Speaker 1: Gooday, and welcome to the tennis For our AO Rewind episode. Today,
Speaker 1: we're going to be winding back the clock and the
Speaker 1: tape and reliving some of the great moments from the
Speaker 1: first Grand Slam of the year, from the great on
Speaker 1: court battles to some of the emerging stars of AO
Speaker 1: twenty twenty five and everything in between. Enjoy this episode
Speaker 1: as we hit rewind on Australian Open twenty twenty five.
Speaker 1: What better place to start than with one of the
Speaker 1: most highly anticipated quarter finals in recent memory. On day ten,
Speaker 1: ten time champion Novak Djokovic took on a young man
Speaker 1: with his own claims on being the best player of
Speaker 1: his generation. Carlos al Karaz.
Speaker 2: And now al Kharaz got the middle of the core.
Speaker 2: Coss Cot Poirot jocoviych al Karaz and loopy Ball took
Speaker 2: Pickpoin up the line, cost cop back here from el
Speaker 2: Karaz pipe the other line jog wis costco.
Speaker 3: Point to the ras.
Speaker 2: This firement says we've seen on this course. No Bak Djokovic,
Speaker 2: thirty seven years of age, ten time champions now so
Speaker 2: exactly why he is dominated.
Speaker 3: On this god for so long and continues to do so.
Speaker 2: Here's twelve semi final appearance at Belmourt Park.
Speaker 1: He is certainly not wearing him.
Speaker 2: If you keep cocking down, you keeps riving the chargers
Speaker 2: at him, and he keeps rising to the occasion he
Speaker 2: is summ athlete. The fecial scene four six six four
Speaker 2: six or ee six four twenty hours and thirty seven minutes.
Speaker 2: Tomaclos Overras Loback Djokovic a own twenty five semifinalists and
Speaker 2: he walked over to Andy Hurry and just hunted him
Speaker 2: and roared at him.
Speaker 1: It was thanks to a Grand Slam first to open
Speaker 1: twenty twenty five that Murray and Djokovic's other coaches, plus
Speaker 1: a select few from the Djokovic camp, could be right
Speaker 1: there on the court, just meters from the baseline. And
Speaker 1: we also heard from Conchita Martinez and her protege Mirror
Speaker 1: Andreva about the new initiative.
Speaker 4: It's great because we can get closer to the players.
Speaker 4: We have a really good view from there. Some of
Speaker 4: the big arenas, I feel like the coaches are far away.
Speaker 4: So now that it's allowed to talk a little bit
Speaker 4: or coach a little bit, I think it's a great
Speaker 4: thing to have.
Speaker 5: Such a fresh She liked it as well.
Speaker 6: I hear everything she says and it's not really what
Speaker 6: I want now, but if we're serious, then yes, of
Speaker 6: course it's it's better because she can also tell me
Speaker 6: stuff that well obviously I need because if she talks,
Speaker 6: it means something's wrong.
Speaker 7: For us.
Speaker 4: It's great to be actually at the end of the court.
Speaker 4: I mean I can really see them much well.
Speaker 6: Her being closer. I feel like it's a good innovation.
Speaker 6: When I don't want to hear anything, I just don't
Speaker 6: come there and I think she understands. And so after
Speaker 6: she doesn't talk about that. Then as soon as I
Speaker 6: come to the towel, of course she sees that, well
Speaker 6: I'm there, then it means that maybe I want to
Speaker 6: hear something, and she starts talking.
Speaker 4: She sees the good energy, and you know, sometimes it's
Speaker 4: just come on reassuring that she's doing good exactly.
Speaker 5: But that's an opening win in Melbourne for Mirah and Driver.
Speaker 1: There was one name on fans' lips more than just
Speaker 1: about any other at IO twenty twenty five. Collins, the
Speaker 1: Australian Open runner up from twenty twenty two. This year,
Speaker 1: took on Ozsie qualifier Destiny Iava in the second round,
Speaker 1: and while most of the parochial ossie crowd were in
Speaker 1: Iava's corner, Well the animal responded the only way she
Speaker 1: knows how. Collins back and cross.
Speaker 3: I have a digs it out, but it's into the net.
Speaker 8: And Danielle Collins, Oh she's got some attitude.
Speaker 3: Oh my, listen to this crowd.
Speaker 9: She's blowing kisses to them. She says, great match, and
Speaker 9: I don't think any hostility between the two players, but
Speaker 9: Colin's giving it to this assie crowd and she's walking
Speaker 9: right to them.
Speaker 10: Nor kisses blown an applause.
Speaker 1: Oh this is fantastic roll and oh she oh my,
Speaker 1: she just kissed her hand and then smacked her rear.
Speaker 4: Wow, she said, enjoying.
Speaker 3: Want into my pair.
Speaker 1: She's got a big smile on her face.
Speaker 10: I love it, she says, Oh.
Speaker 2: Yeah we are Dannielle congratulations.
Speaker 3: Uh that was a roller coaster.
Speaker 11: Barad Yeah, I mean Destiny.
Speaker 12: You know, I was thinking during the match, I was like, hmm,
Speaker 12: if I'm out here, I might as well just take
Speaker 12: that big fat paycheck.
Speaker 3: And uh, Cocoa and guy love.
Speaker 13: We love a good.
Speaker 12: Five star vacation.
Speaker 13: So part of that check is going to go towards that.
Speaker 12: So thank you guys, thanks for coming out here and
Speaker 12: supporting us tonight.
Speaker 9: At Did you find the crowd during the match and
Speaker 9: tell us about Actually, I loved it.
Speaker 12: I like, you know, I've been doing this in my
Speaker 12: whole life, and I love playing in a crowd that
Speaker 12: has energy regardless of what side they're on. And I'm
Speaker 12: somebody to like, you know, it kind of just like
Speaker 12: motivates me even more. So It's kind of a good thing,
Speaker 12: especially when I'm not playing that well. So I think
Speaker 12: it really helped me in the end and just helped
Speaker 12: me concentrate more and challenged me at times and just yeah,
Speaker 12: pushed me kind of through the finish line. I was
Speaker 12: really happy to like in the end, when I finally
Speaker 12: got momentum, I'm like, well, I'm going to be out
Speaker 12: here for two and a half hours and putting up
Speaker 12: with all these people, I might as well just take
Speaker 12: the bigger paycheck right.
Speaker 1: Io twenty five will forever be remembered for the emergence
Speaker 1: of the ATP next next generation. Remember the names Dual Fonseka,
Speaker 1: who eliminated the three time quarter finalist Andre Rubelev, in
Speaker 1: the first round, or Yahu Menzik who took care of
Speaker 1: the sixth seed Casparud in the second round, and of
Speaker 1: course the fairy tale story of the tournament. Learn at ten,
Speaker 1: who will forever be remembered for moments such as this
Speaker 1: one against Daniel Medvedev on day five.
Speaker 14: Ordinary?
Speaker 2: What this total of produces, inch and every time learn
Speaker 2: it to you. In the nineteen year old match points
Speaker 2: he served down the middle, picked up by midbde but
Speaker 2: oh real, sixteen so smart, the monocos, resilience.
Speaker 3: And primary beyond these years, so.
Speaker 2: Compose, You're right to the very last he has beaten
Speaker 2: Daniel Meberdeve. What a performance from.
Speaker 8: This American four hours and forty.
Speaker 2: Eight minutes six to three seven six six seven, one,
Speaker 2: six seven, six ten seven. In the METS time, write learners.
Speaker 4: In take a bown.
Speaker 9: I mean, I was definitely hoping it wasn't gonna go
Speaker 9: to a fifth that breaker, but you know, either way,
Speaker 9: just really happy to get a win. I know I
Speaker 9: made a lot harder than maybe it could have been,
Speaker 9: but you know whatever.
Speaker 1: Well, plenty of new names sprung up for AO twenty five.
Speaker 1: We also welcome back some familiar faces for the Ao
Speaker 1: Legends Cup producer Alexia Mitchell met up with a few
Speaker 1: of the players. Here you'll hear from Sam Stosa, Andrea
Speaker 1: petkevic Eva, Maoli Marcos Baghdatis, Daniella hunter Kova and Alisha Mullick.
Speaker 15: Who's been your favorite breakout performer here in Melbourne? Um
Speaker 15: breakout performer, Let's go with Destiny Lerner Tian.
Speaker 14: There were a few upsets.
Speaker 4: There were a few young American boys winning on the
Speaker 4: men's side. I have to say Swetolina beating Paulini the
Speaker 4: other day, Fonseca.
Speaker 14: Um bellin dumont urbentit look.
Speaker 15: I've loved watching Ketchmanovich the fact Madison Keys is through
Speaker 15: because I always felt like she's a player that can
Speaker 15: win multiple slams and now we're finally seeing some of
Speaker 15: the best of her. Breakout player breakout player Emerson Jones.
Speaker 15: It's been great to watch her play at this level too,
Speaker 15: and she's more than worthy of it.
Speaker 1: Alisia Mullick there with glowing praise for Madison Keys, who
Speaker 1: at that stage of the tournament had just reached the quarterfinals. Well,
Speaker 1: she went on to the semifinals just days later, where
Speaker 1: we would witness a pulsating three set battle with ion.
Speaker 5: Tech water match we have coming up Tech up against
Speaker 5: Madison Keys.
Speaker 13: My whole goal matter what when I lose. I've held
Speaker 13: the game plan.
Speaker 11: Keys with the terrific story.
Speaker 3: Snatch was long, so you had many different.
Speaker 4: Changes of momentum.
Speaker 5: It's a good state tanas Yagishron Tech halfway there.
Speaker 13: I didn't want to have any regrets for not really
Speaker 13: letting it all.
Speaker 3: Out of all things getting interesting now.
Speaker 13: And the second Sad I'm noticed four s gravel friend
Speaker 13: decision and she pushed.
Speaker 4: Me and we're going the distance.
Speaker 13: The way that the match happened where it was, you know,
Speaker 13: such a close one and so hard to fought.
Speaker 5: So it's match point for Ego, not done just yet.
Speaker 13: It just kind of feels like everything is happening very quickly.
Speaker 3: Heartbreak here for s Fianceech. It's first to ten.
Speaker 13: I would be lying if I said that there wasn't doubts.
Speaker 16: Can you believe that volley?
Speaker 13: I kind of just kept telling myself, just just try
Speaker 13: to get the next point.
Speaker 2: The winner of her life, Madison Keys is into the
Speaker 2: Australian Open finals.
Speaker 14: Just really proud of myself for that match.
Speaker 1: Oh Keys kept building the momentum, and just two days later,
Speaker 1: she took on the two time defending champion Averinga Sabolenka
Speaker 1: in the Women's Championship match. It was her first final
Speaker 1: since the twenty seventeen US Open. But the Americans certainly
Speaker 1: made the weight worthwhile.
Speaker 17: You kind of got the sense that they were both
Speaker 17: going to rise to the occasion, and they did so.
Speaker 17: I didn't think I was at surprise that it was
Speaker 17: going to be a very close third set, because Sabolenka
Speaker 17: played a lot better in the second.
Speaker 11: The serve was a big factor.
Speaker 17: I knew the serve was going to be a huge
Speaker 17: factor in the third just because of how one side
Speaker 17: of each set was and the serve, and so they
Speaker 17: both knew that they both served better in the third set.
Speaker 17: But I think you could feel the tension, and I
Speaker 17: was feeling the tension. I mean, I was nervous for both.
Speaker 17: You didn't know what was going to happen. But I
Speaker 17: do think I can't remember exactly was it was maybe three.
Speaker 17: All I want to say in the third that Madison
Speaker 17: started I felt like up to the pace even more,
Speaker 17: and that was one of the things that she was
Speaker 17: so proud of herself against Fiontech in the semifinals was
Speaker 17: that she didn't back down. She wanted to either win
Speaker 17: or lose, but go down swinging, and that's what she
Speaker 17: did against Sian Tech. It paid off, saved a match point.
Speaker 17: I think she forgot she had a match point against her,
Speaker 17: But that's how much she was in the moment, just
Speaker 17: knowing exactly what she needed to do, because you can
Speaker 17: handle it when you go down swinging. If you lose
Speaker 17: a match that you gave it your all. And she
Speaker 17: remembered that semi final the US Open against Sablenca where
Speaker 17: she didn't do that, and that really hurt her. So
Speaker 17: she wanted to make sure she just backed herself and
Speaker 17: she did it and it paid off.
Speaker 1: Here, Leva, your team has a metric called pressure points,
Speaker 1: which the bright points all the previous Yeah.
Speaker 16: Lady, to lead to a break point. Yeah, and keys
Speaker 16: talk about going down swinging. I mean eight to two
Speaker 16: in terms of pressure points. She was winning those very
Speaker 16: crucial points. Interesting though, Yeah, like no break points until
Speaker 16: that final game, and I just thought that was pretty crazy.
Speaker 16: It was just neck and neck holding comfortably. But you mentioned, yeah,
Speaker 16: your guy instinct was right. Her fourhand speed. Actually she increased.
Speaker 16: It's crazy, you know, one twenty seven in the first
Speaker 16: set she got to one thirty two, and the third
Speaker 16: set she was really hitting that for hand hard.
Speaker 1: J You're just looking at the path to the final
Speaker 1: where she's beaten the likes of Daniel Collins in the
Speaker 1: third round, a former finalist here in twenty twenty two,
Speaker 1: Elena Rabaikner in the fourth round, former finalists here, and
Speaker 1: then Spittalina Fiontech, the world number two and now the
Speaker 1: world number one. It's hard to imagine a much more
Speaker 1: difficult path for someone to break through for their first major.
Speaker 17: Yeah, very difficult, but that can only make you stronger,
Speaker 17: I think as as the tournament goes on. And also,
Speaker 17: I love you that you brought up all these players
Speaker 17: because a lot of them are very different styles, and
Speaker 17: I think she had to adapt so differently to say
Speaker 17: a rebarking a to a Sidelina who's really consistent, to
Speaker 17: s Fiantec who brings the heavy fourhand. You know, So
Speaker 17: there was a lot of different things that Maddie had
Speaker 17: to adapt to, and the fact that she could adapt
Speaker 17: is something that I think that's improved in her game.
Speaker 17: I think her defensive skills have gotten so much better.
Speaker 17: She's moving so much better along the baseline. But the
Speaker 17: fact that she's throwing in the slice as well, so
Speaker 17: it's not all all. It wasn't all about Bang Meng
Speaker 17: Meng all the time that we've seen maybe like I
Speaker 17: don't know, seventy eight years ago. She has different things
Speaker 17: that she can bring to the table to adapt to
Speaker 17: the different styles, and I think that helped her win
Speaker 17: the tournament.
Speaker 1: Well, congratulations to Maddie Kays. Let's hear from the twenty
Speaker 1: twenty five champion. Following her trumph followed by the runner up.
Speaker 13: Finally kind of getting past that hurdle of the semifinals
Speaker 13: and getting back into a final and doing it the
Speaker 13: way that I did it, I just felt like, this
Speaker 13: is my moment. I can absolutely do this and I
Speaker 13: just wanted to run with that.
Speaker 6: What are your thoughts on the tank klos of silver
Speaker 6: that you've got here and where will you.
Speaker 3: Put it in your in your house?
Speaker 13: I've been getting a bicy of workout carrying it around.
Speaker 13: It's been quite nice. Actually, I'm absolutely going to make
Speaker 13: space for it in my house. I might have to
Speaker 13: have like spotlights on it so that everyone that walks
Speaker 13: in the house. It's the first thing that you see.
Speaker 13: But yeah, it's a it's a pretty one. Yeah, it's
Speaker 13: a very pretty one.
Speaker 18: I think when you get to the point of finals,
Speaker 18: it's trophy or nothing. You know, nobody remembers the finalists,
Speaker 18: you know, and nobody put like next to the winder
Speaker 18: like a finalist name, you know. So I mean that
Speaker 18: at this point, yeah, I mean I I go for titles,
Speaker 18: but of course I have to be.
Speaker 1: Anyway.
Speaker 18: I have to be proud of myself with the finals,
Speaker 18: three finals in the row. That's something crazy. And I
Speaker 18: hope that next year I'll come back as a better
Speaker 18: player and I'll hold Daffney one more time.
Speaker 1: When Coco Goff defeated Belinda Benchic in the fourth round,
Speaker 1: we all thought she was destined for a semi final
Speaker 1: rematch against Arena Sabalanca and what a match that would
Speaker 1: have been. But Paula Bodosa had other ideas, eliminating goth
Speaker 1: in the quarter finals in straight sets.
Speaker 14: Well.
Speaker 1: A day earlier, Coco Goff's father, Corey, joined Matt and
Speaker 1: viv on the sit Down to speak about his experience
Speaker 1: in raising a superstar.
Speaker 8: Have you had to sort of temper Coco's own expectations
Speaker 8: along the journey.
Speaker 3: No, I don't you know. I always try not to
Speaker 3: be a dream killer.
Speaker 19: I think my parents, our parents were probably dream killers
Speaker 19: because they always kind of went in everything with a
Speaker 19: you know, secondary third plan. Watch your backup plan was
Speaker 19: plan B. What I had one plan Plan A, and
Speaker 19: plan B was to make sure a Plan A worked.
Speaker 19: And so you know, we laid it out kind of
Speaker 19: our plan in our future for her. I mean, she's
Speaker 19: where we thought she would be. She you know, she's
Speaker 19: she's it's not she didn't want it, then you can't
Speaker 19: push them to it. But because she wants it, then
Speaker 19: my job is to kind of clear out all the
Speaker 19: debris and all the obstacles to make sure she can
Speaker 19: get to what she's doing instead of.
Speaker 3: Having all these roadblocks. You kind of see that with
Speaker 3: some of the people on tour, even now that you know,
Speaker 3: roadblocks getting the way they hadn't removed. They've had some
Speaker 3: missteps along the way, and their parents maybe have made
Speaker 3: some bad choices along the way, may not intentional, but
Speaker 3: you know, nevertheless, it was a choice that they probably
Speaker 3: made that kind of interrupted success or slow down success.
Speaker 3: So you see that and then you know, we try
Speaker 3: to be you know, try to try not be those
Speaker 3: parents that get in the way, but try to aid
Speaker 3: in a bed the successful route that she's taken and
Speaker 3: kind of, you know, give her room. I always tell parents,
Speaker 3: at some point, you got to lead from the back,
Speaker 3: and if you lead from the back, you're just kind
Speaker 3: of making sure the flock goes where it's supposed to go.
Speaker 3: And if they get out of line, then you got
Speaker 3: to step up and lead from the front, but just
Speaker 3: kind of make sure they stay within the lines that
Speaker 3: they can be successful.
Speaker 11: She is extremely successful. And if you look at where
Speaker 11: she is in her career now at just twenty, she's
Speaker 11: already a Grand Slam champion and she's now the world's
Speaker 11: highest paid female athlete. So her career already, she was
Speaker 11: to stop right now, would be a success on so
Speaker 11: many metrics.
Speaker 3: So what's next? What's trotting that alleviate pressure? Right?
Speaker 19: But yeah, I mean of more when you just want more,
Speaker 19: if you want more, and so you know, I'm not
Speaker 19: gonna let her be satisfied as that. If your dream
Speaker 19: is here, then go get it, you know, don't sit
Speaker 19: around a way like that, Like for a parent of
Speaker 19: me I'm like, you stop tomorrow.
Speaker 3: You got generational wealth on your own.
Speaker 19: Your great grandkids will see some of the finances that
Speaker 19: you've been able to produce from. But if she played
Speaker 19: for the money, she probably wouldn't be playing that so well,
Speaker 19: So right now she's not playing. She plans for the
Speaker 19: love of it, And now I think it's you know,
Speaker 19: it's important to make money. Obviously that's a byproduct of
Speaker 19: being successful in sports and being a superstar, but you know,
Speaker 19: trying to make a difference in people's lives. I think
Speaker 19: the thing that she wants to do most is to
Speaker 19: try to make a difference. And whether she does that
Speaker 19: finely or by her presidence or by supporting the cause,
Speaker 19: I think that's one of the next steps that she
Speaker 19: wants to be a part of, you know, the global culture,
Speaker 19: a national culture or ethnicity, and her culture to make
Speaker 19: a difference in people's lives.
Speaker 8: It can't be easy being a tennis parent at times
Speaker 8: and watching from the sidelines. We remember Coco's run to
Speaker 8: the US Open title in twenty twenty three, and there
Speaker 8: was one point where you left the court and you
Speaker 8: got nervous. I think, as I understand it, how are
Speaker 8: the nerves these days, what's it like watching it still gets.
Speaker 19: A little nerve wracking. I mean, this is the first time,
Speaker 19: so I've been doing this so long. I wouldn't attend
Speaker 19: the matches in the juniors because you know, it could
Speaker 19: get contentious when you're the dad and the coach and
Speaker 19: you have an opinion of about how you should play
Speaker 19: and need to play, and they often look to you
Speaker 19: for something expression or reaction, and so, you know, I
Speaker 19: started thinking about it, and you know, it can never
Speaker 19: be about the parents. And I know some parents try
Speaker 19: to be out front, even some coaches try to be
Speaker 19: out front. Can't be that way for them to be successful.
Speaker 19: So you know what I decided. I talk to my wife.
Speaker 19: I said, you know what I feel like when I'm
Speaker 19: sitting in her box and I can't help, but coach,
Speaker 19: that's a dad, right, I'm gonna say something or I'm
Speaker 19: gonna do something, and it's all with good intent, but
Speaker 19: sometimes it could be bad. And I started to realize
Speaker 19: that and say, you know what I feel like because
Speaker 19: I am very actionary when I play sports and when
Speaker 19: I watch sports. Even when I coach my son's basketball team,
Speaker 19: I walked the sidelines, I talked to her. So I'm
Speaker 19: very engaged into the process, and so I thought that,
Speaker 19: you know, I think that maybe my emotions and my
Speaker 19: energy's probably costing her a few points, costing her a
Speaker 19: little bit of intensity and focused. So if I remove
Speaker 19: myself from that, then maybe we get four or five
Speaker 19: points back that we don't get it, maybe she wins.
Speaker 19: And so it ended up being successful. We tested it
Speaker 19: that summer. Like I didn't go to the DC tournament
Speaker 19: before the US So I went to the prep before
Speaker 19: and then I removed myself away. Then I went back
Speaker 19: the next tournament two month you all and I sat
Speaker 19: and watched she lost in the quarterfinals.
Speaker 3: I said, well, share it is me. You don't want
Speaker 3: that to be the case, right, And it's okay.
Speaker 19: If me not being there meeting my kid could be successful,
Speaker 19: then I don't need to be there.
Speaker 3: That's I'm okay with that, okay, And so I said
Speaker 3: it might be me.
Speaker 19: So then I just kind of took this position, and
Speaker 19: I'll do all the things leading up to you know,
Speaker 19: I'll still do scatter reports, I'll still give a feedback
Speaker 19: from that way, but then when it's time to go play,
Speaker 19: it's your your show.
Speaker 3: I don't want it to be about me. It's to
Speaker 3: be about you.
Speaker 1: With a party like atmosphere. As always, the AO once
Speaker 1: again delivered on its promise to be bigger and better
Speaker 1: than ever before, Like it has been almost every year.
Speaker 1: The attendance record was once again broken with one point
Speaker 1: two million fans through the gates of Melbourne Park, and
Speaker 1: our producer Harper Pesninger went to ask some of the
Speaker 1: fans the tough questions.
Speaker 20: Novak Djokovic would be pretty much anyone here at tennis.
Speaker 20: But if you were going head to head versus Novak
Speaker 20: at anything you want, what are you going to beat
Speaker 20: Novak in?
Speaker 4: Oh?
Speaker 13: Gosh, I would definitely beat the Novak at an informational interview.
Speaker 8: I'm a recruiter and so I think I could definitely
Speaker 8: interview his socks off.
Speaker 13: Oh you know, I'm really basketball free throws, he'd be done.
Speaker 18: He can't post up, that's for sure.
Speaker 12: There's no way. I reckon I could go.
Speaker 18: He's got the hyde, But I reckon, I got the jumpers.
Speaker 12: I've got the.
Speaker 20: Jumpers, got the hops. Yeah, Oh, guitar hero on the PlayStation.
Speaker 3: Look, I reckon he spends all his time playing tennis.
Speaker 1: So I'll do a quick one B one in fortnite
Speaker 1: twenty meters sprint in high heels.
Speaker 5: I've seen Novak in high hills.
Speaker 1: I don't want to say where or how a man
Speaker 1: can move.
Speaker 9: I got him. I reckon I could beat him doing
Speaker 9: a backflip just on the floor. I've never tried it,
Speaker 9: but I don't reckon he has either.
Speaker 12: Painting any sort of arts. I'm pretty I'm okay at art,
Speaker 12: so doing any sort of painting, I think I could
Speaker 12: possibly win table pins.
Speaker 20: I think so eurekity skills don't transfer to the table.
Speaker 9: I think I'm good, you know, And yes, I would
Speaker 9: like to see him, know, if he can manage to win, I'd.
Speaker 1: Back you in Greg for sure.
Speaker 11: Putting makeup on competition, see who looks the best with it.
Speaker 20: On, you know, write Novak and drag Ah.
Speaker 8: He does have a figure for it, but no, I
Speaker 8: think I've I'm pretty positive in my case as well.
Speaker 1: With excitement building after Novak's quarter final upset over Carlos
Speaker 1: al KaAZ Day thirteen s or a tantalizing semi final
Speaker 1: matchup against Alexander Zverev, but experts and fans came out
Speaker 1: of the match with more questions than answers about the
Speaker 1: future of Djokovic's career, as we discussed on the Tennis
Speaker 1: Spotlight Now today, we saw what looked like it was
Speaker 1: going to turn into one of the great epic men's semifinals,
Speaker 1: a first set that went first eighty minutes and ended
Speaker 1: in very quick circumstances when Novak Djokovic first mad an
Speaker 1: unforced eerror into the net on the volley, and no
Speaker 1: sooner had he done so than Alex Vera wins the
Speaker 1: tiebreaker and Novak Djokovic pulls the pin. So seven to
Speaker 1: six was all we saw. I think, this is it,
Speaker 1: This is It's over.
Speaker 9: Can you believe it?
Speaker 1: I think you were halfway down into the commentary booth
Speaker 1: and you didn't even realize what was happening.
Speaker 10: So Peter mccarto and I were just coming down the stairs.
Speaker 10: We'd watched this unbelievable first set, so competitive, we almost
Speaker 10: an hour and a half for one set of tennis.
Speaker 10: It'd gone all the way to the tiebreak, so we're
Speaker 10: making our way down. We literally missed two points and
Speaker 10: by the time we got to the commentary booth to
Speaker 10: see Steve Pearce and Kate Kerns the match was over.
Speaker 10: It was shock and you could see by Alex Zverev's
Speaker 10: reaction when he was sitting down, he was in shock
Speaker 10: and he just got going. What a shame, I think,
Speaker 10: for everybody in the crowd, for Novak, for Sasha. Of course,
Speaker 10: Sasha is so happy to be in the final having
Speaker 10: played just one set, because he's going to feel relatively fresh.
Speaker 10: But no one, no one wanted end to end like that.
Speaker 1: So what inside could we glean then from the minimal
Speaker 1: data that we have from the first set, Where was
Speaker 1: this match heading?
Speaker 7: Well, you mentioned the struggles that Novak was having in
Speaker 7: terms of first serves landing in the court. I think
Speaker 7: he was down at fifty four percent of first serves
Speaker 7: in play throughout that opening set. But really once the
Speaker 7: points did become extended and we saw a lot of them,
Speaker 7: it was trouble for Novak. So we know with our
Speaker 7: naked eye what we thought we saw in terms of
Speaker 7: the movement not being as explosive. But when the rallies
Speaker 7: got extended to five plus shots, it was twenty six
Speaker 7: for Zeriv and sixteen for Novak, so he put a
Speaker 7: margin of ten on them in those lengthy exchanges when
Speaker 7: it was short, Novak's right there, so serve and return
Speaker 7: twenty six to twenty three Novaks favor. So that doesn't
Speaker 7: or wasn't auguring well from the perspective of Novak, as
Speaker 7: Candy says, thinking about what's going to be required to
Speaker 7: get this done now in four or five sets, I've
Speaker 7: got another three or four or five hours in front
Speaker 7: of me of that type of physicality, and I just
Speaker 7: think it was a bridge too far for Novak.
Speaker 14: Well.
Speaker 1: He was asked a question whether this might be his
Speaker 1: last Australian Open, and here was his response.
Speaker 3: I don't know, there is a chance. Who knows.
Speaker 21: I'll just have to see.
Speaker 3: How the season goes, and.
Speaker 21: Uh, you know, I want to keep going. But whether
Speaker 21: I'm going to have a revise schedule or not for
Speaker 21: the next year, I'm not sure. I normally like to
Speaker 21: come to Australia and play, and I've had the biggest
Speaker 21: success in my career here, so if I'm if I'm
Speaker 21: healthy and motivated, I don't see a reason why I
Speaker 21: wouldn't come, you know. But there's there's always a chance
Speaker 21: if I want the first set, I mean, and maybe
Speaker 21: I would try. I don't know. A few more games,
Speaker 21: half a set, maybe a set, I don't know, but
Speaker 21: it was just it was getting worse and worse. So
Speaker 21: I knew, even if I won the first set, that
Speaker 21: is going to be a huge uphill battle for me,
Speaker 21: you know, to stay physically sit enough to to stay
Speaker 21: with him in the rallies, you know, for another god
Speaker 21: knows what, two, three, four hours. You know, I don't
Speaker 21: think I had that unfortunately today in the tank.
Speaker 1: The retirement of Djokovic paved the way for a men's
Speaker 1: Championship decider featuring the top two seeds in Melbourne for
Speaker 1: the first time since AO twenty nineteen Novak versus Nadal.
Speaker 1: This time around, Alexander Verev was the second seed, winless
Speaker 1: from his first two major final outings, against Janick Sinna,
Speaker 1: the top seed, who is two from two.
Speaker 4: One hundred and.
Speaker 5: Twenty eight men wanted to be here on Championship Sunday,
Speaker 5: But are there are just two men who can realize
Speaker 5: that dream tonight? Will it be third time lucky for
Speaker 5: the world's second best player, Alexander Zverev, who is through
Speaker 5: to his third major final. The defending champion, Janick Sinner
Speaker 5: is looking for his third consecutive hardcourt major title. He
Speaker 5: is the world's best player on hard court.
Speaker 14: I feel more comfortable now. I think that's we can see.
Speaker 19: Well, this is good stuff, isn't it?
Speaker 21: No other way to describe it. I really thought I
Speaker 21: had a very good chance because I was feeling good.
Speaker 4: That was pretty special.
Speaker 5: Like Yannik resists the firepower from the German and he
Speaker 5: makes the first move and the yeah to the Big
Speaker 5: Four's crown, takes the opener against Feev.
Speaker 14: You know, when you get up, you know one set,
Speaker 14: you know this gives you, you know, the confidence. He's
Speaker 14: the best player in hard courts right now.
Speaker 3: And it's as simple as that.
Speaker 5: It's not a bad approach shop but not bad doesn't
Speaker 5: get it done against Sinner.
Speaker 14: Die Break got a bit lucky there, but you know
Speaker 14: how I hell, every situation on the court, don't live
Speaker 14: to day. In the final back in general was what's very.
Speaker 5: Nice, both at their brilliant best, and it's the best
Speaker 5: sport in the world, precise, perfect and powerful, and that
Speaker 5: is center all over.
Speaker 14: I don't want to end my career as the best
Speaker 14: player of all time to never win a Grands name,
Speaker 14: that's for sure.
Speaker 5: Since nineteen seventy three, Center could become the first player
Speaker 5: tonight to claim ten consecutive straight sets wins over ATP
Speaker 5: top ten opponents.
Speaker 3: The facts speak for themselves. He's in a different universe
Speaker 3: right now to anyone else.
Speaker 5: I didn't have pure sizzle, but it just had enough.
Speaker 5: And the dejection is obvious on spare F side of
Speaker 5: the court.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean today he completely unplayed me.
Speaker 14: What's in performance?
Speaker 5: From my side, it's a second but Center down under
Speaker 5: it's a third major and he was quite simply unstoppable.
Speaker 14: Amazing run again here in Australia and extremely happy and
Speaker 14: and I was showing this with the team here and
Speaker 14: family and the people I love.
Speaker 3: It's it's amazing.
Speaker 1: To finish up. One of the most heartwarming stories of
Speaker 1: AO twenty five was undoubtedly from ever Lease. She was
Speaker 1: a lucky loser who was supposed to be on the
Speaker 1: plane back home, but she stuck around. She forfeited her
Speaker 1: plane ticket and she got the call five minutes before
Speaker 1: her first round match.
Speaker 11: With Kim Berrell.
Speaker 1: She ended up beating Burrel, then Gratcheva, and then Christian
Speaker 1: to book a spot in the fourth round. That was
Speaker 1: all before this magical viral moment with Lucky Wills.
Speaker 13: But I'm incredibly happy.
Speaker 16: Yeah, I'm four.
Speaker 2: Hundred and twenty grand, fourth round, four hundred and twenty
Speaker 2: Australian dollars, so it's about two ten euros turner in
Speaker 2: ten thousand euros?
Speaker 11: Did you not know that?
Speaker 3: Oh shit?
Speaker 11: Will we rolling?
Speaker 3: We kind o a natural reaction.
Speaker 21: Yet, that's good, that's a viral moment.
Speaker 3: Let's publish.
Speaker 10: Jesus Christ, I just know you didn't know if no
Speaker 10: one's brought that up.
Speaker 13: Because I've never went that far in a tournament.
Speaker 5: I'm just looking at the quality numbers, story like you're
Speaker 5: gone from the flying like maybe fly back, maybe not
Speaker 5: too Yeah, four two.
Speaker 17: Grand, it's insane.
Speaker 21: That is insane.
Speaker 13: That's a number I have never even heard in my life.
Speaker 3: Ye, now you're rich.
Speaker 1: You can't script moments like that. Wonderful piece of footage
Speaker 1: from our team and great to have ever lease as
Speaker 1: one of the shining lights of AO twenty twenty five. Well,
Speaker 1: that brings to an end our AO rewind for this year. Trust,
Speaker 1: you've enjoyed all of those moments from throughout the tournament,
Speaker 1: and you've had some time to rest after what's been
Speaker 1: a hectic Australian Open once again a reminder that we're
Speaker 1: now on YouTube, so if you're listening to this episode
Speaker 1: on your podcast out you can watch the full episode
Speaker 1: in its video glory on Australian Open TV and be
Speaker 1: sure to hit the bell so you never miss an
Speaker 1: episode throughout the year. And I'll catch you next week
Speaker 1: for more of the tennis