Speaker 1: Hello and welcome to the sit Down. I'm Viv Christian,
Speaker 1: managing editor of Australian Tennis magazine.
Speaker 2: And I'm Matt Trolope, a writer for oz open dot Com. Viv,
Speaker 2: why are we sitting down with Olivia Gadeki this week?
Speaker 1: Well, Matt, it's been an incredible season for Live and
Speaker 1: it's also been an incredible month for her. She is
Speaker 1: fresh off reaching a first WTA final in Guadalajara, and
Speaker 1: now she's not only a top one hundred player but
Speaker 1: also Australia's.
Speaker 3: Number one woman.
Speaker 2: Yeah, like a whole lot of milestones have all come
Speaker 2: together for her at once, and in the space of
Speaker 2: a week, she's almost half her ranking. She was around
Speaker 2: one point fifty in the world and now she's knocking
Speaker 2: on the door of the top eighty and I think
Speaker 2: she was really surprised about it, and it also completely
Speaker 2: changes the trajectory of her season. So let's hear what
Speaker 2: she had to say. Olivia Gadeki, thank you so much
Speaker 2: for joining us on the sit down today. Where in
Speaker 2: the world do we find you at the moment?
Speaker 3: Thank you? Yeah, thanks so much for having me.
Speaker 4: I'm actually here in Oklahoma, Stillwater, OSU visiting my little brother.
Speaker 4: He just started college a couple of weeks ago, so
Speaker 4: I thought i'd come visit and spend a bit of
Speaker 4: time with him.
Speaker 2: What's that like the college experience? I guess you would
Speaker 2: have only been there for a day or so, But
Speaker 2: I mean, have you done the US college UNI thing before?
Speaker 4: No? I haven't, actually, And this is like my first
Speaker 4: time coming to a college in a way too, so
Speaker 4: it's all very new to me. And it's a pretty
Speaker 4: cool environment. I went and saw the center and it's
Speaker 4: like amazing facilities. And yeah, he's in very good hands,
Speaker 4: my brother.
Speaker 2: That's good to hear now. Obviously, one of the main
Speaker 2: reasons we're talking to you today is because of your
Speaker 2: performance in Guadalajara. You made the final there of the
Speaker 2: WTA five hundred there and like an incredible week that
Speaker 2: you started in qualifying to get to your first WTA final.
Speaker 3: What clicked?
Speaker 2: Why did it all work so well there on such
Speaker 2: a big stage.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's sort of a million dollar question in a way.
Speaker 3: I don't know. I think I spent two a week.
Speaker 4: Before that five hundred tournament. They're playing a one two five,
Speaker 4: and you know, I played. I've been playing quite a
Speaker 4: bit this year, and I don't know, I was really
Speaker 4: feeling myself out there. I really enjoyed the conditions and
Speaker 4: everything about Mexico that week, and I don't know, I
Speaker 4: was playing some great tennis and I just took every
Speaker 4: opportunity as it came, and each day it was a
Speaker 4: chance to you know, get out.
Speaker 3: There, compete, enjoy it. And yeah, it came good.
Speaker 2: In the end, It certainly did. And one thing that
Speaker 2: was so interesting about your run after you qualified was
Speaker 2: like the caliber of players you kept facing in the
Speaker 2: main draw. So you beat Sloan Stevens, Daniel Collins, Martina Trevis,
Speaker 2: and Camilla Azoria, Like these all big names on the
Speaker 2: WTA Tours, So how did it feel to face them
Speaker 2: and beat them?
Speaker 3: Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 4: I mean they're probably one of the biggest names, like
Speaker 4: you said, on tour, so to be able to get
Speaker 4: quite a few great wins was amazing for my confidence.
Speaker 4: And a lot of the time I was just taking
Speaker 4: one match at a time. I didn't know who I
Speaker 4: was facing next or anything. So I think that I
Speaker 4: really enjoyed that. I just like I said before, it
Speaker 4: just took every match as it came and really enjoyed
Speaker 4: competing and.
Speaker 3: Yeah, especially at.
Speaker 4: That level, because I feel like I've been in that
Speaker 4: one fifty mark where you're in qualiues of these events,
Speaker 4: but you don't really get to play such well. I'm
Speaker 4: like the players you play a great but as in
Speaker 4: this sort of level, you don't really get that too often.
Speaker 3: So to play back to back and you know, get
Speaker 3: through those.
Speaker 4: It was it was quite a you know, big confidence
Speaker 4: booster in a way.
Speaker 2: And then obviously entering the final, that's a new experience
Speaker 2: for you. And we know the Guadalajara Guadalajara tournament, it's
Speaker 2: so well attended, it's a great center court, so like, yeah,
Speaker 2: walking out for your first W two final at that
Speaker 2: level probably what five six thousand people in the stands
Speaker 2: and this opportunity, like, what what was that experience like?
Speaker 2: And how did you handle it?
Speaker 3: It was amazing.
Speaker 4: I mean, I was so lucky to be to have
Speaker 4: been you know, welcome so warmly. I felt like I
Speaker 4: had the crowd sort of behind me a lot of
Speaker 4: the time, which was really nice. And I mean towards
Speaker 4: the end of the week, I think, you know, you
Speaker 4: really try and seek those little sort of one percenters
Speaker 4: that might get you over the line. And although I
Speaker 4: didn't win that final, I just felt like I had
Speaker 4: a lot of energy and backing behind me, which, like
Speaker 4: I said, makes a big, you know impact, And I
Speaker 4: thought I played great, like great tennis, and I just
Speaker 4: felt like I didn't quite execute as well as I
Speaker 4: had the last you know, a few matches. But credit
Speaker 4: to Magdalena, like she played, she played amazing and she's
Speaker 4: had such a great sort of year so far, so yeah,
Speaker 4: credit to her.
Speaker 2: Were you nervous for the final?
Speaker 3: Oh? Yeah, I was sick to my stomach.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and I was alone that week, so I was
Speaker 4: trying to figure out.
Speaker 3: Ways to sort of deal with those nerves.
Speaker 4: And I hadn't like obviously I've felt nervous before, but
Speaker 4: that was like I just felt like that was another level,
Speaker 4: and you know, it was a good sign.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 4: It's those those sort of moments you trained for and
Speaker 4: it's quite hard to replicate. So to have that, you know,
Speaker 4: feeling and and to know that I came out there
Speaker 4: and played some great tennis and with that sort of feeling,
Speaker 4: so I it's a it's a feeling that I know
Speaker 4: that I can sort of, yeah, just get used to annoying.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Do you think, Olivia, that your experience or your success
Speaker 1: in doubles has helped you in singles and and on?
Speaker 1: I guess a big occasion like that.
Speaker 4: Oh yeah, I can definitely say that, you know, all
Speaker 4: those doubles matches tournaments that I've played has made a
Speaker 4: massive difference for my singles game.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 4: I'm so glad that I've you know, given doubles a
Speaker 4: good shot and been able to play in some really
Speaker 4: big tournaments which I hadn't done prior years.
Speaker 1: And in terms of your game, you have such a
Speaker 1: sort of a beautiful, well rounded all court style. How
Speaker 1: did you develop that?
Speaker 3: Oh? Thank you.
Speaker 4: I remember when I was quite young, I was maybe
Speaker 4: around twelve, I was twelve thirteen, I was working with
Speaker 4: Adam Carey, and I remember saying to him, oh, I
Speaker 4: would love to become a Servolia like.
Speaker 3: That sort of player one day.
Speaker 4: And so, I don't know, with him, we practiced, you know, transition,
Speaker 4: my transition game so much so I'd say Adam Carey
Speaker 4: was the one that, you know, helped with that side
Speaker 4: of my game. And I'm so thankful because I love
Speaker 4: playing like that, really enjoy playing tennis. You know, when
Speaker 4: there's you know, quite a few things that I can
Speaker 4: sort of do when if things aren't going well or
Speaker 4: if I need to change things. I feel like I've
Speaker 4: gotten all courts sort of game, which is which is great.
Speaker 1: I feel servant volley is are a bit of a
Speaker 1: rarity in today's game. Was there anyone that kind of
Speaker 1: inspired that?
Speaker 3: Not really, I'd say no, I just I just wanted
Speaker 3: to be different.
Speaker 4: But I've realized that the serve and volley game is
Speaker 4: quite quite physical, and it's very important to have a
Speaker 4: base game too.
Speaker 3: So as as much as I wanted to be serve volley,
Speaker 3: I also need to work on the other things, of course.
Speaker 1: And you are now sitting at a career high ranking
Speaker 1: of world number eighty one. How does that sound? And
Speaker 1: you know, just how does it feel to have made
Speaker 1: your top one hundred, tiboo?
Speaker 3: It's honestly amazing, and I.
Speaker 4: Can't quite believe, to be honest, especially because I was
Speaker 4: in that sort of one fifty bracket I thought for
Speaker 4: quite a long period.
Speaker 3: I haven't quite digested it just yet.
Speaker 4: I don't think it's been an incredible sort of you know,
Speaker 4: eight days and.
Speaker 3: The fact that I'm yeah, like I said, eighty one
Speaker 3: in the world. Is this incredible?
Speaker 4: And I just felt like I was in that one
Speaker 4: fifty bracket for quite a while and I didn't quite
Speaker 4: know that it could change. I knew it could change
Speaker 4: quickly in a week, but I didn't think it would
Speaker 4: sort of change that quickly.
Speaker 3: So yeah, to be eighty one in.
Speaker 4: The world right now is incredible, and I'm just really
Speaker 4: excited to keep going, keep working on my game, keep learning,
Speaker 4: and yeah, just see how how far I can sort
Speaker 4: of go.
Speaker 2: Well, I had a follow up question to that, and
Speaker 2: it was about the opportunities that this new ranking opens
Speaker 2: up for you because you've actual actually halved your ranking.
Speaker 2: You as you said, you were in the one fifties
Speaker 2: and now you're eighty eighty one. Do you know how
Speaker 2: that might like impact your schedule or how it might
Speaker 2: change going forward.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's definitely changed my schedule quite a bit.
Speaker 4: I was actually planning on going back to London for
Speaker 4: a couple of weeks and then heading back to the
Speaker 4: States to play seventy fives, and there was a chance
Speaker 4: to play some one two fives and a two point fifty,
Speaker 4: but actually I'm.
Speaker 3: Heading to China to play tournaments there.
Speaker 2: Which that's cool.
Speaker 3: Is quite a schedule. Yeah, schedule changed, So I'm.
Speaker 4: Really excited about that because that was the schedule I
Speaker 4: really wanted to play. But obviously I was sort of planning, Oh,
Speaker 4: I'm not going to be sort of ranked high enough
Speaker 4: to get into those, so I'll just head sort of
Speaker 4: the other way. But yeah, after this week, I've yeah,
Speaker 4: given myself the opportunity to head to Asia and compete there,
Speaker 4: which is very exciting.
Speaker 2: It's awesome going back and kind of preparing for this
Speaker 2: interview looking at your activity, it seemed that there was
Speaker 2: in singles like a bit of a spike when grass
Speaker 2: court season started. So and I think, if we've counted correctly,
Speaker 2: your twenty three wins and nine losses since the beginning
Speaker 2: of SERBERTU where I think you made the semisor the final.
Speaker 2: I just wondered if that's where you felt a change
Speaker 2: or a click happening in your game too, because that
Speaker 2: seems to be when the results swung up.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think you could definitely say that I was.
Speaker 4: And also I just love playing on the grass to
Speaker 4: be honest, I feel like my game suits suits it
Speaker 4: very well, and I was really going into that grass
Speaker 4: court season quite you know confidently in a way, I've
Speaker 4: put in a lot of good hours and.
Speaker 3: I just thought, you know, I could really do something
Speaker 3: here over these next couple of weeks.
Speaker 4: And yeah, I think it's definitely helped, just you know,
Speaker 4: playing a lot of matches.
Speaker 3: To this. Yeah, this end and is part of the year.
Speaker 2: Yeah, obviously Guadalajara is a massive highlight for you this season.
Speaker 2: But I just wondered, if you look back at your
Speaker 2: twenty twenty four season, what are some of the other
Speaker 2: highlights for you that you reckon have been really significant
Speaker 2: or stick out.
Speaker 3: Oh, there's there's been quite a few. Actually, twenty twenty
Speaker 3: four has been a great year so far.
Speaker 4: I feel, you know, I played I represented Australia in
Speaker 4: the Olympics, which was you know, amazing and I honestly
Speaker 4: didn't think I was going to get that optually so
Speaker 4: early in my career, so to do that was incredible.
Speaker 4: And you know, playing playing all the Slams, Aussie Open,
Speaker 4: I mean, there's not there's.
Speaker 3: That is one of the highlights every year, you know, playing.
Speaker 4: In front of your home crowd and in front of
Speaker 4: friends and family, and yeah, that was definitely a massive
Speaker 4: yeahs like good moment and but yeah, I think just
Speaker 4: overall the whole year, you know, you get to travel, compete,
Speaker 4: there's a lot of ups and downs, but it's just yeah,
Speaker 4: all quite exciting.
Speaker 1: Olivia, I just wanted to ask. I'm sure you've heard
Speaker 1: from lots of people since your week Inquaatelage era, but
Speaker 1: I was also wondering Ash Party has obviously been, you know,
Speaker 1: an influence in your career. I wondered if you could
Speaker 1: talk about the inspiration that she provided and whether you're
Speaker 1: still in touch and yeah, just that connection.
Speaker 4: Yeah, Ash has been a big part of my career
Speaker 4: so far. She you know, showed me the ropes when
Speaker 4: I was just starting out pretty much, and she really
Speaker 4: gave me a feel for, you know, what it is
Speaker 4: to work hard, to you know, have a have a
Speaker 4: good team around you, enjoy enjoy it. You know, it's
Speaker 4: a it's a long sort of journey, and it's really
Speaker 4: important to enjoy the little things. And and she, yeah,
Speaker 4: she's just been there for me whenever I needed some
Speaker 4: advice or she she's yeah, just been incredible and I'm
Speaker 4: so so grateful to.
Speaker 3: Have someone like her in my corner.
Speaker 4: And she she texted me after my week and said
Speaker 4: she's very proud of me. And coming from someone like that,
Speaker 4: you know, that really means a lot. Especially, I feel
Speaker 4: like we have quite a lot in common. And to
Speaker 4: have someone like that just, yeah, tell you that you know,
Speaker 4: they're proud of you, really.
Speaker 3: Means a lot. For sure.
Speaker 1: Who else sort of counts as inspiration to you? And
Speaker 1: what does your team look like?
Speaker 3: Now? I would say my mom? My, Mom is my
Speaker 3: biggest inspiration.
Speaker 4: You know, she's without her, I obviously wouldn't be here.
Speaker 3: But I obviously wouldn't have this, you know, opportunity.
Speaker 4: To to play tennis at such a you know, high
Speaker 4: level and without her sacrifice.
Speaker 3: And.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I just feel like I I sort of.
Speaker 3: Owe her in a way. But yeah, she her love
Speaker 3: and support means so much to me. And the fact
Speaker 3: that I can.
Speaker 4: Sort of, you know, say that without you, like I
Speaker 4: wouldn't sort of be here is quite special.
Speaker 3: She must be so proud of you, Yeah she is,
Speaker 3: which is nice.
Speaker 1: You do come from a family of tennis players. Talk
Speaker 1: about that sort of influence and how that's helped your
Speaker 1: journey to this point.
Speaker 4: Yeah, So, my five brothers all used to play and
Speaker 4: we all used to you know, hit together. Growing up
Speaker 4: because financially, Mum couldn't really afford to, you know, put
Speaker 4: get our own sort of private lessons, and we were
Speaker 4: very lucky to have sort of clubs support us in
Speaker 4: a way. But most of the time we hit together,
Speaker 4: and you know, we formed a very strong bond, and
Speaker 4: even only two of us really play at the moment,
Speaker 4: my little brother and I so but the support system
Speaker 4: behind us or behind me is incredible. And without my
Speaker 4: brothers and my mum's support, I honestly think it would
Speaker 4: be so much harder.
Speaker 3: So I'm very grateful to them.
Speaker 1: I have to ask, what's it like growing up in
Speaker 1: a family of five brothers?
Speaker 4: Oh, it's amazing. I honestly wouldn't want anything else. And
Speaker 4: I feel so special like to be surrounded by such
Speaker 4: you know, great you know brothers, and yeah, when I
Speaker 4: think about my family, I just feel like it was
Speaker 4: just full of love and support, and.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I feel very lucky to have that, Olivia.
Speaker 2: This is another great result in what has been an
Speaker 2: incredible year for Australian tennis. I feel like every week
Speaker 2: we're celebrating something that an emerging ossie's doing, a career first,
Speaker 2: a big win. How much like have you drawn any
Speaker 2: inspiration from what other Ossies have been doing on tour
Speaker 2: and kind of like tapped into a bit of that
Speaker 2: momentum yourself.
Speaker 4: I would say yes and no. It's a fine line,
Speaker 4: I feel in a way, because you know, the amazing
Speaker 4: thing about tennis is we all have our own journeys
Speaker 4: and we can sort of write our own stories, and
Speaker 4: sometimes we can get a little too fixated on what
Speaker 4: everyone's doing. But it's so nice to see that there's
Speaker 4: so many Aussie is doing amazing and it does give
Speaker 4: you a sense of belief that you know it's doable
Speaker 4: and you can do it too. But yeah, like I said,
Speaker 4: it's sort of a fine line.
Speaker 3: But I think it's amazing what.
Speaker 4: The Australians have been able to do this year, and
Speaker 4: I think we can, you know, keep going, keep doing
Speaker 4: more and better for sure.
Speaker 2: And I guess more specifically about the women, because so
Speaker 2: many of the storylines on in Ozzie Tennis have been
Speaker 2: about the men, but in the last couple of months
Speaker 2: it's been the women also doing great stuff. We had
Speaker 2: that amazing result of the US Open where five or
Speaker 2: six of them qualified. You're now the number one Aussie.
Speaker 2: There's all of these other young players coming through that
Speaker 2: are kind of on the cusp of the top one
Speaker 2: hundred as well. So how does it feel to kind
Speaker 2: of be part of that group that are emerging through?
Speaker 2: Like it seems like a really positive future for Ozzie
Speaker 2: women's tennis.
Speaker 4: Yeah, for sure, We've got quite a few women coming through,
Speaker 4: and especially the young ones. You know, you've got Maya
Speaker 4: Joint who's doing amazing, Taylor Preston, and then like you said,
Speaker 4: we had those we had six girls qualify for yours Open,
Speaker 4: Like that's just incredible.
Speaker 3: So yeah, we've got we've got a bright future. And
Speaker 3: I hope that.
Speaker 4: They know that it's doable and you know, you just
Speaker 4: got to keep doing the right things and working hard
Speaker 4: and giving yourself the chance, and yeah, you never know
Speaker 4: what could happen.
Speaker 1: So Olivia, we're learning a lot of Australianton's fans are
Speaker 1: learning a lot about Olivia the tennis player. What's something
Speaker 1: they might not know about Olivia Gdeki the person.
Speaker 3: The person.
Speaker 2: Existential question for you?
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's that's one that I might need a little
Speaker 4: bit of time to think about actually, But oh it's
Speaker 4: that's a tough question because I just feel like my
Speaker 4: whole life revolves around tennis.
Speaker 3: As sort of sad.
Speaker 1: As that sound, but we love the passion.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's it's a tough one because I just feel
Speaker 4: like it takes so much, you know, time and effort,
Speaker 4: and it's it's about fine margins and there's not as
Speaker 4: much as you want to balance your off court and
Speaker 4: on court. I just feel like it's very hard to
Speaker 4: to sort of differentiate differentiate the two because, like I said,
Speaker 4: it's fine margins. But I yeah, I honestly actually, I
Speaker 4: it's funny because I'm not very good at math, but
Speaker 4: I I just enjoy sort of doing it because it's
Speaker 4: very black and white, like there's the answer is either
Speaker 4: wrong or right. So when I was in Guadalajara, because
Speaker 4: I was there for two weeks, I actually bought a
Speaker 4: math course, oh.
Speaker 3: Well and started.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I started doing some math in my free time,
Speaker 4: which is quite funny. But yeah, that's probably a little
Speaker 4: fun fact, quite random.
Speaker 3: Well, there you go.
Speaker 1: Just to finish off Olivia, perhaps you could say, I'll
Speaker 1: tell us what you're most looking forward to over the
Speaker 1: next few weeks, the rest of this season and into
Speaker 1: early next year.
Speaker 3: What I'm most looking forward to I think for sure,
Speaker 3: just you know, hitting the practice.
Speaker 4: Courts and working on my game and then getting out
Speaker 4: to Asia and competing and really just trying to continue
Speaker 4: with the momentum that I've been able to create right now.
Speaker 3: And of course it's been truly amazing.
Speaker 4: Because I get to represent Australia again in November, which
Speaker 4: is very exciting. I'm so excited to wear the green
Speaker 4: and gold and to be a part of something bigger
Speaker 4: than myself again this year is just an incredible opportunity
Speaker 4: and I think I'm really that's probably my favorite, you know,
Speaker 4: seeing really and really looking forward to that. And then
Speaker 4: after that, of course the Aussy summer. I mean, yeah,
Speaker 4: there's a lot to look forward to and I'm so
Speaker 4: excited about it all.
Speaker 2: Fantastic opportunity to catch up with Olivia Gadecki there and
Speaker 2: really interesting to hear how she's looking forward to the
Speaker 2: Australian summer. I'm not surprised she is, given her momentum,
Speaker 2: and what's so cool for Australian tennis fans is she's
Speaker 2: like the latest emerging Ossie star to be coming through
Speaker 2: the ranks, rising at the right time. It's been such
Speaker 2: an incredible season for Australian tennis and she's yet another
Speaker 2: figure that fans can get behind. And it's almost the
Speaker 2: perfect time to remind people that tickets for AO twenty
Speaker 2: twenty five are on sale not long now in October,
Speaker 2: so this is the perfect time to start thinking about
Speaker 2: snapping them up.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's going to be a big Australian summer of
Speaker 1: tennis for both the players and the fans. And we'll
Speaker 1: be back again next Monday when we sit down with
Speaker 1: former top ten star Andrea Petkovic. And in the meantime,
Speaker 1: you can listen to John and the team this Thursday
Speaker 1: on the AO Show. Weekly.
Speaker 2: Details for how to contact us are in the show
Speaker 2: notes below, and as we always ask, kindly, please subscribe,
Speaker 2: rate and review. We'll see you next week, viv I
Speaker 2: look forward to it.
Speaker 4: Mat