Speaker 1: Hi everyone, and welcome to another episode of the Sitdown.
Speaker 1: I'm Matt trollope Arata foroz open dot Com and I'm Dve.
Speaker 2: Christy, Managing editor of Australian Tennis magazine and Matt. This
Speaker 2: week you managed to catch up with a great guest.
Speaker 2: Tell me why you were sitting down with Layton Hewett.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, we went up and caught him at the
Speaker 1: United Cup draw which was last Monday, which is actually,
Speaker 1: for a bit of context for listeners, is probably why
Speaker 1: you can hear a bit of like construction noise around
Speaker 1: after the draw. They were kind of disassembling the stage
Speaker 1: and packing up around us as we were talking, so
Speaker 1: it was a little bit of.
Speaker 3: A live site as it were.
Speaker 1: But I actually really wanted to talk with him about
Speaker 1: what's coming up for him because in January it will
Speaker 1: be the twentieth anniversary of his run to the final
Speaker 1: at AO two thousand and five, and also we are
Speaker 1: soon to release the full match on YouTube of his
Speaker 1: fourth round win over Rafa Nadal and we're actually going
Speaker 1: to be writing a bit about that too, So it
Speaker 1: was kind of like we got nostalgic with Layton. We
Speaker 1: talked to him about his memories of that run and
Speaker 1: how much of kind of a moment that was in Australia,
Speaker 1: how much audience came along with that ride, and it
Speaker 1: was really cool to hear his memories and how you
Speaker 1: know he remembers it in such detail. And then of
Speaker 1: course the Davis Cup Finals are coming up and he's
Speaker 1: the team captain. So while I had him, we also
Speaker 1: thought about it'd be a good chance to chat about
Speaker 1: the Aussie's chances there and what a great season it's
Speaker 1: been for the Green and Gold.
Speaker 2: Well, whether it's the past, the president or the future,
Speaker 2: there's a lot of ground to cover with Layton, so
Speaker 2: let's hear what he has to say.
Speaker 3: Latan, thanks very much for joining us today.
Speaker 1: You're worries we're catching you at the United Cup draw,
Speaker 1: But I think what I want to do is throw
Speaker 1: forward to January because it will be the twentieth anniversary
Speaker 1: of your run to the final at A two thousand
Speaker 1: and five.
Speaker 3: Can you believe that was twenty years ago?
Speaker 4: Now? It goes pretty quick when you think about it.
Speaker 4: Certain parts of it I guess doesn't feel that long ago.
Speaker 4: And then there's other times when it feels like, yeah,
Speaker 4: the game keeps going to new levels all the time,
Speaker 4: and it does feel like, yeah, a long time ago.
Speaker 4: But ye see some great memories over that whole summer
Speaker 4: of two thousand and five for me, not just at
Speaker 4: the Australian Open, but leading into it, and I think
Speaker 4: that sort of built up then, I guess the expectation
Speaker 4: and obviously the crowd.
Speaker 5: Involvement over the couple of weeks down in Melbourne.
Speaker 3: Yeah, because you won't see as well. Yeah, the winning
Speaker 3: four Yeah.
Speaker 1: So what is the memory that stands out here most
Speaker 1: about that summer because there were so many highlights for you?
Speaker 3: Is there one that you're like that was awesome?
Speaker 4: Not really, I guess in the end, Yeah, when you
Speaker 4: come so close, so this the last mate you win
Speaker 4: to get into the final, So probably the semi final
Speaker 4: win against Andy Raddick And actually yeah, I had to
Speaker 4: come down back from a set down in that match
Speaker 4: and the second and third sets were extremely tight as well.
Speaker 4: So probably just the satisfaction of getting over the line
Speaker 4: in that match to know that I'd given myself a
Speaker 4: chance to play on the last Sunday at the Australia and.
Speaker 1: It was the Centenay year of the a of that
Speaker 1: year and I remember Alisha also made the quarters of
Speaker 1: the Women's There was such a buzz around the Aussies
Speaker 1: that year. Do you reckon that contributed and buzz around
Speaker 1: the Aussies and the tournament? Did that contribute your performance?
Speaker 5: DI think well, it certainly helped.
Speaker 4: But I think every year that I played I got
Speaker 4: unbelievable support, So I don't think there was any different.
Speaker 4: I think it was purely that I was a contender
Speaker 4: that particular year that it obviously built up to a
Speaker 4: bigger thing because I I was making a run. Plus
Speaker 4: it felt like, to be honest, that I probably had
Speaker 4: the toughest draw from the very first round that I'd
Speaker 4: ever had in a Grand Slam. To be honest, every
Speaker 4: single match I had tough opponents, and in those particular
Speaker 4: rounds you'd probably expected them all to be second week
Speaker 4: of a major. Yeah, So I felt like I was
Speaker 4: playing this epic match every second day. And obviously my
Speaker 4: matches never went that quick either, so they felt like
Speaker 4: obviously long drawn out battles.
Speaker 5: I think for everyone sitting across Australia.
Speaker 3: Well, I was literally going to ask you about that.
Speaker 3: I have an undying memory.
Speaker 1: I'd finished year twelve and I hadn't gone to UNI yet,
Speaker 1: so I was on break and we were at a
Speaker 1: house party and you were playing now Band Him in
Speaker 1: the quarterfinals, and the party stopped and started gathering around
Speaker 1: the TV and watching you in You Want Other ten
Speaker 1: A in the and there was just that sense of
Speaker 1: like the entire country getting behind you. And then the
Speaker 1: staff and final had four or five million viewers. Were
Speaker 1: you conscious of how big the following was, of what
Speaker 1: was going on and did you like embrace it all?
Speaker 4: Yeah? No, no, I certainly embraced it, and I think
Speaker 4: you can feel it, I guess throughout that when you're
Speaker 4: at the tournament. But in terms of viewers watching at home,
Speaker 4: obviously you got very little idea.
Speaker 3: Did you know that they were all those hinny like that?
Speaker 5: Probably not that big to be honest, But yeah, it
Speaker 5: was awesome. Obviously.
Speaker 4: I think the Nombania match might have been played on
Speaker 4: Australia Day as well at the time, so there were
Speaker 4: fireworks going.
Speaker 5: Off mid match when we were playing.
Speaker 4: We had the roof open, so there was a lot
Speaker 4: of stuff going on and that turned into this absolute
Speaker 4: epic five set match as well.
Speaker 5: But as I said, it felt like every match was
Speaker 5: nearly an epic match.
Speaker 4: I had to play Raffa in the round of sixty,
Speaker 4: you know, and normally you'd be playing him in quarter
Speaker 4: semis or finals the Grand Slam, and that was a
Speaker 4: day match which went the distance five sets as well.
Speaker 5: So yeah, I felt like I was just.
Speaker 4: Playing all these massive matches and obviously, yeah, it ended
Speaker 4: up in the final.
Speaker 3: I was going to ask you about the Raffer match
Speaker 3: of you asleep. So you played him in No.
Speaker 1: Four at the A in the third round, beat him
Speaker 1: in straight sets. A year on he took you to five.
Speaker 3: You know, getting through.
Speaker 1: That must have been a huge confidence because but what
Speaker 1: did you notice about that match, Like how quickly he
Speaker 1: come on the time in.
Speaker 5: The twelve minutes.
Speaker 4: But even though I played him in the third round
Speaker 4: the year before, you knew how good a player he
Speaker 4: was going to be. I think I said at the
Speaker 4: time that this kid's going to win the French over someday.
Speaker 4: I didn't realize it was going to be the next year,
Speaker 4: and so it.
Speaker 5: Was pretty amazing. And then, you know, I it was
Speaker 5: a tough.
Speaker 4: Battle and in the end I probably got him physically,
Speaker 4: to believe it or not, he was obviously still pretty
Speaker 4: young at the time, but we played on a day
Speaker 4: match on the center court and love Lave Arena, the
Speaker 4: extremely hot conditions, and then when I won the fourth set,
Speaker 4: I just felt physically I was able to get on
Speaker 4: top of him and ended up running away with the
Speaker 4: Fitzer three and for four.
Speaker 1: Months later he went on to win Roland Garross. So
Speaker 1: your prediction came true. It was so soon after that
Speaker 1: were you did you think he was ready then to
Speaker 1: win a major?
Speaker 4: Like his game styles, who did play so he was
Speaker 4: able to do things You could tell on the hard
Speaker 4: court how hard it was going to be on a
Speaker 4: clay court to try and play against that kind of
Speaker 4: player playing that style. It was something completely different to
Speaker 4: what you'd seen before. And for such a young kid
Speaker 4: at seventeen eighteen years old, physically he was in very
Speaker 4: good shape in terms of able to go toe to
Speaker 4: toe against men, which not a lot of juniors are
Speaker 4: able to do.
Speaker 3: He's now just announced his retirement.
Speaker 1: There was all that talk about how his punishing style
Speaker 1: of play wouldn't lead to career longevity, and he played
Speaker 1: for years to do.
Speaker 5: With how mentally tough are years though as well.
Speaker 4: I think there was a lot of times that he
Speaker 4: played through pain and he was probably one of the
Speaker 4: greatest players to ever be able to do that, I think,
Speaker 4: and get the most out of himself in very tough
Speaker 4: positions that he puts his body through, but that was
Speaker 4: his style of tennis and how he got the most
Speaker 4: out of himself.
Speaker 1: Just on Davis Cupp and the year for Australian tennis
Speaker 1: in general, it's been one of the better years for
Speaker 1: Australian tennis. So many highlights and it's all kind of
Speaker 1: dove tailing into but back in the final eight we've
Speaker 1: made the last few years of finals, it's not just
Speaker 1: demon at the time.
Speaker 3: We've got such depth. How did to the good O this.
Speaker 1: Year and kind of like what's the feeling around and
Speaker 1: the moments around Australian tennis this time.
Speaker 5: Oh, it's a great feeling around everyone.
Speaker 4: And it's important in the team aspect that it's not
Speaker 4: just one or two players feeling great.
Speaker 5: Yeah, you want everyone going there feeling.
Speaker 4: Like they're playing their part and doing the job that
Speaker 4: you need them to do. And I think my whole
Speaker 4: squad feels like that at the moment, which is great.
Speaker 5: They feel like they're in career.
Speaker 4: Best born, whether they're playing singles or doubles or having
Speaker 4: to play practice sets against other players. They're all pushing
Speaker 4: each other to get better, which has been really important
Speaker 4: and that's helped us, I think, get so many guys
Speaker 4: in the top.
Speaker 5: Hundred now in the world where they were really but.
Speaker 4: They belong there on the tour, a lot of guys
Speaker 4: at career high rankings as well. We won obviously double
Speaker 4: slams this year, we won gol Battle as well in dubbles,
Speaker 4: and then alexis cementing himself as a top ten player
Speaker 4: as well, so so many positives. Obviously, we go into
Speaker 4: Malaga the Davis Cup quarter finals, have to play the US,
Speaker 4: which is a tough ass. But yeah, we're obviously trying
Speaker 4: to navigate our way through that and depending on the
Speaker 4: matchups and trying to get that right and hopefully we
Speaker 4: can give ourselves a chance. You know. We go there
Speaker 4: and we've got to win three matches, you know, and
Speaker 4: that's sort of the thinking is, we've got to navigate
Speaker 4: our way of getting through three of these matches and
Speaker 4: we can hold up the trophy, but it's certainly not
Speaker 4: going to be used.
Speaker 1: No, Well, you guys have done that. You've got them
Speaker 1: you've won the two matches before. I guess they know
Speaker 1: they can do it. Like you said, what's the difference
Speaker 1: to get one more?
Speaker 4: Yeah, I don't think the boys have done too much
Speaker 4: wrong a little bit, especially last year. We're awfully unlucky
Speaker 4: in the Popera match against Annoldy.
Speaker 5: He had so many.
Speaker 4: Break coourt opportunities and if he break early in the
Speaker 4: first set, I have no doubt that he would have
Speaker 4: run away with that match, and we just weren't quite able.
Speaker 5: To get over the line there.
Speaker 4: And if we're able to give ourselves a chance in
Speaker 4: a live doubles for the Davis Cup final, I know
Speaker 4: who I'm backing, so you know where people don't understand
Speaker 4: how close we were.
Speaker 2: Matt, congratulations. That was such a good interview with Layton.
Speaker 2: Thanks for finishing on the Davis Cup. You know, it
Speaker 2: just brings back so many memories of Layton and the
Speaker 2: Davis Cup, and for me, Layton at Rod Laver Arena
Speaker 2: specifically is probably one of my most enduring memories in tennis.
Speaker 2: I remember that semi final in two thousand and three.
Speaker 2: He was down two sets and I my memory is correct,
Speaker 2: three to five against Roger Federer and Yeah, just a
Speaker 2: couple of points away from losing that match, which he
Speaker 2: went on to win in five sets, and then he
Speaker 2: beat one Collis Ferrero, also in five sets in the
Speaker 2: final to lead a strow you to the title.
Speaker 1: And that's the last time we won the Davis Cup
Speaker 1: and we've come incredibly close since then. As he discussed
Speaker 1: in the interview, it has been such a great year
Speaker 1: for Ozzie tennis. They are bringing such momentum into the final.
Speaker 1: Lad it'll be really interesting to see how they go.
Speaker 1: It sounds like he's pretty boyed about the team's chances.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think, like you said, it's been such a
Speaker 2: great year for Ozsie tennis generally, and they all kind
Speaker 2: of get along really well and support each other during
Speaker 2: the year, so I think it'll be all positives when
Speaker 2: they head to Spain.
Speaker 1: And what about if we're going down memory lane, what
Speaker 1: do you remember about that centenary Australian Open in two
Speaker 1: thousand and five. I hadn't started working in tennis yet,
Speaker 1: but I think you were.
Speaker 2: Yes, Yes, I've been working in tennis forever.
Speaker 5: Match, so I do remember.
Speaker 3: I was soon to join you.
Speaker 2: I do remember it really well. I mean, there was
Speaker 2: just so much excitement. It just felt like everyone was
Speaker 2: along for the ride, and you know, it had been
Speaker 2: such a long time since we had an Aussie finalist
Speaker 2: in Melbourne, so yeah, there was a lot of excitement,
Speaker 2: a lot of support and even when he lost the match,
Speaker 2: of course there was disappointment, but it was a great
Speaker 2: champion in Moran Seffon so and a great quality final
Speaker 2: as well. So yeah, I felt like the buzz went
Speaker 2: on for quite some time.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it was brilliant and viv In preparing for this interview,
Speaker 1: you let me in on an incredible stat I'd never
Speaker 1: heard before relating to Layton at rod Laver.
Speaker 2: Yeah. An incredible fact about Layton is he only ever
Speaker 2: played on one Australian Open match outside rod Laver Arena,
Speaker 2: which was his very first appearance in nineteen ninety seven.
Speaker 2: He was just fifteen years old and he played on
Speaker 2: court three against Sergei Bugera.
Speaker 1: Wow.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and in the twenty year Australian Open career he
Speaker 2: played every other match on rod Laver Arena.
Speaker 1: And then of course those couple of Davis Cup matches
Speaker 1: as well. So yeah, what a story history. Thanks so
Speaker 1: much for joining us on the sit down and we'll
Speaker 1: be back again next Monday with another episode of the
Speaker 1: sit Down, and in the meantime, you can listen to
Speaker 1: John and the team this Thursday on the aoshow Weekly.
Speaker 2: Details for how to contact us are in the show notes,
Speaker 2: and please subscribe, rate and review. See you next week, Matt,
Speaker 2: see viv