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Speaker 1: I need to get my hands on a slam.

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Speaker 2: Hi everyone, and welcome to another episode of the Sitdown.

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Speaker 2: I'm Matt Trolope, a writer and editor for ozopen dot com, and.

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Speaker 3: I'm Vi Christie, managing editor for Australian Tennis Magazine and Matt,

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Speaker 3: why are we sitting down this week with Alex Dimenon.

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Speaker 2: Well, we chatted to him after a brief offseason. I

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Speaker 2: think he got a week and a half off and

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Speaker 2: he's already into his preparations for twenty twenty six, so

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Speaker 2: we spoke to him from his base in Monte Carlo.

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Speaker 2: He's just been nominated for another NUCA medals, so that

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Speaker 2: means he's had an outstanding twenty twenty five season. There

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Speaker 2: was the milestone of a first AO quarterfinal. He returned

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Speaker 2: to the US Open quarterfinals. There was more success on

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Speaker 2: the ATP tour. He had his best every year and ranking,

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Speaker 2: so lots to celebrate, but there were also challenges that

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Speaker 2: he was forced to overcome.

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Speaker 3: He's determined to use the lessons from those challenges as

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Speaker 3: a springboard for even bigger things in twenty twenty six,

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Speaker 3: starting here at the Australian Open, his favorite event. Well,

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Speaker 3: Alex Dimonor. Thank you for joining us today on the sitdown.

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Speaker 3: Where in the world do we find you?

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Speaker 1: I am currently in Monaco starting today was day four

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Speaker 1: of pre season, and yeah, just getting back into the

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Speaker 1: gist of things. And yeah, a couple of tough days

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Speaker 1: of pre season, making sure I'm ready to go come

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Speaker 1: the new year.

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Speaker 3: Well, I was actually going to ask you how the

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Speaker 3: off season is going, but it sounds like it's already gone.

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Speaker 3: But did you have a chance to enjoy a bit

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Speaker 3: of a break.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, there's not too much off season going on nowadays.

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Speaker 1: I was able to have about a week and a

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Speaker 1: half of spending time with family and friends, which was

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Speaker 1: nice to sort of relax and take a moment to just.

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Speaker 4: Take a breath.

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Speaker 1: But now we're back into the gist of things, back

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Speaker 1: into training, back into working on the areas that I

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Speaker 1: want to improve on so I can bring out the

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Speaker 1: best version of myself come twenty twenty six.

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Speaker 2: We'd love to say to you congratulations on another newc

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Speaker 2: Metal nomination, which is an award you've won several times.

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Speaker 2: Tell us about how special that achievement is for you.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it's an amazing achievement. I mean, it is a

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Speaker 1: very prestigious award and it is just an amazing thing

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Speaker 1: to be a part of, right, to celebrate Australian tennis,

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Speaker 1: and especially the last five to ten years, how much

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Speaker 1: we have been growing in the right direction. Right, we

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Speaker 1: are showing strength in numbers, We've had some amazing results

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Speaker 1: by our fellow player and it's just a great thing

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Speaker 1: to be a part of.

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Speaker 2: And you're nominated for your obviously, yeah, for the new

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Speaker 2: Committed which is the most outstanding player and ambassador in

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Speaker 2: Australian tennis, which means that you must have had a

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Speaker 2: great twenty twenty five to get nominated. So how do

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Speaker 2: you sum up your season that's just.

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Speaker 1: Been Yeah, it's an incredible honor, of course, And the

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Speaker 1: way I would sum up my season, it's been, you know,

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Speaker 1: a lot of highs, a couple of lows, but I'm

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Speaker 1: overall very happy with the season itself. I've been able

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Speaker 1: to overcome some difficult moments, learn a lot about myself,

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Speaker 1: and along the process feel like I've become a better

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Speaker 1: version of myself.

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Speaker 4: I've improved in certain.

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Speaker 1: Areas, I've managed situations a lot better, and I think

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Speaker 1: I'm definitely better for it. So this year has taught

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Speaker 1: me a lot, and I do feel like I've I

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Speaker 1: now know what's what the next steps are, what's missing,

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Speaker 1: what I need to kind of improve on to take

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Speaker 1: that big next step. So it is exciting. So going

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Speaker 1: into a new season, trying to tweak a couple of things,

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Speaker 1: work on a couple of things with the team, and

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Speaker 1: we'll see. We'll see how it goes next year, Alex.

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Speaker 3: We saw all your usual qualities throughout that season. We

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Speaker 3: saw your speed, you know, your tenacity, But one of

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Speaker 3: the things I guess that really stood out was the resilience.

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Speaker 3: You know, you bounce back from an early loss at

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Speaker 3: rolind Garrels quite quickly, and the same at the ATP

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Speaker 3: finals when you beat Fritz to reach the semi finals.

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Speaker 3: How valuable was it to see how quickly things can change?

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Speaker 1: Yeah, Look, it's I feel like it's been one of

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Speaker 1: the attributes that I've had within me for a while.

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Speaker 1: It's always not about you know, getting knocked down is

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Speaker 1: how quickly you get back up and you keep fighting

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Speaker 1: right and really for me, it's just about learning how

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Speaker 1: to deal with those moments. Right in the middle of

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Speaker 1: the year, I definitely felt a little bit burnt out,

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Speaker 1: and that early exit at Roland Garros really took a

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Speaker 1: toll on me right to the point where I needed

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Speaker 1: to take some action and be strong with myself about

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Speaker 1: what my priorities are and what I need to do

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Speaker 1: to get the most out of myself. And at that

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Speaker 1: moment in time needed to have a little shift of

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Speaker 1: mindset and shift of priorities, right, and I decided to

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Speaker 1: take a little bit of time off, focus on the

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Speaker 1: bigger tournaments and ultimately believe in myself and back myself

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Speaker 1: that if I'm physically healthy, mentally healthy and full of energy,

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Speaker 1: that I am good enough to have the results that

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Speaker 1: I want right, And just the biggest matches of the

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Speaker 1: year is where I need to tweak a couple of

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Speaker 1: things and try to not put as much pressure on

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Speaker 1: the result, right and focus more on the way I

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Speaker 1: want to play those types of matches.

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Speaker 2: It's interesting hearing you talking about the burnout thing, because

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Speaker 2: we remember those comments after Roland Garross, and it seems

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Speaker 2: that whatever you did, that mindset shift work because at

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Speaker 2: Wimbledon you made a second week and push no back,

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Speaker 2: and then you made the US Open quarters. You also

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Speaker 2: run Washington in there. Some players when they talk about burnout,

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Speaker 2: can struggle for months or might have to take an

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Speaker 2: extended break. So what was it that helped you, I guess,

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Speaker 2: bounce back from the burnout and get back on track

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Speaker 2: relatively quickly after rolla Garras, Yeah, I think it was like,

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Speaker 2: what was the specific mind like the mindset that.

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Speaker 4: You should did.

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Speaker 1: I mean, I felt like for the better part of

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Speaker 1: my career, I was very much focused on my goals,

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Speaker 1: and my goals were very much ranking driven, right, So

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Speaker 1: what happens with that, ultimately is you start obsessing about results.

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Speaker 1: And it doesn't just happen to the point that you're

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Speaker 1: obsessing about your own results. You get to the point

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Speaker 1: that you start looking everywhere around you and what the

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Speaker 1: results of your opponents are to kind of calculate points

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Speaker 1: live rankings where I need to get to defending points.

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Speaker 1: It just became a little bit of a whirlwind and

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Speaker 1: it was definitely not healthy and not the best way

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Speaker 1: for me to use up my mental energy. And I

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Speaker 1: was able to talk to some people and get some

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Speaker 1: help and really start focusing on the right things, and

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Speaker 1: that was definitely a big step forward. I'm not saying

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Speaker 1: that I have completely forgotten about it, right, because ultimately

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Speaker 1: I have goals in the world we live in. A

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Speaker 1: lot of it is ranking based, but I'm being a

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Speaker 1: little bit nicer to myself and I'm focusing a little

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Speaker 1: bit more on the process.

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Speaker 3: It's hard because people like us keep asking about rankings,

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Speaker 3: So apologies, we'll do better of it. Yeah, but how

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Speaker 3: do you sort of ensure physical and mental longevity in

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Speaker 3: a sport that's so grueling, Like what's the secret?

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Speaker 1: Well, look, just being a little bit smarter managing schedule.

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Speaker 1: This year, for example, I did not play one two

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Speaker 1: fifty in the whole year, right, which is pretty crazy

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Speaker 1: when you think about it. So it is managing that,

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Speaker 1: managing weeks. Also just mentally how you play certain tournaments

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Speaker 1: and do not add more pressure than you need to.

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Speaker 1: And ultimately, yeah, just go back to the things that

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Speaker 1: you love and that make you love this sport and

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Speaker 1: made you fall in love with this sport. And I've

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Speaker 1: been trying, and I've been getting a lot better at this.

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Speaker 1: And obviously when you are having fun, when you're switching

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Speaker 1: off in the middle of tournaments and going out to

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Speaker 1: have nice dinners with friends, going out for a coffee,

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Speaker 1: exploring the cities, all this adds up and helps you

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Speaker 1: stay as fresh as you can for longer. So those

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Speaker 1: are the couple of things I've been doing this year.

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Speaker 3: And what would you say is the one thing that

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Speaker 3: keeps you turning up ontour?

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Speaker 4: My drive, my hunger.

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Speaker 1: I feel like I've got more to give, right, And

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Speaker 1: that's a double edged sword many times, because no one's

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Speaker 1: going to be more critical of myself than myself. But

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Speaker 1: at the same time, it keeps pushing me, it keeps

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Speaker 1: driving me for bigger and better things. Right, I've had

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Speaker 1: my best year on tour, finished seven in the world,

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Speaker 1: but I do feel like I've got more to give,

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Speaker 1: and I don't think I've hit my ceiling just yet.

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Speaker 1: So that is what continues to drive me to keep

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Speaker 1: getting better and hopefully improving and making sure I get

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Speaker 1: to a point whenever I finish my career that I

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Speaker 1: can sit on a couch and be very comfortable and

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Speaker 1: happy with my career and have no regrets.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm sure that will be very well deserved when

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Speaker 3: the time comes. Is there anything that you've learned from

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Speaker 3: Katie or your aussimates on tour about navigating life as

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Speaker 3: a pro plant?

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Speaker 1: Yeah, plenty. I do like to talk to a lot

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Speaker 1: of different players and you know it from Katie to

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Speaker 1: Aussie players and learning.

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Speaker 4: Learning how they.

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Speaker 1: Deal with certain situations right, And a lot of it

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Speaker 1: at the end of the day, comes down to perspective.

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Speaker 1: And we live in a sport that we are always

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Speaker 1: striving for the next best thing, right, and we very

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Speaker 1: easily forget once we've accomplished a goal, and many times

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Speaker 1: we don't give ourselves enough credit for achieving that goal,

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Speaker 1: and that moment kind of just passes away quickly and

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Speaker 1: you're not able to really cherish that. So one of

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Speaker 1: the things I've done a lot more recently is in fact,

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Speaker 1: cherish those moments. Take a step back from a very

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Speaker 1: fast paced life and enjoy those moments. It doesn't need

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Speaker 1: to be go out and party every time you have

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Speaker 1: a good win, but find whatever it is for you,

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Speaker 1: something little that it's your way of giving yourself a

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Speaker 1: little pat on the back.

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Speaker 3: I love that, Yeah, so do I, speaking of moments

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Speaker 3: to cherish. Switching giz lightly, what has been your favorite

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Speaker 3: or least favorite aspect of wedding planning so far?

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Speaker 1: My least favorite aspect is the stress of it all.

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Speaker 1: It is too many decisions to.

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Speaker 4: To make I.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I didn't think there was that much going on

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Speaker 1: into planning a wedding.

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Speaker 4: I'll tell you that.

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Speaker 1: So, ye, it's been a lot and we are navigating

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Speaker 1: through it. It's not that easy when we're both tennis

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Speaker 1: players and we seem to be busy very often, right,

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Speaker 1: So that's one thing that I haven't enjoyed.

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Speaker 4: What I have enjoyed is.

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Speaker 1: Picturing that moment, spending it with family and friends and

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Speaker 1: celebrating what would be.

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Speaker 4: A very cool moment.

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Speaker 1: And as I said, not often in a fast paced

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Speaker 1: life do you get the chance to take a couple

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Speaker 1: of steps back.

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Speaker 4: And enjoy a moment.

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Speaker 1: But this will very much be one of those moments

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Speaker 1: that I'll remember for the rest of my life.

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Speaker 2: When we prepare for interviews like this and when we're

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Speaker 2: doing reading and stuff, always a fact that stands out

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Speaker 2: about the person we're about to chat to, And it

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Speaker 2: turns out it's not always true though, when we put

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Speaker 2: it to the.

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Speaker 4: Interviewer, and so we've read.

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Speaker 2: One fact that stood about you is that you collect

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Speaker 2: vintage cars.

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Speaker 4: Is that true? That is very much? Okay?

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Speaker 2: So how did that start? And how many do you have?

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Speaker 1: I've loved cars from a very very young age to

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Speaker 1: the point I did a miss a top Gear interview

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Speaker 1: back in the day, right, And so I've loved cars

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Speaker 1: as a whole my whole life. And then as I got,

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Speaker 1: you know, a little bit older, I started to really

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Speaker 1: cherish vintage cars, all right, how special they truly are.

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Speaker 1: So basically the first car I bought was in nineteen

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Speaker 1: seventy four.

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Speaker 4: Mini right, a.

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Speaker 1: Basically a mister Bean Mini right, and it's one of

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Speaker 1: those things that I redid from the ground up. Loved

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Speaker 1: every second of it, and it is just special, right

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Speaker 1: because you don't see them on the road too often,

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Speaker 1: and I love the uncertainty of is it going to start?

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Speaker 1: Are you going to be stranded in the middle of

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Speaker 1: the road. You just don't know what's going to happen, right,

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Speaker 1: So every moment that you're driving some of these vintage cars,

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Speaker 1: you just cherish, right. So it is my way of disconnecting.

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Speaker 1: And I love that many so much that I ended

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Speaker 1: up getting a second one, a blue one, right, which

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Speaker 1: is from nineteen ninety two with a little bit more horsepower.

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Speaker 4: And it's just a.

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Speaker 1: Little bit of an addiction, I must say, And it

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Speaker 1: is a world that I love and I am in

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Speaker 1: a way happy that I'm so busy and traveling so often,

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Speaker 1: because if.

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Speaker 4: Not, I feel like that would be trouble.

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Speaker 1: I don't know if I would have enough room in

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Speaker 1: my garage to keep keep them all in.

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Speaker 2: It's brilliant though, too, to have like an outlet that's

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Speaker 2: not related to tennis. I think that's healthy. A lot

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Speaker 2: of players talk about that disconnection, as you said, or

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Speaker 2: that outlet. If we were to flip it around and

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Speaker 2: you were preparing for this interview to interview Alex demon or,

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Speaker 2: what would you ask Because something that players often talk

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Speaker 2: about is that they do I was listening to an

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Speaker 2: interview with Andy Murray just the other day, and so

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Speaker 2: many interviews often ask the same thing that can get

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Speaker 2: a bit tedious. So what would you want to know

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Speaker 2: about Alexteman Or what's a part of your story that

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Speaker 2: you don't get asked enough about or that we don't know?

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Speaker 1: I think, yeah, I've always like interviews that go a

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Speaker 1: little bit more in depth into someone's like personality and

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Speaker 1: hobbies and interests. Right, That's something that's always fun to

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Speaker 1: talk about because, yeah, often if you reach if you

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Speaker 1: hit that right question and you get someone talking about

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Speaker 1: something they truly, truly love, then they can give you

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Speaker 1: so much and they can go into detail the same

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Speaker 1: way I could go into detail about cars for a

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Speaker 1: very very long time. So I do very much enjoy

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Speaker 1: talking about that. If I was to ask something else,

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Speaker 1: I would say, what are your goals when you finish

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Speaker 1: your career? And it is often a question that you

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Speaker 1: ask me. Right now, I'm probably not going to answer

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Speaker 1: it because I don't want to put a number or

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Speaker 1: say I guess those very deep, deep feelings. But that

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Speaker 1: would be a great question if I would be able

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Speaker 1: to answer. That's the thing where hopefully I would love

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Speaker 1: to know myself as well.

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Speaker 2: Right, we've found that for fire exactly. There is a

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Speaker 2: goals question in this somewhere towards the end. But one

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Speaker 2: thing we actually really chat with you about all we

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Speaker 2: don't know much about you in Australia is you're a

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Speaker 2: fluent Spanish speaker. But obviously every time you're in Australia

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Speaker 2: you're doing all you're interviews in English. How often are

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Speaker 2: you using Spanish compared to English?

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Speaker 4: Well, half my team is.

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Speaker 1: Three quarters of my team is Spanish, right, so I'm

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Speaker 1: using it almost every day with my family we speak

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Speaker 1: in English in the household, so that's something a little

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Speaker 1: bit rare considering that they live in Alecanto at the moment.

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Speaker 1: But yeah, I mean Spanish. I have to use it

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Speaker 1: almost every day of my life, so over the years

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Speaker 1: I've gotten a lot more comfortable with it. But it

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Speaker 1: is true that if I spend too much time with

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Speaker 1: Spanish speaking people, I often forget a couple of words

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Speaker 1: in English that I have in Spanish, and then it's interesting,

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Speaker 1: what language do you dream? In English? So I would

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Speaker 1: classify still English my first language. Many many times I

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Speaker 1: can't quite get the exact word in Spanish when I'm

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Speaker 1: trying to describe something, but in English I normally do

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Speaker 1: have most of the answers.

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Speaker 3: You spoke earlier about strength in numbers in Australian tennis,

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Speaker 3: you know, and it has been a pretty incredible period.

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Speaker 3: At various times we've had ten Australian men in the

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Speaker 3: world's top one hundred. How much does that spur you

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Speaker 3: along and what's it like to be the leader of

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Speaker 3: that group.

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Speaker 4: I guess it's great.

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Speaker 1: To be a part of it. I feel like this

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Speaker 1: is where our nation deserves to be. We've got such

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Speaker 1: rich history and culture when it comes to tennis, and

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Speaker 1: it's great to be able to show it. And we

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Speaker 1: are a very strong Grand Slam nation and we are

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Speaker 1: indeed just showing it with strength in numbers and whether

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Speaker 1: it's myself, whether it's any other orssy just to have

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Speaker 1: good results out there it means the world.

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Speaker 2: How do you.

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Speaker 3: Persus yourself compared to some of the past grades of

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Speaker 3: Australian tennis.

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Speaker 1: Well, the way I see it is I've got I've

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Speaker 1: got a long way to go. I need to get

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Speaker 1: my hands on a slam to be in to be

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Speaker 1: even close to being in the same conversation and as

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Speaker 1: some of the Aussie greats before me.

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Speaker 4: So yeah, I got plenty of work to do, hopefully

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Speaker 4: one day.

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Speaker 3: At the same time, you are also taking a really

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Speaker 3: big interest in the next generation of Australian tennis through

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Speaker 3: the alex Dimnoor Junior Tour, for example, which includes scholarships

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Speaker 3: and a chant to spend some time training with you. Well,

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Speaker 3: what's that they like?

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Speaker 1: Oh, this is really fulfilling being able to start the

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Speaker 1: Alexan Minor Foundation, be able to bring kids over to Europe,

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Speaker 1: not only to have that opportunity to play against kids

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Speaker 1: outside of Australia but in Europe and learn through you know,

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Speaker 1: those battles on the clay, but to also have one

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Speaker 1: on one time with a pro with myself, I take

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Speaker 1: a lot of pride in that I had a lot

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Speaker 1: of help when I was younger, and I know how

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Speaker 1: important it is to give back to the next generation.

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Speaker 1: So for me it is a big priority. I've got

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Speaker 1: a very very busy schedule, but as I said, I

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Speaker 1: make this a priority because I know how influential and

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Speaker 1: important it can be to someone's career and hopefully I

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Speaker 1: can help them out, whether it's one percent, then I'll

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Speaker 1: be I'll be.

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Speaker 3: Happy coming up for the Alex Dimnov Foundation. I understand

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Speaker 3: there's going to be a big event here in Melbourne

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Speaker 3: over the summer.

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Speaker 1: Yes, we've got an amazing night with myself. I don't

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Speaker 1: know if too many people want to hear me speak

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Speaker 1: for a whole night.

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Speaker 4: So I'm sorry about that.

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Speaker 1: We'll make sure we have other guests which are very

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Speaker 1: very interesting, but it's going to be a great night

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Speaker 1: to kind of celebrate a year of the foundation, a

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Speaker 1: year of being able to help these kids fulfill this

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Speaker 1: their dreams and ultimately.

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Speaker 4: Leveling up right.

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Speaker 1: Our goal is to help more kids and to send

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Speaker 1: more kids overseas and have more interactions with myself. So

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Speaker 1: there's a lot going on in the pipeline and I'm

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Speaker 1: very excited to be able to help as many kids

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Speaker 1: as I can. So we're going to do our very

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Speaker 1: best to keep on improving the foundation and how many

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Speaker 1: kids we can help. And yeah, it's.

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Speaker 4: Going to be exciting.

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Speaker 1: So if for whoever is there, I promise you I

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Speaker 1: won't be talking all night, will get interesting.

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Speaker 4: People on the panel and I'm sure it's going to

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Speaker 4: be a great night.

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Speaker 2: Alex, You've been so generous with your time, Thank you

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Speaker 2: so much. Just before we let you go, we wanted

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Speaker 2: to know what you're most looking forward to for the

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Speaker 2: Aussie summer which is coming up, knowing that you're starting

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Speaker 2: at the United Cut for Australia.

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Speaker 4: With my joint.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm very excited to be sharing the court with

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Speaker 1: my joint. I've had a bit to do with her

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Speaker 1: this year and being able to watch her unbelievable rise

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Speaker 1: up the rankings. It is nothing short from incredible what

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Speaker 1: she's been able to accomplish, and I've got a lot

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Speaker 1: of admiration and respect for her, So I think it's

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Speaker 1: going to be a lot of fun to start the

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Speaker 1: year at Sydney, at my hometown with Maya and representing

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Speaker 1: the Green and Gold. So I'm very excited for that,

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Speaker 1: and hopefully that's going to be the perfect lead up for.

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Speaker 4: The Australian Open, where I would love.

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Speaker 1: Nothing more than to have a deep run there and

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Speaker 1: keep building upon what I've been doing for the last

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Speaker 1: couple of years and hopefully, yeah, be a threat to

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Speaker 1: those be a threat for the title. That would be

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Speaker 1: very very nice.

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Speaker 3: Well, isn't it a privilege to speak to our Aussie

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Speaker 3: number one? And I can't wait to see what he

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Speaker 3: does on court over the Australian summer.

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00:27:07,040 --> 00:27:08,920
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm really looking forward to that too, and I

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Speaker 2: also enjoyed getting to know him a bit better. It

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Speaker 2: was really great to chat to the off court stuff

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Speaker 2: and kind of find out what gets him going away

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Speaker 2: from tennis, So yeah, it was really enjoyable. We'll be

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Speaker 2: back again next Monday with another episode of the sit

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Speaker 2: Down when we interview the Australian Opens Chief Medical Officer

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Speaker 2: Carolyn Broderick. But in the meantime you can listen to

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Speaker 2: Breeze Abe and the team this Thursday on the tennis.

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Speaker 3: Please subscribe to the sit Down so all our interviews

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Speaker 3: land in your podcast feed, and we'd love it if

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00:27:33,680 --> 00:27:36,000
Speaker 3: you could leave us a rating and a review. See

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Speaker 3: you next week, Matt, See you then, Vib