WEBVTT - The Sit-Down with Simon Rea 0:00:02.279 --> 0:00:05.200 Hi everyone, and welcome to another episode of the sit Down. 0:00:05.360 --> 0:00:08.160 I'm Mattroloca, writer for oz open dot com and I'm. 0:00:08.080 --> 0:00:12.200 Viv Christie, Managing editor of Australian Tennis magazine. And Matt, 0:00:12.240 --> 0:00:14.680 why do we sit down this week with Simon Ray? 0:00:15.080 --> 0:00:17.480 Well, we've always wanted to sit down with Simon Ray. 0:00:17.520 --> 0:00:19.959 I think he's a long term colleague of ours who's 0:00:20.000 --> 0:00:22.960 arrived in Australia via New Zealand, and so we had 0:00:22.960 --> 0:00:25.599 a really wide ranging chat about how he discovered the 0:00:25.600 --> 0:00:27.920 game in New Zealand, the kinds of players he went 0:00:27.960 --> 0:00:30.920 on to work with, including Nick Kirios and Sam Stoza, 0:00:31.320 --> 0:00:33.920 and now that he's moved into the data analysis space. 0:00:34.040 --> 0:00:36.680 So it was Yeah, it was fascinating to pick his 0:00:36.720 --> 0:00:37.840 brain on all of these things. 0:00:38.120 --> 0:00:40.960 This is actually one of my favorite interviews that we've 0:00:41.000 --> 0:00:43.559 done so far for the sit Down. Simon was so 0:00:44.440 --> 0:00:47.440 candid and insightful and his passion for the sport really 0:00:47.479 --> 0:00:47.960 shone through. 0:00:50.960 --> 0:00:53.159 Simon Ray, thank you very much for joining us in 0:00:53.159 --> 0:00:54.200 the studio today. 0:00:54.360 --> 0:00:56.160 Hi Matt, Hi Viv, thanks for having me. Good to 0:00:56.160 --> 0:00:56.480 be here. 0:00:56.560 --> 0:00:59.480 Why don't we start at the beginning and how you 0:00:59.520 --> 0:01:01.920 came to play tennis in a country like New Zealand, 0:01:02.000 --> 0:01:04.480 which may be compared to Australia, doesn't have quite the 0:01:04.520 --> 0:01:07.360 same tennis tradition or visibility at the top. 0:01:07.640 --> 0:01:08.759 No, I think that's really fair. 0:01:09.240 --> 0:01:11.360 Yeah, it's been a while since I explored that question 0:01:11.720 --> 0:01:14.000 or thought about that question. I grew up on the 0:01:14.000 --> 0:01:16.200 north shore of Auckland back in New Zealand, as you describe, 0:01:16.240 --> 0:01:20.720 and really stumbled across tennis, almost quite literally. So Dad 0:01:20.800 --> 0:01:23.440 used to walk the dog near the lake. There's a 0:01:23.520 --> 0:01:26.160 natural freshwater lake, a volcanic lake near where we live 0:01:27.200 --> 0:01:30.160 on the north shore of Auckland, and the dog would 0:01:30.240 --> 0:01:33.000 really enjoy being exercised near that lake and the tennis 0:01:33.000 --> 0:01:35.080 courts border the lake Lake Poopuck on the north shore 0:01:35.080 --> 0:01:37.440 of Auckland near Milford and Takapuna, and the dog would 0:01:37.480 --> 0:01:40.280 be hunting for tennis balls and finding plenty that had 0:01:40.319 --> 0:01:42.840 gone over the fence. And one day an elderly gentleman 0:01:43.319 --> 0:01:44.959 beckoned me down to the court when I was there 0:01:45.000 --> 0:01:46.920 with my dog. I think maybe I'd had a rack 0:01:46.959 --> 0:01:48.160 in my hand and I was hitting on the wall, 0:01:48.200 --> 0:01:50.320 the volleyboard, the volleyboard wall. 0:01:50.120 --> 0:01:51.240 You know, which never misses. 0:01:51.840 --> 0:01:55.080 And Joe o' rourke, this great Catholic man from the 0:01:55.080 --> 0:01:57.000 Milford Tennis Club on the north shore of Auckland, said 0:01:57.000 --> 0:01:59.240 to me, come on down, Come on down, and he 0:01:59.320 --> 0:02:00.960 went on, I must have been I don't know, seven 0:02:01.000 --> 0:02:02.320 or eight. And he went on to hit with me 0:02:02.680 --> 0:02:05.680 before school most mornings for the next. 0:02:05.440 --> 0:02:06.360 Three or four years. 0:02:06.640 --> 0:02:09.040 And he wasn't a coach as we know a coach, 0:02:09.080 --> 0:02:10.560 but he was a volunteer at the club. He was 0:02:10.600 --> 0:02:12.560 fixing up the fence, he was fixing the lights when 0:02:12.560 --> 0:02:15.040 they were out of action. He was teaching me life lessons. 0:02:15.040 --> 0:02:17.320 He was a World War Two veteran. I was a 0:02:17.360 --> 0:02:19.120 poor bear at his funeral and he was the most 0:02:19.200 --> 0:02:22.480 remarkable man. And so that was my introduction to tennis. 0:02:22.520 --> 0:02:25.120 He literally, out of the goodness of his heart, introduced 0:02:25.160 --> 0:02:27.239 me to the sport. Became a part of our family, 0:02:27.320 --> 0:02:29.640 or I became a part of his. And so it 0:02:29.680 --> 0:02:32.440 was really that fateful kind of path that led me 0:02:32.560 --> 0:02:34.080 to the sport of tennis. 0:02:34.280 --> 0:02:36.120 What was it that made you stick with tennis or 0:02:36.120 --> 0:02:36.920 that you loved about it? 0:02:37.560 --> 0:02:40.200 Okay, sorry, there was a part of me that really 0:02:40.280 --> 0:02:42.760 enjoyed and this is probably two parts or two sides 0:02:42.800 --> 0:02:45.760 of this coin. I think later on in life, and 0:02:45.800 --> 0:02:48.800 that's perhaps this is me thinking about the grass being greener. 0:02:50.240 --> 0:02:52.000 There's a part of me that wishes I wonder if 0:02:52.040 --> 0:02:54.680 I'd explored a team sport for a little longer, and 0:02:54.720 --> 0:02:57.440 the appeal of the team sport, but I think being 0:02:57.480 --> 0:03:00.080 young and ambitious and driven, I think what I I 0:03:00.120 --> 0:03:02.800 really would have enjoyed was that hard work, which is 0:03:02.800 --> 0:03:07.040 something that I've tried to pride myself on over the 0:03:07.120 --> 0:03:10.000 journey as a solid enough work ethic, the reward for 0:03:10.040 --> 0:03:11.919 effort there. So if you wake up in the morning 0:03:11.919 --> 0:03:13.720 and get to work, whether it's on the volleyball or 0:03:13.720 --> 0:03:16.519 with Joe O'Rourke, who was a self taught man, or 0:03:16.560 --> 0:03:18.960 with my first formal coach at the Milford Tennis Club, 0:03:19.000 --> 0:03:21.400 and the harder you work, the lucky you tend to 0:03:21.440 --> 0:03:24.680 get and the more doors open for you. And so 0:03:25.040 --> 0:03:27.080 I think that was probably one of the things, was 0:03:28.120 --> 0:03:31.760 the competitor in me was growing and evolving and I 0:03:31.800 --> 0:03:35.200 was seeing opportunity out of my hard work. And that's 0:03:35.240 --> 0:03:37.320 always a nice feeling, I think anytime for all of 0:03:37.400 --> 0:03:39.240 us when we get reward for effort. So it was 0:03:39.280 --> 0:03:41.920 probably that. Right back at it now, I'm talking a 0:03:41.920 --> 0:03:44.040 little bit older, probably eleven twelve thirteen, as I got 0:03:44.040 --> 0:03:48.240 into the competitive pathway that existed in tennis in New Zealand. 0:03:48.400 --> 0:03:51.640 And your competitive pathway took you to college, I think, yeah, 0:03:51.920 --> 0:03:55.120 University of Tennessee, Yeah, and then also the New Zealand 0:03:55.160 --> 0:03:55.800 Davis Cup team. 0:03:55.880 --> 0:03:56.120 Yeah. 0:03:56.160 --> 0:03:58.160 So you mentioned Matt and I think it's a good segue, 0:03:58.240 --> 0:04:01.600 and you mentioned probably part of the limited lineage that 0:04:01.680 --> 0:04:04.520 tennis in New Zealand has experience compared to the incredible 0:04:04.680 --> 0:04:08.280 lineage of tennis in this country in Australia, and I 0:04:08.280 --> 0:04:11.960 think that's really fair. But one of the childhood heroes 0:04:12.280 --> 0:04:14.640 of all of us down in New Zealand was Chris Lewis, 0:04:14.640 --> 0:04:16.920 who made that Wimbledon final in nineteen eighty three. I 0:04:16.920 --> 0:04:19.599 think it was against John McEnroe, and that was a 0:04:19.640 --> 0:04:23.000 moment that all New Zealand has tended to remember. Chris 0:04:23.080 --> 0:04:25.599 ended up and his brother Mark, who coached Michael Stick 0:04:26.080 --> 0:04:29.120 who was the German Wimbledon champion. So there was a 0:04:29.120 --> 0:04:31.840 bit of a coaching royalty between Chris and Mark there 0:04:31.839 --> 0:04:33.520 in New Zealand, and both of those two ended up 0:04:33.560 --> 0:04:36.119 coaching me at seventeen eighteen, and I was a handy 0:04:36.200 --> 0:04:38.200 junior in New Zealand. You know, I was probably final 0:04:38.240 --> 0:04:41.400 of twelves Nationals and semi final of fourteen's Nationals. But 0:04:41.440 --> 0:04:43.760 I was never really the best junior in the country 0:04:44.279 --> 0:04:45.720 until I had started to have a little bit more 0:04:45.760 --> 0:04:48.159 success really by virtue of the fact that I came 0:04:48.200 --> 0:04:50.200 under Chris and Mark's umbrella for a couple of years there. 0:04:50.200 --> 0:04:52.839 At seventeen eighteen, I was finishing my time at Auckland 0:04:52.839 --> 0:04:55.440 Grammar School at the same time, and that was seventeen 0:04:55.480 --> 0:04:57.880 eighteen was when I first broke through to become the 0:04:57.960 --> 0:04:59.039 national champion, if you like. 0:04:59.080 --> 0:05:00.400 In the eighteen took me. 0:05:00.680 --> 0:05:02.520 I was around the mark, but it took me until 0:05:02.720 --> 0:05:05.720 seventeen probably to win my first national title. And off 0:05:05.760 --> 0:05:08.159 the back of that at eighteen, look, I thought I 0:05:08.200 --> 0:05:10.240 was ready and good enough to go and play professionally. 0:05:10.279 --> 0:05:12.160 And I was driven and hungry and wanted to chase 0:05:12.160 --> 0:05:14.599 the dream like every seventeen or eighteen year old did. 0:05:15.080 --> 0:05:16.920 But you know, Mum and Dad probably had the good 0:05:16.960 --> 0:05:19.240 counsel and the good awareness A to know they couldn't 0:05:19.279 --> 0:05:21.800 afford it, and b perhaps to see some of the 0:05:21.800 --> 0:05:23.839 things that I couldn't see and go, oh, I'm not 0:05:23.880 --> 0:05:25.680 sure in their own minds. Maybe I'm not sure if 0:05:25.720 --> 0:05:27.200 they thought that'd be a question for I'd have to 0:05:27.200 --> 0:05:29.760 ask them today. But really, the only path for me 0:05:29.920 --> 0:05:32.680 financially where we were at was the US college system 0:05:32.720 --> 0:05:35.560 and the University of Tennessee. And Chris Marney, who was 0:05:35.600 --> 0:05:38.880 responsible for giving giving me my first coaching job here 0:05:38.920 --> 0:05:42.039 at Tennis Australia, was my assistant coach there in Knoxville 0:05:42.040 --> 0:05:45.520 at the University of Tennessee. So sometimes what's that saying, 0:05:45.560 --> 0:05:46.839 it's not what you know, it too, you know, And 0:05:46.880 --> 0:05:50.080 that's certainly been something that's been true for me in 0:05:50.160 --> 0:05:53.040 my journey in tennis over the two or three decades. 0:05:53.080 --> 0:05:54.320 I've been lucky enough to be in the sport. 0:05:54.520 --> 0:05:56.839 And then you, of course went on to have a 0:05:56.880 --> 0:05:59.720 coaching career. How did that coaching career come about? 0:06:00.040 --> 0:06:03.719 Yeah, well I mentioned Chris really to this day very 0:06:03.720 --> 0:06:06.920 indebted to Chris. So, you know, I mentioned my playing 0:06:06.960 --> 0:06:09.360 ambitions and I probably had one shot at that and 0:06:10.040 --> 0:06:12.960 graduated from the University of Tennessee. I finished my playing 0:06:13.000 --> 0:06:15.280 eligibility in two thousand and four, but I hadn't finished 0:06:15.279 --> 0:06:18.160 my ironically enough journalism degree at that point. 0:06:18.200 --> 0:06:18.520 In time. 0:06:20.040 --> 0:06:22.000 It did go back and finish that in two thousand 0:06:22.040 --> 0:06:25.119 and six, and was really fortunate that the university, because 0:06:25.120 --> 0:06:27.640 it's in their interest they want to graduate their student athletes, 0:06:28.240 --> 0:06:30.360 they would pay for you to come back and do that. 0:06:30.440 --> 0:06:33.360 So look, long story short, we had a really disappointing 0:06:33.400 --> 0:06:35.440 Davis Cup lost there to Pakistan. I think in two 0:06:35.480 --> 0:06:38.280 thousand and four, I had a base in America at 0:06:38.279 --> 0:06:40.400 the time. I had an American girlfriend at the time, 0:06:40.920 --> 0:06:43.120 and I wasn't as resilient. In hindsight, I wasn't as 0:06:43.160 --> 0:06:46.039 resilient as I would hope that my kids would be 0:06:46.040 --> 0:06:48.760 in the same situation. I probably thought, oh, look this 0:06:48.800 --> 0:06:50.599 is getting a bit hard. I'm running low on funds. 0:06:50.600 --> 0:06:52.440 I've got an American girlfriend back here who had this 0:06:52.520 --> 0:06:55.720 really disappointing diabolical park that lost to Pakistan. We're down 0:06:55.760 --> 0:06:57.560 to group two in Asia Oshi only for the first 0:06:57.560 --> 0:06:59.680 time ever. It went a bit pear shaped and the 0:06:59.680 --> 0:07:03.480 team environment. We lost three too, and I was the 0:07:03.520 --> 0:07:06.279 loser of the three ties and the five match rubber 0:07:06.320 --> 0:07:10.320 if you like. It wasn't a great sequence of events, 0:07:10.360 --> 0:07:12.520 if you like. And at that point in time, I thought, look, 0:07:12.520 --> 0:07:14.360 I'm never going to play again. And it was only 0:07:15.160 --> 0:07:18.560 as a byproduct of finishing your studies you were required 0:07:18.600 --> 0:07:20.320 to come and hit some balls with the next student 0:07:20.360 --> 0:07:23.000 athletes that were coming through. So a year or two later, 0:07:23.040 --> 0:07:26.280 I'd started doing some informal coaching with some youngsters on 0:07:26.320 --> 0:07:29.880 the team and found myself a little bit older, perhaps 0:07:29.880 --> 0:07:33.560 that little bit wiser. That's arguable, just a different perspective 0:07:33.600 --> 0:07:35.800 on life. And as I was coming towards the finish 0:07:35.960 --> 0:07:38.600 the later stages of my actual degree, I thought, I'm 0:07:38.600 --> 0:07:40.280 probably hitting the ball better than I ever had before, 0:07:40.320 --> 0:07:42.160 and started to play again. And that's when I had 0:07:42.520 --> 0:07:44.840 just a little bit of really lower level success on 0:07:44.880 --> 0:07:47.320 the future what we called the future circuit back then. 0:07:48.200 --> 0:07:49.840 And look, in two thousand and eight, I had some 0:07:50.000 --> 0:07:52.080 arm problems. That wasn't the reason I realized it at 0:07:52.080 --> 0:07:54.080 twenty six years of age. I think at that point 0:07:54.080 --> 0:07:56.680 in time two thousand and eight, Yep, I'm not good 0:07:56.760 --> 0:07:59.280 enough and I'm never going to be good enough. So 0:07:59.320 --> 0:08:04.200 that can be quite to confronting, or I certainly provide 0:08:04.200 --> 0:08:05.520 a bit of a jolt in your life, a bit 0:08:05.520 --> 0:08:07.720 of a where to next. And for me it was 0:08:08.200 --> 0:08:11.000 quite simple. I'd always loved coaching of all sports, I'd 0:08:11.040 --> 0:08:14.240 always studied coaches, coach k and during my time in 0:08:14.280 --> 0:08:17.720 the States at the Duke University men's basketball program, or 0:08:18.200 --> 0:08:20.720 you name a coaching book. At Paul Rouse's book back 0:08:20.760 --> 0:08:23.240 here in Melbourne, you know, I'd read it. As a teenager. 0:08:23.240 --> 0:08:25.840 I was passionate about coaching, not just tennis, but all 0:08:25.920 --> 0:08:28.800 kind of all things sport. And so if it was 0:08:28.800 --> 0:08:30.960 a case of I think there's a saying for that 0:08:31.000 --> 0:08:32.600 as well. What you can't do, you try to teach. 0:08:32.800 --> 0:08:34.679 So I thought, hey, I'm not going to be able 0:08:34.720 --> 0:08:36.520 to make it as an elite player. I'm not good enough, 0:08:36.520 --> 0:08:39.079 I don't have the ability. I'm not going to kind 0:08:39.080 --> 0:08:41.240 of crack that glass ceiling. Let me try and turn 0:08:41.280 --> 0:08:43.000 my hand to something that maybe I can be truly 0:08:43.000 --> 0:08:45.320 great at. And I don't think i've, by no means 0:08:45.320 --> 0:08:47.760 have I been truly great at coaching. But the opportunity 0:08:47.800 --> 0:08:50.920 that Chris as my assistant coach at Tennessee, had then 0:08:50.960 --> 0:08:53.360 pivoted to become the head coach at what was the 0:08:53.440 --> 0:08:56.200 National Academy in Melbourne back at that time. He was 0:08:56.200 --> 0:08:58.120 short on staff, and he said, hey, look, there's no 0:08:58.160 --> 0:09:00.440 guarantees here some but if you'd like to sue this, 0:09:00.880 --> 0:09:02.600 you can go through the process and try to win 0:09:02.640 --> 0:09:05.360 the role. So I did and Melbourne came home for 0:09:05.440 --> 0:09:07.720 me back in two thousand and eight. So that was 0:09:07.760 --> 0:09:11.880 really what opened my pathway to the last of the 0:09:12.120 --> 0:09:13.760 best part of the last couple of decades here at 0:09:13.760 --> 0:09:14.480 Tennis Australia. 0:09:15.120 --> 0:09:19.400 That's awesome, and you have coached some high profile players, 0:09:19.440 --> 0:09:24.760 including Nick Curios at Wimwooden in twenty he was twenty fourteen, 0:09:24.840 --> 0:09:28.000 he made his run to the quarterfinals. What was that 0:09:28.160 --> 0:09:30.160 experience like working with him? 0:09:30.440 --> 0:09:32.160 Look, I reflect on my time with Nick. It's a 0:09:32.200 --> 0:09:34.320 long time ago. Now it's a decade ago. I reflect 0:09:34.400 --> 0:09:37.440 on my time with Nick really fondly. By and large. 0:09:38.080 --> 0:09:40.200 That's not to say that went challenges along the way, 0:09:40.480 --> 0:09:44.720 and you know Nick is someone that would certainly challenge 0:09:44.720 --> 0:09:47.480 you as a coach. I learned an enormous amount from Nick. 0:09:48.559 --> 0:09:50.680 Just on your first point, I think Brent Larkham, who 0:09:50.720 --> 0:09:52.600 was another person that's been a really big influence on 0:09:52.640 --> 0:09:55.480 my coaching career and given me great opportunity along my 0:09:55.559 --> 0:09:58.240 time here at Tennis astral said to me once, look, 0:09:58.920 --> 0:10:01.400 good players make good coach and I think that's true. 0:10:01.440 --> 0:10:04.640 So I was really fortunate to have throughout my coaching 0:10:04.679 --> 0:10:09.040 tenure at tennis astraight access or opportunity or an involvement 0:10:09.120 --> 0:10:12.000 with some of our better players in the sport. Nick 0:10:12.080 --> 0:10:15.240 loved to challenge, He loved to push back. I learned 0:10:15.280 --> 0:10:17.400 a lot. I think, probably some of the things that 0:10:17.440 --> 0:10:20.880 I thought I believed at the start of my time 0:10:20.920 --> 0:10:24.040 with Nick, and then what I'd learned over that eighteen months. 0:10:24.040 --> 0:10:26.280 And it was only eighteen months, but I learned an 0:10:26.400 --> 0:10:28.960 enormous amount. And I think I'd be better for that 0:10:29.080 --> 0:10:33.199 experience where I ever to re enter the coaching fray 0:10:34.320 --> 0:10:35.960 And as I said, yeah, by and large look back 0:10:36.000 --> 0:10:38.920 on that time really fondly. One thing about Nick that 0:10:38.960 --> 0:10:42.080 I do recall, you know, I think that's probably evolved 0:10:42.120 --> 0:10:45.920 over time and turned into that entertainer and that charismatic 0:10:46.000 --> 0:10:49.199 kind of showman and that alternative style. And I think 0:10:49.200 --> 0:10:51.200 there was an element of that that was always there 0:10:51.200 --> 0:10:54.200 in Nick. There was always kind of a trickiness in 0:10:54.360 --> 0:10:57.679 coaching Nick or applying some rigor or some discipline to 0:10:57.760 --> 0:11:00.000 Neck or Nick would love to argue. I can remember 0:11:00.160 --> 0:11:02.560 talking about language with Neck and why it was important, 0:11:02.600 --> 0:11:04.880 and he would take the alternative point of view and 0:11:05.320 --> 0:11:08.120 argue his case really strongly. But one thing I do remember. 0:11:08.200 --> 0:11:10.560 You know, Nick would be doing a simple training drom 0:11:10.559 --> 0:11:12.680 warming up over at the National Tennis Center here, just 0:11:12.800 --> 0:11:15.080 a few hundred meters from where we are today, and 0:11:15.120 --> 0:11:16.640 he'd be warming up, hitting balls up and down the 0:11:16.640 --> 0:11:18.280 middle with his peers, you know, some of the other 0:11:18.280 --> 0:11:21.880 best players in Australia. And if I were down his end, 0:11:22.040 --> 0:11:23.960 you know, just four or five meters behind him at 0:11:23.960 --> 0:11:26.360 the baseline, and the players missed down the other end. 0:11:26.400 --> 0:11:27.840 This is in the first five or ten minutes of 0:11:27.840 --> 0:11:30.440 the session. He would say things like, you can't afford 0:11:30.440 --> 0:11:33.120 to miss that, just quietly under his breath. 0:11:33.160 --> 0:11:33.280 You know. 0:11:33.280 --> 0:11:36.200 It wasn't a sledge at the it was almost I 0:11:36.240 --> 0:11:38.880 reflect on that as him being this is the cerebral 0:11:38.880 --> 0:11:42.319 part that I think we has gotten lost maybe over 0:11:42.360 --> 0:11:44.680 the last decade or so. This is the cerebral part 0:11:44.679 --> 0:11:46.840 of neck that was going, I reckon. I know the 0:11:46.920 --> 0:11:51.640 level and that's not the level, and that miss there 0:11:51.720 --> 0:11:53.960 is going to end up hurting you. So things like 0:11:54.000 --> 0:11:56.520 that I've always been able to kind of vividly remember. 0:11:57.080 --> 0:12:00.640 And then the Wimbledon experience specifically in twenty fourteen, Gee, 0:12:00.640 --> 0:12:03.040 that was interesting. And Aaron Kellett, who was the physical 0:12:03.040 --> 0:12:05.280 performance coach, did a great job with Nick because Nick 0:12:05.480 --> 0:12:07.319 when he came into the program at fifteen, Nick was 0:12:07.320 --> 0:12:09.720 flat out doing one push up. And again, you know, 0:12:09.760 --> 0:12:11.720 the clever part of Nick, I think realized over the 0:12:11.920 --> 0:12:15.040 ensuing four or five years, oh, my physicality is probably 0:12:15.120 --> 0:12:16.600 not going to wash based on where it's out at 0:12:16.640 --> 0:12:18.720 the moment. So Nick and Aaron formed a really great 0:12:18.720 --> 0:12:21.080 team and Nick actually got to work on his physicality. 0:12:21.160 --> 0:12:22.960 You know, it wasn't always perfect, and he pushed back 0:12:23.000 --> 0:12:26.560 and challenged Aaron as well, but he knew, I've got 0:12:26.559 --> 0:12:28.480 a hole here in my game. Aaron can help me. 0:12:29.160 --> 0:12:31.840 Let's get to work, you know. And there were plenty 0:12:31.880 --> 0:12:34.040 of ups and downs on the way, but I always 0:12:34.800 --> 0:12:38.000 respected or admired or want to acknowledge that part of Nick. 0:12:38.080 --> 0:12:40.679 You know, he knew what needed to be done, whether 0:12:40.720 --> 0:12:43.000 he could bring himself to do it on a daily basis, 0:12:43.360 --> 0:12:46.440 but he knew He's not silly Nick. He was pretty 0:12:46.440 --> 0:12:49.360 clue onto where he was strong, perhaps where he needed 0:12:49.440 --> 0:12:51.480 room for improvement, and who could help him along the way. 0:12:52.000 --> 0:12:54.920 So Curiosi's Wimbledon campaign in twenty fourteen, he started with 0:12:54.960 --> 0:12:57.560 a win over Stefan Robert and then said heaps of 0:12:57.600 --> 0:12:59.640 match points to beat Richard Gasgay. But you were a 0:12:59.640 --> 0:13:02.360 little bit concerned that he might have a letdown after 0:13:02.400 --> 0:13:04.199 the gas Game match when he played Vessely so. 0:13:04.280 --> 0:13:06.360 And I remember saying to him, mate, Hey mate, our 0:13:06.360 --> 0:13:08.960 time might be come to an end, but I'm not 0:13:09.000 --> 0:13:11.480 going to let this die. I'm not prepared to allow 0:13:11.600 --> 0:13:14.760 you to let go of this golden opportunity. 0:13:14.200 --> 0:13:15.560 Because it was classic Nick. 0:13:15.679 --> 0:13:18.120 It was like Nick against gas Gay in round two, 0:13:19.000 --> 0:13:21.520 underdog against one of the great players, one of the 0:13:21.559 --> 0:13:24.800 elite play. That's his environment, like on show caught to it, 0:13:24.840 --> 0:13:26.520 when we look at what I can do, look at 0:13:26.559 --> 0:13:28.640 what I can bring to this moment. Then it was 0:13:28.679 --> 0:13:30.560 Vessely who was a really really good player, I don't 0:13:30.559 --> 0:13:32.720 get me wrong, really accomplish play. But then it's sort 0:13:32.760 --> 0:13:34.920 of like, oh, this is just a bit more ho hum. 0:13:34.920 --> 0:13:37.320 This is now round three at Wimbledon against someone forty 0:13:37.360 --> 0:13:39.600 six in the world. I'm just making this up forty 0:13:39.640 --> 0:13:41.320 six in the world. Oh, I've actually just got to 0:13:41.320 --> 0:13:43.480 go and win this match to then get through to 0:13:43.559 --> 0:13:46.280 round four and have the raffa opportunity again. So round 0:13:46.360 --> 0:13:49.079 three was the challenge. Raffa and Gasque weren't the challenge, 0:13:49.679 --> 0:13:51.240 and I'm sort of saying to Nick like, hey, mate, 0:13:51.280 --> 0:13:53.480 I'm sorry, but I'm just not prepared to allow you 0:13:53.520 --> 0:13:58.079 to waste this incredible opportunity. I wouldn't be doing the 0:13:58.160 --> 0:14:00.920 right thing by you. And we had a bit of 0:14:00.920 --> 0:14:03.560 a robust conversation and by no means am I the 0:14:03.559 --> 0:14:05.160 reason that he won that match. But there's a bit 0:14:05.160 --> 0:14:07.320 of an insight into some of those conversations. And he 0:14:07.360 --> 0:14:09.760 came out actually after that rain delay and he was 0:14:09.840 --> 0:14:12.320 firing and all silly, Yeah he was, he was. It 0:14:12.360 --> 0:14:14.320 was a different Nick than we saw in the hour 0:14:14.400 --> 0:14:17.240 and a quarter of tennis before the rain delay, and 0:14:17.280 --> 0:14:19.720 it ended up being an incredible note for Nick and 0:14:19.720 --> 0:14:22.080 I to finish on. Obviously, the match over Raffa, the 0:14:22.120 --> 0:14:26.480 win over Raffa was something I'll never forget and speaks 0:14:26.480 --> 0:14:28.320 to I don't know how I don't have that in me. 0:14:28.560 --> 0:14:30.120 I don't know how you can walk on to that 0:14:30.280 --> 0:14:33.160 court for the first time you've never walked on there before, 0:14:33.640 --> 0:14:35.960 and I've said this before, and not think that you're 0:14:35.960 --> 0:14:38.800 going to be competitive. No, no, no, no, you're gonna 0:14:38.920 --> 0:14:41.320 you're thinking that you're going to dominate this guy, and 0:14:41.360 --> 0:14:43.280 you've got no shadow of doubt in your mind. 0:14:43.360 --> 0:14:46.080 It's like, watch me go. Are you coming with me? 0:14:46.240 --> 0:14:47.880 I remember I came in from a run that morning 0:14:47.880 --> 0:14:49.520 and we were kind of sharing an apartment or town 0:14:49.600 --> 0:14:51.680 and he said to me, so I pop around the corner, 0:14:51.720 --> 0:14:54.120 so sow good morning, Nick. I pop around the corner. 0:14:54.120 --> 0:14:57.400 He said, signs come back. I said, Oh, what's going on? 0:14:57.440 --> 0:14:57.640 Nick? 0:14:57.680 --> 0:15:00.520 He said, oh, I'm versing your boy today, versing your 0:15:00.520 --> 0:15:03.440 boy because he knew I loved Rafa and I talked 0:15:03.440 --> 0:15:05.160 to Nick all the time about Raffas. 0:15:04.920 --> 0:15:06.520 Stand That's me, raff is my guy. 0:15:06.560 --> 0:15:10.560 I'm a Rafa guy, like standards day in day out, discipline, 0:15:11.040 --> 0:15:13.320 carry your own bag, do it the right way. I 0:15:13.360 --> 0:15:15.240 love everything that Raffas stands for. And Nick kind of 0:15:15.280 --> 0:15:17.760 knew that, and I said, no, no, no, Nick, you're 0:15:17.800 --> 0:15:20.120 my boy again. So that's just him like just needling 0:15:20.160 --> 0:15:22.200 a little bit or just but it was almost like 0:15:22.320 --> 0:15:24.360 he was sort of saying to me, I got something 0:15:24.360 --> 0:15:26.560 in store for you today, you know, And sure enough 0:15:27.080 --> 0:15:29.480 he did. It was a remarkable performance, and I reckon 0:15:29.480 --> 0:15:31.320 he wasn't far away from Bitten Rayonich in the quarter 0:15:31.320 --> 0:15:33.120 Finals either from memory. 0:15:32.880 --> 0:15:35.160 Sounds like he prepared you for that match against Rafa. 0:15:35.560 --> 0:15:37.000 Yeah, exactly, Well I came back. 0:15:37.320 --> 0:15:40.240 It's actually funny you should say that because there was 0:15:40.280 --> 0:15:42.040 a bunch of us over there. You know, there were 0:15:42.040 --> 0:15:44.520 probably four or five of us the night before the match. 0:15:44.560 --> 0:15:47.040 I remember Todd Larkham, who'd had such a big involvement 0:15:47.080 --> 0:15:50.600 with Nick throughout his developmental phase at Canberra. One of 0:15:50.600 --> 0:15:52.480 the best coaches I've ever had anything to do with. 0:15:52.480 --> 0:15:55.000 And now Tennis Australia Pathway, Mark A. Reid, who's my 0:15:55.000 --> 0:15:56.720 boss today, who was the head of Innovation, who was 0:15:56.800 --> 0:15:59.120 leading up our Triple sm team back then, so our 0:15:59.120 --> 0:16:00.560 sports science and sports medicine team. 0:16:00.560 --> 0:16:01.400 He was over at Wimbledon. 0:16:02.200 --> 0:16:05.120 And Shannon Nettle, who was again a good mate of 0:16:05.160 --> 0:16:07.200 mine today, Stinger and one of the best coaches I 0:16:07.240 --> 0:16:08.960 think we've ever produced in Australia. 0:16:08.960 --> 0:16:11.400 I just I rate Stingers so highly. And we're going 0:16:11.400 --> 0:16:13.040 through the footage. They said to me, how much footage 0:16:13.040 --> 0:16:14.000 if you watched on RAFA and. 0:16:13.960 --> 0:16:16.240 I would have watched fifteen sets by this point over 0:16:16.280 --> 0:16:19.040 the preceding thirty six days. Anyway, we're going through it 0:16:19.040 --> 0:16:20.680 and the sort of four of us are agonizing over it, 0:16:20.720 --> 0:16:22.360 and I'm jotting down my notes in my book. And 0:16:23.280 --> 0:16:24.800 it's funny you should say that if I came up 0:16:24.840 --> 0:16:26.480 to Nick before the match, we had the routine, you know, 0:16:26.520 --> 0:16:28.520 you warm up, and then he'd go and have a 0:16:28.560 --> 0:16:30.440 shower whatever you and then I'd go to my notebook, right, 0:16:30.480 --> 0:16:30.720 and then. 0:16:30.680 --> 0:16:31.720 We're about to have a bit of a chat. 0:16:31.760 --> 0:16:33.760 And it was always very earnest for me, very serious, 0:16:33.840 --> 0:16:35.040 very you don't want to get that wrong. 0:16:35.080 --> 0:16:37.200 That's your moment as you've got a responsibility, right. 0:16:38.400 --> 0:16:41.240 So I went through the report and I wasn't quite 0:16:41.280 --> 0:16:43.560 sure just how well I was connecting or where his 0:16:43.600 --> 0:16:45.640 mind was at. So I said, Nick, just checking him, mate, 0:16:45.760 --> 0:16:48.960 you got all that, like you know, serve return from 0:16:48.960 --> 0:16:50.440 the back of the court. This is the plan A, 0:16:50.600 --> 0:16:52.280 this is Plan B. Keep this up your sleeve. This 0:16:52.320 --> 0:16:54.880