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Speaker 1: Hello and welcome to the sit Down. I'm viv Christine,

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Speaker 1: Managing editor of Australian Tennis Magazine, and.

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Speaker 2: I'm matrolopartiforozopen dot Com and Viv. Why are we sitting

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Speaker 2: down this week with John Milman.

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Speaker 1: Well, it's been almost a year since John Milman played

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Speaker 1: his last professional match at AO twenty twenty four. Always

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Speaker 1: a big favorite with the fans and with the media

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Speaker 1: as well. Everyone always loves to hear what he's been

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Speaker 1: up to and we wanted to check in on his

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Speaker 1: year in retirement.

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Speaker 2: So Australian doubles great Todd Woodbridge actually did this interview

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Speaker 2: with John and Todd's one of our colleagues now, so

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Speaker 2: let's hear what they had to chat about.

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Speaker 3: It's a pleasure to be able to welcome John Milman.

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Speaker 3: Tell us how are things going in retirement?

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Speaker 4: Thanks for having me. Things a big different. It's definitely

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Speaker 4: a change of pace. I've up here in Brisbane and

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Speaker 4: it's been nice. It's been really nice to get off

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Speaker 4: the road, reacquaint yourself with friends and family. As you know,

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Speaker 4: Todd mife as a professional tennis blower, especially in Australian

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Speaker 4: one travel up to ten and a half months a year,

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Speaker 4: and towards the end of your career, you do look

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Speaker 4: forward to having a bit more stability and being back

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Speaker 4: home and having that stability up here in Brisbane has

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Speaker 4: been perfect.

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Speaker 3: Once you get it, though, are you comfortable with it?

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Speaker 3: Because the transition is difficult.

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Speaker 5: It's super difficult.

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Speaker 4: I remember when I was finishing up and the one

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Speaker 4: thing I was going to look forward to is to

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Speaker 4: get out of that structure and to get out of

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Speaker 4: those that monotony of the routines, you know, going to

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Speaker 4: the courts, warming up, doing your your rehab, your prehab,

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Speaker 4: hitting and rinse and repeat day after day after day

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Speaker 4: for year after year after year.

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Speaker 5: So I really thought that.

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Speaker 4: I would love to escape that structure. But I found

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Speaker 4: out pretty quickly that that structure is something that's part

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Speaker 4: of my DNA now.

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Speaker 5: So it is a difficult little process.

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Speaker 4: It's really about finding yourself and I really used the

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Speaker 4: time to like I did my tennis career, to really

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Speaker 4: give myself up with as many tools as possible. I'm

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Speaker 4: back doing a little bit of study in the hope

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Speaker 4: that it'll help that transition process and I can offer,

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Speaker 4: you know, hopefully some different skills and expertise outside of

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Speaker 4: the tennis court.

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Speaker 3: Let's talk a little bit about at the start of

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Speaker 3: your tennis career, obviously a Brisbane boy, and how did

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Speaker 3: it come about that you got yourself into tennis. My

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Speaker 3: understanding is that it was a lot to do with

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Speaker 3: your parents and family.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, it was it ed Mum and dad. Originally they

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Speaker 4: weren't your traditional tennis families. They didn't grow up playing themselves,

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Speaker 4: but my sisters did.

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Speaker 5: My old man he played in the National Soccer League

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Speaker 5: back in the day.

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Speaker 4: Towards the end of his football green he was a

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Speaker 4: school teacher too, But towards the end of his football

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Speaker 4: career when he was playing in one of the local

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Speaker 4: Queensland clubs, part of his contract was to build a

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Speaker 4: tennis court in our backyard. We had a bit of

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Speaker 4: akery Joe rim Shelton, so I had that in the

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Speaker 4: backyard as a really young bid, and I had this

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Speaker 4: old ball machine that I'd kind of all down the

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Speaker 4: heel and the bush and hook that up and you'd

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Speaker 4: see me down there playing for hours on end. I

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Speaker 4: often joked that I probably peaked as a four year

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Speaker 4: old because I was the youngest four year old at

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Speaker 4: the local tennis club, last tennis center to play fixtures there,

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Speaker 4: and I honestly think that I was probably the best

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Speaker 4: four year old in the world. So unfortunately for me,

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Speaker 4: my career peaked as a four year old went downhill

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Speaker 4: from there. But I had such a good time and

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Speaker 4: my earliest memories were getting out on the court, whether

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Speaker 4: that be with the sisters or mates, but especially by myself.

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Speaker 4: And later on in my career I actually found out

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Speaker 4: that that was probably a skillet itself to be able

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Speaker 4: to spend hours on the court without your parents or

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Speaker 4: your coaches or your mates around. I really could amuse

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Speaker 4: myself by hitting tennis balls up against the wall, up

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Speaker 4: against the ball machine, or hitting serves.

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Speaker 3: So for the best four year old in the world,

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Speaker 3: it's not an easy journey. As we all know, there's

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Speaker 3: a roller coaster that's about to happen in your career.

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Speaker 3: And as you get through juniors and you're coming along

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Speaker 3: through where was the moment where you started to think,

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Speaker 3: I can actually make a career out of this. And

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Speaker 3: I don't know if there was a moment for you

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Speaker 3: in time when you've got to maybe some futures and

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Speaker 3: you're playing its and you're out there, when did you go, Yes,

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Speaker 3: I can make money and I can have a great career.

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Speaker 5: Well that the making money part that took a long time.

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Speaker 6: You've got a little story about that. I'd love to hear.

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Speaker 4: It, to think if I could make some money. But

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Speaker 4: it was always something that I wanted to do. Having't parents'

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Speaker 4: school so yeah, having parents as school teachers, there was

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Speaker 4: always an emphasis on John, you have to go to school.

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Speaker 5: So I did all my schooling.

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Speaker 4: So it's a slightly different journey to a fair few

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Speaker 4: of my pdios, even some of my Australian piers who

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Speaker 4: did the distance education and ended up doing that whole

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Speaker 4: junior world circuit without playing junior Wimbledon's and your Junior

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Speaker 4: US Opens. But I took a different path, and probably

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Speaker 4: a little bit was that to do with my parents

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Speaker 4: not really understanding the tennis environment. They didn't realize how

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Speaker 4: many players played across the world and how good you

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Speaker 4: had to be, so I was probably a bit of

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Speaker 4: a disadvantage early on, but definitely in the back of

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Speaker 4: my mind when I finished high school, I wanted to

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Speaker 4: give it a crack. But on the other hand, I

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Speaker 4: didn't want my parents to go and have to re

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Speaker 4: mortgage their house. They were providers for our family. They

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Speaker 4: were five jobs between them to send myself and my

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Speaker 4: sisters to private school.

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Speaker 5: So the one thing I was.

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Speaker 4: Really aware of was the fact that they've made so

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Speaker 4: many sacrifices. Me chasing and dreaming was going to be

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Speaker 4: on my back and my shoulders. So about eighteen years old,

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Speaker 4: I'd just finished school and I packed up my bags

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Speaker 4: and like many other aspiring tennis players, you go to

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Speaker 4: Europe because that's where all the tournaments are.

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Speaker 5: My first tournament, one of my first tournaments.

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Speaker 4: I should say, was in life le I remember catching

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Speaker 4: about six different planes to get there. As you know Todd,

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Speaker 4: you're trying to find the cheapest ticket and that means

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Speaker 4: a lot of stopovers and a lot of different airline carriers.

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Speaker 4: I find out that Malia is actually at the top

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Speaker 4: of Africa, so that added another flight to the journey,

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Speaker 4: and I was playing there and back then. These are

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Speaker 4: ten thousand dollar futures, so this is the lowest of

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Speaker 4: the low but you have to play them. If you're unraked,

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Speaker 4: you have to play that to get those valuable ranking points.

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Speaker 5: And I got.

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Speaker 4: Through qualifying, had to win four matches just to get

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Speaker 4: through qualifying your up against these Spaniards and these Europeans

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Speaker 4: that have their coach there. And I lost first round,

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Speaker 4: but I was pretty chucked. This is when I was

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Speaker 4: going to pick up my first professional prize money check

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Speaker 4: in a rock up, you know, shoulders back, feeling pretty

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Speaker 4: good about myself to prize money office, and the check

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Speaker 4: was to eighty euros. And I realized then and there,

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Speaker 4: todd that that eighty euros was not going to cover

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Speaker 4: too many of the expenses. But it was a dream

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Speaker 4: of mine. It was a dream of mine to really

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Speaker 4: give it a crack. Obviously, so many moments where you're

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Speaker 4: going to have those those moments of self doubt, and

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Speaker 4: that happens. Tennis is brutal. Everyone loses every single week

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Speaker 4: except for one person. But bit by beard I improved.

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Speaker 4: There was adversity along the way with injuries that eventually

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Speaker 4: I managed to make a career of it and got

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Speaker 4: to do what I loved and what got to do

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Speaker 4: what I wanted to always do as a kid growing up,

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Speaker 4: which was to play on the biggest stage, on the

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Speaker 4: biggest courts in the world.

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Speaker 3: We're talking about that you've gone from, you know, the

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Speaker 3: top of Africa, battling it out in difficult circumstances, and

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Speaker 3: then you talk about the top courts in the world.

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Speaker 3: For me, that moment for you was the US Open.

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Speaker 3: And there's one player that pops up in your.

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Speaker 6: Well.

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Speaker 3: For me, your memory is Roger Federer. Now, I had

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Speaker 3: Pete Samprass back in my day and I got a

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Speaker 3: win over him, and you know when he finished, he

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Speaker 3: was the goat in your career. Roger was the goat

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Speaker 3: and you get a win over him. Extraordinary, really when

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Speaker 3: you look back on it, to beat him on Arthur

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Speaker 3: Ash Stadium at the US Open.

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Speaker 6: Tell us about that experience.

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Speaker 3: And then I want another couple of questions, if I may,

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Speaker 3: about Roger to you.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, I mean I never envisaged after that

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Speaker 4: match that I'd be talking about Roger so much. But

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Speaker 4: I can understand it right because he transcended our sport

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Speaker 4: the way he went about it. His elegance is artist

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Speaker 4: artistry on the court and the way he handled himself

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Speaker 4: off the court. He speaks about six different languages. He's

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Speaker 4: just a really class individual. I'd played him a few

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Speaker 4: times before, but obviously you're about to blame him in

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Speaker 4: the round of sixteen on Arthur Ash, which is the

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Speaker 4: biggest stadium that we have in men's and women's tennis.

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Speaker 4: I think it holds about twenty six thousand people. It

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Speaker 4: is absolutely huge. In fact, when you're warming up there,

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Speaker 4: I remember hitting with Andy it might have been at

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Speaker 4: that on them earlier on. And one of the things

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Speaker 4: you do at arthur Ash the roofs open, is you

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Speaker 4: grab a ball at the end of the session you

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Speaker 4: try to hit it out of the stadium. And I

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Speaker 4: don't know one person that's managed to do so. It

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Speaker 4: is like it is just such a big stadium. So

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Speaker 4: you're warming up before the TV screens are on, and

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Speaker 4: you know there's Ana con giving your zero chance and

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Speaker 4: all the pundits and rightly so. I mean, Roger was,

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Speaker 4: as you've touched on, one of the greatest evors to

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Speaker 4: do it. So yeah, look, it's just really interesting you

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Speaker 4: go out there. And the one thing against Roger was

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Speaker 4: that I wasn't going to play his reputation.

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Speaker 5: I was lucky enough to play multiple times before and instead.

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Speaker 4: Of playing you know his name, well, I wanted to

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Speaker 4: play the man and I was very aware of that.

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Speaker 4: Another thing that you would know, Todd is when you're

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Speaker 4: at Arthur ash or even in the States in general.

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Speaker 4: At New York, the crowd is a very very unique one.

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Speaker 4: They're not necessarily engaged in the match. If the match

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Speaker 4: isn't giving them a reason to be engaged. They're they're

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Speaker 4: having a bit of a good time. They're drinking, they're

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Speaker 4: taking their selfies, they're making sure they've got the Instagram

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Speaker 4: posts up and running, and they're not really engaged in

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Speaker 4: the match. And it was about after I've won the

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Speaker 4: second so I was down a set in five three

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Speaker 4: and Roger was playing some pretty good tenets. I managed

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Speaker 4: to turn the tables in that second set, and towards

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Speaker 4: the end of the third set, I remember changing the

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Speaker 4: ends and all of a sudden, the crowds started to

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Speaker 4: really hush, and that constant chatter that you heard kind

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Speaker 4: of disappeared, and they started playing every single point with

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Speaker 4: you or against you, most of the time against me.

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Speaker 4: Roger Federer had the home support even in Australia when

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Speaker 4: I was up against him.

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Speaker 5: He had the home support wherever he went.

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Speaker 4: But I really recognized that moment and I started to

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Speaker 4: believe that if the crowd thinks there might be a

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Speaker 4: bit of an upset. I should be believing there could

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Speaker 4: be a bit of an upset, and as the match

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Speaker 4: wore on, I kind of got stronger physically.

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Speaker 5: It's hot there.

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Speaker 4: It was a really hot summer in the States that year,

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Speaker 4: and people don't know the Flushing Meadow is actually built

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Speaker 4: in swamplands, so it creates this really humid environment if

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Speaker 4: the conditions are right for that, which is not too

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Speaker 4: dissimilar to Australia. To Brisbane, I should say, where the

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Speaker 4: summer you get those really afternoon storms with all that humidity,

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Speaker 4: so custom made for myself. I thought Roger was starting

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Speaker 4: to struggle physically, and as the match went on, I

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Speaker 4: went stronger and stronger.

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Speaker 5: And the stars aligned. Unfortunately for me.

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Speaker 4: After the match, you know, you go and look at

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Speaker 4: the drawer and you've got Novak Djokovic in the quarter finals,

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Speaker 4: so it didn't get any easier for me.

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Speaker 5: But it was a thrill.

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Speaker 3: It really doesn't matter to have that victory on that

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Speaker 3: court in a slam. Not many players were able to

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Speaker 3: do it, and you almost pulled it off once again

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Speaker 3: at the Australian Open. You were so close in a

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Speaker 3: fifth set battle there. The other question I had for

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Speaker 3: you is that your game style? You know, gritty, determined baseliner.

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Speaker 3: At times there seemed like an invisible line that you

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Speaker 3: didn't want to cross to come forward to the net.

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Speaker 3: You know, I had to commentate a lot on your matches.

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Speaker 3: I get in, John, get in please.

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Speaker 5: But didn't have the skill set that was the problem.

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Speaker 3: But you knew your strengths and your mentality and your

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Speaker 3: fitness and your backed all of that.

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Speaker 6: But how is it that Federer.

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Speaker 3: Could be any player in the world, but you gave

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Speaker 3: him trouble? What gave him trouble in playing your style?

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Speaker 6: Yeah?

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Speaker 5: I think a few things.

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Speaker 4: I think first and foremost, having had experiences in the

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Speaker 4: past playing against him and having some success really helped me.

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Speaker 4: Brisbane inter National twenty fifteen. I was up a set

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Speaker 4: and a break there, came really close to knocking him

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Speaker 4: off there. And I think that illusion of Roger Better,

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Speaker 4: or that illusion of one of these superstars, you kind

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Speaker 4: of start to really believe in yourself that you know,

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Speaker 4: this guy is amazing, but I can beat him, you know,

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Speaker 4: if he has a slightly off day and I'm really on,

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Speaker 4: I can. I think these players can win so many

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Speaker 4: matches on reputation alike. So I think that that really helped.

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Speaker 4: But also I think Roger really sets up his game

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Speaker 4: stob with that back end slice. I think he's got

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Speaker 4: a great back end slice, and a lot of players

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Speaker 4: will drop that one a little bit short or can't

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Speaker 4: quite penetrate and cut sideline off that slice. And as

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Speaker 4: soon as you go a little bit central with him,

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Speaker 4: he's so quick to get around and use his fourhands

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Speaker 4: and really start opening you up. And that opens up

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Speaker 4: so much landscape for him.

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Speaker 5: All of a sudden. He can use his am girls,

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Speaker 5: he can get in, he can use his hands at

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Speaker 5: the net.

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Speaker 4: We know how good of a bollier he was, So

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Speaker 4: I think that I never really struggled with that. My

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Speaker 4: two handed back end was always quite solid. I felt

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Speaker 4: as if I used a lot of left hand on

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Speaker 4: my two handed back end, which meant I could get

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Speaker 4: underneath the slice and really kind of cut sideline off

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Speaker 4: that shot, which I think he's not really used to it,

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Speaker 4: and he was used to to play as more going

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Speaker 4: middle corridor against him and out of that fourhand wing.

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Speaker 4: This sounds a bit silly and maybe I'm completely wrong,

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Speaker 4: but I felt as if that Roger, because of the

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Speaker 4: array of weaponry that he had and how graceful he

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Speaker 4: made the game look.

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Speaker 5: And even when you.

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Speaker 4: Practice with him, he'll go one or two and then

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Speaker 4: he'll try to do like a little back spinning drop shot,

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Speaker 4: or a little short sly or some like slap fourhand

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Speaker 4: cross court winner. He wants to try different things. And

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Speaker 4: I felt as if if I could repeat these patterns

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Speaker 4: and with quality, because you have to have it with quality.

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Speaker 4: I felt as if you could almost ball Roger, and

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Speaker 4: eventually he tried to do something that wasn't quite on.

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Speaker 4: And I know that sounds silly, and I might talk

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Speaker 4: to Roger or Severn and I might be completely off

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Speaker 4: the mark, but at least that's what I felt, and

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Speaker 4: I think that that's really yeah, And I think that's

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Speaker 4: a really really good thing to have that clarity when

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Speaker 4: you're out there. And I think when you can start

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Speaker 4: seeing these little vulnerabilities, even if it might not be

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Speaker 4: the case, but if you think that they exist, it

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Speaker 4: actually goes a long way to going on beating him. Obviously,

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Speaker 4: I had another chance at the Australian Open, and it's

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Speaker 4: only in my retirement Todd that I can sit back there.

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Speaker 4: I was up eight four in that fifth set tiebreaker,

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Speaker 4: and I don't think you ever want to let.

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Speaker 5: Any negative thoughts go into your mind.

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Speaker 4: You have to get over lost a quickly in tennis,

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Speaker 4: and I think you have to get over loss as

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Speaker 4: quickly in life, and you know, rub yourself off and

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Speaker 4: go again.

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Speaker 5: So I managed to convince myself that I didn't do

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Speaker 5: really anything wrong.

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Speaker 4: It was Roger Betterer that pulled it out after being

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Speaker 4: eight four down and myself helve eight four up. But

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Speaker 4: I can probably look back that now and go, look,

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Speaker 4: I've probably choked that one away. And it's taken me

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Speaker 4: since retirement that I can do that and admit those

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Speaker 4: little vulnerabilities within myself.

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Speaker 6: Well, I still think an incredible effort.

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Speaker 3: We've got about five minutes left, so we need to

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Speaker 3: talk about representing Australia Davis Cup, wearing the green and gold,

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Speaker 3: and that first moment that you get selected in a

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Speaker 3: Davis Cup team.

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Speaker 6: What was that like for you?

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Speaker 5: The best feeling ever?

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Speaker 4: As you could tell Todd, I've not normally lost for words,

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Speaker 4: but I was that time. It was a semifinals match

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Speaker 4: in the old format that I know you and I

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00:16:22,320 --> 00:16:25,720
Speaker 4: both love, even when it's an away tie like that

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Speaker 4: it's perhaps even better because you're going into this hostile

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Speaker 4: environment and that.

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Speaker 3: You ever play in your career and you remember, you

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Speaker 3: remember them because of that, even the losses, but the

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Speaker 3: victories are better from my experience.

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Speaker 4: And we're going into Brussels in the semifinals. It's an

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Speaker 4: indoor stadium court and it's on the heaviest, slowest dirt

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Speaker 4: that you've ever played, So for most Australians that does

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Speaker 4: not suit.

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Speaker 5: But on the Wednesday before the.

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Speaker 4: Tie starts on Friday, Layton and Jason kind of pulled

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Speaker 4: me into the back room and I'm here thinking I

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Speaker 4: probably missed out again, maybe even though I was playing

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Speaker 4: some pretty good tennis, and Layton told me, John, we

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Speaker 4: want you to play day one against GoF On and

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Speaker 4: like I said Todd, I was lost for words and

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Speaker 4: I was incredibly proud. I also think that playing for

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Speaker 4: your country is your greatest opportunity to represent the people

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Speaker 4: back home that put you in that position, to get

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Speaker 4: you out onto that court. Tennis is often seen as

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Speaker 4: an individual sport, but there's so many wiles that are

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Speaker 4: turning behind the scenes to give you that chance and

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Speaker 4: to give you that moment, whether that's with the Federation,

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Speaker 4: or whether that's with your private coach or your.

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Speaker 5: Friends and family who have picked you up when you've

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Speaker 5: fallen down.

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Speaker 4: And I felt as if that when I got to

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Speaker 4: play in the Green and go, this is my chance

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Speaker 4: to represent them. So I was incredibly proud. I love

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Speaker 4: David Scuff. I just love being with the boys. I

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Speaker 4: love being with the team. I love picking Tody Roach's brain.

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Speaker 4: I think that there should be stadiums named after Roachie

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Speaker 4: he is and it has been a storeward in men's

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Speaker 4: and women's tennis, but particularly later on in his career

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Speaker 4: in men's tennis for the Australian lads, having him on

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Speaker 4: the sideline, having him at dinner, I mean I would

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Speaker 4: fly today down to Sydney to just talk to him

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Speaker 4: for five minutes and hear his stories and hear his

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Speaker 4: advice in life in general.

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Speaker 6: I loved it.

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Speaker 4: And having Late on the sidelines too. Actually on the

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Speaker 4: court sometimes it's intimidating because you want to do so

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Speaker 4: much for your captain and you know how great of

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Speaker 4: a player he was. I mean I grew up watching

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Speaker 4: Late and to be able to share the court with

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Speaker 4: him in his team is incredibly special, and you know

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Speaker 4: I just love it. And you can see that with

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Speaker 4: the boys right now. You can see how much they

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Speaker 4: enjoy getting together as teams. Why we've had so much

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Speaker 4: success more recently because they love being in that environment.

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Speaker 5: They love playing for the country.

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Speaker 6: Favorite match that you can recall for whatever reason.

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Speaker 4: That's a funny one because everyone probably jumps to to,

394
00:19:04,520 --> 00:19:05,639
Speaker 4: you know, the Roger.

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Speaker 3: Federer one, but Cup in that moment, Yeah.

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Speaker 5: Davis, I know David's Cup definitely.

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Speaker 4: Actually in Adelaide, we had a couple of injuries, so

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Speaker 4: Alex demn.

399
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Speaker 5: Or couldn't play.

400
00:19:19,720 --> 00:19:23,639
Speaker 4: He was coming back from from an ab tear and

401
00:19:23,680 --> 00:19:26,880
Speaker 4: so I was the number one Australian player at the time,

402
00:19:28,800 --> 00:19:31,800
Speaker 4: so I got to lead the team and I managed

403
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Speaker 4: to win. We're up against Brazil and I managed to

404
00:19:35,240 --> 00:19:37,480
Speaker 4: win my first one after I should have lost. I

405
00:19:37,480 --> 00:19:41,720
Speaker 4: think I think Diego Sea both bil served for it.

406
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Speaker 4: I managed to and he was playing some great Tennessee

407
00:19:43,920 --> 00:19:47,320
Speaker 4: he just won of his first tour event. I managed

408
00:19:47,359 --> 00:19:52,399
Speaker 4: to turn that one around unfortunately, and Tom I played incredible.

409
00:19:52,920 --> 00:19:56,320
Speaker 4: We lost the doubles so after in my mind I

410
00:19:56,320 --> 00:19:58,400
Speaker 4: thought we were going to win that doubles match. Admittedly,

411
00:19:58,440 --> 00:20:01,200
Speaker 4: and it's really hard then in the space of ten

412
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Speaker 4: minutes to kind of pick yourself up and go, Okay,

413
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Speaker 4: it's time to go. Let's win this for the country.

414
00:20:06,520 --> 00:20:09,320
Speaker 4: And I managed to play against a very good friend

415
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Speaker 4: of mine and I got up seven six in the

416
00:20:13,160 --> 00:20:18,800
Speaker 4: third set against Iago and Monteiro, and it was just

417
00:20:20,320 --> 00:20:24,080
Speaker 4: such an awesome feeling to be given that responsibility from

418
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Speaker 4: Layton and Roachi. The fact that they backed you and

419
00:20:28,320 --> 00:20:30,919
Speaker 4: believed in you to lead the team and to be

420
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Speaker 4: able to do so seven to six in that deciding

421
00:20:35,480 --> 00:20:38,920
Speaker 4: match was really really special and something that I remember

422
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Speaker 4: for a long time.

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Speaker 3: At the drive, well done, And finally, to wrap things up,

424
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Speaker 3: I want to say to you, congratulations on a fantastic career.

425
00:20:47,080 --> 00:20:49,080
Speaker 3: I know that you are going to go on and

426
00:20:49,119 --> 00:20:51,439
Speaker 3: do many good things. I know you're studying business and

427
00:20:51,480 --> 00:20:53,920
Speaker 3: various things at the moment, but our sport isn't going

428
00:20:53,920 --> 00:20:57,600
Speaker 3: to lose you. Excellent in the commentary box, excellent in

429
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Speaker 3: selling our sport to the world, and I know you're

430
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Speaker 3: going to be at the forefront of actually being a

431
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Speaker 3: part of the generation that helps the next one or

432
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Speaker 3: two come along. So congratulations, enjoy retirement. I know it's

433
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Speaker 3: not that easy in the first year or two.

434
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Speaker 4: No, thanks for having me. And you know, tennis is

435
00:21:14,840 --> 00:21:18,119
Speaker 4: such a great community. I with Utat. I was at

436
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Speaker 4: the Tennis Queensland Awards night and gave me such a

437
00:21:22,160 --> 00:21:24,520
Speaker 4: thrill and it was such an honor to be with

438
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Speaker 4: that community. It's been a very big part of my

439
00:21:27,680 --> 00:21:30,120
Speaker 4: life and hopefully a very big part of my life

440
00:21:30,160 --> 00:21:33,359
Speaker 4: moving forward to I love the community and thanks for

441
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Speaker 4: making tennis tier.

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Speaker 1: So it was great to hear how John obviously thrived

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Speaker 1: in an individual sport but always considered it a team effort.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and what a great talker. I think he even

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Speaker 2: alluded to that in the chat. You know, I've never

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Speaker 2: lost for words, or he said something like that in

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Speaker 2: the interview. And I always love with tennis players when

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Speaker 2: they've had time and space to kind of reflect on

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Speaker 2: big career moments, when they talk about it with some

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Speaker 2: distance and years between them. So yeah, when he relived

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Speaker 2: that win over Federer and how he got nearly very

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Speaker 2: close again at AO, and some of his great memories

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Speaker 2: from playing Davis Cup, Like, he did have a phenomenal

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Speaker 2: career and it's an absolute testament to him because he

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Speaker 2: dealt with so many injury problems, so it was wonderful

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Speaker 2: to see what he ultimately achieved.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, he's a very insightful speaker, I would say so.

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Speaker 1: I do hope that we hear lots of him over

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Speaker 1: the Australian summer.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely, we'll be back again next Monday when we sit

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Speaker 2: down with another guest on the sit Down. But in

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Speaker 2: the meantime, you can listen to John Bree and the

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Speaker 2: team this Thursday on the AO Show.

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Speaker 1: Weekly details for how to contact us are in the

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Speaker 1: show notes and please subscribe, rate and review.

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Speaker 2: See you next week, Matt, see it then, Viv