1
00:00:02,360 --> 00:00:05,520
Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to the Sitdown. I'm viv Christie, managing

2
00:00:05,640 --> 00:00:07,720
Speaker 1: editor of Australian Tennis magazine, and.

3
00:00:07,680 --> 00:00:10,000
Speaker 2: I'm Matt Trolope, a writer for oz open dot com.

4
00:00:10,119 --> 00:00:12,200
Speaker 1: And Matt, why are we sitting down this week with

5
00:00:12,360 --> 00:00:13,960
Speaker 1: Matt Ebden and Storm Hunter.

6
00:00:14,240 --> 00:00:17,040
Speaker 2: Well, we've actually already sat down with Matt and Storm

7
00:00:17,079 --> 00:00:19,200
Speaker 2: in previous episodes of the Sitdown, which you could listen

8
00:00:19,200 --> 00:00:21,279
Speaker 2: to in the feed if you would like to go back,

9
00:00:22,040 --> 00:00:23,880
Speaker 2: But we found that we spent so much time with

10
00:00:23,920 --> 00:00:26,120
Speaker 2: both of them that the conversation viewed into some really

11
00:00:26,160 --> 00:00:29,880
Speaker 2: interesting areas around state of the game, strength of Ossie Tennis,

12
00:00:30,440 --> 00:00:32,920
Speaker 2: marketing doubles, and just kind of the product of tennis

13
00:00:32,960 --> 00:00:35,600
Speaker 2: generally and how it appeals to fans and maybe what

14
00:00:35,800 --> 00:00:37,800
Speaker 2: can be done in terms of innovation in the game.

15
00:00:37,800 --> 00:00:40,000
Speaker 2: And they both had really really interesting things to say

16
00:00:40,080 --> 00:00:42,600
Speaker 2: about it. So we made the decision to actually save

17
00:00:42,640 --> 00:00:45,320
Speaker 2: that conversation and bring that to you in one episode

18
00:00:45,320 --> 00:00:47,080
Speaker 2: together to hear both of their thoughts on that.

19
00:00:50,360 --> 00:00:54,040
Speaker 3: Matt, there's been some tinkering recently with the doubles format

20
00:00:54,040 --> 00:00:56,240
Speaker 3: as we saw in Madrid. What did you make of

21
00:00:56,280 --> 00:00:57,000
Speaker 3: those changes?

22
00:00:57,520 --> 00:01:01,600
Speaker 4: Yeah, so there's been a review of bubbles this last year. Really,

23
00:01:01,960 --> 00:01:04,759
Speaker 4: I've been fortunate to be on the player council. We've

24
00:01:04,760 --> 00:01:06,600
Speaker 4: sad and part of that review. So we've had a

25
00:01:06,720 --> 00:01:10,039
Speaker 4: panel of eleven or twelve people for everybody from a

26
00:01:10,160 --> 00:01:14,080
Speaker 4: top staff to X doubles players, current doubles players. We've

27
00:01:14,080 --> 00:01:23,280
Speaker 4: asked singles players about doubles. We've asked tournament directors, Grand slams, media, fans, broadcasters,

28
00:01:23,319 --> 00:01:26,920
Speaker 4: marketing departments, sort of try to get all the sides

29
00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:31,200
Speaker 4: of this doubles product, let's say, just because we at

30
00:01:31,240 --> 00:01:33,800
Speaker 4: the beginning of last week thought we've got this product

31
00:01:33,880 --> 00:01:36,600
Speaker 4: here and it's sort of there. It's behind singles. That's fine,

32
00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:39,679
Speaker 4: it has its place, but I didn't felt it was

33
00:01:39,720 --> 00:01:44,600
Speaker 4: being maximized for whatever reason, and so we just kind

34
00:01:44,600 --> 00:01:46,760
Speaker 4: of wanted to delve into it. And they've never really

35
00:01:46,800 --> 00:01:49,920
Speaker 4: done a true review of you know, what's the purpose

36
00:01:49,960 --> 00:01:52,080
Speaker 4: of doubles, Where does it sit? Why is it there?

37
00:01:52,200 --> 00:01:56,240
Speaker 4: What's its value? What's its value to fans, to tournaments,

38
00:01:56,280 --> 00:01:59,680
Speaker 4: the players, to broadcasters, to the whole game, let's say.

39
00:02:00,520 --> 00:02:03,640
Speaker 4: And yeah, so we kind of worked backwards and the

40
00:02:03,640 --> 00:02:07,600
Speaker 4: Madrid trial was as a result of well that working

41
00:02:07,640 --> 00:02:10,519
Speaker 4: review in progress where Madrid came and said, yeah, we're

42
00:02:10,560 --> 00:02:13,160
Speaker 4: excited about doubles. We're teen to try and do something

43
00:02:13,240 --> 00:02:16,600
Speaker 4: here to be on the forefront of the future of doubles,

44
00:02:16,680 --> 00:02:19,000
Speaker 4: let's say, and the next generation of it and where

45
00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:22,680
Speaker 4: it goes as an entertainment product as well. So yeah,

46
00:02:22,919 --> 00:02:25,200
Speaker 4: it was about quickening up the dead time. So obviously

47
00:02:25,200 --> 00:02:28,880
Speaker 4: doubles the points are shorter, but people do like the action.

48
00:02:28,960 --> 00:02:31,720
Speaker 4: They like seeing the volleys, the you know, the their

49
00:02:31,760 --> 00:02:35,640
Speaker 4: skills on off the quick action points. But because the

50
00:02:35,680 --> 00:02:38,360
Speaker 4: points work quicker, and the long amount of time between

51
00:02:38,360 --> 00:02:41,520
Speaker 4: the points and then the changeovers, for every one minute

52
00:02:41,520 --> 00:02:43,960
Speaker 4: of action, there was probably four or five minutes of

53
00:02:44,040 --> 00:02:46,640
Speaker 4: dead time, let's say. So we just try to quicken

54
00:02:46,720 --> 00:02:49,760
Speaker 4: up the time between the points and particularly the changeovers

55
00:02:49,800 --> 00:02:52,720
Speaker 4: as well, just so that fans could come and watch

56
00:02:52,720 --> 00:02:55,000
Speaker 4: the match for an hour and just see rolling action,

57
00:02:55,120 --> 00:02:59,520
Speaker 4: you know, return winners, aces, volley winners, smash winners, epic

58
00:02:59,520 --> 00:03:02,360
Speaker 4: point here in there, just see all those skills just

59
00:03:02,480 --> 00:03:05,160
Speaker 4: on constant play and make it also more fan friendly.

60
00:03:05,240 --> 00:03:07,840
Speaker 4: They've let fans be able to come and go as

61
00:03:07,840 --> 00:03:09,760
Speaker 4: they wish. They can come in on the side if

62
00:03:09,760 --> 00:03:11,560
Speaker 4: they want. But ten fifteen minutes, they don't have to

63
00:03:11,560 --> 00:03:14,440
Speaker 4: wait for change of ends. Just all these things to

64
00:03:14,440 --> 00:03:17,720
Speaker 4: make it more fan friendly and then potentially more broadcast

65
00:03:17,760 --> 00:03:20,920
Speaker 4: friendly too, so that you know, if they want to

66
00:03:20,919 --> 00:03:23,320
Speaker 4: have it on TV, there's not showing a product with

67
00:03:23,360 --> 00:03:24,119
Speaker 4: too much dead time.

68
00:03:24,680 --> 00:03:28,040
Speaker 3: If you were a tennis commissioner, what would you prioritize

69
00:03:28,040 --> 00:03:31,519
Speaker 3: to make Doubles the most entertaining it can be for fans?

70
00:03:31,919 --> 00:03:36,320
Speaker 4: Yeah, well, marketing number one. Marketing. I think it's been

71
00:03:36,320 --> 00:03:38,640
Speaker 4: clear too this last year we've seen, you know, the

72
00:03:38,680 --> 00:03:42,840
Speaker 4: Doubles has never really been given its own platform of marketing.

73
00:03:42,920 --> 00:03:46,000
Speaker 4: It's it's always just drip fed in and through the singles,

74
00:03:46,040 --> 00:03:48,520
Speaker 4: which is fine, and that's fine. It will never be singles,

75
00:03:48,520 --> 00:03:50,600
Speaker 4: and it doesn't profess to be singles. But I think,

76
00:03:51,240 --> 00:03:56,120
Speaker 4: let's say, for every opportunity that singles has that Doubles

77
00:03:56,200 --> 00:03:59,280
Speaker 4: doesn't have, I think Doubles has an opportunity that singles

78
00:03:59,280 --> 00:04:03,160
Speaker 4: doesn't have. So where singles is long drawn out, epic,

79
00:04:03,280 --> 00:04:07,560
Speaker 4: physical mental, Doubles is shorter, more execution based. There's two

80
00:04:07,600 --> 00:04:09,560
Speaker 4: people on the court, so I think there is more

81
00:04:09,600 --> 00:04:12,320
Speaker 4: time for it to be a bit more fan friendly,

82
00:04:12,360 --> 00:04:15,440
Speaker 4: a bit more entertainment focused, a bit more like an

83
00:04:15,560 --> 00:04:19,000
Speaker 4: NBA product, let's say, with more almost side entertainment or

84
00:04:19,120 --> 00:04:23,880
Speaker 4: music happening, or fans being able to engage more with players. Yeah,

85
00:04:24,040 --> 00:04:27,039
Speaker 4: I think it's no secret that all sports these days

86
00:04:27,080 --> 00:04:31,279
Speaker 4: are going towards more fan friendly, entertainment based and let's

87
00:04:31,320 --> 00:04:34,640
Speaker 4: say even slightly quickening things up where possible. Obviously, don't

88
00:04:34,640 --> 00:04:37,120
Speaker 4: want to ruin the product. It's important to maintain our

89
00:04:37,120 --> 00:04:39,919
Speaker 4: traditions and our heritage of why our game is great.

90
00:04:40,520 --> 00:04:42,919
Speaker 4: But if we can modify a little bit just to

91
00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:47,120
Speaker 4: make that entertainment product purely for fans, for it to

92
00:04:47,160 --> 00:04:50,000
Speaker 4: be fun and engaging, but then also as a spectator

93
00:04:50,000 --> 00:04:53,599
Speaker 4: sport to watch not only at the tournament but online

94
00:04:53,680 --> 00:04:58,200
Speaker 4: streaming on TV, I think it's the best formula for

95
00:04:58,760 --> 00:05:01,479
Speaker 4: a whole sport. Movie forward just doubles. But even see

96
00:05:01,520 --> 00:05:02,120
Speaker 4: those two.

97
00:05:02,240 --> 00:05:04,240
Speaker 2: And hearing you talk like this, obviously you're on the

98
00:05:04,240 --> 00:05:07,920
Speaker 2: player council, it sounds like you're someone that is invested

99
00:05:07,960 --> 00:05:09,880
Speaker 2: in like the future of the sport. You're passionate about

100
00:05:09,880 --> 00:05:11,640
Speaker 2: tennis and you want to see it be as good

101
00:05:11,640 --> 00:05:14,479
Speaker 2: as it can be. There's been for years now so

102
00:05:14,560 --> 00:05:16,919
Speaker 2: much conversation about what will tennis look like when the

103
00:05:16,920 --> 00:05:19,920
Speaker 2: big three go and when Serena goes, and we're now

104
00:05:19,920 --> 00:05:22,520
Speaker 2: starting to see it. Roger and Serena have gone Rafa's

105
00:05:22,560 --> 00:05:25,760
Speaker 2: towards the end. But at the same time, we've got

106
00:05:25,960 --> 00:05:30,440
Speaker 2: now Carlos Alcarez, the world number one and two, Sinner

107
00:05:30,520 --> 00:05:34,640
Speaker 2: and Alcarez and Fiontek and Goff and they're all twenty

108
00:05:34,680 --> 00:05:38,839
Speaker 2: three and under. And when you see this new generation

109
00:05:39,000 --> 00:05:43,720
Speaker 2: coming up, is the future in good hands despite us

110
00:05:43,760 --> 00:05:46,000
Speaker 2: coming out of what is like a golden generation of tennis.

111
00:05:46,360 --> 00:05:48,799
Speaker 4: Yeah, absolutely, and great question, and I'm glad you asked.

112
00:05:48,839 --> 00:05:52,200
Speaker 4: So it really is. I mean, this year alone, we've

113
00:05:52,200 --> 00:05:58,680
Speaker 4: seen record crowds, records, spectatorships, views online rome. I mean,

114
00:05:58,720 --> 00:06:00,479
Speaker 4: obviously it was raph As last row as well, so

115
00:06:00,480 --> 00:06:02,800
Speaker 4: they had a part in that. But even the tournaments

116
00:06:02,800 --> 00:06:05,520
Speaker 4: where these guys are not, people are coming for the events.

117
00:06:05,520 --> 00:06:07,760
Speaker 4: And that's also one thing we've also discovered in doubles.

118
00:06:08,040 --> 00:06:11,160
Speaker 4: People aren't necessarily just coming to watch singles or doubles

119
00:06:11,200 --> 00:06:13,840
Speaker 4: or this person or that person. And even if we

120
00:06:13,920 --> 00:06:16,480
Speaker 4: look back the last ten twenty years, sure you can

121
00:06:16,520 --> 00:06:19,920
Speaker 4: find three or four or five incredible marquee players that

122
00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:22,080
Speaker 4: will sell out a stadium just with their own name

123
00:06:22,120 --> 00:06:26,360
Speaker 4: Federer and Nadal, Djokovic, maybe any Murray in the UK

124
00:06:26,520 --> 00:06:30,080
Speaker 4: or whatever. But other than that, there's guys who are

125
00:06:30,120 --> 00:06:32,120
Speaker 4: in the top ten or in the top ten, in

126
00:06:32,160 --> 00:06:34,279
Speaker 4: the top twenty that are kind of sleeper names that

127
00:06:35,360 --> 00:06:37,720
Speaker 4: they're not going to necessarily just with their name phil

128
00:06:37,720 --> 00:06:40,680
Speaker 4: a stadium, but people are coming for the event. So

129
00:06:40,720 --> 00:06:42,520
Speaker 4: that's what we've seen with the AO. Now, people are

130
00:06:42,520 --> 00:06:44,280
Speaker 4: coming because they want to go to the AO. They

131
00:06:44,279 --> 00:06:49,000
Speaker 4: don't necessarily have to go and see Hubert Hurtkash, who's

132
00:06:49,040 --> 00:06:51,120
Speaker 4: the number eight player in the world. I don't think

133
00:06:51,120 --> 00:06:52,840
Speaker 4: they really care that much about that. They want to

134
00:06:52,880 --> 00:06:54,880
Speaker 4: see great tennis. They know they're going to get it.

135
00:06:54,920 --> 00:06:56,680
Speaker 4: They're going to get the best players in the world

136
00:06:56,920 --> 00:07:01,360
Speaker 4: all competing against each other for big prize money, big titles,

137
00:07:01,440 --> 00:07:05,280
Speaker 4: let's say. And that's what it's becoming about. So I'm

138
00:07:05,360 --> 00:07:08,080
Speaker 4: kind of glad in a way that our sport, of course,

139
00:07:08,120 --> 00:07:10,360
Speaker 4: it's about your heroes and your champions, and it always is.

140
00:07:10,400 --> 00:07:13,280
Speaker 4: Those people carry they carry it. But I think tennis

141
00:07:13,320 --> 00:07:16,080
Speaker 4: has done well this last fifteen years in the marketing

142
00:07:16,320 --> 00:07:21,440
Speaker 4: and gross space to market you know, fifty players, one

143
00:07:21,480 --> 00:07:24,280
Speaker 4: hundred players, the next gen players, people from their own

144
00:07:24,320 --> 00:07:27,840
Speaker 4: country getting highlighted more, you know, Davis Cup, this, that

145
00:07:27,920 --> 00:07:31,120
Speaker 4: and the other, and growing the whole tennis ecosystem from

146
00:07:31,120 --> 00:07:33,960
Speaker 4: the young players, the middle aged players, the older players,

147
00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:37,120
Speaker 4: even the ex players, the legends. The coaches are now

148
00:07:37,200 --> 00:07:40,720
Speaker 4: even more in the limelight on TV. But bringing coaching in.

149
00:07:40,760 --> 00:07:43,520
Speaker 4: So you said Alca has one Carls Ferrero is a

150
00:07:43,560 --> 00:07:46,800
Speaker 4: former world number one. Then he's forty five or fifty

151
00:07:46,840 --> 00:07:49,000
Speaker 4: years old, whatever he is, and a lot of people

152
00:07:49,040 --> 00:07:51,320
Speaker 4: out there wouldn't know it, but the guy's you know,

153
00:07:51,360 --> 00:07:53,960
Speaker 4: big world number one, is incredible player, and now he's

154
00:07:54,040 --> 00:07:56,920
Speaker 4: taking a huge part because you know, you see him

155
00:07:56,920 --> 00:08:00,680
Speaker 4: on the sidelines constantly coaching. And so yeah, so to

156
00:08:00,760 --> 00:08:04,880
Speaker 4: now I have alkaraz Sinna coming up. I mean I've

157
00:08:04,880 --> 00:08:07,880
Speaker 4: seen these guys since they started three, four, five years

158
00:08:07,920 --> 00:08:10,040
Speaker 4: ago in qualifying of some of the tour events or

159
00:08:10,080 --> 00:08:12,720
Speaker 4: sort of like, jeez, who's that guy. He's a serious player.

160
00:08:12,760 --> 00:08:15,440
Speaker 4: I was like, that's not normal what that guy's doing.

161
00:08:16,080 --> 00:08:18,240
Speaker 4: And it's no secret been able to follow those guys

162
00:08:18,240 --> 00:08:20,200
Speaker 4: the last few years and their progression, and it's no

163
00:08:20,280 --> 00:08:23,200
Speaker 4: secret that they will then take over and it's the

164
00:08:23,240 --> 00:08:26,160
Speaker 4: same and we sort of think, oh Federer or whatever,

165
00:08:26,200 --> 00:08:28,320
Speaker 4: but you've got to remember that before them, it was

166
00:08:28,320 --> 00:08:32,040
Speaker 4: sam Press and Agasy and whoever else. So those guys

167
00:08:32,080 --> 00:08:35,680
Speaker 4: came when probably people will going, oh, will tennis ever

168
00:08:35,720 --> 00:08:39,280
Speaker 4: be the same without sam Press and Agasy? And then

169
00:08:39,320 --> 00:08:41,520
Speaker 4: look what happened. You know, Federer was born and Nadal

170
00:08:41,679 --> 00:08:45,400
Speaker 4: was born, in Djokovic and now you had Medvedevi in

171
00:08:45,480 --> 00:08:48,240
Speaker 4: there little and then you know, now Alkaraz and Sinner

172
00:08:48,280 --> 00:08:50,600
Speaker 4: are born. And the way they're tracking, al Karaz is

173
00:08:50,600 --> 00:08:55,120
Speaker 4: tracking better than Rafa Roger and Djokovic combined. So he's

174
00:08:55,120 --> 00:08:58,200
Speaker 4: on track to win in I mean, probably at least

175
00:08:58,240 --> 00:09:01,640
Speaker 4: ten slams, but twenty twenty five, thirty is not impossible

176
00:09:01,640 --> 00:09:05,040
Speaker 4: the way he's tracking so similar with Sinner, he's one

177
00:09:05,120 --> 00:09:08,920
Speaker 4: one now. But I mean, and they are incredibly hard

178
00:09:08,920 --> 00:09:10,560
Speaker 4: to get. And when when people go, oh, he's gonna

179
00:09:10,559 --> 00:09:14,520
Speaker 4: win thirty slams, you know, let's just be a little

180
00:09:14,520 --> 00:09:17,200
Speaker 4: bit realistic here. And then the field's incredibly hard. It's

181
00:09:17,200 --> 00:09:20,880
Speaker 4: incredibly tough physically, mentally, it's it basically takes a human

182
00:09:20,920 --> 00:09:24,120
Speaker 4: operating at their full capacity with a lot of people

183
00:09:24,160 --> 00:09:26,400
Speaker 4: around them and a lot of luck and all these

184
00:09:26,480 --> 00:09:29,040
Speaker 4: things to go right to win that many as Novak

185
00:09:29,080 --> 00:09:32,000
Speaker 4: and Raffa have. Let's say, but these guys are now

186
00:09:32,080 --> 00:09:34,600
Speaker 4: learning from what Ovak and Raffa did the last fifteen

187
00:09:34,640 --> 00:09:36,640
Speaker 4: years with all their teams and their daughter and the

188
00:09:36,679 --> 00:09:40,920
Speaker 4: doctors and the physios and coaches, let's say, to now

189
00:09:41,480 --> 00:09:44,680
Speaker 4: be ahead of the game. So and this next generation,

190
00:09:45,360 --> 00:09:47,920
Speaker 4: you know, beat the previous generation. And if we look

191
00:09:47,920 --> 00:09:50,680
Speaker 4: at throughout history, it's actually sort of what's happened. So

192
00:09:51,520 --> 00:09:54,520
Speaker 4: you know, in the fifties sixties, every decade someone's won

193
00:09:54,840 --> 00:09:57,560
Speaker 4: three Wimbledons. In the next decade someone's coming one five,

194
00:09:57,720 --> 00:10:00,840
Speaker 4: and you know, in the nineties s Mbres one seven

195
00:10:00,880 --> 00:10:02,360
Speaker 4: and it was like, oh my gosh, that's no one

196
00:10:02,400 --> 00:10:05,040
Speaker 4: will ever be that. Now, come over back them, Roger

197
00:10:05,080 --> 00:10:08,280
Speaker 4: winning eight nine, ten, Raffas won twelve Frenchies or something,

198
00:10:08,280 --> 00:10:11,560
Speaker 4: you know. So it's natural that every generation will learn

199
00:10:11,600 --> 00:10:15,480
Speaker 4: from the previous generations and probably get better the science

200
00:10:15,480 --> 00:10:20,080
Speaker 4: around it, and probably the results get better. So we're

201
00:10:20,080 --> 00:10:22,719
Speaker 4: in for an exciting time this next ten years.

202
00:10:25,360 --> 00:10:28,800
Speaker 2: When we chatted to Matt Ebden for this podcast, we

203
00:10:28,880 --> 00:10:32,680
Speaker 2: asked him about the changes to doubles that were debuted

204
00:10:32,679 --> 00:10:35,319
Speaker 2: in Madrid and Apparently that involved a lot of consultation

205
00:10:35,400 --> 00:10:37,400
Speaker 2: with the player counsel and other stakeholders about how do

206
00:10:37,440 --> 00:10:39,560
Speaker 2: we improve the product that is doubles. You're one of

207
00:10:39,559 --> 00:10:42,079
Speaker 2: the top doubles players in the world and you're watching

208
00:10:42,080 --> 00:10:43,680
Speaker 2: a lot of tennis. Now, like, what is to you

209
00:10:44,240 --> 00:10:46,840
Speaker 2: the fan experience watching tennis and consuming it. Do you

210
00:10:47,360 --> 00:10:49,400
Speaker 2: think we're doing a good job? Is there something tennis

211
00:10:49,440 --> 00:10:52,160
Speaker 2: could do better? And I don't know, what would you

212
00:10:52,400 --> 00:10:55,200
Speaker 2: like to see, maybe to particularly improve doubles, because they're

213
00:10:55,200 --> 00:10:57,840
Speaker 2: often saying we need to get more fans invested in doubles,

214
00:10:58,160 --> 00:10:58,800
Speaker 2: but maybe just.

215
00:10:58,760 --> 00:11:01,480
Speaker 5: Generally, Yeah, I think for me, one of the biggest

216
00:11:01,520 --> 00:11:03,920
Speaker 5: things is like trying to shorten up the time between

217
00:11:04,400 --> 00:11:08,240
Speaker 5: points and sets, toilet breaks, like those type of things,

218
00:11:08,240 --> 00:11:11,480
Speaker 5: because as a fan, like when you're watching the match,

219
00:11:11,559 --> 00:11:13,640
Speaker 5: like you kind of you're so invested into it, and

220
00:11:13,679 --> 00:11:15,520
Speaker 5: then when there's like a long break, you kind of

221
00:11:15,600 --> 00:11:17,720
Speaker 5: like almost you kind of get over it. I'll go

222
00:11:17,880 --> 00:11:19,920
Speaker 5: like start cooking, then you kind of forget about it.

223
00:11:19,960 --> 00:11:23,000
Speaker 5: In a way, I definitely think like we can, yeah,

224
00:11:23,160 --> 00:11:25,400
Speaker 5: kind of shorten like either warm ups again or just

225
00:11:25,720 --> 00:11:28,560
Speaker 5: in between points, like there's so much like dead time,

226
00:11:28,679 --> 00:11:31,559
Speaker 5: especially in doubles because the points are like I don't

227
00:11:31,600 --> 00:11:34,040
Speaker 5: know what the average rally length would be, but it

228
00:11:34,040 --> 00:11:34,880
Speaker 5: wouldn't be that long.

229
00:11:34,920 --> 00:11:36,000
Speaker 3: Obviously, in singles.

230
00:11:35,760 --> 00:11:37,480
Speaker 2: Might be shorter than singles, right, it would.

231
00:11:37,280 --> 00:11:39,320
Speaker 5: One hundred percent be shorter than singles. It must be

232
00:11:39,360 --> 00:11:42,160
Speaker 5: like three or four kind of shots macs. Whereas singles,

233
00:11:42,160 --> 00:11:44,920
Speaker 5: I understand it's longer. You do need that recovery time,

234
00:11:45,040 --> 00:11:47,760
Speaker 5: and especially if you're playing on a big court because

235
00:11:47,760 --> 00:11:49,840
Speaker 5: there's so much more space you've got to walk from

236
00:11:49,880 --> 00:11:50,320
Speaker 5: and get.

237
00:11:50,160 --> 00:11:51,720
Speaker 2: Your toil out to get to the towels. Actually like

238
00:11:51,720 --> 00:11:52,760
Speaker 2: a ten twenty walk.

239
00:11:52,920 --> 00:11:56,480
Speaker 5: Yeah, so like all that stuff kind of yeah impacts that.

240
00:11:56,559 --> 00:11:59,000
Speaker 5: But I think in doubles, like we can have shorter breaks.

241
00:11:59,000 --> 00:12:01,320
Speaker 5: You don't need like kind of all this time. But

242
00:12:01,360 --> 00:12:03,560
Speaker 5: in terms of the product, like there's a lot of

243
00:12:03,600 --> 00:12:05,040
Speaker 5: on the women's side, I find there's a lot of

244
00:12:05,080 --> 00:12:08,080
Speaker 5: singles players playing doubles. Maybe on the men there's more

245
00:12:08,320 --> 00:12:12,480
Speaker 5: doubles specific players and the singles guys don't play as much.

246
00:12:12,520 --> 00:12:13,880
Speaker 5: And that's what they're trying to do is get more

247
00:12:13,920 --> 00:12:17,280
Speaker 5: singles players to play doubles, so then the fans will

248
00:12:17,280 --> 00:12:20,760
Speaker 5: probably be a bit more I guess engaged. But on

249
00:12:20,800 --> 00:12:23,400
Speaker 5: the women's side, like there's actually a lot of players that, yeah,

250
00:12:23,480 --> 00:12:26,280
Speaker 5: singles players that play doubles and who are doing really well,

251
00:12:26,320 --> 00:12:32,199
Speaker 5: like Coco, great example, Elise mertens Kaleeni French Finals, see

252
00:12:32,360 --> 00:12:35,320
Speaker 5: exactly Cat my partner who I was playing with. Like,

253
00:12:35,320 --> 00:12:38,280
Speaker 5: there's so many actually that that play and I think

254
00:12:38,679 --> 00:12:42,600
Speaker 5: people get invested into that story as well. So I

255
00:12:42,600 --> 00:12:45,800
Speaker 5: mean I didn't mind the trial I found, to be honest,

256
00:12:45,800 --> 00:12:48,160
Speaker 5: some of the singles players that were playing in Madrid

257
00:12:48,160 --> 00:12:51,679
Speaker 5: in the men's doubles, like I still didn't really know

258
00:12:51,760 --> 00:12:54,280
Speaker 5: who they were, Like they were ranked maybe sixty or seventy,

259
00:12:54,600 --> 00:12:56,360
Speaker 5: and I'm like, I don't really see why they should

260
00:12:56,360 --> 00:12:58,640
Speaker 5: get in over a doubles guy who's ranked forty in

261
00:12:58,679 --> 00:13:01,080
Speaker 5: the world or thirty in the world. So I think

262
00:13:01,160 --> 00:13:04,000
Speaker 5: it's a good concept, but I think they probably need

263
00:13:04,040 --> 00:13:08,040
Speaker 5: to yeah, just yeah, just I guess edited and work

264
00:13:08,080 --> 00:13:11,600
Speaker 5: out kind of the entry requirements and yeah, if they

265
00:13:11,600 --> 00:13:13,319
Speaker 5: want like top ten guys to play, do they get

266
00:13:13,320 --> 00:13:16,000
Speaker 5: a wild card or kind of like a different type

267
00:13:16,040 --> 00:13:18,320
Speaker 5: of entry system or however it's going to look. But

268
00:13:19,000 --> 00:13:20,920
Speaker 5: it is interesting because then you go to Indian Wells

269
00:13:21,559 --> 00:13:22,319
Speaker 5: and they love.

270
00:13:22,200 --> 00:13:25,320
Speaker 2: Doubles there, doubles and Indian Wells is like so many

271
00:13:25,360 --> 00:13:28,280
Speaker 2: singles players playing. They've got something downpat there that seems

272
00:13:28,280 --> 00:13:30,199
Speaker 2: to attract everyone to play both.

273
00:13:30,440 --> 00:13:32,280
Speaker 5: Yeah, I don't. I think maybe it's a two week

274
00:13:32,320 --> 00:13:34,920
Speaker 5: event because if you lose early, you don't really want

275
00:13:34,920 --> 00:13:37,320
Speaker 5: to go to Miami like super early, so they almost

276
00:13:37,360 --> 00:13:40,120
Speaker 5: like want to stay, which I think now that the

277
00:13:40,160 --> 00:13:42,760
Speaker 5: Master events are all going to become two week events starting,

278
00:13:42,800 --> 00:13:44,800
Speaker 5: I think next year they're all going to be two weeks,

279
00:13:44,800 --> 00:13:47,600
Speaker 5: so that will probably get a few more singles players

280
00:13:47,640 --> 00:13:50,800
Speaker 5: to play. Also, prize money is a good incentive because

281
00:13:50,840 --> 00:13:53,440
Speaker 5: I think if you do the Indian Wells double in

282
00:13:53,480 --> 00:13:55,520
Speaker 5: singles and doubles, you might get a bonus as well.

283
00:13:55,600 --> 00:13:58,280
Speaker 5: I think there's like something maybe on the men's side,

284
00:13:58,360 --> 00:14:01,760
Speaker 5: so yeah, yeah, And then I think the fans just

285
00:14:01,800 --> 00:14:03,840
Speaker 5: like they all play doubles themselves, like they're a little

286
00:14:03,840 --> 00:14:07,079
Speaker 5: bit older, and I think they appreciate like watching doubles

287
00:14:07,080 --> 00:14:09,400
Speaker 5: because that's something that they can relate to because like

288
00:14:10,120 --> 00:14:11,959
Speaker 5: I'll get fans ask me Indian well I was like, oh,

289
00:14:12,000 --> 00:14:14,880
Speaker 5: so why did you play like the I formation or

290
00:14:14,960 --> 00:14:15,520
Speaker 5: like the.

291
00:14:15,600 --> 00:14:18,360
Speaker 2: Actually asks fall tennis nerd on you yeah, and I

292
00:14:18,480 --> 00:14:18,800
Speaker 2: love it.

293
00:14:18,840 --> 00:14:19,600
Speaker 4: I love it's great.

294
00:14:19,680 --> 00:14:22,120
Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah, so it's yeah, it's really cool.

295
00:14:22,160 --> 00:14:25,040
Speaker 4: But yeah, I don't know.

296
00:14:25,080 --> 00:14:26,720
Speaker 2: Sorry, I didn't really answer that very well. No, no, no,

297
00:14:26,880 --> 00:14:28,720
Speaker 2: you absolutely did. And I think it was one thing

298
00:14:28,760 --> 00:14:30,560
Speaker 2: we thought when we were talking to matter. It's just

299
00:14:30,560 --> 00:14:32,720
Speaker 2: good that they're kind of having those conversations and like

300
00:14:33,280 --> 00:14:35,840
Speaker 2: not standing still, like how can we get better? What

301
00:14:35,880 --> 00:14:37,680
Speaker 2: can we try? And as you said, like they tried

302
00:14:37,680 --> 00:14:39,680
Speaker 2: these things, this was good. Maybe they have to tweak

303
00:14:39,720 --> 00:14:43,760
Speaker 2: that or revisit that, but it's kind of innovation and experimentation,

304
00:14:43,800 --> 00:14:44,120
Speaker 2: why not.

305
00:14:44,280 --> 00:14:46,520
Speaker 5: Yeah, one hundred percent. I think that's something in tennis

306
00:14:46,600 --> 00:14:48,720
Speaker 5: like maybe they haven't done as well. Is like there's

307
00:14:48,720 --> 00:14:51,320
Speaker 5: a lot of sports that are like trying to find

308
00:14:51,360 --> 00:14:54,360
Speaker 5: new ways to kind of keep it entertaining or bring

309
00:14:54,360 --> 00:14:57,640
Speaker 5: in drawing a crowd and like just yeah, keep evolving,

310
00:14:57,680 --> 00:15:00,280
Speaker 5: like you kind of need to keep evolving. And like

311
00:15:00,400 --> 00:15:02,320
Speaker 5: I think, yeah, I think Matt's on the council, so

312
00:15:02,360 --> 00:15:06,160
Speaker 5: he's probably yeah, right in those conversations with what's going on.

313
00:15:06,240 --> 00:15:08,840
Speaker 5: But no, I think it's actually really good that they're

314
00:15:08,920 --> 00:15:11,600
Speaker 5: trialing things. And yeah, when you do something for the

315
00:15:11,600 --> 00:15:13,960
Speaker 5: first time, it's never going to be like perfect, So

316
00:15:14,000 --> 00:15:16,120
Speaker 5: you've got to kind of adapt and change and adjust.

317
00:15:16,240 --> 00:15:21,520
Speaker 5: But yeah, I think for me, shortening a few things

318
00:15:21,360 --> 00:15:24,080
Speaker 5: is positive for ten, Like not for us as players,

319
00:15:24,080 --> 00:15:26,080
Speaker 5: but as fans. I think is really important. Even just

320
00:15:26,120 --> 00:15:28,640
Speaker 5: the fact that now this year, like fans are allowed

321
00:15:28,680 --> 00:15:32,840
Speaker 5: to walk in between yeah, in between points and stuff like.

322
00:15:32,800 --> 00:15:35,840
Speaker 2: It's and coming not necessarily a changeover, right, Yeah, at

323
00:15:35,840 --> 00:15:37,040
Speaker 2: the end of any any game.

324
00:15:37,040 --> 00:15:39,800
Speaker 5: Yeah, which I think is also great because like, I

325
00:15:39,800 --> 00:15:41,360
Speaker 5: don't know, if you have to wait three games or

326
00:15:41,400 --> 00:15:43,880
Speaker 5: two games and it's fifteen minutes, like, it's kind of.

327
00:15:44,440 --> 00:15:46,640
Speaker 2: Have you been stuck there when that's happened? I have, Yeah,

328
00:15:47,160 --> 00:15:49,640
Speaker 2: it's horrible, right, You're just like, can you hurry up

329
00:15:51,160 --> 00:15:53,680
Speaker 2: the stairwell for twenty minutes waiting to getting because I

330
00:15:53,680 --> 00:15:55,760
Speaker 2: went to the bathroom at the wrong time or something. Yeah,

331
00:15:55,760 --> 00:15:57,760
Speaker 2: but yeah, that was a that was achan. Did you

332
00:15:57,800 --> 00:16:01,240
Speaker 2: find that tricky to because that is an adjustment for

333
00:16:01,280 --> 00:16:04,520
Speaker 2: the play. Suddenly there's more movement and maybe more noise

334
00:16:04,720 --> 00:16:08,360
Speaker 2: and stuff in your eyeline. Did you have any issues

335
00:16:08,360 --> 00:16:08,520
Speaker 2: with that?

336
00:16:09,160 --> 00:16:11,320
Speaker 5: I didn't, to be honest, like I didn't even notice.

337
00:16:11,360 --> 00:16:13,480
Speaker 5: And during the Australian Open, like I had no idea

338
00:16:13,560 --> 00:16:16,200
Speaker 5: about this rule change until like I just saw some

339
00:16:16,240 --> 00:16:20,640
Speaker 5: comments online about some players complaining. But I mean when

340
00:16:20,680 --> 00:16:23,640
Speaker 5: you're playing obviously on the outside courts, like you don't

341
00:16:23,640 --> 00:16:25,880
Speaker 5: really realize because people are walking past, it's like kind

342
00:16:25,880 --> 00:16:28,360
Speaker 5: of loud, so you actually kind of get used to that.

343
00:16:28,520 --> 00:16:31,080
Speaker 5: But I think if you're a player who's always playing

344
00:16:31,120 --> 00:16:34,800
Speaker 5: on the big courts where it's quiet, there's like you know,

345
00:16:35,000 --> 00:16:37,960
Speaker 5: it's it's in the stadium court, so you probably would

346
00:16:38,000 --> 00:16:40,080
Speaker 5: notice like a bit of the movement and stuff. But

347
00:16:40,640 --> 00:16:42,200
Speaker 5: I think if it's as long as it's just the

348
00:16:42,200 --> 00:16:44,760
Speaker 5: bottom row, maybe you can't because that's right behind where

349
00:16:44,760 --> 00:16:46,880
Speaker 5: you're serving, so you can kind of get a little

350
00:16:46,920 --> 00:16:49,200
Speaker 5: bit distracted or lose the ball if there's like a

351
00:16:49,200 --> 00:16:51,480
Speaker 5: lot of movement. But like upper Rose, it should be

352
00:16:52,000 --> 00:16:54,760
Speaker 5: every Slam or every tournament, like it should be totally fine,

353
00:16:54,800 --> 00:16:57,040
Speaker 5: and even on the outside courts, like you should be

354
00:16:57,080 --> 00:16:58,800
Speaker 5: able to move around because like also it creates a

355
00:16:58,840 --> 00:17:00,680
Speaker 5: little bit of out as well.

356
00:17:00,960 --> 00:17:02,920
Speaker 2: Yeah, there's a bit more of a buzz. Yeah yeah,

357
00:17:03,040 --> 00:17:05,159
Speaker 2: I guess also getting you to put your Aussie tennis

358
00:17:05,160 --> 00:17:07,720
Speaker 2: hat on. We've got a group of young girls that

359
00:17:07,760 --> 00:17:10,080
Speaker 2: are kind of coming up there's a whole bunch of them.

360
00:17:10,080 --> 00:17:14,000
Speaker 2: You've got Taylor Preston, Tylie Gibson, Maya Joint, Olivia Gadecki.

361
00:17:14,040 --> 00:17:16,360
Speaker 2: They're all now into that top two hundred and kind

362
00:17:16,400 --> 00:17:19,280
Speaker 2: of trending in a really good ways. What do you

363
00:17:19,320 --> 00:17:21,399
Speaker 2: make of that kind of that generation or crop of

364
00:17:21,400 --> 00:17:23,600
Speaker 2: girls that are coming up and you know your connection

365
00:17:23,680 --> 00:17:25,760
Speaker 2: with them, like do they ask you for advice? Do

366
00:17:25,840 --> 00:17:28,480
Speaker 2: you hit with them? Like, what's what's your relationship with them?

367
00:17:28,720 --> 00:17:31,080
Speaker 5: Yeah, it's been it's been really nice to see those

368
00:17:31,119 --> 00:17:33,440
Speaker 5: younger girls come through. They're all, yeah, top two hundred,

369
00:17:33,560 --> 00:17:35,960
Speaker 5: going to play Wimbled and qualities. I think Maya for

370
00:17:36,000 --> 00:17:38,720
Speaker 5: the first time other than Aussie Open playing Collies of

371
00:17:38,720 --> 00:17:41,840
Speaker 5: a Grand Slam. And Taylor's now been there a little

372
00:17:41,840 --> 00:17:43,760
Speaker 5: bit the last i'd say six to eight months, which

373
00:17:43,800 --> 00:17:46,960
Speaker 5: is great. But you know, as one of the older athletes,

374
00:17:47,000 --> 00:17:49,320
Speaker 5: Australian players, I try and reach out to them and

375
00:17:49,880 --> 00:17:51,879
Speaker 5: just you know, say that you know I'm here too

376
00:17:52,000 --> 00:17:54,760
Speaker 5: if you ever want to chat, congratulate them on their results,

377
00:17:54,880 --> 00:17:58,040
Speaker 5: check in and stuff. So Taylor, obviously Taylor and Tali

378
00:17:58,080 --> 00:18:00,440
Speaker 5: are being from Wa, I've kind of I'm a little

379
00:18:00,440 --> 00:18:02,119
Speaker 5: bit older, so I didn't grow up with them, but

380
00:18:03,200 --> 00:18:06,480
Speaker 5: just having that, I guess Bonders of West Australian we've

381
00:18:06,480 --> 00:18:08,520
Speaker 5: always kind of stayed in touch and Taylor been on

382
00:18:08,560 --> 00:18:09,359
Speaker 5: the villaging kickup.

383
00:18:09,440 --> 00:18:09,640
Speaker 4: Yeah.

384
00:18:09,640 --> 00:18:10,600
Speaker 2: I was going to say that she was in the

385
00:18:10,640 --> 00:18:12,840
Speaker 2: squad with you in Brisbane, Ryan, and has been in

386
00:18:12,960 --> 00:18:13,560
Speaker 2: another time.

387
00:18:13,840 --> 00:18:17,879
Speaker 5: She was Orange Girl two years ago in Spain.

388
00:18:18,000 --> 00:18:20,480
Speaker 2: Wait Spain. Yeah, well she was at the finals. I'm

389
00:18:20,480 --> 00:18:21,360
Speaker 2: pretty sure was it.

390
00:18:23,520 --> 00:18:24,119
Speaker 4: Glasgow?

391
00:18:24,359 --> 00:18:26,800
Speaker 5: Yes, she was there for the first time, and I

392
00:18:26,800 --> 00:18:28,880
Speaker 5: think all of us on the team she was young.

393
00:18:28,920 --> 00:18:31,400
Speaker 5: She was seventeen then and that so that was two

394
00:18:31,440 --> 00:18:35,000
Speaker 5: years ago and we just all were amazed at how

395
00:18:35,040 --> 00:18:38,800
Speaker 5: well she held herself. And I mean, first of all,

396
00:18:38,840 --> 00:18:42,239
Speaker 5: her ball striking on court just went for it like

397
00:18:42,320 --> 00:18:44,760
Speaker 5: didn't care that she was She was not intimidated by

398
00:18:44,800 --> 00:18:47,280
Speaker 5: any of us, you know, and went for such great

399
00:18:47,280 --> 00:18:50,520
Speaker 5: ball striking, super positive player. And then off the court

400
00:18:50,520 --> 00:18:53,240
Speaker 5: the way she handled herself, like are you really seventeen.

401
00:18:52,920 --> 00:18:54,439
Speaker 2: Or twenty two?

402
00:18:55,119 --> 00:18:56,920
Speaker 4: So mature? Yeah, so mature.

403
00:18:56,960 --> 00:18:59,359
Speaker 5: And I was just such a great, great person to

404
00:18:59,359 --> 00:19:02,280
Speaker 5: have a round then for her to be selected for

405
00:19:02,320 --> 00:19:05,720
Speaker 5: Brisbane and then to come out and play the second

406
00:19:05,800 --> 00:19:09,320
Speaker 5: day as well and have her debut was for me, obviously,

407
00:19:09,359 --> 00:19:12,080
Speaker 5: with everything that happened with me the day two days before.

408
00:19:12,800 --> 00:19:15,879
Speaker 5: That was my highlight was to be able to watch

409
00:19:15,920 --> 00:19:20,359
Speaker 5: this young girl from wa achieve this kind of milestone

410
00:19:20,359 --> 00:19:22,600
Speaker 5: for the first time, to make her debut and to

411
00:19:22,640 --> 00:19:25,040
Speaker 5: win and play well to win the tie for us

412
00:19:25,080 --> 00:19:27,520
Speaker 5: to qualify was Yeah, it was incredible. I was so

413
00:19:27,600 --> 00:19:31,679
Speaker 5: happy for her and to see her kind of having

414
00:19:31,760 --> 00:19:34,040
Speaker 5: really good success and you know, going for it, going

415
00:19:34,040 --> 00:19:34,480
Speaker 5: on the clay.

416
00:19:34,560 --> 00:19:35,680
Speaker 4: She left straight away.

417
00:19:35,520 --> 00:19:38,000
Speaker 5: From Brisie to go to Europe and get on the clay,

418
00:19:38,040 --> 00:19:40,199
Speaker 5: and like she's not intimidated by anything. She's kind of

419
00:19:40,200 --> 00:19:42,479
Speaker 5: going for it. And I love that she has, you know,

420
00:19:42,520 --> 00:19:46,199
Speaker 5: a long term coaching relationship with Brad and they've just

421
00:19:46,280 --> 00:19:48,480
Speaker 5: she's got a good head on her shoulders and that's

422
00:19:48,520 --> 00:19:52,119
Speaker 5: really cool to see.

423
00:19:52,600 --> 00:19:55,920
Speaker 1: Well, Matt, isn't it wonderful to hear such experienced voices

424
00:19:55,960 --> 00:20:00,640
Speaker 1: giving their time to the next generation of tennis and

425
00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:02,600
Speaker 1: how the game unfolds in the future.

426
00:20:03,440 --> 00:20:05,840
Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree. I think tennis is in great hands

427
00:20:05,840 --> 00:20:07,640
Speaker 2: with Storm and Matt both kind of at the top

428
00:20:07,640 --> 00:20:10,679
Speaker 2: of the game and interested in where it goes. Right. Well,

429
00:20:10,720 --> 00:20:12,640
Speaker 2: we'll be back again next Monday. When we sit down

430
00:20:12,680 --> 00:20:15,840
Speaker 2: with Alicia Mulleck on the twentieth anniversary of her run

431
00:20:15,880 --> 00:20:18,919
Speaker 2: to the Olympic bronze medal in Athens. And in the meantime,

432
00:20:18,920 --> 00:20:20,600
Speaker 2: you can listen to John and the team this Thursday

433
00:20:20,640 --> 00:20:21,719
Speaker 2: on the Aoshow Weekly.

434
00:20:22,040 --> 00:20:24,359
Speaker 1: Details for how to contact us are in the show notes,

435
00:20:24,400 --> 00:20:26,679
Speaker 1: and please subscribe, rate and review.

436
00:20:27,000 --> 00:20:28,800
Speaker 2: See you next week, Matt, see y Viv