Speaker 1: Hello and welcome to the sit down. I'm Viv Christy,
Speaker 1: Australian tennis magazine managing editor, and.
Speaker 2: I'm Mattrolok, a writer for oz open dot com.
Speaker 3: And Viv.
Speaker 2: Why are we sitting down with Storm Hunter this week?
Speaker 4: Well?
Speaker 1: Storm is a much love figure in Australian tennis and
Speaker 1: as most of us know, she suffered a terrible injury
Speaker 1: a couple of months ago, so we wanted to check
Speaker 1: in on Storm's rehab. But also this is a really
Speaker 1: special time of year for Storm. She won her first
Speaker 1: doubles Tour level title on grass and has had some
Speaker 1: incredible results at Wimbledon.
Speaker 4: Thanks so much for joining us on the sit down today, Storm.
Speaker 4: It's great to see you.
Speaker 5: No worries, Matt, thank you for having me. I'm really
Speaker 5: excited to be here.
Speaker 4: So it's been two months since you did the injury
Speaker 4: in Brisbane.
Speaker 2: How are you? How are you feeling?
Speaker 3: I'm quing good. Thank you, thank you for asking.
Speaker 5: Yeah, it's actually, to be honest, gone really really fast,
Speaker 5: which I didn't think I would say that. Obviously, it
Speaker 5: can tend to feel really slow, and especially in those
Speaker 5: early stages when you can't do much, you're limited with
Speaker 5: what you can do. But every single week I feel
Speaker 5: like I've progressed a little bit. This week, I'm starting
Speaker 5: to walk a little bit out of the moonboot, which
Speaker 5: is very very exciting. I'm getting my independence back a
Speaker 5: little bit more, which is good. My husband was having
Speaker 5: to do literally everything for me and for him, so
Speaker 5: it was nice now that I can start to do
Speaker 5: some things for myself and I'm going okay.
Speaker 3: Obviously.
Speaker 5: Yeah, with French Open, it was a little bit hard watching,
Speaker 5: I guess, like just kind of think, you know, you're
Speaker 5: always wanting to be there and you're like, oh, that's
Speaker 5: where I should be and whatnot.
Speaker 3: But it was also really fun to watch my friends.
Speaker 5: Play, watch the Australian team, like the players do well,
Speaker 5: and support them from afar and just stay connected to tennis.
Speaker 3: So yeah, at the moment, I'm good. I think it
Speaker 3: will change.
Speaker 5: I know there'll be some tougher moments, but I've got
Speaker 5: really good people around me who every day they're kind
Speaker 5: of motivating me and keeping me kind of on track.
Speaker 5: And yeah, rehab is going to progress every week, so
Speaker 5: it kind of feels like we're going in the right direction.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you got a lot of praise for staying after
Speaker 4: what had happened, and no one would have blamed you
Speaker 4: if you were like, I'm in heaps of pain, this
Speaker 4: situation sucks, I'm out of here.
Speaker 2: But you did stay and you.
Speaker 4: Supported, and I just wanted to like, yeah, what made
Speaker 4: you want to stay?
Speaker 5: Yeah, It's interesting because when I rupture my achilles like
Speaker 5: we had, it was kind of later in the day.
Speaker 3: It was at four pm.
Speaker 5: I'd already been selected to play the singles, and the
Speaker 5: next day it was the last ten minutes of our session,
Speaker 5: and actually Dasher and Taylor were coming on to hit
Speaker 5: after us, after Arena and I had finished, and they
Speaker 5: obviously everyone kind of knew what happened, like everyone was
Speaker 5: there and saw it. So obviously when I had went
Speaker 5: off the court after it had happened, basically they had
Speaker 5: said to Dasher like, okay, you're we don't know what's
Speaker 5: happened with Storm, but like she's not playing tomorrow, so
Speaker 5: now you have to play. You've got to get like
Speaker 5: mentally ready to play. And obviously Dash is my best
Speaker 5: friend and she's gone through two als, also had surgery
Speaker 5: on her aculles, so she was also distressed for me,
Speaker 5: because you know, we're such close friends, and I was
Speaker 5: kind of like, dude, you need to focus on tomorrow
Speaker 5: because like it's upsetting, but like I'm all Team Australia,
Speaker 5: like at this point, it's not about me. It's about
Speaker 5: the team and we need to like we need to
Speaker 5: win this qualifying tie. So yeah, basically, like that night
Speaker 5: at dinner, I hadn't had scans yet. I was getting
Speaker 5: scans later in the night, and you know, everyone was like,
Speaker 5: you don't have to come for dinner, like you just
Speaker 5: go stay in your room, like everyone had come visited
Speaker 5: me in my room. We'd all cried, all hugged and
Speaker 5: cried and said how you know, bad this situation is.
Speaker 3: But you know, they're like you can just hang.
Speaker 5: I'm like, no, I'll come for dinner, like it's kind
Speaker 5: of nice to be around and at.
Speaker 3: Dinner distraction as well. Yeah, definitely And yeah, and.
Speaker 5: Basically the team kind of said to me at that time,
Speaker 5: they said, we don't know like if you want to
Speaker 5: stay or if you've thought about tomorrow, but basically they
Speaker 5: asked me to stay and they said that we would
Speaker 5: love to see you there, like if you're up for it.
Speaker 5: And for me, it wasn't even a choice, like I
Speaker 5: didn't even I was like, why do you think I'm leaving,
Speaker 5: Like I'm not going anywhere, I'm staying here.
Speaker 3: And yeah, I was kind of like, no, of course
Speaker 3: I'm gonna stay.
Speaker 4: Like, well, I guess maybe you might have had to
Speaker 4: go for like hospital or quick surgery, like I don't know,
Speaker 4: who knows what the scans would have revealed or something.
Speaker 5: Yeah, exactly, we were kind of a little bit like
Speaker 5: depending on the scans because we didn't really know the
Speaker 5: severity of like what had happened. But I was kind
Speaker 5: of like, no, like, you know, even if I'm not playing,
Speaker 5: like our mentality with the teams that everyone has a
Speaker 5: role and their role is just important as like the
Speaker 5: person who's actually playing the match, like if you're not
Speaker 5: selected to play, but like your role was cheering and
Speaker 5: supporting on the sidelines is just as important as actually playing.
Speaker 5: So like for me, that's always been my mentality with
Speaker 5: the team. And I was like, well, I've got to
Speaker 5: live that, Like I've got to live. I can't just
Speaker 5: say like it's all about me, like I'm done, I'm
Speaker 5: out of here. I'm like I want to what and
Speaker 5: support and like I said, like the team's kind of
Speaker 5: my family. Like half of the team went to my wedding,
Speaker 5: so like they're all basically my family. So I'm like,
Speaker 5: I'm in good hands, like you know, everyone, you know,
Speaker 5: they obviously feel for me, but I kind of want
Speaker 5: to be surrounded by that like support as well, because
Speaker 5: it definitely made me feel better because I was like,
Speaker 5: if I go home or whatever, like I'm just going
Speaker 5: to be upset and sad. So at least I'm kind
Speaker 5: of around And yeah, and like I said, seeing Taylor
Speaker 5: play and even Dasha, she was so good, like just
Speaker 5: was on a mission, and Arena did really well to
Speaker 5: kind of get through a tough match, and yeah, watching
Speaker 5: Taylor was like my highlight for sure.
Speaker 4: And when you said that about you know, you're seeing progress,
Speaker 4: you're getting your independence back and things like that. Seeing
Speaker 4: that progress and you getting more and more strength and
Speaker 4: being able to do more, is that it's a kind
Speaker 4: of like good for your state of mind when you
Speaker 4: have that progress continuing.
Speaker 5: Yeah, one hundred percent, I think that's probably the main
Speaker 5: most important thing. And even to be honest, like even
Speaker 5: if it's something so little that you have to kind
Speaker 5: of celebrate that and that's what I've been really trying
Speaker 5: to do. So I've been journaling a lot actually, and
Speaker 5: each week I write down what I did this week
Speaker 5: that I couldn't do last week. So for example, last week,
Speaker 5: I couldn't put my shoe on because my foot was
Speaker 5: still too swollen.
Speaker 3: So this week, I can actually put my shoe on.
Speaker 5: So I'm like, wow, like Storm, You've improved because now
Speaker 5: you can put your shoe on and it's comfortable.
Speaker 3: Even my sock. For example, I was wearing.
Speaker 5: High socks because it was same, like it was cutting
Speaker 5: into kind of my achilles and it was sore. So
Speaker 5: now I can wear like ankle socks and it's like, oh, good.
Speaker 3: Job, Like you're actually improving.
Speaker 5: So yeah, just trying to find like little things that
Speaker 5: I couldn't do that now I can do, and just
Speaker 5: not being like, oh, finally I can do that, but
Speaker 5: I actually seeing that as a positive and not being
Speaker 5: like just not disregarding it. I think that's the most
Speaker 5: important thing. And for me and my mentality is like, no,
Speaker 5: that's great, Like you're on the right track. And even
Speaker 5: if it's something so small, I think it's really important
Speaker 5: to yeah, celebrate and remember like where you've come from.
Speaker 5: If even just last week or two weeks.
Speaker 4: Ago, that's actually probably a good life approach anyway, even
Speaker 4: if you weren't coming from an injury, any kind of
Speaker 4: progress journaling you know what you could do this week
Speaker 4: or this month or this year that you couldn't do previously,
Speaker 4: or a new skill you've learned. It's just a nice
Speaker 4: kind of approach to life generally. So maybe it's been
Speaker 4: a good reminder of like good mental approaches.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think so.
Speaker 5: And I actually study psychology at university, so trying to
Speaker 5: use some of those I guess tools that I learn
Speaker 5: and like put them kind of into practice. But yeah,
Speaker 5: I think like even with my career on the road,
Speaker 5: I've usually been someone who kind of reflects a lot
Speaker 5: and tries to celebrate like not just wins or losses,
Speaker 5: but certain things you know in my matches that if
Speaker 5: I did well that I wasn't doing the week before,
Speaker 5: that we kind of focused on. So I guess it's
Speaker 5: kind of the same kind of mentality, And I think
Speaker 5: that's the thing. It could be not just tennis or sport,
Speaker 5: or it can relate to anyone with work and life
Speaker 5: and what goals they have, and that's something that I think, yeah,
Speaker 5: it has helped me with my tennis success. I guess
Speaker 5: on on the road and the last few years is
Speaker 5: my mentality of just yeah, celebrating those small little wins
Speaker 5: even if there no one else knows about them, and
Speaker 5: they're just like for you personally, but just kind of
Speaker 5: keeping you, I guess, yeah, on the right track. And
Speaker 5: you know, not every week you're going to have you know,
Speaker 5: that's the other thing. It's not like you're being super
Speaker 5: positive and like blowing over everything you know you can.
Speaker 2: Sometimes progress isn't linear too exactly.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and that's the reality.
Speaker 5: But I think I tend to try and look at
Speaker 5: things yeah, gluff past full, yes, then empty and yeah,
Speaker 5: or even just see like okay, that's where I was at,
Speaker 5: Like reading back. I also will look back and read
Speaker 5: general entries from like when I had my cast on
Speaker 5: and I couldn't get out of the bed, or and
Speaker 5: be like, okay, like you look how far you've already come?
Speaker 3: You know, so you're yeah, you're doing good.
Speaker 4: That's good, and I've seen obviously you're You've posted a
Speaker 4: bit on Insta since in the last two months about like,
Speaker 4: you know, milestones and what you've been doing in the
Speaker 4: gym and stuff like that.
Speaker 2: It's been the response to that.
Speaker 3: Ah, to be honest, it's been it's blown me away.
Speaker 5: How supportive and how I guess everyone's kind of gotten
Speaker 5: around me.
Speaker 3: And that's why I kind of keep.
Speaker 5: Posting because I get I get a lot of love
Speaker 5: and support and people, you know, they're cheering me on,
Speaker 5: like you know, fans who watch me play and they
Speaker 5: just obviously feel for me going through this and other players.
Speaker 5: The amount of people that have actually ruptured their achilles
Speaker 5: and then going through the same thing, and that you know,
Speaker 5: they're liking to see my progress as well because they
Speaker 5: can kind of relate or give it gives them a
Speaker 5: little bit of inspiration too, So it's yeah, it's been
Speaker 5: kind of overwhelming in a good way, to be honest.
Speaker 5: I didn't expect to get so much support and love
Speaker 5: from everyone online, but it's been. It's been lovely, and
Speaker 5: I like kind of keeping everyone up date. I think
Speaker 5: people were interested and they want to know how you're going,
Speaker 5: like even just ticking off those milestones, and it's kind
Speaker 5: of fun to stay engaged as well, and.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a way to stay connected, yeah.
Speaker 5: Exactly, So you know, even just some will reply and
Speaker 5: I'll have a chat with them online and then yeah,
Speaker 5: it's just a way of, yeah, staying connected, and yeah,
Speaker 5: I enjoy it's kind of fun to.
Speaker 3: Make some reels and post some videos and stuff.
Speaker 4: Yeah for sure. Well as social media manager roll quickly
Speaker 4: in your future too. You never know you're working on
Speaker 4: another skill set.
Speaker 5: I think darry Sable, to be honest, has we comment
Speaker 5: on that.
Speaker 3: I will let her have that one.
Speaker 4: She is almost tennis leading. There's not many players on
Speaker 4: tour that do social media like Dasher. I guess speaking
Speaker 4: of tennis, we're chatting to you when the grass court
Speaker 4: season has begun, and I think in terms of your
Speaker 4: tennis journey and what you've achieved in your career, so
Speaker 4: much of it has connected.
Speaker 2: You with grass.
Speaker 4: Your first tour level title in doubles was in Nottingham,
Speaker 4: I think on grass. Yes, that's a big milestone in
Speaker 4: a players career at to a level title, Like what
Speaker 4: did that mean in terms of your tennis journey and
Speaker 4: kind of the confidence it might have given you.
Speaker 5: Yeah, that's crazy because I remember that that's so clearly,
Speaker 5: like it was yesterday with Minnie Cadam Zach. We like
Speaker 5: to this day, we were like shocked that we won
Speaker 5: that event.
Speaker 3: Even to in our first round.
Speaker 5: We were like, huh, this is like crazy, how are
Speaker 5: we winning our first round of this WTA, Like I
Speaker 5: remember it so clearly with her and gosh, it was
Speaker 5: so special because we've beat some really good teams, some
Speaker 5: good players, I think on the grass, like as an
Speaker 5: Australian and as a West Australian, like I grew up
Speaker 5: playing on grass.
Speaker 3: In like easter tournaments.
Speaker 5: We had fourteen's Nationals in mill Duro as well, and
Speaker 5: I won Fourteen's Nationals on grass there, and I think
Speaker 5: you just kind of have this like confidence because we've
Speaker 5: played on it as juniors growing up, and you know,
Speaker 5: it's only a few weeks of the year, which I
Speaker 5: wish it was a little bit longer, to be honest,
Speaker 5: and I think every Australian player probably does. But yeah,
Speaker 5: you kind of just get this sense of like maybe
Speaker 5: belief that you don't get necessarily on clay or even
Speaker 5: hard court when you're overseas. It's kind of, yeah, the
Speaker 5: sense of peace and relax and you've done this before.
Speaker 5: You've been on this court, like on this grass court
Speaker 5: many times, and there's a lot of players overseas that
Speaker 5: have never played on a grass court. You get to
Speaker 5: those events and they like have no idea what they're doing,
Speaker 5: and you're kind of like, oh, I've got.
Speaker 4: This, you know, so, which is crazy because they're all
Speaker 4: so much closer to like the UK and things like
Speaker 4: that normally, like we have so far to go, but
Speaker 4: I think people forget how much grass we have here
Speaker 4: in Australia.
Speaker 5: Yeah, especially in regional towns is like grass courts, you
Speaker 5: know everywhere, like in Wa there's probably more grass courts
Speaker 5: than hard courts. I would say, yeah, especially like kind
Speaker 5: of country towns and we would always go kind of
Speaker 5: Christmas and Easter. We'd go to like Bustleton or Geraldton
Speaker 5: and play those those tournaments and like it was always
Speaker 5: the best time ever. Like you'd play so many matches
Speaker 5: and just everyone would just stay at the club and
Speaker 5: have sosiuses all or whatever, and yeah, I.
Speaker 3: Have really fun memories.
Speaker 5: I think going to grass, like going to the UK,
Speaker 5: and having those memories as a kid like kind of
Speaker 5: helps when you go over there because like, yeah, I've
Speaker 5: had these experiences and amaze, you know, fun happy experiences
Speaker 5: on the court and kind of using that when you.
Speaker 3: Get over there.
Speaker 5: So, yeah, that was a very big moment in my
Speaker 5: career because I actually started to believe for the first
Speaker 5: time that I kind of belonged to that level and
Speaker 5: that like it wasn't just a fluke, that I could
Speaker 5: do it again. And I think we broke into the
Speaker 5: top one hundred for doubles for the first time after
Speaker 5: winning Nottingham. So it was definitely a big stepping stone
Speaker 5: for modern and I to win that title. And since then,
Speaker 5: I've had, yeah, a lot of success on grass, making
Speaker 5: the final of Wimbledon last year the doubles, which was
Speaker 5: another amazing experience, and also qualifying for Wimbledon last year
Speaker 5: that was also something, yeah, a dream come true.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, you've pre empted my next question.
Speaker 4: I was going to say, fast forward to twenty twenty three,
Speaker 4: and you had great success in singles by qualifying for
Speaker 4: the major at Wimbledon and then made the doubles final
Speaker 4: at Wimbledon. So, like, tell us who have never played
Speaker 4: on a Wimbledon grass court, what's that like and what
Speaker 4: was that experience like, you know, doing well in singles
Speaker 4: and going so deep in doubles. You had the full
Speaker 4: three week Wimbledon experience. You were there right at the
Speaker 4: beginning and right at the end.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 5: So firstly, the one thing about Wimbledon is that the
Speaker 5: qualifying it's the only slam that the qualities isn't at Wimbledon,
Speaker 5: it's in Roehampton. And I think that makes the elusive
Speaker 5: Wimboeden dream that much more I guess special and achievable
Speaker 5: slash unachievable in.
Speaker 3: A way because you're so close but you're so far.
Speaker 5: And I the two years before that, I made the
Speaker 5: final round of qualities and I had played in fun
Speaker 5: around qualities before, but this is the first time that
Speaker 5: I had lost and like felt completely heartbroken because you
Speaker 5: don't even get to step through the gates Wimwooden, Like
Speaker 5: you don't even get to go there and walk around
Speaker 5: and like hit on the courts or anything.
Speaker 4: Like.
Speaker 5: It's basically this dream that's crushed, you know, and you
Speaker 5: could be ranked one ten in the world and.
Speaker 2: Not get side.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 5: So I think the Roehampton is in a way that's
Speaker 5: like what's so special about it? You know, you have
Speaker 5: this row of courts basically built on an oval, and
Speaker 5: that fine around of qualities, like there's no pressure like it.
Speaker 5: I think It's one of those, yeah, that you can
Speaker 5: just feel the tension in the air, and you know,
Speaker 5: the courts have gotten a lot better, but in the
Speaker 5: last few years they you know, depending on the rain
Speaker 5: and whatnot, like they could be yeah, tough to play
Speaker 5: on too, a lot of of awkward bounces and in
Speaker 5: those moments you're kind of, yeah, getting a little bit
Speaker 5: of luck as well with the bounces and whatnot. But
Speaker 5: to qualify at Roe Hampton is I think one of
Speaker 5: the hardest things to do in tennis.
Speaker 3: And I felt very, very lucky.
Speaker 5: To be able to have that experience last year, had
Speaker 5: been able to qualify and have my husband there, Scotti,
Speaker 5: who was working with me at the time, and just
Speaker 5: having those people there to be able to witness that
Speaker 5: it was very very special. And obviously I was already
Speaker 5: going there for doubles, but I think to achieve that
Speaker 5: in singles and say that I got through three tough
Speaker 5: matches Roe Hampton, you've kind of really earned your way
Speaker 5: to Wimbledon, kind of just makes it, yeah, that much
Speaker 5: more special, I guess. And you know that's already a
Speaker 5: week a week done, and you haven't even got there,
Speaker 5: and you've already gone through all these emotions and then
Speaker 5: you get to Wimbleden for the first time, and I
Speaker 5: think I've played there maybe four times now in doubles,
Speaker 5: and every single time you get goosebumps walking through through
Speaker 5: those gates, and the courts are just so beautiful, fully manicured,
Speaker 5: and you know, you just feel this sense of just goosebumps.
Speaker 3: It's just it's a dream come true. And I just
Speaker 3: don't take that for granted.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it is a beautiful place. It's amazing with eager
Speaker 4: I guess like there is this consistency in women's tennis.
Speaker 4: We saw co Co go deep again and Sablenka and
Speaker 4: Rebaiken are in the quarter finals. There's been so much
Speaker 4: like openness in women's tennis, but in the last year
Speaker 4: or two it seems to have kind of really.
Speaker 2: Stabilized at the top.
Speaker 4: Like what have you made of that change, because it
Speaker 4: seems to be quite different to what it was so
Speaker 4: maybe four or five years ago.
Speaker 5: Yeah, definitely, I think those especially riber keen as vr
Speaker 5: Tech and Sabolenka have kind of established themselves as the
Speaker 5: top three, not just at Slams but at all the
Speaker 5: kind of masters throughout the year. And now Coco as
Speaker 5: well has kind of found that consistency too, and I
Speaker 5: think I like it.
Speaker 3: I think it's great to see you kind of want to.
Speaker 5: See those top players kind of being consistent and having
Speaker 5: those matchups that we you know, you sometimes see on
Speaker 5: the men's tour with you know, obviously Federer and Djokovic, Nadal.
Speaker 5: When you have those matchups, it's kind of you can
Speaker 5: go either way, and it's generally very high quality tennis,
Speaker 5: and I think Asaka will also kind of get back
Speaker 5: up there.
Speaker 3: I think she's playing at such a high level.
Speaker 5: Obviously clay isn't her favorite surface, and her quality of
Speaker 5: tennis was unbelievable, and coming onto the grass, I think
Speaker 5: she's actually going to be a threat depending on draw.
Speaker 5: Obviously she's not seated, so I think she, Yeah, she's
Speaker 5: going to be very dangerous. And you've got also on Jabour,
Speaker 5: who I would say has hasn't had the greatest start
Speaker 5: to the season, but did well at rolling Garras and
Speaker 5: obviously making the final of Wimbledon twice. She's going to
Speaker 5: be out to try and try and go a third time.
Speaker 5: And I think there's some dangerous players as well. But
Speaker 5: I like to see the consistency of the Yeah, the
Speaker 5: top top few players as well. It's been it's been good.
Speaker 5: Sabalanka is always dangerous, Ribakina very dangerous on grass. You know.
Speaker 3: I think eger is obviously.
Speaker 5: Going to want to come out and prove something as
Speaker 5: well on grass courts, so you know, she's obviously very confident.
Speaker 5: Played a lot of my back to back, So yeah,
Speaker 5: it's kind of it's very exciting, it's very it's hard
Speaker 5: to pick, to be honest.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I agree with you. I think that's the it's
Speaker 4: the kind of ideal state. It's not one person completely dominating.
Speaker 4: He was obviously number one and winning most on clay,
Speaker 4: but it's the matchups. It's getting them always their meeting
Speaker 4: in those big matches, and yeah, that's what you want,
Speaker 4: that's what you want to see. I remember you told
Speaker 4: me once that because obviously you were one of the
Speaker 4: top doubles pairs at the same time that Goff and
Speaker 4: Pagoula were, that you practiced a lot with them and
Speaker 4: their top five singles players. Have you practiced as well
Speaker 4: with like Eager, Sabolenka, any of those ons. I'm not
Speaker 4: sure how many people you do practice with like or
Speaker 4: if it's mainly doubles players. But yeah, what have you
Speaker 4: and if so, what's that? What's that been like?
Speaker 5: No, I haven't, to be honest, I haven't really practiced
Speaker 5: with them, just because I think scheduling it's a little
Speaker 5: bit crazy. But I've watched them practice a lot, and
Speaker 5: I've played against Sablenka at the Australian Open, I think
Speaker 5: two years ago. And yeah, I mean it's more like
Speaker 5: their intensity, like even if you're on the practice court
Speaker 5: next to them, like Eager's intensity and Sabling is intensity.
Speaker 5: It's like kind of intimidating you're kind of next to them,
Speaker 5: and you know, obviously Sabling is quite loud, like she's
Speaker 5: a bit more vocal, but Eager it's more her. I
Speaker 5: guess you can see her mannerisms and her focus, her
Speaker 5: eye she's not watching anything else other than what's going on.
Speaker 5: And also her team around them, they're very intense and focused.
Speaker 5: And yeah, it's interesting because then I've practiced with co
Speaker 5: Co and Jesse and co Co. I would say probably
Speaker 5: now is getting more that intensity and focused and I
Speaker 5: think that's probably coming with the confidence that she belongs
Speaker 5: as the now she's number two in the world, which
Speaker 5: is amazing and Jesse, she's probably a bit of a
Speaker 5: different cats.
Speaker 3: She's a cool, cool cat.
Speaker 2: So relaxed.
Speaker 4: I'd love to she seems outwardly anyway, so relaxed. I'd
Speaker 4: love to be like that.
Speaker 3: Yeah, no, she even to me. She seems so relaxed.
Speaker 5: And I enjoy practicing with her because obviously she's a
Speaker 5: amazing player in singles and doubles and such a quality
Speaker 5: ball strip, but also just such a down to earth
Speaker 5: character and always, you know, talking, saying hi and having
Speaker 5: a chat. And I think also because she's older too,
Speaker 5: she's thirty, we're the same age, and I think she's
Speaker 5: spent a lot of time at that challenger level, so
Speaker 5: she kind of understands the road. She didn't just get
Speaker 5: this success overnight or got to the top ten or
Speaker 5: top five overnight. She kind of really worked, had to
Speaker 5: work hard for it. So it's kind of a different,
Speaker 5: I guess, different journey. But I think that's the cool
Speaker 5: thing about tennis. Everyone has a different journey. There's no
Speaker 5: one way. And you see some players like Cocro kind
Speaker 5: of be amazing from a young age, and then you've
Speaker 5: got the other ones who are kind of the journey
Speaker 5: women who you know take their time to get there
Speaker 5: as well.
Speaker 4: I guess one thing, when you watch tennis, you've also
Speaker 4: done coaching as well, and I think you did a
Speaker 4: coaching course, right I did. Yeah, So when you watch tennis,
Speaker 4: you're watching Taylor at the Billy jinking Cowboy, you're watching
Speaker 4: on TV or whatever. Do you watch tennis differently now
Speaker 4: or maybe through like a different lens potentially more analytically
Speaker 4: or is it the same experience.
Speaker 5: I would say when I'm watching people I'm close with,
Speaker 5: I'm just watching as like a fan and not I
Speaker 5: just want them to win, like you know, if it's
Speaker 5: Taylor or any of the Australian girls. But when I'm
Speaker 5: watching kind of like you know, the top girls playing
Speaker 5: like Egar Sublink, like, I'm actually kind of thinking that
Speaker 5: I'm playing them, So I'm like, oh, Because when you're
Speaker 5: on the road, like playing Tolenments, you don't get that
Speaker 5: much time to actually like sit and watch because you're
Speaker 5: kind of just focused on.
Speaker 3: Yourself who you're playing next.
Speaker 5: You might watch a little bit of them just to
Speaker 5: get you know, workout strategy and whatnot.
Speaker 3: Then you're focus on like recovery.
Speaker 4: It's actually so many components to you to your actual
Speaker 4: day just getting yourself ready to play, right, Yeah.
Speaker 5: And yeah exactly, and like that can take up all
Speaker 5: day and then you kind of when you have a
Speaker 5: few free hours, like you.
Speaker 3: Kind of just want to switch off.
Speaker 5: Yeah, you might go do something explore or watch Netflix,
Speaker 5: like you kind of want to get out of tennis
Speaker 5: because as soon as you like get to a site,
Speaker 5: like you're kind of in that tennis mindset like all day. Actually,
Speaker 5: Like to be honest, now I'm watching more tennis than
Speaker 5: I would when I'm kind of away, So it's like
Speaker 5: kind of good because I'm watching it from like also
Speaker 5: not an emotional perspective because I'm kind of like sitting
Speaker 5: back and I can use kind of that more things
Speaker 5: that I've learned in my coaching. I've also done coding
Speaker 5: as well. During the Australian Open, I was getting about yeah,
Speaker 5: about six years ago, I was working like in the
Speaker 5: office just coding match after match, and same thing like
Speaker 5: that was just being able to watch tennis from like
Speaker 5: a bit of a different perspective, taking like the emotion
Speaker 5: out of it and not feeling like intimidated or like around.
Speaker 3: It, just kind of being a little bit separated and
Speaker 3: being able to.
Speaker 5: Watch and just see things for how they are, like
Speaker 5: and looking at the stats and kind of like, oh,
Speaker 5: it's like more simple than you know I'm thinking. Sometimes
Speaker 5: I'm like overthinking it and you're kind of in it
Speaker 5: and it seems either way better or way worse than
Speaker 5: it actually is. So yeah, I think this year, like,
Speaker 5: I'll definitely watch a lot more tennis singles and doubles.
Speaker 5: So I think it's a good thing.
Speaker 4: In terms of your timeline for coming back, what are
Speaker 4: the next few months like for you?
Speaker 5: Yeah, so at the moment, the rough timeline is twelve months,
Speaker 5: which is like return to play, which obviously would kind
Speaker 5: of be the clay season twenty twenty five. Obviously, as
Speaker 5: an athlete, like you're trying to push yourself to be
Speaker 5: ready earlier. But at the same time, with my achilles,
Speaker 5: it's very much kind of whenever you chip away and
Speaker 5: whenever you reach certain milestones, like you can tick it
Speaker 5: off and go to the next thing, and there's kind
Speaker 5: of no timeline on that. It's kind of everyone's different
Speaker 5: with their body and how they recover, so already with
Speaker 5: me kind of transitioning out of the moon boot, I'm.
Speaker 3: Like two weeks ahead of schedule. So yeah, so it's
Speaker 3: like really really positive.
Speaker 5: So I'm trying to at the moment not put like
Speaker 5: too much of a timeline on it. Like, obviously I
Speaker 5: would love to be ready for the Australian summer. That
Speaker 5: would be that's kind of like in the back of
Speaker 5: my mind something that I'm working towards. But at the
Speaker 5: same time, I'm trying I don't want to be disappointed
Speaker 5: if that doesn't happen. And I'm kind of listening to
Speaker 5: my body because obviously it's gone through something quite yeah,
Speaker 5: quite extreme and quite a lot that I need to
Speaker 5: make sure that I'm ready when I do come back.
Speaker 5: And in terms of coming back to singles or doubles
Speaker 5: or both, I'm actually not at the moment.
Speaker 3: I'm not sure.
Speaker 5: I would love to come back and be ready for both,
Speaker 5: but we just I don't know how my body is
Speaker 5: going to be and that's.
Speaker 3: Just yeah, realistically the way it is.
Speaker 5: And I also have like my underlying autoimmune stuff, so
Speaker 5: with my anchializing spondylitis, Yeah, we just don't really know how. Yeah,
Speaker 5: my body will kind of handle the recovery and the training,
Speaker 5: but I have my protected ranking for singles and doubles.
Speaker 5: So once we're kind of back on the court, moving
Speaker 5: and training, will.
Speaker 3: Kind of make a plan. But yeah, I'll be pushing.
Speaker 5: I'll be pushing to yeah, be coming back as soon
Speaker 5: as I can. And yeah, like I said, like I
Speaker 5: said before, billygin King Cup like a goal. I felt
Speaker 5: this year that I was going to be top one
Speaker 5: hundred for sure. Like I was feeling great, playing really
Speaker 5: really well. I played Emminavarro in Miami. I qualified and
Speaker 5: played her second round, and even though I lost, it
Speaker 5: was like one of like I was feeling really good.
Speaker 5: Like I lost the match in strad but I came
Speaker 5: off the court and like was smiling and like me
Speaker 5: and my coach Nicole Pratt, and we were just like wow,
Speaker 5: like if this is my level, like I'm gonna be.
Speaker 3: Like top fifty this year. Like I just felt really good.
Speaker 2: And because emmen of R's top twenty now, yeah.
Speaker 5: She's an unbelievable player, and like I think I was
Speaker 5: up for one in the first set, like completely like
Speaker 5: not even giving her a chance, and I was like, wow,
Speaker 5: like that's my level, like obviously being able to maintain
Speaker 5: that for like I dropped obviously and couldn't maintain that level,
Speaker 5: and being able to do that for like one match,
Speaker 5: let alone week in week out is obviously not easy.
Speaker 5: But I was like, wow, like if I can handle
Speaker 5: like do this, then yeah, you just got to keep
Speaker 5: doing it, stay healthy and I think I'll progress.
Speaker 3: So obviously like having.
Speaker 5: That and then been now stuck here at home rehabing,
Speaker 5: but in a way, it kind of gives me that
Speaker 5: like confidence that I can do and that's my level,
Speaker 5: Like it gives me that motivation to be like I
Speaker 5: can achieve that and get to that level.
Speaker 3: I just want to. I just need to give myself
Speaker 3: a chance again.
Speaker 5: And you know, I was really I was injured six
Speaker 5: years ago with my shoulder. I was out for twelve
Speaker 5: months and didn't think I was going to come back
Speaker 5: to tennis at all. Like I was like, yeah, working
Speaker 5: as a coach, had like no money, nothing. I was
Speaker 5: just like, Okay, I don't know if I will get
Speaker 5: another chance. And I'm so glad that I did try
Speaker 5: again because then everything that's happened in the last six
Speaker 5: years has been incredible. Like we have our house with
Speaker 5: my trophies in it, and every day I'm looking at
Speaker 5: them and I'm like, Wow, like you achieved all that
Speaker 5: in the last six years because you just kind of
Speaker 5: stuck with it and you know, you just kept showing up.
Speaker 5: And that's kind of my thing now, is like, Okay,
Speaker 5: you've done it before, you can do it again, and yeah,
Speaker 5: who knows what you'll achieve if you kind of just
Speaker 5: keep showing up and giving yourself chance.
Speaker 3: So yeah, trying to use that as my inspiration.
Speaker 4: That's definitely stuff to jop down in the journal if
Speaker 4: you haven't already the visual of the trophy cabinet in
Speaker 4: the house and knowing it, yeah, I need to add
Speaker 4: there's more to add to it.
Speaker 5: Yes, definitely, and in the trophy cabinet, it's quite crazy.
Speaker 5: Like for me, it's crazy because like I have some
Speaker 5: beautiful trophies that I've been lucky enough to win, but
Speaker 5: my favorite one is this one from Aubrey at one
Speaker 5: of the amts there. It was the first moment that
Speaker 5: I came back and played after my shoulder injury. I
Speaker 5: played doubles with yeah, one of the local girls and
Speaker 5: we won it. And it's sitting there just right next
Speaker 5: to my wind Wooden Finals trophy. Because it's like for me,
Speaker 5: it means so much because I was the start of
Speaker 5: kind of yeah the last six years, and for me
Speaker 5: it's just as important as the wind Woulden Trophy, the
Speaker 5: finalist trophy, and everything else in between.
Speaker 3: So yeah, it definitely kind of serves as that.
Speaker 4: Inspiration, incredibly of Storm to give us her time and
Speaker 4: to reflect on all of those things. I found it
Speaker 4: really inspiring how she's got such a great perspective when
Speaker 4: she's been dealing with such a challenge in her career,
Speaker 4: to be able to find those kind of small positives
Speaker 4: and silver linings and appreciate her progress.
Speaker 2: I thought that was wonderful, absolutely.
Speaker 1: And I think anyone looking for a tennis role model
Speaker 1: look no further than Storm Hunter.
Speaker 4: She's amazing and we'll be back again next Monday, talking
Speaker 4: to you at Wimbledon, Viv. I'm looking forward to seeing
Speaker 4: who you sit down with their.
Speaker 1: Yeah, exciting times ahead, and in the meantime, you can
Speaker 1: listen to John and the team this Thursday on the
Speaker 1: Aoshow Weekly. Details for how to contact us are in
Speaker 1: the show notes, and please subscribe, rate and review. I'll
Speaker 1: talk to you next week, Matt.
Speaker 2: Look forward to a Viv