 5: He's obviously you know, played a great final against Alex
Speaker 5: like I said, and so I think his confidence on
Speaker 5: grass is still going to be quite high. But that
Speaker 5: would be a pretty epic final, wouldn't it if we
Speaker 5: were able to see al Carez and Novak.
Speaker 4: Oh yeah, because remember how much hype there was around
Speaker 4: the semi final rolling Garras, So this would be even
Speaker 4: bigger again, a Grand Slave final. I'd love to see it.
Speaker 4: So we'll see, We'll see what happens in the next
Speaker 4: two weeks. I guess if we turn our attention to
Speaker 4: the women's side, Elena Robaikener as the defending champion, but
Speaker 4: she's had an interrupted lead up because it seems that
Speaker 4: she's suffering the lingering effects of this virus that knocked
Speaker 4: her out of Roland Garros. So she us a lot
Speaker 4: of people's favorites and she plays great on grass, but
Speaker 4: we haven't really seen a lot of her recently. So
Speaker 4: what do you think of her chances?
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think it's an interesting one in terms of
Speaker 5: like just the grasscourt season is so short. But what
Speaker 5: we find, or I find with players at Wimbledon is
Speaker 5: sometimes you see players like a Tadiana Maria last year
Speaker 5: her semi final run. Sometimes you just need a couple
Speaker 5: of good matches on the grass. And I think for Rebeccina,
Speaker 5: she's just going to have to get some really good
Speaker 5: tennis in the early rounds of Wimbledon, and then I
Speaker 5: still feel like she's going to be confident because when
Speaker 5: you win a Grand Slam title and you go back
Speaker 5: to that place that you've had such good results and
Speaker 5: such good energy and feeling, there's no doubt in my
Speaker 5: mind that that's going to help someone like Rebeccaa obviously
Speaker 5: if she's in good health. So I think we can't
Speaker 5: underestimate the fact that she's the defending champion.
Speaker 3: Maybe you know, maybe there might be a.
Speaker 5: Little bit more of an expectation there in terms of
Speaker 5: what she achieved last year. But in the same breath,
Speaker 5: we've seen her persona, haven't we. We've seen how she
Speaker 5: carries herself from the court. She's very astue in regards to,
Speaker 5: you know, keeping control of her emotions and stuff. So
Speaker 5: I think she's going to.
Speaker 1: Very calm and collected, very.
Speaker 3: Calm and collected.
Speaker 5: So I think the first few rounds will be interesting
Speaker 5: because she's obviously one of those players when she gets
Speaker 5: her serve. Going her serve last year and particularly in
Speaker 5: the finals was unstoppable. So I think there's going to
Speaker 5: be a few factors in play. But I think she's
Speaker 5: still certainly one to keep an eye on, providing that
Speaker 5: she's in good health, and I think that first week
Speaker 5: again will be really interesting for someone that maybe hasn't
Speaker 5: had as much grass court tennis as potentially they would
Speaker 5: have liked.
Speaker 4: Yeah, what, we hope she is healthy because when she's firing,
Speaker 4: she's yet she's phenomenal.
Speaker 1: There seem to be a lot more content here at
Speaker 1: Wimbledon this time than there were.
Speaker 4: In Paris a few weeks ago, it was all about
Speaker 4: like the big three on the women's side, Fiontech, Sabolenka,
Speaker 4: Rabaike and they'd won all the big lead ups and
Speaker 4: that's kind of how it went. Fion Tech one, Sabolenka
Speaker 4: made the semis At Wimbledon. There feels like there's a
Speaker 4: lot more contenders. Who do you like among this, Like
Speaker 4: I guess this bigger bunch of potential favorites.
Speaker 5: Well, I think you know someone that won a title
Speaker 5: and who is won wimbleden before is a Petra Kaviteva. Yeah,
Speaker 5: you know, it's it's really hard because there's always a
Speaker 5: feel with Petra, you know, a match or two throughout
Speaker 5: a Grand Slam that maybe she just doesn't put in
Speaker 5: her best performance. But I think when she can pull
Speaker 5: it together lefty on the grass. Obviously one in Berlin,
Speaker 5: you know, I think that was potentially her six grass
Speaker 5: court title. So in terms of grass court players, a
Speaker 5: Petra Kaviteva can get on it. Yeah, I think she
Speaker 5: can get on a good run. And I think she
Speaker 5: certainly won that. You wouldn't really want to, you know,
Speaker 5: face it wimbled and at any time in the draw.
Speaker 5: So I think keeping eight at her, I think like
Speaker 5: a Coco Goff. You know, we know that she's got
Speaker 5: some technical difficulties, I think, if you can get that
Speaker 5: ball hard and fast into her forehand, but there's no doubt,
Speaker 5: I think a Coco and let's not forget and on Jibur,
Speaker 5: I mean Wimbledon for her last year was you know,
Speaker 5: an epic run. She got through to the final, and
Speaker 5: it's definitely a title that she is obviously after. And
Speaker 5: then I think the other one is mukovad the one
Speaker 5: that obviously made the Paris, the.
Speaker 3: Roland Garris final.
Speaker 5: I feel like, you know, her game transitioning onto a
Speaker 5: grass court, you know, is really good. I think again,
Speaker 5: for someone like a Mukova, it's always been about her
Speaker 5: body and injury management. But she seems like she's in
Speaker 5: good health, so confidence as well. So I think there's
Speaker 5: a few, you know, different names on the women's side
Speaker 5: that certainly composed some challenges for Like you said, probably
Speaker 5: those big three that we've spoken a lot about throughout
Speaker 5: this year.
Speaker 1: Mukova is an interesting one.
Speaker 4: I don't think we've seen her play a lead up
Speaker 4: on grass, and you mentioned her body, maybe she maybe
Speaker 4: that's a bit of a protective thing. She's played a
Speaker 4: lot of tennis lately and resting that injury body. Hopefully
Speaker 4: she's healthy too. This is also traditionally a fantastic time
Speaker 4: on tour for the Aussies. They've got a great tradition
Speaker 4: of playing well on grass. You know, love this time
Speaker 4: of year in London, and it's been the same again
Speaker 4: in twenty twenty three. Lots of great results from the
Speaker 4: Aussies at two level events and on the challenger circuit too.
Speaker 4: So which of them do you think might fare best
Speaker 4: at Wimbledon.
Speaker 5: Yeah, it's been great, hasn't it on the singles and
Speaker 5: doubles court so far for all of the Aussies. They've
Speaker 5: all really put in some great performances. I think grass
Speaker 5: is one of those things for the Australians.
Speaker 3: It just feels like home.
Speaker 5: It feels like our backyard we grow up, you know,
Speaker 5: being exposed to a grass court where a lot of
Speaker 5: players don't necessarily.
Speaker 3: Have the same situation. So yeah, I think, you know,
Speaker 3: in terms of.
Speaker 5: The women, really great to see Storm Hunter and Olivia
Speaker 5: Gadeki into the last round of qualifying. I think that's
Speaker 5: awesome And let's hope that we can get a few
Speaker 5: more through qualifying. We had some good first round wins
Speaker 5: as well. Obviously on the men's side, you know, oh sorry,
Speaker 5: and just on that disappointing obviously for ailer Tom Lanovitch
Speaker 5: not to be able to compete at Wimbledon, but such
Speaker 5: a shame, but I hope we all wish it well
Speaker 5: and good health for the rest of the season. And
Speaker 5: obviously I think on the men's side, you know, Alex Deemnor,
Speaker 5: you know, he's definitely shown himself on the grass courts
Speaker 5: before making you know, another tour level final for someone
Speaker 5: like an Alex is awesome, and yeah, I think we've
Speaker 5: definitely got to keep an eye out for him. But
Speaker 5: then in the doubles, obviously we've got John Pierce had
Speaker 5: some great success last week as well, continuing to win
Speaker 5: titles on tour for consecutive number of years now.
Speaker 3: So lots of Aussies in form and keen to keep an.
Speaker 4: Eye on, yeah, which was the case in twenty twenty two.
Speaker 4: We had so many Ossis in the finals of various events,
Speaker 4: winning it all, making the final, and it could be
Speaker 4: the same again. Before I'll let you go, o Casey
Speaker 4: one thing we love to do with our guess is
Speaker 4: to get them to pick the Wimbledon winners. And I'm
Speaker 4: going to put you on the spot and ask for
Speaker 4: your men's and women's champion for this fortnight's stage.
Speaker 5: One of the winners in at Roland Garras, which was
Speaker 5: Novak Djokovic. So I'm going to I'm going to stick
Speaker 5: pretty pretty hard with Novak on the men's side and
Speaker 5: go with Novak on the women's side. I'm actually going
Speaker 5: to stick with my peak for Roland Garris, which was
Speaker 5: Arena Sablenka.
Speaker 3: I'm not sure why.
Speaker 5: I just feel like she's got the AO under a belt.
Speaker 5: She's still shown consistency in regard to her mental kind
Speaker 5: of aptitude with what she's trying to do. I feel
Speaker 5: like if she can pull it together and serve well, Yeah,
Speaker 5: I'm going to go with Arena Sabalinka. I think she
Speaker 5: can do it, So she's my peak for the women.
Speaker 4: She's gone deep before semi finals in twenty twenty one. Yeah,
Speaker 4: for sure could see Sablenka doing well. Look, Casie, thanks
Speaker 4: so much for joining us. Always good to chat to you.
Speaker 4: And how are you going to be enjoying Wimbledon? I
Speaker 4: know I'm going to be here in cold Melbourne.
Speaker 1: Watching it on the TV from afar. Where will you
Speaker 1: be watching, Well, I'll.
Speaker 5: Be watching it from the comfort of my own home obviously.
Speaker 5: I think a lot of Austrains, you know, they grow
Speaker 5: up with childhood memories of probably getting up in the
Speaker 5: middle of the night and watching Wimbledon.
Speaker 3: So yeah, I'm going to be you know.
Speaker 5: TV on watching with great interest, both the Aussies but
Speaker 5: also the men's and the women's game and kind of
Speaker 5: seeing how this third Grand Slam of the year unfolds.
Speaker 3: It's always really exciting.
Speaker 5: This such quick turnaround from rolland Garris to Wimbledon, but
Speaker 5: a really exciting time. So yeah, let's go the Aussies
Speaker 5: and let's hope they all have a really great Wimbledon.
Speaker 4: Well we can't wait. Thanks again, Case, good to see
Speaker 4: you and chat soon.
Speaker 3: Thanks.
Speaker 1: Matt Todd Woodbridge is a.
Speaker 4: Regular contributor to The AO Show, and we especially love
Speaker 4: his insights at this time of year. Given his connection
Speaker 4: with Wimbledon. He holds the record for the most men's
Speaker 4: doubles titles in Wimbledon history with nine. He is also
Speaker 4: a mixed doubles champion there as well as a single
Speaker 4: semi finalist. In part one of this interview, Todd chatted
Speaker 4: to us from London about the tournament which most profoundly
Speaker 4: shaped his career.
Speaker 1: Well, Todd, when did you?
Speaker 4: When did you get to And I would also love
Speaker 4: to hear a bit about how good the weather is
Speaker 4: over there, because that's what I'm hearing from everyone, particularly
Speaker 4: though were over there at Roland Garros and the weather
Speaker 4: was amazing and it sounds like it's continued in London.
Speaker 4: And you told me off that it's hot in summery,
Speaker 4: So yeah, what's the buzz and the vibe like in London?
Speaker 1: It's a great time of year over there.
Speaker 6: Well, I got into into London Monday afternoon, the Monday
Speaker 6: of the Wimbledon qualifying starting out at Roehampton and up
Speaker 6: until today, which is Wednesday.
Speaker 2: This is the first cloudy.
Speaker 6: Day I've almost seen in around about fourteen days in
Speaker 6: the UK. I've been in the Scottish Highlands for about
Speaker 6: ten days celebrating big family milestones of birthdays.
Speaker 2: And eightieth, a fiftieth and a twenty first in our family.
Speaker 6: So that's been really wonderful to get that opportunity. But
Speaker 6: now it's back to the grindstone and back to work
Speaker 6: and getting in that mindset of tennis and Wimbledon, and
Speaker 6: for me it is the greatest time of year because
Speaker 6: as a former player and a young kid, it was
Speaker 6: my absolute goal to get to Wimbled and to be
Speaker 6: able to get to see that center court, the Ivy
Speaker 6: clad on the famous Senate court and have maybe one
Speaker 6: day that opportunity to play. And it came really early
Speaker 6: for me at sixteen years of age and my very
Speaker 6: first when we're not qualified for a mixed doubles at Roehampton.
Speaker 6: They don't have qualifying anymore, and it gave me the
Speaker 6: opportunity to play on the main courts at the Championships.
Speaker 6: I then went on played juniors that year as well
Speaker 6: in the singles and doubles. So it kind of means
Speaker 6: everything to me this tournament in the game, and I
Speaker 6: come here with this youthful feeling of those memories of
Speaker 6: all of those years ago, and then it gives me.
Speaker 6: It gives me goosebumps every time I get to go
Speaker 6: to the club, to the All England Club and walk
Speaker 6: through those gates. I don't think there's anything else in
Speaker 6: the world of tennis that has that same feeling ai
Speaker 6: aura an energy about it. Even when you go potentially
Speaker 6: which I've done a couple of times midyear, when the
Speaker 6: tournament isn't on, it still gives that. I don't often
Speaker 6: get that feeling really when you go to Melbourne Park
Speaker 6: and it's not in tournament, because it looks completely different.
Speaker 6: But the All England Club actually still looks the same,
Speaker 6: and I guess that's what's special about that.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you paint an amazing picture of it, and for
Speaker 4: people that have been there they and are lucky enough
Speaker 4: to experience that it is.
Speaker 1: It is as you describe. It is beautiful.
Speaker 4: It's got that history, it's got that quaintness, it's got
Speaker 4: the Ivy, it's an incredible place.
Speaker 1: You talked about aspiring to.
Speaker 4: Go to Wimbledon when you were younger, and that seems
Speaker 4: a common thing among Australians in particular this tournament, even
Speaker 4: though it's not the Australian Open, it still holds a
Speaker 4: very special place in the hearts of Australia, like particularly
Speaker 4: with our tennis culture here.
Speaker 1: Why is that?
Speaker 6: I think it It goes a long way back, and
Speaker 6: it goes back to if you think about Australians they've
Speaker 6: always loved to travel and the very first winners going
Speaker 6: over there with Sir Norman Brooks, so this shay and
Speaker 6: Open Trophy is named after on the men's side, and
Speaker 6: he won the tournament and it gave this vision of
Speaker 6: getting overseas and travel and playing tennis and something that
Speaker 6: our sport gives Australians.
Speaker 2: The opportunity to do.
Speaker 6: And when he started to win, and you go further on,
Speaker 6: you had John Bromige and Adrian Chris doing so well,
Speaker 6: and then you got into that golden era of Frank Sedgman,
Speaker 6: Lou Hoad and Ken rose Well making finals, John Newcombe,
Speaker 6: Rod Lavor, Neil Fraser. We had so many champions and
Speaker 6: I would grow I grew up with getting up in
Speaker 6: the middle of the night. I'd go to bed at
Speaker 6: seven o'clock, sleep for two and a half three hours.
Speaker 2: Then my dad would wake.
Speaker 6: Me up to watch Wimbled and Live and it was
Speaker 6: the only thing and only time you get to watch
Speaker 6: it was that you had to get up to watch it.
Speaker 6: And I just had those memories of getting up in
Speaker 6: the middle of the night, sitting there with it a
Speaker 6: kerosene heater on in the middle of winter, watching the
Speaker 6: tennis and it gives you motivation, and you know, it
Speaker 6: is the oldest tournament in the world.
Speaker 2: It is where the game started and so.
Speaker 6: It has all of that history to it, and that's
Speaker 6: one of the great things of Wimbled and that moving
Speaker 6: into this modern era, the club and the management of
Speaker 6: the tournament have managed to maintain and I'll call it
Speaker 6: the facade of Wimbledon, because it's kept the look.
Speaker 2: And the feel.
Speaker 6: You know, a lot of times there they are under
Speaker 6: pressure to change from grass because there wasn't enough grass
Speaker 6: of course.
Speaker 2: Tournaments, and they've kept the all white.
Speaker 6: They've kept traditions that have made it different from all
Speaker 6: of the other tournaments. And I think that's a really
Speaker 6: important thing moving forward, that they don't succumb to becoming
Speaker 6: too much aligned to everything else within the sport, and
Speaker 6: that they hold themselves differently. And that's why it's so
Speaker 6: special to go there. The way that you treated in
Speaker 6: the locker room, all of those little nuances.
Speaker 2: That are different.
Speaker 6: You know, when I first got to go, there was
Speaker 6: a three tiered locker system.
Speaker 2: There's the two tiered top locker system.
Speaker 6: Now there's the champions and seeded players locker room, which
Speaker 6: then get to use the members areas of the locker
Speaker 6: rooms and then there is a much nicer, let me
Speaker 6: tell you locker area than when I was first got.
Speaker 2: To Wimbled and for the rest of the field.
Speaker 6: But it was one of those things such a big
Speaker 6: goal of mine to be able to get into the
Speaker 6: members seeded locker room because that's where all the great
Speaker 6: Australians were and that's where at the beginning.
Speaker 2: I still went to the tournament.
Speaker 6: John Newcomb, Ken Rosewell, Fred Stolly, they all had their
Speaker 6: same locker number in the same place and there was
Speaker 6: an Australian corner. So it was a goal to get
Speaker 6: into that Australian corner. And of course eventually Mark Woodford
Speaker 6: and I got to be in that corner and we
Speaker 6: had our number. You know, my locker number is number one,
Speaker 6: two three. That's what still got. There's been a refirm
Speaker 6: and it slightly changed since then. But those are the
Speaker 6: little things that make wanting to go to a tournament
Speaker 6: like that so incredibly special. And then you think about
Speaker 6: the grass courts and the style and Australians were brought
Speaker 6: up and I specifically remember as a junior player at
Speaker 6: this Strain Institute of sport in my mind going what
Speaker 6: type of game do I need to develop to be
Speaker 6: able to do well at Wimbledon, And of course that
Speaker 6: meant we needed to be aggressive players, We needed to
Speaker 6: be able to serve and volley, we needed to be.
Speaker 2: In a mental way of like we came forward.
Speaker 6: And so a lot of times when we think about
Speaker 6: I go back and think about why strands were not
Speaker 6: as good on clay. It's because of our thinking of
Speaker 6: Wimbledon was the place that we had to go. And
Speaker 6: of course that has changed the development of players and
Speaker 6: strokes and sports science and all of that has made
Speaker 6: it easy, I think, to play on all surfaces than
Speaker 6: it was when I was developing as a very young player,
Speaker 6: because I didn't want to be.
Speaker 2: A clay courter.
Speaker 6: It was nice to go to Paris, but it was
Speaker 6: more important that I went on grass.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's fantastic stick. Thanks for sharing all of that.
Speaker 1: That's so interesting.
Speaker 4: I wanted to ask you finally, what will you be
Speaker 4: doing at the Championships this year? Kind of what hats
Speaker 4: are you wearing and what kinds of things will we
Speaker 4: be up to.
Speaker 2: Well, I'll be on the ground if you like that.
Speaker 6: On the ground word for Channel nine, and each day
Speaker 6: we'll do a pre show where we'll talk about some
Speaker 6: of the results of the day before or what's coming
Speaker 6: up in the big matches of the day, and then
Speaker 6: we head into coverage in Australia on Channel nine. But
Speaker 6: I'll also be over here working in commentary for the BBC,
Speaker 6: so I'll be on two coverages if you like, because
Speaker 6: the Channel nine coverage we take some of that feed,
Speaker 6: so the matches I will be on nine's coverage and
Speaker 6: also at the same time on air in the UK,
Speaker 6: which is unique.
Speaker 2: That was last year was the first time that I
Speaker 2: was able to.
Speaker 6: Do that and so for me it was quite exciting
Speaker 6: because I was able to get exposure to a new
Speaker 6: market of people that hadn't heard my commentary before and
Speaker 6: it was.
Speaker 2: Actually a unique opportunity.
Speaker 6: And last year got to call the final for the
Speaker 6: BBC and for Channel nine because Nick did so well, so,
Speaker 6: you know, thankfully because of him, I got that chance.
Speaker 6: You know, I need him to fire up and do
Speaker 6: well again this year so that we can maybe do
Speaker 6: that again.
Speaker 2: But so that keeps me busy.
Speaker 6: So I get to do a couple of matches a day,
Speaker 6: and we'll do the news grabs and all those types
Speaker 6: of things at the end of the day for all
Speaker 6: of the media coverage back home.
Speaker 4: Well, that all sounds amazing, Todd. Thank you so much
Speaker 4: for chatting to us about it. You've actually made me
Speaker 4: incredibly jealous that I'm not there this year.
Speaker 2: It's one of those tournaments.
Speaker 6: Where it's like that, isn't it.
Speaker 2: It's hard to when you've been there in experience. It's
Speaker 2: hard to sit back and just.
Speaker 6: Watch it because it floods too many memories in too
Speaker 6: many ways, no matter what aspect of the tournament.
Speaker 2: That you work in.
Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 4: Well when you said you were getting up in the
Speaker 4: middle of the night to watch it in Australia with
Speaker 4: a space heater on, I think that will be my
Speaker 4: experience under the don in very chilly, rainy Melbourne. But
Speaker 4: I'll be watching every ball as much as I can
Speaker 4: that I can stay awake for as well. And yeah,
Speaker 4: looking forward to hearing your commentary and all of your
Speaker 4: insights from on the ground in London.
Speaker 2: Thank you. Mine.
Speaker 4: A former world number one and four time Major champion,
Speaker 4: Kim Cloisters remains one of the most popular figures in tennis.
Speaker 4: Since retiring, she continues to follow the sport closely in
Speaker 4: her role as Honorary President of the International Tennis Hall
Speaker 4: of Fame Clasters. Was at Roland Garross recently when she
Speaker 4: caught up with Duncan mackenzie mccague to preview the next
Speaker 4: Grand Slam tournament that obviously was Wimbledon, a tournament which
Speaker 4: holds a special place in Australian hearts. Ozzie Kim, as
Speaker 4: she's affectionately known, discussed one particular Australian who's always excelled there.
Speaker 7: We are just over three weeks away from the next
Speaker 7: Grand Slam on the calendar, Wimbledon, and to preview all
Speaker 7: the action, I'm joined once again by the four time
Speaker 7: Grand Slam champion, Kim Cleister's Kim. Last year's finalists Nick
Speaker 7: Curios hasn't played much tennis this year, But is Nick
Speaker 7: a genuine contender on the grass? The fact he hasn't
Speaker 7: played much at all?
Speaker 8: Is he he's a contender in any on any surface?
Speaker 2: Really?
Speaker 8: Yes, for sure. I've I enjoy watching him play. I've
Speaker 8: seen his commitment is different. I feel, yeah, and I
Speaker 8: love that he's I don't know, I think he knows
Speaker 8: that he can do all this and he can beat
Speaker 8: everybody out there, and it's just a matter of you know,
Speaker 8: staying focused throughout the whole tournament seven matches, and and
Speaker 8: he was. You know, he does it in his way
Speaker 8: and I actually enjoyed watching that a lot. So we'll
Speaker 8: see what he can do. But he can, definitely, he
Speaker 8: can win any tournament that he's where he steps foot
Speaker 8: on the court.
Speaker 7: But the focus to win seven matches over best of five.
Speaker 8: That's the question, right. I believe he I believe he can.
Speaker 8: I mean, if you can get to the finals, then
Speaker 8: you can. You should be able to do it. And
Speaker 8: and especially when you get so close and it's experienced
Speaker 8: that will get you through it. You know, I lost
Speaker 8: my first four Grand Slam finals before I won my
Speaker 8: first one, and I always had to answer questions about
Speaker 8: how are you good enough to win a Slam? Are
Speaker 8: you worthy of being number one and never winning a
Speaker 8: Grand Slam? And so I'm sure he has a lot
Speaker 8: of those questions, but he does, and I think he
Speaker 8: knows he does, and and so it's it's it's going
Speaker 8: to be exciting to see him get back to, you know,
Speaker 8: a place where he got so close to uh to
Speaker 8: you know, to winning. And and once you feel that
Speaker 8: kind of when you get so close, you you want
Speaker 8: to take that extra step and you want to get there.
Speaker 8: And so it'll be very interesting to see how he's doing,
Speaker 8: how he's you know, if he's physically ready and and
Speaker 8: and that will be, yeah, an important moment to watch
Speaker 8: when he steps out on the court.
Speaker 7: There and can we get an early prediction for the
Speaker 7: men's and women's thoughtles.
Speaker 1: Oh boy, that's tough.
Speaker 8: Let me think, you don't know if I on grass
Speaker 8: is always very tough to beat, trying to think. I think, uh, yeah,
Speaker 8: I enjoy I. I I can't wait to watch Nick
Speaker 8: play and see what kind of you know what, like,
Speaker 8: what kind of mood he's in, if he's if he's
Speaker 8: ready physically, if his knee is good, and then that
Speaker 8: will be anybody can can do. Well.
Speaker 4: Then that's all for this week's episode of The AO Show.
Speaker 4: Join us again next week for the latest tennis news,
Speaker 4: discussion and interviews as we dive into the highlights from
Speaker 4: the early round action at Wimbledon. If you'd like to
Speaker 4: get in touch, you can contact us via ozopen dot com,
Speaker 4: slash listen, or email Theaoshow at tennis dot com dot
Speaker 4: au and make sure you subscribe so you don't miss
Speaker 4: an episode, and please consider leaving a rating or review
Speaker 4: so more fans can discover the AO show.
Speaker 1: See you next week.