Speaker 1: Today everyone, and welcome to the tennis. The world reacts
Speaker 1: to Ynick Sinner's negotiated settlement with WADA and this I'm
Speaker 1: over and Fonseca rocket up the rankings with titles last
Speaker 1: week and in Doha demon on track for another Alcaaz showdown.
Speaker 1: That's all ahead on the tennis with me, John Hohoven Ours.
Speaker 1: Simon Ray is back, our in house analyst to the stars.
Speaker 1: Welcome Simon, Hey John, thanks for having me next year.
Speaker 1: It's the Australian Billy Jean King Cup captain Sam.
Speaker 2: Stosa, good morning. It must to be back.
Speaker 1: We've got the double as well. Your coach is here
Speaker 1: with us too.
Speaker 3: Welcome, thanks, thanks. Yeah, we did play doubles together but
Speaker 3: we didn't do very well.
Speaker 4: No, don't bring that up really, we'll just leave it
Speaker 4: there now.
Speaker 1: Who organized that?
Speaker 2: Not sure, Olympic selection that's who organized it.
Speaker 1: That was probably before your time on the on the
Speaker 1: team signon, probably could have sorted these two out a
Speaker 1: little bit. It's it's going to be a big month
Speaker 1: coming up for you too though you're in full planning
Speaker 1: mode for the coming Billy Jean Kincup qualifier.
Speaker 5: Yeah, absolutely, we are obviously it's not too far away
Speaker 5: now and it's been announce where we're playing, which is
Speaker 5: really exciting in Brisbane, so all the girls have got
Speaker 5: a few more tournaments to play before the final nominations
Speaker 5: need to be in.
Speaker 2: But yeah, we always look forward to the first time
Speaker 2: of the year.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I love seeing it when you see the green
Speaker 1: and gold on the news channels and the lead up
Speaker 1: to March, you know it's just around the corner.
Speaker 4: Yeah. No, I'm really excited, and Sam and I are
Speaker 4: both off to the US. I'm leaving actually tomorrow to
Speaker 4: Austin and kim Berrell's there and storm Hunter. I also
Speaker 4: think Maddy English is there as well, so yeah, but
Speaker 4: then we'll catch up in Innian Wall, see the players
Speaker 4: play there and check out their form and decide the
Speaker 4: rest of the team.
Speaker 1: Nice a big show today, and Simon's got some tantalizing
Speaker 1: data on some very interesting players have made waves in
Speaker 1: the past week or two. But we're going to start
Speaker 1: with you, Sam, what's caught your eye in the past week.
Speaker 5: Well, I think obviously huge news in the tennis world,
Speaker 5: but I guess sports world in general really with Janick
Speaker 5: Sinner being able to negotiate this three month ban with WADA.
Speaker 5: Obviously there's been lots of opinions flying around from numerous players,
Speaker 5: So yeah, I think that's just been a fascinating story.
Speaker 1: Well, you're welcome to have your personal inputs on this,
Speaker 1: because everyone else is in the tennis world. We've heard
Speaker 1: some great We've heard opinions from the likes of Novak
Speaker 1: Djokovic and Nick Curios and even Carlos alcraz overnight in Doha.
Speaker 1: But the facts first. It came through on I guess
Speaker 1: Saturday evening Australian Time that Janik Sinner's legal team had
Speaker 1: managed to negotiate with WADA a three month ban which
Speaker 1: would see him return to the court by May four,
Speaker 1: just in time for Rome, and he will not be
Speaker 1: missing a single Grand Slam. So here's the statement from WAA.
Speaker 1: WADA accepts the athlete's explanation for the cause of the
Speaker 1: violation as outlined in the first instance decision. WIDA accepts
Speaker 1: that mister Sinner did not intend to cheat, and that
Speaker 1: his exposure to costobol did not provide any performance enhancing
Speaker 1: benefit and took place without his knowledge as the result
Speaker 1: negligence of members of his entourage. However, under the code
Speaker 1: and by virtue of the Court of Arbitration for sport precedent,
Speaker 1: an athlete bears responsibility for the entourages negligence. Based on
Speaker 1: the unique set of facts of this case, a three
Speaker 1: month suspension is deemed to be an appropriate outcome. So,
Speaker 1: giving your personal opinions, where do you land with this?
Speaker 4: I think he's innocent in the sense of it. You know,
Speaker 4: he inadvertently potentially had it through his team. What I
Speaker 4: don't like about it is the timelines. I mean, if
Speaker 4: we go back to the provisional suspension, He's still played
Speaker 4: the French Open, he still played Wimbledon, he's still played
Speaker 4: US Open, he's played the Ustralian Open, and conveniently he's
Speaker 4: not going to miss another Slam because he's three months
Speaker 4: is between now and just prior to roam his home
Speaker 4: Masters Series event. I just really question the timelines of
Speaker 4: all of.
Speaker 1: This because it appears a convenient outcome.
Speaker 3: First, it's too convenient in my opinion.
Speaker 1: Sam, what was your reaction?
Speaker 5: My point of view used to be very black and white.
Speaker 5: You get caught, you are done, no matter what. But
Speaker 5: I have to say in this instance, where all those
Speaker 5: things are the facts like It's been proven from many,
Speaker 5: many doctors and people going through this.
Speaker 2: A player shouldn't be banned for this.
Speaker 5: In my opinion, you shouldn't be now one or two
Speaker 5: years banned, which is normally what would happen.
Speaker 2: So I'm glad in the sense that that is the case.
Speaker 5: But I think now it needs to maybe open the
Speaker 5: door that other players are going to have these opportunities
Speaker 5: to say, oh, hang on a second, I've got a
Speaker 5: reason for this.
Speaker 2: Can I keep playing. I shouldn't miss all these tournaments.
Speaker 5: I shouldn't be penalized with points on prize money or
Speaker 5: anything like that. So I think it's a really tricky situation,
Speaker 5: all this anti doping stuff.
Speaker 1: Where do you land Raiser?
Speaker 6: Yeah, personally, I tend to agree with what both Pretty
Speaker 6: and Sam have described. I think the transparency of the
Speaker 6: whole thing feels a bit off for me. So, you know,
Speaker 6: you visionally suspended in April, the public Joe public doesn't
Speaker 6: find out until August you're going to end up the athlete,
Speaker 6: And I think we're all in the same boat there.
Speaker 6: I think we all accept this was one of those
Speaker 6: really unfortunate things that's happened. There's no deliberate intent to
Speaker 6: cheat here. I think we're all in that boat. But
Speaker 6: now three months just it does it feels a little
Speaker 6: too convenient for me. You're able to negotiate. I guess
Speaker 6: on that period of time. I just look at at
Speaker 6: an individual athlete level, and I accept that all cases
Speaker 6: are different. I just think other athletes from other Olympic sports,
Speaker 6: through ultimately being proved judged in a similar way through
Speaker 6: no fault or negligence, have served a lot longer than
Speaker 6: three months, and I just wonder how they'd be feeling
Speaker 6: about something like this. So that's probably where it sits
Speaker 6: for me.
Speaker 1: So from the Junick Center perspective, a very favorable outcome.
Speaker 1: Do you think that this is now the chance to
Speaker 1: finally leave it in the past and the team moves on.
Speaker 1: He can focus on coming back for his home tournament,
Speaker 1: the Row Masters, and that's the last we'll hear of it.
Speaker 5: Oh, it has to be. I mean, there's nowhere else
Speaker 5: to go with it now, is there. He's going to
Speaker 5: serve his time and be back and then hopefully that
Speaker 5: is the end of it. But hopefully this does also
Speaker 5: now open the door for more clarity on the testing
Speaker 5: process and the way it's going to happen maybe now
Speaker 5: moving forward, if you can pay for the best lawyer
Speaker 5: in the world to know the little ins and outs
Speaker 5: of points along the way, great, But I don't think
Speaker 5: if you're two hundred in the world you should be
Speaker 5: at a real disadvantage in that area as well. So
Speaker 5: hopefully it opens a door to some more clarity with
Speaker 5: how the whole process works.
Speaker 1: And what about the way twice Australian Open champion pratty.
Speaker 1: How do you think he'll be able to respond to this?
Speaker 1: With cloud that's been over his head for the best
Speaker 1: part of a year now in terms of as an athlete,
Speaker 1: as quite a strong resolute mind, how will Janick Sinner
Speaker 1: be able to move on from this?
Speaker 2: Oh?
Speaker 4: I just think it's incredible how he's dealt with it
Speaker 4: with this hanging over his head. He's achieved the outcomes
Speaker 4: he has with this lingering and being something that I'm
Speaker 4: sure is in the back of his mind the entire time.
Speaker 4: Look out because now it's done, it's gone, it'll be
Speaker 4: you know, the case is closed and he can just
Speaker 4: get on and play. But I think there's still going
Speaker 4: to be a little bit of a media circus in
Speaker 4: and around this when he returns. But I think that'll
Speaker 4: be history in a couple of months, once we get
Speaker 4: through sort of a French Open Wimbledon time, so I
Speaker 4: can you know, I can probably expect even bigger things
Speaker 4: from Annix Sinner.
Speaker 3: Moving forward to finish.
Speaker 1: A statement in response to the out of court settlement.
Speaker 1: This is from the itia. We acknowledge the announcement made
Speaker 1: by Wider concerning the agreement reached. The original process was run,
Speaker 1: according to Wider and the Tennis Antidoping Program, following a
Speaker 1: thorough investigation. We were satisfied that the player had established
Speaker 1: the source of the prohibited substance and that the breach
Speaker 1: was unintentional. Today's outcome support this fining, so they appear
Speaker 1: satisfied with it. Just some question marks, I think, the
Speaker 1: optics of it from a public view, and of course
Speaker 1: a lot of confused tennis players who have been just
Speaker 1: interested onlookers or in fact themselves caught up in previous investigations.
Speaker 1: There's a lot to play out, I think in terms
Speaker 1: of the discussion to come from here. We're going to
Speaker 1: leave it for there and move on to other stories
Speaker 1: from the week. I'm going to head over to you,
Speaker 1: Pratty what's caught your eye this week?
Speaker 4: Oh, I think Amanda Nisimova winning Doha. I think that
Speaker 4: was huge. I mean, there's a long story here. You know,
Speaker 4: she burst onto the scene as a fifteen sixteen year
Speaker 4: old and just you know, went through the rankings very
Speaker 4: very quickly, and in twenty twenty four she took a
Speaker 4: break and she dropped down in the rankings to four
Speaker 4: hundred in the world. So, yeah, to win Doha back inside,
Speaker 4: well not back inside, so first time she's actually been
Speaker 4: the top twenty in the world.
Speaker 3: She's only twenty three years of age.
Speaker 4: Yeah. I just thought that was incredible and a great
Speaker 4: news story because I remember her last year she was
Speaker 4: in the qualifying events and just scrapping and having to
Speaker 4: work a way back. And she's done that. She's done
Speaker 4: that without wild cards, she's done it without fanfare, and
Speaker 4: I think it's terrific to have a player of her
Speaker 4: class back in the mix.
Speaker 1: A unique player on tour, and great to see her
Speaker 1: up to number eighteen in the world, jumping twenty three
Speaker 1: spots this week.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I totally agree with Praddy.
Speaker 5: It's one of those real feel good stories where everyone
Speaker 5: saw that potential in her as a young player, and
Speaker 5: she was still doing very well, really found things quite hard, struggled,
Speaker 5: did actually have the guts to step away and not
Speaker 5: just continue on the through the rat race all the time,
Speaker 5: and look what it's done for her. So yeah, couldn't
Speaker 5: be happier for someone like her to have now find this,
Speaker 5: found this behalf and obviously playing fantastic tennis. She's got
Speaker 5: a big game and I think she absolutely deserves to
Speaker 5: be inside the top twenty now.
Speaker 1: So the score in the final there against Jolana Ostapenco
Speaker 1: six four sixty three. Ostapenko had a great campaign as well.
Speaker 1: In the semi final, took down Iger Fiontech Simon, and
Speaker 1: that's becoming a real headache for the world number two
Speaker 1: across the course of their head to head.
Speaker 6: Yeah, well it's five to nothing now in Ostapenko's favor
Speaker 6: against one of, if not the very best player on
Speaker 6: the planet right now in eigishwon Tech. So one thing
Speaker 6: I would say though, of the five matches, four have
Speaker 6: been on a hard court and one's been on a
Speaker 6: grass court, so none of them have been on Eager's
Speaker 6: favored slower surface if you like, So, I think that
Speaker 6: context is important before we get into the specifics because
Speaker 6: in this matchup, Eager's second serve just gets smashed. Ostapenko
Speaker 6: just gives her the treatment. So I had to look
Speaker 6: at the numbers. First serve numbers were way down second serve.
Speaker 6: The other night she won thirty six percent of her
Speaker 6: second serve points. Eager, going back to the US Open match,
Speaker 6: which was a three set match in twenty twenty three,
Speaker 6: that was their previous encounter, she won thirty eight percent
Speaker 6: of her second serve points. Also has problems on first
Speaker 6: serve against Ostera Pinko's quality of returning to She won
Speaker 6: just fifty seven percent of her points on first serve
Speaker 6: back in the US Open twenty twenty three, So there
Speaker 6: is there's no doubt there's something about this matchup in
Speaker 6: terms of ball striking, weapons, court position, being starved of time.
Speaker 6: Let me just summarize it that way. That's really challenging
Speaker 6: for ego. But I do think surface plays into that.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm going to simplify it.
Speaker 4: I reckon, when some players play on tournament like play tournaments,
Speaker 4: everyone's got their bunny. Yeah, now the person they always be,
Speaker 4: And I reckon, that's that's her bunny.
Speaker 1: The eager bunny.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Eager bunny for Aster Penko.
Speaker 4: So I don't know about you, Sam, did you have
Speaker 4: any sort of players that you would call, Oh that's
Speaker 4: my bunny.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, you always got the better.
Speaker 2: You love playing your bunny.
Speaker 1: Yeah please.
Speaker 5: I had a great record against Lee narren Zevonaeva.
Speaker 1: Okay, pretty goodund Yeah, no.
Speaker 2: I'll take it. But no, I agree with both of you.
Speaker 5: There's a I actually remember watching that US Open match
Speaker 5: in the airport when I was flying home and just thinking,
Speaker 5: oh my gosh, Eager cannot find a way to win
Speaker 5: points on her serve and she kept doing the same thing,
Speaker 5: like just hitting it to Ostapenko's fourhand time and time again,
Speaker 5: and it was driving me crazy because I was like,
Speaker 5: come on, you got to do something different.
Speaker 2: But yeah, there's the matchup.
Speaker 5: Obviously doesn't work for Eager, And now the longer it goes,
Speaker 5: Osterpenko gets more confident with that, and he gets less
Speaker 5: confident with that. So let's see, Yeah, what happens the
Speaker 5: next time they play, and if the surface does change it,
Speaker 5: I don't know.
Speaker 2: I think it's just the matchup as well. It might
Speaker 2: play a part, but.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I just think there's something about playing Ostapenko that
Speaker 5: she just hates.
Speaker 4: And expanding on you know matchups, right, is you fast forward?
Speaker 4: And this is the other thing that caught my eye,
Speaker 4: is you fast forward one or two days after Doha
Speaker 4: and both Anisimova and Ostapenko lose in the first round.
Speaker 4: So you know, it speaks to obviously different day, different opponent,
Speaker 4: and it probably just speaks to the inexperience of both players.
Speaker 4: Whilst a great week, it's like, we know the best
Speaker 4: players in the world, they're able to back it up
Speaker 4: the next week, the very next week, and go again
Speaker 4: and go again. So you know there's certainly absolute world
Speaker 4: class traits here, but they need the experience to be
Speaker 4: able to back it up.
Speaker 1: What about as a coach putting your coach's caps on.
Speaker 1: You've always got yours on, But how do you find
Speaker 1: that circuit breaker for it when it's like this psychological
Speaker 1: hurdle five zero staring you in the face. Is there
Speaker 1: something you can do apart from like gameplay changing up something?
Speaker 1: How do you instill confidence in a player that they
Speaker 1: can actually beat this player on the other side.
Speaker 2: Of the net.
Speaker 4: Yeah, well I think they should employ Simon Ray actually,
Speaker 4: because I reckon he can come up with a few. No,
Speaker 4: I'm serious, I actually think they need someone like that.
Speaker 4: They need to really look at this player, break it
Speaker 4: down and go, right, how am I going to find
Speaker 4: in roads? You know with this particular player? Like, for example, yes,
Speaker 4: we know that this second serve gets attacked, but you know,
Speaker 4: break it down and go where is she serving the
Speaker 4: second serve too? Does she need to risk more? Go
Speaker 4: into a particular side and then watch for ostera Penko's pattern.
Speaker 4: So she's a step quicker to the next ball. So
Speaker 4: I think they really I'm not saying they don't respect her,
Speaker 4: but i'd be suggesting, you know, do your homework and
Speaker 4: because she can't go six in a row to astera Penco,
Speaker 4: in my opinion, she's too good of a player. So yeah,
Speaker 4: that's probably what I would do.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I think there's probably a couple of different ways
Speaker 6: you could go with it. I'd be really curious, and
Speaker 6: you wouldn't know this unless you're inside the camp when
Speaker 6: the draw comes out and you're eyeballing. You know the
Speaker 6: player that you're working with. I'd love to know what
Speaker 6: Eager's response is when she sees that you know that draw,
Speaker 6: if it's a first round matchup, and it's not going
Speaker 6: to because they're both ranked too high. But when it's
Speaker 6: established that, ah eager you've got Ostapenko tomorrow. I'd just
Speaker 6: love to see the face because you know, I think
Speaker 6: there is it is now reaching the point where there's
Speaker 6: obviously something really troubling about this matchup. So can you
Speaker 6: be brave? Can you be courageous? Can you kind of
Speaker 6: put your hand up and go yep, okay, it's time
Speaker 6: to take a fresh approach here or do you not
Speaker 6: really want to know about it? And you may be
Speaker 6: carrying away from the conversation. No, No, it'll turn around
Speaker 6: for me today, and maybe it will turn a little
Speaker 6: bit on a clay court, on a heavy clay court,
Speaker 6: where conditions might be different. I probably have that view
Speaker 6: a little bit. I think if you're in the IgA
Speaker 6: camp and you're on a clay court, she's going to
Speaker 6: have more options afforded to her than she does on
Speaker 6: a faster court. But i'd just be and you won't know,
Speaker 6: I'd just be really interested to see that that what
Speaker 6: the face looks like. When the matchup tomorrow becomes apparent.
Speaker 1: Well, we're going to keep an eye on that matchup.
Speaker 1: Is that as the season progresses. Other winners last week
Speaker 1: at Delray beach Mi and Mirkatzmanovich. He won the title there,
Speaker 1: Ugo Umber at Marseilles on home turf, and in Buenas
Speaker 1: Idris jal Fonseka defeating Francisco Sarundelo Simon in the final.
Speaker 1: And that makes him the tenth youngest ATP titleist ever.
Speaker 1: And we already saw his breakthrough at the end of
Speaker 1: last season winning the ATP next Gen Finals and then
Speaker 1: amazing start to the year here in Australia with a
Speaker 1: title in Canberra and doing magical things on the court
Speaker 1: in Melbourne. It goes from strength to strength.
Speaker 6: This young Brazilian, well, there's been an asterisk next to
Speaker 6: this young man for some time and it's happened, I think,
Speaker 6: even more quickly than some of us thought that it might.
Speaker 6: And again, you know, without wanting to hone on the
Speaker 6: one negative or the one challenging part. Again, there's another
Speaker 6: young man that wins the title one week exits first
Speaker 6: round the following week. So it feels like that we
Speaker 6: could do a whole episode on that. It's one of
Speaker 6: the toughest things to do in the sport. It feels
Speaker 6: like claim a victory, and I think Pratty's what right.
Speaker 6: It does differentiate those absolutely elite athletes in our sport
Speaker 6: from everyone else in terms of going deep week after
Speaker 6: week after week. But to answer your original question, John, well,
Speaker 6: you know, talk about trends of the game, and we're
Speaker 6: seeing it unfold right here with this young man. So
Speaker 6: his second serve speed over the summer, and this was
Speaker 6: a trend that web in the playing group. He averages
Speaker 6: one hundred and seventy kilometers an hour on second serve.
Speaker 6: That's right up there. It's a trend that we're starting
Speaker 6: to see in both men's and women's tennis. Second serve
Speaker 6: speed is definitely on the march. It's picking up and
Speaker 6: he's he's ample evidence of that in the fonsaka game.
Speaker 6: From the back of the court, he's almost without peer
Speaker 6: in terms of the damage he can do on his forehand.
Speaker 6: So he averaged over the summer, over the Australian summer
Speaker 6: here on hard courts, one hundred and thirty five kilometers
Speaker 6: an hour on the forehand side. The top one hundred
Speaker 6: average is one hundred and twenty five, So he's got
Speaker 6: ten k's an hour on you. Now what we normally
Speaker 6: said when you pick up speed, Pratty and Sam will
Speaker 6: speak to this. When you pick up speed, typically there's
Speaker 6: a trade off in terms of spin, right you need
Speaker 6: to get the ball faster from point out of point B.
Speaker 6: You normally trade off and spin. He's got phenomenal spin
Speaker 6: as well, so his spin on fourhand side is right
Speaker 6: up there with the likes of Alcoraz and Cinner. So
Speaker 6: he can hurt you both ways speed and spin, and
Speaker 6: then you think, okay, I'll get a little bit of
Speaker 6: respote on the backhand side. He's four or five k's
Speaker 6: above average, above top hundred average on the backhand wing.
Speaker 6: So weapons and firepower and speed on serve and shot making,
Speaker 6: and you watch him play, he's prepared to make hers.
Speaker 6: He's going to back his firepower and his ability to
Speaker 6: hurt his opponent point after point after point for three
Speaker 6: and four and five hours, knowing that he'll cough up
Speaker 6: some mirrors, but believing that he wants to dictate terms
Speaker 6: in these matches. So you speak about trends of the
Speaker 6: game or the prototype, or I think we're seeing it
Speaker 6: play out in front of us here and this young man.
Speaker 1: And we're seeing it play out in an eighteen year old.
Speaker 1: What are the other players on the tour thinking when
Speaker 1: they see someone of that age capable of doing such damage.
Speaker 2: Thinking, what have I got to do to catch up?
Speaker 2: We'll keep going with them?
Speaker 5: No, seriously, like he obviously with everything that Simon's just said,
Speaker 5: he's got the goods to beat some of the best
Speaker 5: players in the world.
Speaker 2: Is it going to happen straight away?
Speaker 5: Who knows, because there's other things that play into all
Speaker 5: these matchups and everything as well, obviously, but he is
Speaker 5: going to be on the rise.
Speaker 2: I just think it's.
Speaker 5: Kind of funny that what was it last year he
Speaker 5: was hitting with Sinner and said he was going to
Speaker 5: go to college and he's like, no, no, you're too
Speaker 5: good for that.
Speaker 2: You can go to the tour. Don't worry about college,
Speaker 2: You're ready for the ATP.
Speaker 5: And obviously decisions were made and definitely the right decision
Speaker 5: what he's done. So I think it's really exciting for tennis.
Speaker 5: I love like that's what everyone was talking sort of
Speaker 5: about our Koraz a couple of years ago when he
Speaker 5: first burst onto the seat. So now we've got the
Speaker 5: next person kind of yeah, following following through from our Karaz.
Speaker 1: The future is Joos. I think he's up in up
Speaker 1: around sixty in the world now, so that phenomenal.
Speaker 4: That's where tennis is, I think just so exciting. Like
Speaker 4: over the years, there's just someone you know, very very
Speaker 4: special that comes through in you know, a three or
Speaker 4: four year different birth cycle, right, and yeah, I can't
Speaker 4: agree more this.
Speaker 3: This guy's good, real good.
Speaker 1: Well, he's unfortunately out of the tournament this week, but
Speaker 1: we'll recap some of the other stuff that's happening in
Speaker 1: the world of tennis at the moment. In Doha, into
Speaker 1: the quarter finals, Carlos alcraz the top seed. He'll play
Speaker 1: at Lizzie Lahechka. Mateo Beratini upset Novak Djokovic in the
Speaker 1: round of thirty two. What does that result over Novak
Speaker 1: Djokovic have to say for both players.
Speaker 5: Well, obviously exciting for Berrettini. We know that he'd been
Speaker 5: out with injuries and his wrist and everything else. So
Speaker 5: he is a Grand Slam finalist, so we know he
Speaker 5: can be one of the best players in the world.
Speaker 5: So it's really nice for him to see him back
Speaker 5: playing really, you know, good tennis and a little bit
Speaker 5: more consistently now too.
Speaker 2: I feel the win over Novak.
Speaker 5: I think obviously it's huge.
Speaker 2: It's not a.
Speaker 5: Slam though, and it is his first match Badge. I
Speaker 5: think from what early matches from Ao time with that
Speaker 5: injury as well, so maybe even a little bit surprised
Speaker 5: to see him back so soon. But I don't think
Speaker 5: Novak's in a shop to a tournament, not prepared to
Speaker 5: win it and be ready. So yeah, exciting for Berretini
Speaker 5: and maybe yeah, it's a little kickstart for Novak again
Speaker 5: to be really into these smaller events that he goes to.
Speaker 1: So Jack Draper his opponent in the quarterfinal, he's taken
Speaker 1: down another two Aussies. I think he did the same
Speaker 1: thing in Melbourne, took out Simon if you remember correctly March,
Speaker 1: and here he's taken out Chris O'Connell and Alexi popperin
Speaker 1: who's in a little bit of a form slump. Alexi
Speaker 1: had such a bright run last year, didn't he in
Speaker 1: the mid stages of last year with a couple of
Speaker 1: top ten victories and a Master's one thousand title. Have
Speaker 1: we seen the best of Alexi? What can we expect?
Speaker 1: Do you think Pratty in twenty twenty five?
Speaker 4: Yeah, Listen, he's zero and five for a year. He
Speaker 4: hasn't actually won a match, but he was saying that
Speaker 4: he'd had some struggles physically and he was sort of
Speaker 4: working through that, dealing with that, and you know, again,
Speaker 4: it just speaks to when athletes start winning matches, tournaments,
Speaker 4: winning Canada his biggest title yet, making sure that the
Speaker 4: body is where it needs to be. So he's a
Speaker 4: big guy, you know, massive frame that he sort of
Speaker 4: probably needs to put a little bit more muscle in
Speaker 4: and around it to build that resilience. And I'm going
Speaker 4: to come back to, you know, the type of numbers
Speaker 4: and speed and spins and the physicality required in the
Speaker 4: men's game. If you're slightly off, you know you're going
Speaker 4: to suffer. And I actually think maybe that's got a
Speaker 4: little bit to do with why he hasn't been getting
Speaker 4: across the line.
Speaker 3: He does have a huge.
Speaker 4: Serve and he's been able to get away with a
Speaker 4: lot of free points. But everyone's getting better and they,
Speaker 4: like I said, they keep doing their homework, and if
Speaker 4: they're a step faster, his server is negated, and then
Speaker 4: he's not as good as he should be, especially if
Speaker 4: he's hampered from a physical perspective off the ground.
Speaker 6: Well, I think it's a great point, and it's a
Speaker 6: conversation that I know these two are having all the
Speaker 6: time with coaches and with players, and it becomes a
Speaker 6: conversation around if you can't be at one hundred percent,
Speaker 6: which is really what's required. And Okay, granted, perhaps that's
Speaker 6: a very rare thing that you're purely hundred, but if
Speaker 6: you're not ready to go, an athlete knows whether they're
Speaker 6: ready to go, then is it the right thing to
Speaker 6: try to get to the start line? And as tempting
Speaker 6: as that is to fall into, I'll call it the
Speaker 6: point chasing mindset and chasing ranking and chasing bonus and
Speaker 6: whatever other considerations that come with that. I know they're
Speaker 6: real and they're significant. I think it's so hard but
Speaker 6: so important to sometimes do exactly as Praddy's describing their
Speaker 6: step back, take a few weeks, hit the reset button,
Speaker 6: and get ready to go at much closer to one
Speaker 6: hundred percent. So I think it's a great point.
Speaker 1: She raises good luck to Alexi for the rest of
Speaker 1: the season. On the other side of the draw, we
Speaker 1: have quarterfinals, Augi Alissim, Versus Medvedev and Sam rube Lev
Speaker 1: versus Demonor. It was a matchup we saw here in
Speaker 1: Melbourne last year, Demonor right back in form. We saw
Speaker 1: him go to all the way against Alcraz and just
Speaker 1: fall short in the final last week. He could be
Speaker 1: on track for another one this week against Alcraz in Doha.
Speaker 2: Yeah, wouldn't that be exciting?
Speaker 5: I think we've all been so thrilled to see what
Speaker 5: Alex has been able to achieve in recent months and years,
Speaker 5: and he keeps climbing the rankings little by little, step
Speaker 5: by step, getting there week and week out, and talk
Speaker 5: about consistency. Now he's found that consistency so he can
Speaker 5: back up week after week and you know he's really
Speaker 5: he's only losing to the top. Yeah, the best of
Speaker 5: the best exactly. So I think the match up with
Speaker 5: rub Lev's good for him. I think he's playing, like
Speaker 5: I said, exceptional tennis, and I just feel like you
Speaker 5: can see that confidence in himself and that ability to
Speaker 5: back it up. And you know, he can be that
Speaker 5: counterpuncher with that exceptional movement, but he can be aggressive
Speaker 5: and he is taking it to these top guys and
Speaker 5: I think if he wants to take say that next
Speaker 5: step with beating those really top few bit more consistently.
Speaker 5: He is going to have to be more aggressive and
Speaker 5: back himself to do that. But look, I think he's
Speaker 5: having exceptional run. So exciting for him.
Speaker 1: Good luck to Alex over the next four days of competition.
Speaker 1: Now we've got to change tach here and have a
Speaker 1: chat about this Billy Jean Kin tie coming up in April.
Speaker 1: Bit of a change to the format and qualifying this year.
Speaker 3: Pratty, Yeah, another change.
Speaker 1: So tell us how it's going to work.
Speaker 4: I pause there because we've had that many changes I
Speaker 4: can't keep up.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 4: So it's now a round robin of three teams all
Speaker 4: across the world. So we're playing against Columbia in Kazakhstan,
Speaker 4: and so the winning team will go through the finals.
Speaker 4: So yeah, it's going to be a different type of
Speaker 4: in a way preparation for the tie having to play,
Speaker 4: Like we'll play our match on Thursday, and then we'll
Speaker 4: get to see both teams play on Friday, and then
Speaker 4: we'll play on Saturday again. So at least I feel
Speaker 4: like Sam, I think you probably agree with me here.
Speaker 4: At least it'll be on our racket having to play
Speaker 4: that last match on the last day, which is great.
Speaker 2: Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 5: Obviously, now it's not just about beating one team, it's
Speaker 5: about beating two and it's pretty cutthrow only one goes through, so.
Speaker 2: There's no guarantees.
Speaker 5: In Billy Jinkin Cup, with Davis Cup competition, you see
Speaker 5: upsets fly around here, there and everywhere. So we've certainly
Speaker 5: got to put our best foot forward and work as
Speaker 5: a team because it is not just about one day now,
Speaker 5: it is about backing it up. So you might have
Speaker 5: a great result on the Thursday, but you've got to
Speaker 5: do it again.
Speaker 2: That doesn't really mean anything.
Speaker 5: So yeah, it's a little bit different obviously, but we'll
Speaker 5: see how it goes.
Speaker 1: And then the winner to advance to the finals in Shenzen,
Speaker 1: where China and the reigning champion Italy will be waiting
Speaker 1: later in the year. Well, Kim Berrell is your top
Speaker 1: ranked player heading into this tie after her last eight
Speaker 1: finish in Brisbane. Of course, the mixed doubles runner up
Speaker 1: result here in Melbourne, another quarterfinal in Singapore, and most
Speaker 1: recently an ITF title in Brisbane. Vic Rudnikov this week
Speaker 1: caught up with Kim as she prepares to lead Team
Speaker 1: Australia into the Billy jan King Cup qualifier next month.
Speaker 7: Where do we find you today and what have you
Speaker 7: been up to post AO.
Speaker 8: Currently I'm at home, which has been so nice. I'm
Speaker 8: just coming off the back of a whole week at
Speaker 8: home and I hadn't had the chance to really spend
Speaker 8: too many nights in my own bed since January. I
Speaker 8: went straight to Singapore after Melbourne and then I came
Speaker 8: home and I played in ITS and I ended up
Speaker 8: staying up well. That was played in Brisbane, so yeah,
Speaker 8: it's great to be home and do all the normal
Speaker 8: things like cooking in my own kitchen and laundry. Yeah,
Speaker 8: catch up with you know, friends and family.
Speaker 7: And this will also be your first time leading Australia
Speaker 7: at the Billy Jean King Cup in Brisbane in April.
Speaker 7: What is your responsibility as the number one Aussie woman.
Speaker 8: Yeah, it's just amazing and it's going to be really
Speaker 8: cool to play a tie in Australia. I've represented Australia
Speaker 8: DJK Cup a few times now and I just have
Speaker 8: the best time every single time and it's such an
Speaker 8: honor to represent Australia and to wear the green and gold.
Speaker 8: But I haven't had the chance to play a tie,
Speaker 8: be a part of a tie in Australia. I did
Speaker 8: go to the one in Perth, but I wasn't a
Speaker 8: named member of the team. So to be able to
Speaker 8: do that in April, and then to have it in
Speaker 8: Brizzy and you know what's basically my hometown will be
Speaker 8: absolutely amazing. I can't wait. Yeah.
Speaker 7: And speaking of the girls, Australia's team is known for
Speaker 7: its cohesion off the court. Tell us about how that
Speaker 7: translates into like a team environment and how do you
Speaker 7: bring that to the court.
Speaker 8: Yeah. Absolutely, I think it's really special that we're all
Speaker 8: great mates off court and just we're all all the
Speaker 8: girls are such good people and people I genuinely want
Speaker 8: to be around all the time. It's not hard when
Speaker 8: you know we get to be together as a team.
Speaker 8: I think honestly, we probably wish we could do it
Speaker 8: more often because we have such a great time when
Speaker 8: we get the chance too. And it really was set
Speaker 8: by example with Sam Casey Mole Pratty and you know,
Speaker 8: you could just tell that they were all great friends too.
Speaker 8: And then when I got the chance to play for
Speaker 8: the first time when I was sixteen seventeen, I really
Speaker 8: looked up to that, and so yeah, it's cool that
Speaker 8: we've sort of been able to continue that. But it's
Speaker 8: just so easy because everyone's so nice, and yeah, we
Speaker 8: follow each other's results and send messages and yeah, I
Speaker 8: feel really really privileged to be a part of it.
Speaker 7: You mentioned Pratty before, who was actually one of the
Speaker 7: panelists on today's show. What's the best and maybe the
Speaker 7: hardest thing about having Pratty in your corner?
Speaker 8: Ah, well, there's a lot of best things she's that's
Speaker 8: an easy one. I don't know sure if I should
Speaker 8: answer the hard hardest thing question, especially if she might
Speaker 8: listen to this interview. But no, I've just been so
Speaker 8: lucky to have Patty in my corner, and in particular
Speaker 8: in the last twelve months, but throughout my whole career.
Speaker 8: Basically she's been there, and she's such an advocate for
Speaker 8: women's tennis, and she's done so much, not only while
Speaker 8: she was playing but since she retired too, And yeah,
Speaker 8: just so grateful for her for taking me under her wing.
Speaker 8: And I had a little moment sort of after Wimbledon
Speaker 8: last year where I asked her for a little bit
Speaker 8: more help, and yeah, she has really really done that,
Speaker 8: and you know, I think we make a great team
Speaker 8: and I love being being able to share these experiences
Speaker 8: with her and travel a little bit more with her,
Speaker 8: and I've just learned so much. She's such a wealth
Speaker 8: of information. I don't think many people know more about
Speaker 8: the women's game than she does. So yeah, to have
Speaker 8: someone like that in your corner who is pretty amazing.
Speaker 7: Well, Kim, thank you so much for chatting with me
Speaker 7: today and I wish you all the best of luck
Speaker 7: for Austin and beyond.
Speaker 8: Thank you, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1: Thanks so much, Australia's top ranked player, Kim Beryl. Some
Speaker 1: lovely words there, Pratty. Your response to hearing that from
Speaker 1: your charge?
Speaker 3: Oh it's nice, isn't it?
Speaker 6: No?
Speaker 4: I mean, yeah, listen equally, I love working with Kim,
Speaker 4: so it's been it's been great for me to be
Speaker 4: able to I think all the work that's been done
Speaker 4: prior with her team, the people that she's had throughout
Speaker 4: the years, you know, they're the people that have made
Speaker 4: Kim who she is today. And I almost feel like
Speaker 4: my role is just putting a little bit of the
Speaker 4: icing on the cake, you know, since I sort of
Speaker 4: stepped up in September, pretty much like we had that
Speaker 4: chat at Wimbledon, which lots of tears and comfort, but
Speaker 4: then to equally to be able to say no, no,
Speaker 4: you're going to be fine, You're going to be good,
Speaker 4: But then I had to put my money.
Speaker 3: Where my mouth was.
Speaker 4: So yeah, I think the biggest thing I think I've
Speaker 4: been able to contribute to Kim is just her believing
Speaker 4: in herself. You know, constantly on a daily basis, I say,
Speaker 4: what you've Got's enough?
Speaker 2: It's enough.
Speaker 4: You know, Yeah, we'll keep working, but you've just got
Speaker 4: to believe in yourself in those tough moments and back
Speaker 4: yourself and to a credit, that's what you know, That's
Speaker 4: what she's done. And again, part of my belief is
Speaker 4: the game never stands still, so equally we are working
Speaker 4: on a few things just to get that little bit
Speaker 4: better each and every day, and she's happy to go
Speaker 4: there with it, which makes you know, working with someone
Speaker 4: incredibly coachable, really really enjoyable. So I'm on a plan
Speaker 4: tomorrow so Austin to meet up with her, and yeah,
Speaker 4: pretty happy I didn't hear what.
Speaker 3: Was the hardest thing. I'll make sure I'll ask her
Speaker 3: over there in as.
Speaker 1: She's had quite the journey. It's been a tumultuous experience
Speaker 1: for her at times, Sam, but great to see her
Speaker 1: now ranked seventy six in the world. What does Kim
Speaker 1: bring to this Australian team.
Speaker 5: Oh loads, you know, Pratty obviously spoke to the person
Speaker 5: that she is and the type of player and being
Speaker 5: coachable and you know Kim. What I love about Kim
Speaker 5: is that she's one person who'll come up to actually
Speaker 5: ask questions and she wants to know. She wants to
Speaker 5: know what she can do to be better. How do
Speaker 5: I do that? What should I do? What do you think?
Speaker 5: And she's not afraid to do that, which I think
Speaker 5: is fantastic and I think it's kind of a bit
Speaker 5: rare as well to be so open about wanting that information.
Speaker 5: She works hard and now she's getting the reward for
Speaker 5: all those years of perseverance, through those injuries and what
Speaker 5: she's been through. So yeah, to see her be now
Speaker 5: keep using this word consistent. She's had that, you know,
Speaker 5: now at her best ranking, and she had a great
Speaker 5: summer and she backed it up with that win at
Speaker 5: the seventy five and Brisbane, which I have to say,
Speaker 5: going from playing on a full pat Rafter arena against
Speaker 5: Emma Navarro and even the next match that she lost
Speaker 5: to having that atmosphere and crowd to arguably maybe a
Speaker 5: few people in the stands, you know, a few weeks later,
Speaker 5: to still get through that and win the title. Amazing effort.
Speaker 5: So yeah, I'm super pleased for her. I've known Kim
Speaker 5: since she was like eight or nine years old, and
Speaker 5: she's pretty much exactly the same person.
Speaker 2: Just did a bigger frame.
Speaker 1: First cab off the rank for Team Australia at Kim
Speaker 1: Berrell and the rest of the team to be named
Speaker 1: next month, is it pratty?
Speaker 8: Yeah?
Speaker 4: Will Sam and I make a decision over a cocktail
Speaker 4: in Indian Wells based on.
Speaker 6: The results there Mahito or something we have tough life from.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so yeah, that'll be our toughest decision.
Speaker 1: I think which cocktail did choose?
Speaker 8: Yeah?
Speaker 1: I forget the team all right, It's time for Ace
Speaker 1: of the Week, where we each share one personal highlight,
Speaker 1: but preferably non tennis related, as hard as that can
Speaker 1: be for some of us from week to week. Pretty
Speaker 1: I'm going to start with you on this side of
Speaker 1: the table, Like.
Speaker 4: I'm just a tennis tragic, but you also like Netflix. No,
Speaker 4: I mean I really I do have to share, Like
Speaker 4: today was the last session at Melbourne Park with Storm Hunter.
Speaker 3: Shit, I'm getting a motion.
Speaker 1: We like it.
Speaker 3: After ten months we're off.
Speaker 1: So yeah, how did you mark the occasion? He on that.
Speaker 4: I basically said to a storm I'm going to feed
Speaker 4: you five four hands and I want you to hit
Speaker 4: them as hard as you can. I don't care where
Speaker 4: they go, but we're just going to remember this moment.
Speaker 3: That's beautiful and move on.
Speaker 1: And she nailed them, nailed them. God on you. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Storm was great on the pod last week announcing her comeback.
Speaker 1: All the best to her and your entire team. Thanks
Speaker 1: for the upcoming American swing. Sam. What's your highlight of
Speaker 1: the week.
Speaker 5: Oh, I think I said on the Christmas podcast, I've
Speaker 5: wanted my views resolution was to be a little bit
Speaker 5: more physically active this year, to do a bit more exercise,
Speaker 5: and I.
Speaker 6: Ronic for one of the great, like someone that's always
Speaker 6: been absolutely ripped like that is it's a.
Speaker 2: Bit pathetic really, but you know, I did draw a
Speaker 2: line in the sand.
Speaker 5: I've joined pilates, I've been swimming a few times, like
Speaker 5: since Ao because that was there's no way anything's going
Speaker 5: to happen there, but you do enough steps around the grounds.
Speaker 5: I've been a couple of bike rides, which is what
Speaker 5: I wanted to do, so I've been true to my word.
Speaker 2: No, we're only mid feb. But you know, I'm proud
Speaker 2: of myself.
Speaker 1: We're proud of you too. The whole tennis team is
Speaker 1: part of is proud of you. The pilates classes must
Speaker 1: be an interesting experience, going from the intensity of the
Speaker 1: tennis court into one of the more serene environments in
Speaker 1: terms of exercise.
Speaker 2: I've never gone to just a know it would almost
Speaker 2: sound bat but like.
Speaker 5: A general public class where you just sign up online
Speaker 5: and I had no idea who the instructor was, who
Speaker 5: else was going to be in there. And it was
Speaker 5: me and nine other women and just got on the
Speaker 5: reformer and followed the instruction and I actually really enjoyed it.
Speaker 2: I had a great time.
Speaker 5: But yeah, I have to say it was a little
Speaker 5: bit scared doing it because I've never done that before.
Speaker 1: I've been my wife was trying to encourage me to
Speaker 1: get into it, but I haven't even had the guts
Speaker 1: to do it yet.
Speaker 5: So well, you can come with me, I can bring
Speaker 5: a friend, I can click bring a friend.
Speaker 1: Wonderful and back on the bike as well. That was
Speaker 1: it a birthday gift or a Christmas present?
Speaker 5: There? No, it was a smashed the old bikes on
Speaker 5: the roof rack president a replacement.
Speaker 2: You know, if you're going to replace it, you've got
Speaker 2: to use it. Yeah, but never never been happier out
Speaker 2: in the bike.
Speaker 1: Lovely good to be back on the bike and Razor.
Speaker 1: What's your ace of the week, sir mine?
Speaker 6: Probably would be the last couple of weeks. Our elder
Speaker 6: started school a couple of weeks back and maybe two
Speaker 6: or three weeks back and a bit of a staged
Speaker 6: approach into you know, they give them every Wednesday or
Speaker 6: Wednesday Thursday, five or six days off for the first
Speaker 6: few weeks. This week's his first full week. He was
Speaker 6: a bit underweather essay, so he was off. But Charlie's
Speaker 6: really enjoying it. He's loving school at fines Park there
Speaker 6: and Geelong. But the prep teachers, you know, like that's
Speaker 6: so impressive to take a classroom of twenty five year
Speaker 6: olds and have some order and some structure and some
Speaker 6: fun and some smiles and like we think it's tough
Speaker 6: enough coaching one or two or three player, and it is.
Speaker 6: There's some really tough moments in coaching. But to organize
Speaker 6: young people and show the care and kind of balance,
Speaker 6: you know, care, support, challenge, all of those things I
Speaker 6: couldn't do that. I'm in awe of the teaching fraternity,
Speaker 6: let me.
Speaker 1: Say, especially primary school age.
Speaker 6: Exactly.
Speaker 1: It's like a sex parent job.
Speaker 2: Really, yeah, exactly for me.
Speaker 1: Yesterday marked twenty years since I arrived in this city.
Speaker 1: Twenty years in Melbourne for me, this week awesome. And
Speaker 1: I came up as a seventeen year old with very
Speaker 1: little insight into Melbourne and the metropolitan culture, and I,
Speaker 1: you know, signed up to UNI and I joined a college.
Speaker 1: And last night I and a good mate who I
Speaker 1: met on that first night at college went out caught
Speaker 1: up shot some pool at the local billiard, you know,
Speaker 1: local pool hall, and reminisced about times past, and yeah,
Speaker 1: just reflecting back on twenty years in this great city
Speaker 1: and all the all the opportunities and experiences I've had,
Speaker 1: Like I knew you guys as athletes on a screen
Speaker 1: growing up at that point, and then here we are
Speaker 1: twenty years later and working with some fine people at
Speaker 1: this great company. So it's been a journey, and I
Speaker 1: guess in three weeks I'm signing off temporarily as I've
Speaker 1: become a father. So the next chapter begins in March.
Speaker 1: As you very theatrically close the page.
Speaker 2: So that wasn't trying to wrap you up. Sorry looking
Speaker 2: for you.
Speaker 1: Thank you very much, Thanks to everyone who's played a
Speaker 1: role in my two decades in this great city.
Speaker 6: Very exciting for you and your family on the next steps.
Speaker 1: Indeed, thank you very much for all being a part
Speaker 1: of today's show. Pratty and Sam, you're both heading over
Speaker 1: to Indian Wells, Is that right?
Speaker 2: Yeah, Praddy tomorrow, me a little bit later.
Speaker 1: And Simon, what's your plans over the next few weeks.
Speaker 6: I'm here for the next few weeks anyway, yep, in town, John,
Speaker 6: So thanks for having me on.
Speaker 1: Great I think Levi from your team is also going
Speaker 1: to be joining a little bit more frequently throughout the year.
Speaker 1: Ye Breeze currently on leave. She'll be back in a
Speaker 1: couple of weeks. You can join us again next week
Speaker 1: though for more of the tennis. As we preview Indian Wells,
Speaker 1: the start of the Sunshine Double as it were. Don't forget.
Speaker 1: You can watch this episode and all other episodes of
Speaker 1: the tennis on our YouTube channel, Australian Open TV. And
Speaker 1: don't forget to subscribe and hit the bell below to
Speaker 1: stay across all of the tennis news throughout the year.
Speaker 1: Have a great week in tennis. Team, Thanks, thank you,
Speaker 1: see you next week.