Speaker 1: The roof was closed to Rod Labor arena. We better
Speaker 1: get ready, it might be about to lift off. She's
Speaker 1: never then passed the first round in five previous attempts,
Speaker 1: but the Australian Open Causey de lacra.
Speaker 2: Is in the round at sixteen.
Speaker 3: Another win at the AO. After what you've done, you
Speaker 3: were through to the second week the fourth rounds then
Speaker 3: like yeah, interesting, it's a bit it's a bit sketchy maybe,
Speaker 3: but yeah, watching that, like what do you remember? Just
Speaker 3: because that was like taking it to another level. She's
Speaker 3: a Grand Slam champion. That's Rod Labor, not John Caine.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and won the tournament previously, and I don't think
Speaker 4: anyone expected me to win. I think everyone at that point,
Speaker 4: even my coach, was like, well, whatever happens, happens. And
Speaker 4: I was like deep inside, I was like, no, I
Speaker 4: can win, Like I knew I could win that match.
Speaker 4: And it was very it's not very often that you
Speaker 4: always had that type of self belief or confidence that
Speaker 4: you were like what, it didn't matter who was doubt
Speaker 4: and you're like, no Ah, I'm going to go and
Speaker 4: win this one. And that was definitely one of those matches.
Speaker 4: But when I say it's a bit of a blur.
Speaker 4: I think it's because it was definitely the first breakthrough
Speaker 4: tournament for me at a bigger scale, and so I
Speaker 4: was just so in the moment and so present doing
Speaker 4: that that as my career went on, I probably will
Speaker 4: remember more moments, you know, a bit older, taking it
Speaker 4: all in, appreciating the good and the bad times. That
Speaker 4: that was just a very thrown thrown out there, just
Speaker 4: being in the present and whatever happens, and you don't
Speaker 4: get that feeling very much in life. I probably compare
Speaker 4: it a bit too, trying to think where you get
Speaker 4: that adrenaline where you're just like so oblivious, like I
Speaker 4: don't know, maybe giving childbirth or something like that, but
Speaker 4: like just that moment where you just like in this
Speaker 4: different world. But yeah, it was pretty special and it
Speaker 4: definitely flipped my career on its head for sure.
Speaker 3: So I guess twenty and nine and ten were both
Speaker 3: kind of injury mard for you. It was shoulder and foot.
Speaker 4: Yeah, a couple of surgeries, yeah, shoulder and foot yeah.
Speaker 3: And so I guess, yeah that made coming back in
Speaker 3: twenty eleven and winning the French Open mixed doubles. It
Speaker 3: must have yeah, that must have felt really good.
Speaker 2: Yeah it did.
Speaker 4: And like, yeah, I had the shoulder surgery and luckily,
Speaker 4: like I could still use my legs and stuff, so
Speaker 4: I ran a lot. I did heaps of cross training
Speaker 4: and that, and then with all of that, I got
Speaker 4: some foot problems. So then I had some foot surgery
Speaker 4: and I didn't want to come back until I knew
Speaker 4: that I was like in tip top shape physically and
Speaker 4: mentally and emotionally and all of that. When I was
Speaker 4: out injured, I also did things that I've never done before.
Speaker 4: I went to beauty school and I did my stick Yeah,
Speaker 4: I did my stiff Gate three in beauty therapy. And
Speaker 4: it was a bit of a running joke that with
Speaker 4: you know, my other fellow Aussi tennis players that I'd
Speaker 4: open a Delhi's day spa on tour. So I but
Speaker 4: I did that. I made a new bunch of friends
Speaker 4: through beauty school that were awesome to hang out with.
Speaker 4: And yeah, I kind of just found myself a little
Speaker 4: bit again as Casey away from the court and established
Speaker 4: life in Sydney, and I went out, you know, I
Speaker 4: went out and had a few parties and did things
Speaker 4: that perhaps I had missed out on a little bit,
Speaker 4: and then when I came back, I was ready to
Speaker 4: go again. And little did I know I'd win my
Speaker 4: first major at the French Open in the Mix in
Speaker 4: twenty eleven as quickly as I did. But oh, I
Speaker 4: was so reboarding and I think the whole like just
Speaker 4: coming back playing with Scott Lipski, like who you know,
Speaker 4: had been grinding away for a long time. We didn't
Speaker 4: really know each other. We won so many close matches
Speaker 4: and it was just like one of those tournaments that
Speaker 4: I don't even know how we won it, but it
Speaker 4: was just teamwork. It was communication, it was good energy
Speaker 4: on the court, a few lucky points here and there,
Speaker 4: but just putting yourself out there and then yeah, to
Speaker 4: win it was like still obviously a highlight of my career.
Speaker 2: And then just a couple of years after that, your
Speaker 2: partnership with Ashbardy began in twenty thirteen. You made three
Speaker 2: Grand Slam finals that year. Tell us about what made
Speaker 2: you such great friends and playing partners.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I am so grateful for my friendship with Ash,
Speaker 4: and I know it's mutual in a sense that what
Speaker 4: we were able to provide each other onto U was
Speaker 4: exactly what we both needed, and that was you know,
Speaker 4: having trust in someone ontour, honesty, loyalty, and we stuck
Speaker 4: together and we were just good. We are just good friends.
Speaker 4: And I think that translated onto the court in the
Speaker 4: way that we you know, played doubles as well. So
Speaker 4: I think we bonded over having very similar you know,
Speaker 4: values and morals and how we like to go about things.
Speaker 4: And yeah, and then we you know, complimented each other
Speaker 4: on the doubles court, lefty rioty combo. We both you know,
Speaker 4: just liked talking tactics. I mean there was not really
Speaker 4: when I met Ash when she was young, I was
Speaker 4: like this girl, I mean, her tennis brain is extraordinary.
Speaker 4: So yeah, I think it was something that I really cherish,
Speaker 4: my friendship with Ash and the time that we got
Speaker 4: to spend on and off the court, the challenges, the
Speaker 4: you know, we lost three Grand Slam finals that year,
Speaker 4: but we always looked at the positives like we're an
Speaker 4: Aussie pair and we've just made three Grand Slam doubles
Speaker 4: finals and she was so young. So yeah, it was
Speaker 4: a pretty special year twenty thirteen. And to do that
Speaker 4: with Ash by my side was pretty cool.
Speaker 2: Did you kind of feel like Ash's big sister at times.
Speaker 4: I did. There's obviously like a bit of a gap
Speaker 4: between us, so, but she's very mature and perhaps I'm
Speaker 4: quite immature. I don't know, but I think we just
Speaker 4: we had this real sisterhood. Yeah, and that is something
Speaker 4: that is very hard to find often in tennis. I mean,
Speaker 4: we have a very great, you know culture amongst us
Speaker 4: Aussie women tennis players in general. So I think I
Speaker 4: knew I had, you know, whether it be Stubbsy or
Speaker 4: Alisha or Sam or Pratty, like we always had each other.
Speaker 4: And then you know, I had Ash come along and
Speaker 4: I was like, let's go mate, you know, we're gonna
Speaker 4: be buddies too, And yeah, it was nice. It was
Speaker 4: nice to have someone also just to chat about footy
Speaker 4: or I don't know what you're gonna have for dinner,
Speaker 4: or you know, maybe if I'm just having a bad day,
Speaker 4: can you come over and let's you know, just have
Speaker 4: a laugh. So that stuff was awesome. But yeah, I
Speaker 4: didn't It didn't. It wasn't ever like organized either. It
Speaker 4: was just like we're friends. And however I felt I
Speaker 4: was helping Ash was purely just from a very natural
Speaker 4: and organic way of when you meet someone and you connect.
Speaker 4: And she did a lot for me too. She helped
Speaker 4: me through some of my tough times on tour, and
Speaker 4: I got youthfulness and I got a lot of perspective
Speaker 4: from Ash as well in my own personal and career
Speaker 4: as well. So I think it was a match made
Speaker 4: in heaven in that sense.
Speaker 2: If you'd like to hear the full episode of our
Speaker 2: interview with Casey, search for the sit down or tap
Speaker 2: the link in the episode Nights