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Speaker 1: Hello and welcome to The Sit Down. I'm Viv Christie,

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Speaker 1: Managing Editor of Australian Tennis Magazine.

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Speaker 2: And I'm Matt Trelope, a writer for ozopen.com. And Viv,

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Speaker 2: tell us why we're sitting down this week with Sumit Nagal.

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Speaker 1: Well, it's almost time for the Australian Open and one

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Speaker 1: of my favourite stories from this year's tournament was the

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Speaker 1: success of Sumit Nagal, who qualified, played a couple of

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Speaker 1: great matches, used that as a platform for his Top

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Speaker 1: 100 breakthrough. I also love the story of his journey

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Speaker 1: in tennis generally, which actually started with cricket.

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Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah.

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Speaker 2: And it was so funny, just before we spoke to Sumit,

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Speaker 2: Rafael Nadal retired and there was that iconic tweet from

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Speaker 2: Sumit where it said, alas, no more Nagal versus Nadal.

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Speaker 2: I think it was Nagal versus Nadal will remain a dream.

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Speaker 2: And we thought that was great. And we also use

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Speaker 2: that as an opportunity to ask him about it in

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Speaker 2: our chat with him. Sumit Nagal, thank you so much

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Speaker 2: for joining us on the Sit Down podcast. It's great

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Speaker 2: to see you and great to have you.

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Speaker 3: Happy to be here, man.

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Speaker 2: And where in the world do we find you at

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Speaker 2: the moment?

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Speaker 3: I'm currently in Mumbai, India. I'm playing a tennis league

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Speaker 3: in India. I'm playing my first match today in a

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Speaker 3: few hours, so I'm looking forward to it. Fantastic.

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Speaker 2: So we've got you right in the middle. Does this

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Speaker 2: count as pre-season or is this a continuation of the season?

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Speaker 3: How does this fit? It's more like a first week

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Speaker 3: of my pre-season. I'm starting very slow. I did some

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Speaker 3: sort of very easy fitness yesterday and I'm going to

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Speaker 3: keep doing that for this week. Post this league, I'm

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Speaker 3: going to go to Dubai. I'm going to start... playing

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Speaker 3: a lot of tennis and a lot of hard fitness

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Speaker 3: for the next two, three weeks, I would say, and

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Speaker 3: then fly to Australia around Christmas time.

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Speaker 1: Oh, fantastic.

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Speaker 2: So you caught our attention just the other day, actually,

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Speaker 2: with your tweet. Nadal versus Nagal remained a dream.

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Speaker 3: Yes. What prompted that? Do you know Rafa?

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Speaker 2: Had you ever got to meet him or have anything

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Speaker 2: to do with him?

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Speaker 3: Like, obviously, you see these players, you know... in every tournament,

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Speaker 3: you say, hi, hello, but like, I've never really sat

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Speaker 3: down with him or even actually never even practiced with him.

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Speaker 3: So it's like, yeah, like I said, it stayed a dream.

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Speaker 3: It would have been incredible to play him in French Open.

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Speaker 3: You know, I know he's the greatest ever to be

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Speaker 3: come out of that court, but still, you know, to

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Speaker 3: have that challenge, to step on the court, to feel

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Speaker 3: that aura that he has on that court, I think

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Speaker 3: would have been something to experience.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. So you told us, yes, you're back home in India.

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Speaker 2: For tennis players, obviously, they're on the road for so long.

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Speaker 2: How special is it or good for you is it

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Speaker 2: to be back in India? And you said you're just

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Speaker 2: about to go to Dubai. So what do you enjoy

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Speaker 2: about that occasion to be at home?

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Speaker 3: I would say, you know, family, friends, food. My training

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Speaker 3: base is in Germany, so I don't really get to

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Speaker 3: spend so much time in India. Maybe I'm here two,

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Speaker 3: three weeks a year. So whenever I get a chance

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Speaker 3: to come back, I come back, you know. Yeah, I

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Speaker 3: miss a lot, but I don't really have a choice.

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Speaker 3: If I really want to do well in tennis, I

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Speaker 3: need to stay away from India.

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Speaker 2: That's similar for Australian players too. It's even further to go.

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Speaker 2: And it was such a special season for you. So

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Speaker 2: when you look back at it, what would be the highlight?

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Speaker 3: I would say my first few months of the year

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Speaker 3: were very good. Breaking in top 100 by winning that

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Speaker 3: challenger in India was very emotional because of the people

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Speaker 3: who were around. and to break it, uh, in India,

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Speaker 3: I think, I think it was a pretty, pretty nice, uh, nice, um,

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Speaker 3: nice week, um, having friends and family around here. I

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Speaker 3: don't think, um, I, I mean, if you, if you

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Speaker 3: see the videos, I was crying, you know, I've never

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Speaker 3: cried on the court. So yeah, it was a lot of,

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Speaker 3: a lot of emotion, um, coming out of my body, um, feeling, feeling,

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Speaker 3: I would say a little bit relieved, uh, And then

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Speaker 3: I would say the second would be playing the Olympics again.

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Speaker 3: I really, really love playing Olympics for India. Unfortunately, I

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Speaker 3: didn't do well. I ended up losing to Mute. But

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Speaker 3: to experience that atmosphere again, playing a French in France was...

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Speaker 3: possible where it also wasn't easy but uh yeah i

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Speaker 3: mean these are the moments these are the matches that

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Speaker 3: makes you tougher and makes you more on compete even

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Speaker 3: even at a higher stage i was wondering if.

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Speaker 1: You could take us back to your start in tennis

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Speaker 1: we we know now that your first sporting love was

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Speaker 1: cricket um how did tennis win you over.

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Speaker 3: Um it didn't really win me over um uh So

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Speaker 3: when I was a kid, I would play a lot

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Speaker 3: on the streets. I would be out and out the

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Speaker 3: whole day. And especially if I had a day off

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Speaker 3: or holidays were going on, I would be a guy

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Speaker 3: who would leave his house at 9 and be back

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Speaker 3: at 9 p.m. And I would spend a lot of

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Speaker 3: time playing cricket. We call it gully cricket, playing cricket

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Speaker 3: on the streets. And my father saw how much energy

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Speaker 3: I'm putting. And he didn't really want me to play any...

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Speaker 3: team sport looking at you know how tough it is

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Speaker 3: to get into a team sport in India and then

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Speaker 3: we had a we had a family friend whose daughter

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Speaker 3: was playing tennis at that time so they were the

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Speaker 3: one guided my father saying let him try some tennis

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Speaker 3: and I think from the day one when I when

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Speaker 3: I got a racket I don't think we ever looked

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Speaker 3: back there was no question of like hey do you

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Speaker 3: want to do should we try other sports it was

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Speaker 3: day one was tennis day two was tennis day 50

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Speaker 3: was tennis and just tennis.

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Speaker 1: Yeah And then, of course, you joined Mahesh Bapati's Academy.

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Speaker 1: Can you talk us through that?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, there's a funny story behind it. But this would

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Speaker 3: be 2007, December. We heard there's a program coming in.

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Speaker 3: They're going to select a few kids. Me and my

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Speaker 3: father had no idea how many were they going to select.

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Speaker 3: And I wasn't really high ranked around that time in India.

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Speaker 3: But my dad and mom were like, yeah, just try it.

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Speaker 3: Who cares? Nothing to lose. It's in our city. So

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Speaker 3: I ended up going. A few things happened. I actually

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Speaker 3: went up to Mahesh saying, can you please look at

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Speaker 3: my game? And you're picking up kids that I usually beat.

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Speaker 3: That's how I said it, which apparently he really liked

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Speaker 3: that I had a lot of confidence at a very

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Speaker 3: young age. And from there on, I got selected for

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Speaker 3: the program. I went to Bangalore for two years. And

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Speaker 3: from there on, I've just always been under Mahesh. Wow.

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Speaker 1: So he still plays a role in your career now?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, sure. He's still my manager. He's the manager, mentor, friend,

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Speaker 3: whatever you want to say. He's always been there.

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Speaker 1: Fantastic. Who else would you say has been influential in

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Speaker 1: your career?

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Speaker 3: Obviously, my parents, you know, because they've seen up and

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Speaker 3: downs of last, whatever, 17 years, 15 years, whatever you

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Speaker 3: want to say, you know. So, yeah, they've been very supportive,

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Speaker 3: you know, especially my mom. She doesn't really care much

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Speaker 3: about how good I do on tennis court. She cares

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Speaker 3: more about how I feel, which is, you know, every

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Speaker 3: time I come out of the match, if I don't

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Speaker 3: do well, she'll be like, how was it? I'll say

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Speaker 3: I lost you like that. I know, but how are

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Speaker 3: you feeling? Which is, yeah, which is, which like, you know,

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Speaker 3: you know, sometimes you feel like coaches don't never ask that,

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Speaker 3: you know, coaches like, listen, you should have done this, that, that.

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Speaker 3: So of course that mom, mom fills up that role.

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Speaker 3: And some of my friends, you know, they've been, they've

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Speaker 3: been there for 10 years, 12 years, 14 years, always

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Speaker 3: been around, always been pushing. So fortunate to have these people.

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Speaker 2: Of course.

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Speaker 3: Yeah.

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Speaker 2: The Australian Open, we remember your run so well at

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Speaker 2: the start of this year. And we wonder what your

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Speaker 2: memories were of that because you qualified, you beat Alexander Bublik.

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Speaker 3: There was a great atmosphere around your matches as well.

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Speaker 3: What stands out to you about that run? To be honest,

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Speaker 3: that was the first time I ever did well in Australia.

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Speaker 3: So every time I come to Australia, I was like, man,

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Speaker 3: every time I go on the court, it's so windy.

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Speaker 3: The courts are so fast. Every court is different. But

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Speaker 3: last year, I somehow, I think I felt like maturity

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Speaker 3: came in. I was, I would say, an older player

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Speaker 3: on the tennis court, comparing to my last four, five, six, whatever,

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Speaker 3: comparing to my juniors and seniors in Australia. And I

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Speaker 3: think that was the biggest change that I felt on

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Speaker 3: the court, that I was able to deal with things better,

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Speaker 3: comparing to last years.

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Speaker 2: And.

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Speaker 3: I think, yeah, like you said, the atmosphere was crazy.

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Speaker 3: A lot of Indians showed up to support me, which

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Speaker 3: was incredible to see, and especially playing Jerry Shang in

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Speaker 3: the second round. I mean, you should have seen it.

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Speaker 3: It was very, very loud. But, yeah, I'm looking forward

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Speaker 3: to Australia again. I think I'm going to be better

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Speaker 3: this time.

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Speaker 2: And do you think it set you up, set your

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Speaker 2: season off on a good track or a good path?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, for sure, because it gave me confidence, right? It

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Speaker 3: gave me confidence. I was playing on a very high level.

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Speaker 3: Majority of the year I played, I played on the

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Speaker 3: ATP2 level, had some really good matches. So I think

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Speaker 3: the Australian tour really gave me a jumpstart, I would say.

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Speaker 3: And again, we are looking to do the same kind

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Speaker 3: of schedule, start in Canberra, start very fast. Canberra is

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Speaker 3: faster than Australia, or faster than Melbourne, I would say.

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Speaker 3: So we can start there and then maybe see what

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Speaker 3: to play the second week and then be ready by

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Speaker 3: when Melbourne starts.

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Speaker 2: Awesome. You mentioned the atmosphere being so good at the

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Speaker 2: Australian Open and then you talked earlier about winning the challenge.

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Speaker 3: Title in India and.

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Speaker 2: Cracking the top 100 and you were so emotional if

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Speaker 2: the atmosphere was great at the AO what was it

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Speaker 2: like on home soil like did you have many home

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Speaker 2: fans watching that tournament and what you achieved there.

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Speaker 3: It's something good The stadium in Chennai is huge. So

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Speaker 3: I don't know how many people were there, but I

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Speaker 3: would say the people who were at the lower stands

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Speaker 3: were quite full. Obviously, the court I played in Australia

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Speaker 3: was smaller than the Chennai one because it's where they

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Speaker 3: play the 250 event. So it's a huge stadium. But

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Speaker 3: I would say maybe I felt like Australia was louder

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Speaker 3: because of the way the things were. fans on this side, fans,

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Speaker 3: but nothing on this side. So you feel like, you know,

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Speaker 3: it's like right here. And obviously, India versus China, you know,

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Speaker 3: it's going to get a little bit heated up. So,

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Speaker 3: but yeah, I think the Chennai week, pretty much a

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Speaker 3: lot of people showed up. For a challenger, I don't

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Speaker 3: think I've ever seen something like this. I think also

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Speaker 3: maybe because of me doing decently well in Australia, played

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Speaker 3: a big part. I was in the news, so people

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Speaker 3: showed up, which was very nice. Yeah, which was really,

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Speaker 3: really nice.

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Speaker 2: And those emotions you talked about, like winning that challenger,

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Speaker 2: cracking the top 100, what was behind those emotions? Was

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Speaker 2: that anything to do with challenges you've overcome, the hip surgery,

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Speaker 2: things like that? Or was there something else behind that emotion?

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Speaker 3: I think pretty much a mix of everything. Injuries, waking

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Speaker 3: up at 6 a.m., doing yeah taking buses at 5

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Speaker 3: a.m sometimes when i was a kid i would take

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Speaker 3: a bus at five years to go practice at eight

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Speaker 3: you know the bus ride would be two two hours

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Speaker 3: um uh then to to yeah to to sleeping on

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Speaker 3: chairs sometimes when i was a junior i would i

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Speaker 3: would put two chairs together and sleep on it you

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Speaker 3: know sleeping at the airport so yeah those things where

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Speaker 3: you don't have to do i hope so But those

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Speaker 3: things came in play, you know, how you get a

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Speaker 3: very fast flashback of the things that you really did

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Speaker 3: enjoy when you were a kid.

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Speaker 1: Just sort of steering the conversation a little bit towards

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Speaker 1: tennis in India. So you are sort of the standout

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Speaker 1: top 100 player for India at the moment. Do you

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Speaker 1: feel a sense of like a role model responsibility that

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Speaker 1: comes with that?

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Speaker 3: I don't know if I feel like a responsibility or

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Speaker 3: it comes, but I do want to change it. I

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Speaker 3: do want to push it. I have been very vocal about,

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Speaker 3: you know, having things change, have a system, but obviously

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Speaker 3: it's very, it's easy to say, but it's very hard

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Speaker 3: to do it. You know, it's very hard to change things.

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Speaker 3: But yeah, I would really like if there can be

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Speaker 3: a system, if we can follow our system and have

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Speaker 3: good people involved in the internist.

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Speaker 1: Who were your role models when you were growing up?

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Speaker 3: I mean, me being Indian, I watch a lot of Somdev,

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Speaker 3: Dev Varman. He actually helps me as well. Some weeks

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Speaker 3: he travels with me. If I say internationally, I would

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Speaker 3: say David Ferrer. I watch a lot of David Ferrer

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Speaker 3: as well. I watch a lot of Hewitt as well.

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Speaker 3: And then I would say I really enjoy Joko and

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Speaker 3: Andy Murray's matches as well. Sure.

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Speaker 1: David Ferrer and Leighton Hewitt, are there any qualities of

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Speaker 1: theirs that you particularly admire?

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Speaker 3: They're the fighters. You go and you're like, this is

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Speaker 3: not going to be easy no matter what. That quality,

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Speaker 3: it's not easy to build. It's probably one of the

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Speaker 3: hardest things to do in tennis, to have that quality.

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Speaker 1: For sure. And just tennis in India generally, How popular

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Speaker 1: is it as a sport at a grassroots level?

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Speaker 3: I think there were better times, I would say. Right now,

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Speaker 3: maybe some other sports are picking up. Badminton is very

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Speaker 3: high right now in India. I would say maybe tennis

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Speaker 3: is at 5th or 6th in India, I would say.

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Speaker 3: Something like this. Football has been playing a lot in India. Obviously,

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Speaker 3: cricket is number one by far. Now, I think shooting

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Speaker 3: is going to come into play because we've got some medals.

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Speaker 3: So I think Tennis is kind of unfortunately stepping down

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Speaker 3: a bit. But that's also because of not having players

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Speaker 3: playing on the highest tour year after year.

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Speaker 1: You mentioned earlier that you train now in Germany. I

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Speaker 1: believe you also spent some years in Canada developing your game.

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Speaker 1: Tennis has certainly taken you to many places. Anywhere that

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Speaker 1: you particularly love?

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Speaker 3: Oh, I loved Barcelona. I was there for like two summers.

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Speaker 3: I was a pop for Slam Tennis Academy. Fernando Vicente,

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Speaker 3: Galo Blanco, Jairo Velasco, they are the people who own

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Speaker 3: this academy. Yeah, I think to live, it was very

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Speaker 3: much fun. But I really had a lot of financial

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Speaker 3: problems back in 2012 and 2013. Uh, Germany, I think I, I,

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Speaker 3: I really enjoy the people I work with, but to,

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Speaker 3: to like, to live in Germany, I don't know. I'm

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Speaker 3: not so, so, um, um, certain about it because, you know,

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Speaker 3: the culture difference is huge from India to Germany. But, uh,

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Speaker 3: the people I work, Sasha Lancel is the tennis coach. Um,

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Speaker 3: Milos Kalic is the fitness trainer. I've been, I've known

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Speaker 3: them for a decade now, working with them for six years.

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Speaker 3: This is my seventh year now. Um, Yeah, I think

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Speaker 3: it's very tough to find people like them. They become

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Speaker 3: like family to me. I stay with my tennis coach

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Speaker 3: in his house. So there you go, you know, it's

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Speaker 3: like this.

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Speaker 1: And I've read that you are also inspired by Japanese culture.

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Speaker 1: So you also love Japanese culture so much so that

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Speaker 1: it has inspired some of your tattoos. Where did that

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Speaker 1: connection come from?

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Speaker 3: Hi, this came from Canada. So when I went to Canada,

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Speaker 3: obviously I was very young, right? I was 12, 13. And.

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Speaker 3: I was alone. I would say I was staying with

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Speaker 3: my coaches, but my parents were in India. I would

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Speaker 3: go to India maybe once a year. So, let's say,

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Speaker 3: every time I would start missing my family, I would

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Speaker 3: watch something, try to get my mind out of it.

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Speaker 3: And that's how I picked up a lot of anime

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Speaker 3: to watch, to watch, to check it. Back in time,

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Speaker 3: you could watch so many episodes of so many great shows. So,

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Speaker 3: you know, not, not like if I watch a movie,

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Speaker 3: movie is done in 90 minutes, but their anime, which

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Speaker 3: has 600 episodes, 700 episodes. So it would keep me busy.

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Speaker 3: And that's how I started, you know, that's how I

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Speaker 3: started watching it. And I grew up and I would

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Speaker 3: always imagine, you know, how things would be if, if, yeah.

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Speaker 3: And from that imagination, it went into, into, into liking

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Speaker 3: the culture.

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Speaker 1: You mentioned, you know, you were alone when you were younger,

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Speaker 1: developing your game overseas. It's quite a lot of sacrifice. What,

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Speaker 1: what character traits do you think has served you best

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Speaker 1: in your career?

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Speaker 3: It's very, very tough to say because obviously there were

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Speaker 3: moments where you would doubt yourself, you know, um, I think,

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Speaker 3: I think I had to build up a character going

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Speaker 3: through so many, so many different things, um, going through

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Speaker 3: so many good and bad days, I would say, um,

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Speaker 3: a lot of failures, um, a lot of setbacks. I,

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Speaker 3: there were time where, you know, um, when I would

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Speaker 3: walk from a bus stop to the house, I would

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Speaker 3: cry sometimes, you know, would be so cold where I

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Speaker 3: didn't really want to walk because I know, I never

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Speaker 3: thought Canada would be so cold, right? I mean, yeah,

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Speaker 3: coming from India, yeah, worst case, what is it? Two

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Speaker 3: degrees and you go to Canada, it's minus 15. You're like,

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Speaker 3: what is this? You know, it's just like... But I

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Speaker 3: also believe that... For me, I felt like it was

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Speaker 3: really necessary to go through that to build that character.

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Speaker 3: Like I said, I don't know if there's a name

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Speaker 3: to it. I want to put it, but I think

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Speaker 3: it's just a mix of so many emotions, so many

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Speaker 3: incidents that happened that made me a person that I

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Speaker 3: am today.

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Speaker 2: And so, Sumit, when you think about the season starting

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Speaker 2: really soon, it sounds like you're quite motivated to start

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Speaker 2: in Australia, return there, start the season off on a

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Speaker 2: good note.

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Speaker 3: Is this....

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Speaker 2: Kind of the most excited you felt or the most

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Speaker 2: motivated you felt for a Grand Slam or the start

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Speaker 2: of the season?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, 100%. I told you, before last year, I never

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Speaker 3: did well in Australia. Never won a round. So I

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Speaker 3: was like, yeah, whatever, you know. I would already look for, like,

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Speaker 3: February schedule. Like, where do I start in February? But

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Speaker 3: I'm telling you, my Australian-Melbourne trip has been for, like, three, three, four,

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Speaker 3: four days. You come in, you play, you go out.

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Speaker 3: You come in, you play. But this time, like I said,

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Speaker 3: I feel like I am a better player on those

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Speaker 3: fast courts now. I can play better tennis. And I

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Speaker 3: don't really care, like, who I play now. I feel

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Speaker 3: like I can be there. We're happy to hear that

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Speaker 3: you're excited to come to our city. Which is really good.

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Speaker 2: Also there, we remember last year you got to go

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Speaker 2: to the MCG, which was a really cool chance for

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Speaker 2: you to, you know, indulge your love of cricket and

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Speaker 2: see that side.

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Speaker 3: And they're literally right next to each other.

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Speaker 2: So yeah, what were your emotions like when you went

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Speaker 2: to a ground that's as famous as the MCG?

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Speaker 3: It was definitely unique, you know, because I've never thought

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Speaker 3: that tennis would take me to cricket. And I actually

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Speaker 3: got to play as well. I padded up for the

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Speaker 3: first time in my life. Yeah, to play with a

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Speaker 3: red ball. I would say it was a very nice,

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Speaker 3: very nice experience. Very, very nice experience. I enjoyed it.

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Speaker 2: So obviously there's the Australia-India test, Boxing Day in Melbourne.

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Speaker 2: Does that entice you at all to come earlier to

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Speaker 2: Australia to catch some cricket? I.

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Speaker 3: Let's see, if thing goes well, I don't mind it,

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Speaker 3: to be honest, you know, because I'm landing at Belvent

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Speaker 3: because I haven't booked my Melbourne to wherever I'm playing yet.

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Speaker 3: So if that works, yeah, sure.

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Speaker 2: And so if you look ahead, to season 2025 not

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Speaker 2: just australia but as a whole what do you have

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Speaker 2: any goals that you're willing to share with.

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Speaker 3: Us um obviously i think i would love to go

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Speaker 3: for top 50 this year um because it was my

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Speaker 3: first year in hundred i think i was also seeing

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Speaker 3: what tournaments to play what not to play um i

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Speaker 3: didn't really do quite well towards the end of the

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Speaker 3: year um That was because of injury, a bit of

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Speaker 3: schedule change, a bit of playing in the courts that

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Speaker 3: I was not really comfortable playing. But it was very

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Speaker 3: much a learning experience for me, you know, to play

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Speaker 3: the really high tournaments to the surface that I don't

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Speaker 3: want to. But now I would say like this year,

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Speaker 3: I will be a little bit smarter on how to

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Speaker 3: schedule it or the team will be. And then I

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Speaker 3: think if Boris stays well, I will lock the push

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Speaker 3: for top 15.

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Speaker 2: Wow, Viv, that was so great. I'm really glad you

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Speaker 2: set up that interview for us. I really enjoyed getting

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Speaker 2: to meet him and talk to him. And also what

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Speaker 2: incredible timing that he's due to arrive in Melbourne this week,

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Speaker 2: just a few days before the Australia-India cricket test across

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Speaker 2: the bridge at the MCG. And he said he might

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Speaker 2: even go and watch the Boxing Day test. Like, it's

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Speaker 2: amazing that he can do that.

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Speaker 1: I imagine that he will be very excited to return

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Speaker 1: to Melbourne, just as he had such great fan support

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Speaker 1: here this year. So many people will be really pleased

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Speaker 1: to see him return.

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Speaker 3: Absolutely. Absolutely.

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Speaker 2: Well, normally we'd end each episode with our usual spiel,

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Speaker 2: but we've got an announcement to make, Viv. This is

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Speaker 2: our final episode in the 2024 season of The Sit Down.

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Speaker 2: And as of next week, we'll be bringing you a

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Speaker 2: new season of The Sit Down in our new home.

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Speaker 2: So if you search for The Sit Down in wherever

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Speaker 2: you get your podcasts, you'll find us on our own feed.

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Speaker 2: And Viv, we begin the new season with a very

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Speaker 2: special guest.

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Speaker 1: We do indeed. We're excited to bring you the legendary

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Speaker 1: Martina Hingis, who joins us for a long chat from

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Speaker 1: her home in Switzerland, talking about all her tennis achievements

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Speaker 1: what her thoughts on the game today and her special

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Speaker 1: connection to the Australian

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Speaker 2: Open we can't wait to bring you that and we've

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Speaker 2: had a fantastic time bringing you our show this year

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Speaker 2: in 2024 and we can't wait to do it again

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Speaker 2: next year in 2025 we'll see you then Viv look

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Speaker 2: forward to it Matt