Speaker 1: Hello, Welcome to the tennis I am Zavian Mulebark. I'm
Speaker 1: not John Whovenars, filling in for our favorite little host.
Speaker 1: He's off and I'll explain why in a moment rain
Speaker 1: in the desert as players combat the elements as well
Speaker 1: as their opponents at Indian Wells, We've got all the
Speaker 1: latest from our reporters on the ground in tennis Paradise,
Speaker 1: Andrever on a tear, we look into the seventeen year
Speaker 1: old's rise to start a machine, vised to go back
Speaker 1: to back in WTA one thousand events, and future star
Speaker 1: Emerson Jones joins us for a chat about her upcoming
Speaker 1: Orange Girl duties and next month's Billy Jean King Cup
Speaker 1: in Queensland. It's gonna be amazing. As I said, my
Speaker 1: name Xavier, I'll be your cruise director of this ship
Speaker 1: of fools for the next couple of weeks. As John
Speaker 1: is off on parental leave. He's welcomed a little baby girl.
Speaker 2: But it is exciting.
Speaker 1: So I've got some stats here. Leanni Hoovenars, which I
Speaker 1: did some research. It is a Hawaiian name. Oh means sky.
Speaker 2: Oh that's quite nice.
Speaker 1: Yes, yeah, yeah, Little sky Blue courts Boo Sky is
Speaker 1: keeping it very much in the tennis family. Yeah. She
Speaker 1: was born on the eleventh of March and he's put
Speaker 1: in here her favorite surface cotton.
Speaker 3: Oh, I see she's a good size too.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so three point six eighty five kilos healthy beat
Speaker 1: what's that in the old measure?
Speaker 3: I reckon that'd be close to eight pounds seven maybe
Speaker 3: seven and a half. Right, yeah, somewhere there.
Speaker 1: Well, all I love to missus. Hoovenurs. Yes, hopefully she
Speaker 1: recovers well and we get to see the bub in
Speaker 1: here in studio pretty soon. Anyway, enough about babies, let's
Speaker 1: talk about the table here. I am Xavier, but enough
Speaker 1: about me. Next up and Queen of the Smaller Screen.
Speaker 1: Stole that from Johnny Huvenars. Bree Stewart.
Speaker 2: Welcome back, thanks here every week.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it is weird that I'm welcoming you.
Speaker 2: Welcome to you.
Speaker 1: Thanks.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's good to have you here.
Speaker 4: I'm looking forward to spending the next few weeks on
Speaker 4: the pod with you.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I am good.
Speaker 1: Yeah, okay. And across the table back from his annual
Speaker 1: wine and fishing trip, it's Fitzy.
Speaker 3: Well, thank you, Zeve. I didn't really want to advertise
Speaker 3: the wine part of it. It is a fishing club.
Speaker 3: We go to Cocole. I've got a US friend here
Speaker 3: with me, Bob Radcliffe, and we join a group of
Speaker 3: Ossie sportsmen and others, few farmers, few local farmers. We
Speaker 3: have a great time. Eat a lot of oysters at
Speaker 3: Coffin Bay.
Speaker 1: Sounds amazing, especially Coffin Bay oyster. Did you get in
Speaker 1: the waiters and shuck a few?
Speaker 3: No, I don't shuck them, but some of the guys do.
Speaker 3: I tend to eat them.
Speaker 2: Yeah, i'd be with you.
Speaker 3: I have been named a pop a cork or two.
Speaker 1: Very good.
Speaker 3: We have a great time. It's a great relief to
Speaker 3: get especially after the Aussie Open. It's intense, we all
Speaker 3: know that, and great exciting, but it's a nice relaxed
Speaker 3: way to recover.
Speaker 1: Sounds great. I do find that whenever a group of
Speaker 1: men age forty five and up have a club, it
Speaker 1: usually involves booze.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I don't hide it.
Speaker 3: There's a little bit of red wine and a touch
Speaker 3: of white. But that it's We're not overly, you know,
Speaker 3: overly silly about it.
Speaker 1: That's good. You look bright eyed Bush. Great to see
Speaker 1: you again. And of course it nearly appointed w t
Speaker 1: A Tour coach Luke Saville mister Dasher himself.
Speaker 6: That's still yeah, no, that's still sinking in a little
Speaker 6: bit the coaching side of it. But great to be here.
Speaker 6: Thanks having me again, guys.
Speaker 1: Well, if you're here, who's taken care of Tofu?
Speaker 6: We have Dash's mum living with us here in Melbourne
Speaker 6: and he's probably gone for his ten minute walk this morning,
Speaker 6: probably having his sort of mid morning nap right now
Speaker 6: and he'll just keep sleeping to about seven pm to
Speaker 6: his next walk.
Speaker 1: The dog is white total.
Speaker 6: That was Dash's favorite idea, No, she's her favorite food
Speaker 6: is agadashi.
Speaker 7: Tofu my heart rate going the near mention of a
Speaker 7: dog caused Brie's heart rates. Sorry for those who are
Speaker 7: sure which poach we're talking about, jump on Dash's Instagram
Speaker 7: to features relatively for sure.
Speaker 6: Yeah yea. And the odd video of me just shaking
Speaker 6: my head and discuss.
Speaker 1: That's right. That's your lot in life now. Well, great
Speaker 1: to have you back, Luke, thank you, And on to
Speaker 1: some sad news now. Fred Stolly, bit of a legend
Speaker 1: of Australian tennis Global Tennis, we lost him late last week.
Speaker 1: Fitzi yeah, very much.
Speaker 3: The legend. You know, one of the great players in
Speaker 3: our greatest era. He'll be a huge loss. Is a
Speaker 3: huge loss, and what a character and personality Fred was.
Speaker 3: He We all looked up to him if you were
Speaker 3: in a generation following that sixties generation, he was one
Speaker 3: of the players that you looked up to number one
Speaker 3: in the world and the amateur days. He won two
Speaker 3: major singles titles, he won ten major doubles titles, I
Speaker 3: think seven mixed doubles titles, and he played in three
Speaker 3: consecutive winning Davis Cup teams. He made the women final
Speaker 3: three years in a row. He lost to Chuck McKinley
Speaker 3: in sixty three and then the great Roy Emerson his
Speaker 3: great mate and doubles partner in the next two sixty
Speaker 3: four to sixty five. And of course he's San and
Speaker 3: Stolly's father who we know so well in tennis in
Speaker 3: Australia these days. He works in Adelaide with the academy
Speaker 3: there and was a top fifty player himself. It's just
Speaker 3: a family that will forever be I think edged etched
Speaker 3: in our memories as a tennis family, one of the
Speaker 3: most prominent and pre eminent families we've ever had. Sandon
Speaker 3: and Fred I believe, were the first two father sons
Speaker 3: to play Davis Cup for this country. There's only been
Speaker 3: one other, I believe, and that is sid Ball and
Speaker 3: Castin Ball. So they hold a special place, the Stollies
Speaker 3: and Fred's. They veiled to Valet de Fred yesterday in
Speaker 3: a beautiful environment in Palm Springs where he'd moved to
Speaker 3: from Florida and had a lot of tennis personalities including
Speaker 3: Rod Labor, Billy Jean King, Roy Emerson was on the
Speaker 3: online watching It's a sad week but a celebration of
Speaker 3: a life that was right up there with the best
Speaker 3: players Australia has ever produced.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that global outpouring for Fred has been quite noticeable.
Speaker 1: Not everyone in the tennis community might have been familiar
Speaker 1: with Fred, especially the young, younger fans, but he really
Speaker 1: is mentioned in the same breath as other recent names
Speaker 1: that we've lost in sums that as some that are still.
Speaker 3: Around, absolutely in the same breath at the same top
Speaker 3: echelon at the sport, and had an amazing broadcasting career too.
Speaker 3: Let's not forget that he was memorable in the broadcasting
Speaker 3: booth and for decades worked with John Yukom, Tony treeb
Speaker 3: and Mark Woodford did a lot with him in recent
Speaker 3: years and he was a mentor to so many. He's
Speaker 3: a big loss and never heard one person in my
Speaker 3: tennis life speak badly Fred Stolly.
Speaker 1: Not one, and that's a rare thing to find these days.
Speaker 2: He had a wicked sense of humor as well.
Speaker 3: Right, wicked, a little bit naughty, which I sort of
Speaker 3: liked a lot.
Speaker 8: You know.
Speaker 3: Yeah, there was a tiny bit of boarding us there.
Speaker 3: But he was clever and he delivered a line well
Speaker 3: so well. He was funny guy, and he encompassed when
Speaker 3: he walked into a room. He brought the level of
Speaker 3: camaraderie up every time.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, well, it sounds like on the court, off
Speaker 1: the court, behind the mic. He will be greatly missed,
Speaker 1: if only remembered, you will, alrighty, well, onto Indian Wells.
Speaker 1: We're into week two now, day eight of the Sunshine
Speaker 1: Slam as I like to call it, and just made
Speaker 1: it up on the fly. Then the Coachell, Oh is it?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 1: I thought I just coined it Coachella of Tennis. That's you,
Speaker 1: that's you. Yeah, there you go. It's a festival without
Speaker 1: the music. A little bit. You're going to eat no
Speaker 1: boo court side. That's not bad. But as we know
Speaker 1: from last week, our good friends Daniello Handtakover and Duncan
Speaker 1: Mackenzie Vick Caag have been loving their time in tennis Paradise.
Speaker 1: Let's hear what's been happening around the courts and on
Speaker 1: the golf course.
Speaker 9: Thanks.
Speaker 10: Team, We're back in tennis Paradise with two time Indian
Speaker 10: El's champion Daniella Hantikova.
Speaker 9: Danielle is so great to see you once again.
Speaker 10: Hey, let's first talk about the women's side, because the
Speaker 10: big guns they're looking really good so far, aren't they. Well?
Speaker 9: Number one to run a sable linka.
Speaker 10: She's through, as is the defending champion eagas fiancee co
Speaker 10: Co Gough and Madison Keys.
Speaker 9: Who do you like out of the best of them
Speaker 9: so far?
Speaker 8: I thought you were going to say, let's talk first
Speaker 8: about the golf. I mean, that's what I was ready for.
Speaker 8: I mean, all right now, let's stick with the tennis
Speaker 8: for now. I'm still loving my big sabal Anka playing
Speaker 8: incredible tennis, being so relaxed. She's going for a big time.
Speaker 8: That's what you need to do. Here in desert. But
Speaker 8: let's not forget Mira Andreva.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 9: I was gonna ask for that later, but yeah, let's
Speaker 9: talk about Mira.
Speaker 11: Yeah we have talked about her.
Speaker 8: Yeah yeah, and she seems like she's in her own bubble,
Speaker 8: and I kind of can relate to that feeling, you know,
Speaker 8: when you start to play good in this tournament and
Speaker 8: you start to feel like, hold on a second, I'm
Speaker 8: playing very good tennis, and why shouldn't I win this tournament,
Speaker 8: especially given how well she played in Dubai similar conditions.
Speaker 8: So I'm starting to be a little bit nervous about
Speaker 8: my pig about Arena Sablenka, so Mira would be the
Speaker 8: one right behind her for me, absolutely.
Speaker 9: And Mira did actually paid her at Roland Garros.
Speaker 10: I told you about mirror because she seems to be
Speaker 10: getting better and better with every single match.
Speaker 9: That she plants.
Speaker 8: I think Concita Martinez has so much to do with it,
Speaker 8: And you know what, I think the turning point for
Speaker 8: them was that match in Melbourne where she kind of
Speaker 8: didn't really show up in her magic in Saballenka. Her
Speaker 8: attitude was not that great and I saw country right
Speaker 8: away after that match in the locker room, and she
Speaker 8: was not happy. And sometimes you need to have the
Speaker 8: tough talk with your player and it comes from someone
Speaker 8: as experienced and as conchy. I think that's where Mira
Speaker 8: kind of woke up and realized that she's got a game.
Speaker 8: But now her attitude is there as well, and she
Speaker 8: has so much, so many different ways how she can
Speaker 8: win matches, and that's why she's so fun to watch.
Speaker 8: I'm liking her slice back ends now a few drop
Speaker 8: shots on the forehand side as well. So she's becoming,
Speaker 8: just like Carlos, a very quick student of the game
Speaker 8: and almost a full package by now, which is crazy
Speaker 8: at her age.
Speaker 10: When we spoke last, you said you're about to head
Speaker 10: out on court to sort of test out the new
Speaker 10: conditions here at Indian Wells.
Speaker 9: What do you make at the speed of the courts?
Speaker 8: I have to say that pretty similar to previous years.
Speaker 8: I did not feel I mean, at my little slow speed,
Speaker 8: I did not feel much of a difference. The bar
Speaker 8: bounds is still very high, but let's not forget the conditions.
Speaker 8: They've been changing so much, and kudos to the players
Speaker 8: because they had to deal with a lot of things,
Speaker 8: even the rain first time ever I opened my umbrella
Speaker 8: in the desert in twenty five years. Not as much wind,
Speaker 8: I feel like the last couple of days, but it's
Speaker 8: been chilly. As you can tell, it's going to be
Speaker 8: even colder, I believe tomorrow. So again, it depends so
Speaker 8: much on the schedule, which time of the day you
Speaker 8: get to play, and what conditions kind of vide your
Speaker 8: game the best, and sometimes you need that. Sometimes you
Speaker 8: need a little bit of luck to you know, play
Speaker 8: in the time you prefer to and kind of squeeze
Speaker 8: through the draw.
Speaker 10: On the men's side, some big name casualties in week one,
Speaker 10: top seed Alexander zaverev, Novak Djokovic, Kaspar Rude, Andrey Rublev
Speaker 10: all out of the tournament, but Alex seemen Or is
Speaker 10: making his way quietly through the drawer.
Speaker 8: Yes, I'm so happy for alex and again we go
Speaker 8: to his fighting spirits. That's what you need here because
Speaker 8: the conditions change so much, and as you said, so
Speaker 8: many favorites early out of the tournament. You have to
Speaker 8: be really strong mentally to accept that most of the
Speaker 8: time you are not going to fill the ball grade
Speaker 8: because it bounces high, it's very lively it's hard to control,
Speaker 8: you know, the wind, the cold during the night sessions.
Speaker 11: And I think for.
Speaker 8: This Alex has got the best mentality. He always goes
Speaker 8: the same about his business. That's why I admire him
Speaker 8: so much. He never complains about anything and just focuses
Speaker 8: on what he has to do out there on the court,
Speaker 8: and that's why.
Speaker 2: He's still in the drum.
Speaker 10: So many interesting talking points from the first seven days
Speaker 10: proper of the tournament. Carlos Alkaraz we had some fans
Speaker 10: if he's dressed up as be he's got in tribute
Speaker 10: to the b invasion last year. Obviously yos Ke Watanuki
Speaker 10: drank a Pepsi. Completely different players since then, and of
Speaker 10: course we've got hold Garuna, who was watched on by
Speaker 10: a couple of celebrities in Timothy Chalomey and Kylie Jenna
Speaker 10: over here on Stadium one. What's caught your eye in
Speaker 10: the first seven days of this tournament, I would.
Speaker 8: Say the fans what we always appreciate as players, because
Speaker 8: they love the game so much, so you want to
Speaker 8: show up there and play your best tennis. And I
Speaker 8: think that's why Carlos is enjoying his B support corner.
Speaker 8: He might be probably thinking, well, the cowdboys are not around,
Speaker 8: so I might as well use some momentum here. And
Speaker 8: it's been always so much fun to kind of get
Speaker 8: a little bit more connected with the crowd here.
Speaker 11: I think the players really enjoyed it.
Speaker 8: Maybe other tournaments you try to be more focused on
Speaker 8: your game, but here you can really draw from the
Speaker 8: energy from the crowds. Having some celebrities around that that
Speaker 8: always helps. I always remember before my first final, I
Speaker 8: was just about to go out to the court and
Speaker 8: I caught my eye on the on the screen and
Speaker 8: Matthew Perry was there, and I was such a huge
Speaker 8: fan and of friends, so I almost like I was
Speaker 8: shaking by the time I got to the court. So
Speaker 8: sometimes can be a little bit intimidating, but at the
Speaker 8: same time, it can give you a lot of energy
Speaker 8: because you want to kind of perform even better if
Speaker 8: I can say that. I mean, we should always play
Speaker 8: it the same, but you know, when you've got someone
Speaker 8: in the box that you kind of admire, it's it's
Speaker 8: always a cool thing.
Speaker 10: Yeah, just hours down the highway from Los Angeles. So
Speaker 10: who are you picking on the men's side now? With
Speaker 10: Sasha out of the tournament. Do you think Carlos is
Speaker 10: kind of in the box seat to do a three page?
Speaker 11: I think so.
Speaker 8: I mean, he's one, what twelve matches in a row here,
Speaker 8: so obviously he's feeling confidence. Spoke to him the other
Speaker 8: day's playing a lot of golf, so I think that
Speaker 8: also helps to kind of keep him relaxed. And yeah,
Speaker 8: it seems like he's doing all the right things, not
Speaker 8: playing necessarily his best tennis yet, but as we've seen
Speaker 8: in the last two years, you know, he always gets
Speaker 8: better at the end of the tournament, so I wouldn't
Speaker 8: be worried about it.
Speaker 11: I am worried about my woman's peak just because I
Speaker 11: want to change it now.
Speaker 8: I know I'm sticking to whatever whatever I go for
Speaker 8: before the tournament, but I'm just loving the level of tennis.
Speaker 11: Let's not forgets Spittolina as well. Yeah, she's playing great.
Speaker 11: Belly and Dave, who I'm super super happy for.
Speaker 8: So yeah, amazing stories on both sides, but I'm still
Speaker 8: sticking to.
Speaker 11: My picks for that now.
Speaker 10: I was going to say the golf questions the end,
Speaker 10: because you are a former tennis pro, but you do
Speaker 10: have one of the greatest golf swings I've seen of
Speaker 10: a non professional golf player. For those Australians or anyone
Speaker 10: watching or listening all around the world, if they were
Speaker 10: to come to Tennis Paradise and Greater Palm Springs, where's
Speaker 10: your favorite place to play golf?
Speaker 8: That's a tough one because there are just so many.
Speaker 11: You look left and right.
Speaker 8: I believe there are like one hundred and fifty golf
Speaker 8: courses at least.
Speaker 11: I have to say, I've been very, very spoiled.
Speaker 8: I've been staying with my incredible friends at Bighorn Golf,
Speaker 8: which is probably one of the most special golf courses
Speaker 8: you find in America. Overall, there is obviously Medicine Porcupine. Yeah,
Speaker 8: there are some very very special ones. So this is
Speaker 8: the time of the year when, yeah, we get really
Speaker 8: spoiled and look forward to it. I wouldn't say my
Speaker 8: swing is that great, just in case ash Barti is watching.
Speaker 8: But I'm getting there, you know, training hard so that
Speaker 8: one day I can have that match against her, which
Speaker 8: would be awesome. But I saw her swing, so yeah,
Speaker 8: I've got a lot of work to do still.
Speaker 10: Okay, let's set a match play between Daniela Hantakova and ashbuddy,
Speaker 10: Danny always great chatting with you, and we'll chat you
Speaker 10: after the.
Speaker 9: Men's final on Sunday.
Speaker 10: Sounds great back to you in the tennis studio.
Speaker 4: So it's great to kind of hear from those guys.
Speaker 4: And interesting that Danny wants to play against Ashbardi at
Speaker 4: golf because I'm not sure she's someone I'd be wanting
Speaker 4: to compete with on.
Speaker 1: No happy walk around a golf course with Ash, but
Speaker 1: she would absolutely fuck anyone else.
Speaker 2: I feel like she's just good at anything anyway.
Speaker 4: Just further to that, in terms of Alex Demonol playing
Speaker 4: in Indian Wells, he sadly went down to Sarundlo this
Speaker 4: morning Australia our time seven five six three. We did
Speaker 4: have Craig Gabriel on the ground for us there who
Speaker 4: had a bit of a chat with Demon afterwards, and
Speaker 4: Demon just basically said it wasn't a good match on
Speaker 4: his side. He felt like the match slipped away and
Speaker 4: it really wasn't his best day on a tennis court.
Speaker 4: He did say make some remarks about how the balls
Speaker 4: are slower in Indian Wells than the Australian Open, because
Speaker 4: obviously he played Sarundalo here at the AO and beat him.
Speaker 4: And he did also indicate that the wind was up
Speaker 4: at Indian Wells. But yeah, basically just said he had
Speaker 4: a bad day. So sad to see him go down
Speaker 4: to Thorndilo. But he didn't indicate when he'll go to Miami,
Speaker 4: but we expect to see him there.
Speaker 8: You know.
Speaker 3: Maybe he has a little bit of trouble with Srondilou
Speaker 3: because at the Australian Open he played him and I
Speaker 3: just forget which round, maybe the third round, I think
Speaker 3: it was the third round and he struggled at the
Speaker 3: beginning of that match too, and it was windy a
Speaker 3: little bit and look, Sirundolo, what a forehand that is. Yeah,
Speaker 3: I know you know a lot about it, but goodness me,
Speaker 3: that can give a lot of players trouble. So maybe
Speaker 3: the slightly slower conditions at Indian Wells, ye slow high
Speaker 3: bounce gave Slo more time, don't know.
Speaker 1: Sticking with demon off for a bit, Fitzy, we're about
Speaker 1: to jump into what's caught your eye? Hit us off?
Speaker 3: Well, I think Alex always catches my eye because I'm
Speaker 3: such a fan, you know, and I appreciate the way
Speaker 3: he competes and just love everything about the way he
Speaker 3: approaches our sport. But I think it's sort of proves
Speaker 3: a point in a way that he's taken some time
Speaker 3: off leading into this because these schedules are are not
Speaker 3: to be taken lightly, you know that they hop from
Speaker 3: I remember the first time, way back when I started
Speaker 3: going from continent to continent and recovering from jet lag
Speaker 3: and then playing again, and I wasn't winning that many matches, Luke,
Speaker 3: I can tell you, but as someone like someone like
Speaker 3: Alex would win. When you win that many matches and
Speaker 3: you go from one continent to the next and then
Speaker 3: back and then a third time and the jet lag
Speaker 3: catches up with you, it can make you get pretty
Speaker 3: run down at times. And it's a physical sport, very
Speaker 3: very much so. So I just thought it was an
Speaker 3: interesting little, you know, like preview of his Indian worlds
Speaker 3: to see that he had to take some time off
Speaker 3: even earlier in the season because he had a long year.
Speaker 3: The finished late in the year Davis Cup all of that,
Speaker 3: you don't get much time to recover before the big
Speaker 3: one comes along for an Australians run open and just
Speaker 3: sort it was interesting to see that he needed some
Speaker 3: time off, and I think a lot of those players do,
Speaker 3: especially the top players, because they win so many matches
Speaker 3: as well as put up with the jet lags. So
Speaker 3: I'm sad he's not going to play Alcarez over there.
Speaker 3: But yeah, you need to manage your schedule and your
Speaker 3: body more than ever as you start to get into
Speaker 3: your mid to late twenties.
Speaker 1: Well, it really is so challenging. It's such a global sport.
Speaker 1: I mean, last week you were telling us Sloke about
Speaker 1: Dashes trouble with fight cancelations going to Mexico driving from Tijuana,
Speaker 1: Like that's just one of many instances where people would
Speaker 1: be caught out with traveling and needing to not just
Speaker 1: cross country but across oceans, cross continents. It's just crazy
Speaker 1: that these sportsmen and women can really back it up
Speaker 1: in the face of that travel adversity with not much
Speaker 1: off season.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 6: Yeah, in these two week events I think are quite
Speaker 6: long as well, and it can sort of get a
Speaker 6: little stale if you're in the same hotel for multiple
Speaker 6: weeks on end. And I think back to your point, FITZI,
Speaker 6: the Australian summer probably takes quite a big mental toll
Speaker 6: and pressure toe on Alex as well, and you know,
Speaker 6: being the number one Australian and having all that pressure
Speaker 6: of a nation to perform. I think it all takes
Speaker 6: its toll and just very interesting to see that he
Speaker 6: needs to take some time off, you know, getting to
Speaker 6: Indian Wells early.
Speaker 1: Ye, definitely. Well, Luke, let's stick with you. What's caught
Speaker 1: your eye?
Speaker 6: My court, my eye was the teenage sensation mirror Andreva.
Speaker 6: Just I think she was my court my eye last
Speaker 6: week as well.
Speaker 2: But you're allowed to have regain. Yes, it's great, she's
Speaker 2: so good.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 6: When I saw the drawer at Indian Wells and the
Speaker 6: potential fourth round against Rebakner, I thought that was a
Speaker 6: bit of a popcorn match and six one six two
Speaker 6: Mira Andreva wins that one, and I think that's a
Speaker 6: statement absolutely, and winning the last Masters one thousand in
Speaker 6: Dubai as well. The youngest player in the top ten
Speaker 6: of the WTA rankings in eighteen years Nicole, Yeah, Nicole
Speaker 6: itis Ober was a last in two thousand and seven,
Speaker 6: so it's been a while. I'm not sure what you
Speaker 6: think fits you, but I think we're sort of witnessing
Speaker 6: a bit of a sort of champion in the Laker
Speaker 6: last year and potential to win multiple slams.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think a star of the future for a
Speaker 3: long period of time. It's hard to believe that a
Speaker 3: young player, I reckon can be that good that young
Speaker 3: For most most players, they take time to mature and
Speaker 3: get there. But Wow, she's good and she looks good
Speaker 3: on the court. She's going to be a big I think,
Speaker 3: advertisement for our sport for a long time to come.
Speaker 1: And so you think she will stay lit. It's not
Speaker 1: going to be a one hit wonder.
Speaker 3: And then I can't see why. I can't see why
Speaker 3: it would be. I mean, she's been coming for a
Speaker 3: while from a young age. I just I always have
Speaker 3: this older person's thought process in this type of arrival
Speaker 3: of a young player, though, I worry that they handle it.
Speaker 3: If she can handle it, if she's got the right
Speaker 3: people around her and her family is strong with her,
Speaker 3: I think she's going to be a star for a
Speaker 3: long time. I just hope she hands it well.
Speaker 4: Solid trajectory, right, she hasn't just gone up out of nowhere.
Speaker 4: She's kind of been building and building, right.
Speaker 6: Yeah, it's sort of funny to say that she's been
Speaker 6: building and she's seventeen.
Speaker 8: Yeah.
Speaker 6: Yeah, but for me, I feel like she's got the
Speaker 6: mentality for sure. She's nice and composed and very level headed.
Speaker 6: And for me it's the game as well. It's such
Speaker 6: an all court game, great surf moves well, and for me,
Speaker 6: that game is suited to all surfaces. So I think
Speaker 6: that's very important for being consistent. You know, being able
Speaker 6: to play on all four surfaces is super super important
Speaker 6: in all four slams, I should say. And I think
Speaker 6: she's going to be a star in the making and
Speaker 6: exactly what the game needs.
Speaker 3: That's where he's going to be a good coach. Yeah,
Speaker 3: he knows the nuances and you have to be able
Speaker 3: to read that too with young players and to help
Speaker 3: them guide them in the right direction.
Speaker 4: So how do you think she'll go against Bielina, who
Speaker 4: she has up now at Indian Wells.
Speaker 6: Yeah. I think it's again another challenge, and she's facing
Speaker 6: all these challenges, you know, very early in her career.
Speaker 6: I think Elena Swerdelena is such a seasoned professional player,
Speaker 6: great player and been through her ups and downs as well,
Speaker 6: and I think they played quite similar. There's gonna be
Speaker 6: some long rallies there. But again I think Mira's game
Speaker 6: matches up very well against a lot of players. She
Speaker 6: can rally, she can be patient if she needs to,
Speaker 6: and then she can sort of absorb some of the
Speaker 6: bigger hitters as well, like Rebekna. So I think on
Speaker 6: all surfaces she's good, and I think she's got a
Speaker 6: great coach in her corner as well to keep her
Speaker 6: nice and grounded. I think sort of after that Australian
Speaker 6: Open match, they had a bit of a bit of
Speaker 6: a chat and Sot straightened her out. But she's going
Speaker 6: to have some of those in her. You know, such
Speaker 6: a short career so far, and I think she's taken
Speaker 6: all these challenges head on and on an amazing trajectory.
Speaker 1: Yeah, brilliant one to watch, Continue to watch. So some
Speaker 1: would say, well, sticking with the WTA, Bree, what's caught
Speaker 1: your eye this week in the women's game?
Speaker 2: Look.
Speaker 4: Last week the WTA launched their WTA Maternity Fund program,
Speaker 4: which has been a long time coming for women in
Speaker 4: the sport.
Speaker 2: So it's really great news.
Speaker 4: There is a lot of chatter around this, both negative,
Speaker 4: positive and indifferent, but I wanted to lay out the
Speaker 4: key points of what it entails because I think it's amazing,
Speaker 4: but obviously there's with everything, there's some elements behind it
Speaker 4: that probably are questionable. But the PIFF WTA Maternity Fund
Speaker 4: program and powers women tennis players by providing the support
Speaker 4: and flexibility to pursue professional careers and build their family.
Speaker 2: So that's kind of like their call line.
Speaker 4: It's a first of its kind and it's fully funded
Speaker 4: and supported by an external partner. Provides up to twelve
Speaker 4: months of paid maternity leave, so there are kind of
Speaker 4: caps on it. It also gains access to grants for
Speaker 4: fertill treatments to build families as well as other benefits
Speaker 4: that's great, so like egg freezing IVF is included as well.
Speaker 4: It will offer benefits to more than three hundred and
Speaker 4: twenty eligible WTA players, so all players will receive the
Speaker 4: same amount, which is not yet been disclosed but will
Speaker 4: depend on the time of leave requested.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 4: The eligibility criteria for participation in the fund includes completing
Speaker 4: in a certain number of WTA tournaments in a window
Speaker 4: of time, and one of the existing benefits available through
Speaker 4: this will make it easier to return to competition after
Speaker 4: starting a family, so that's a bit of a rundown
Speaker 4: on the key stats and facts. I think it's great
Speaker 4: for women in the sport. I think it's amazing. I
Speaker 4: think even seeing people like ben Keeach and how well
Speaker 4: she's doing at the moment, just back from unpaid maternity leave,
Speaker 4: which she would have taken.
Speaker 2: But yeah, it's a big move because on.
Speaker 1: Its face, that is one of the best parental leave
Speaker 1: maternity lead policies I've ever heard in any industry, not
Speaker 1: just in sports. Twelve months months, you know everyone's eligible.
Speaker 1: There is obviously the kind of elephant in the room
Speaker 1: of where the funding is coming from.
Speaker 2: Yes, which is what a lot of the press is.
Speaker 1: What's the online chatter been like around that? And tell
Speaker 1: us a bit more about the PIF and what that is.
Speaker 4: Yeah, So the PIF is the Public Investment Fund Fund,
Speaker 4: and the public Investment fund for this particular fund program
Speaker 4: is coming from Saudi Arabia.
Speaker 2: Now there's two stories, right.
Speaker 1: The fact is that the juicier one.
Speaker 4: The fact that the women are getting this, which is
Speaker 4: much needed for the sport, is amazing. However, the country
Speaker 4: that is giving it is known for not treating women
Speaker 4: in the best light, very against LGBTQI kind of practices
Speaker 4: and stuff like that, so there is a little bit
Speaker 4: of comment around the Bunny is great to be able
Speaker 4: to support this and potentially without that they wouldn't have
Speaker 4: been able to do it. But it's coming from a
Speaker 4: country that actually, so there's all these questions around sports
Speaker 4: squashing for Saudi, so it's a little bit contentious.
Speaker 6: I know my wife Daria has been quite vocal and
Speaker 6: sort of on the decisions. I guess she's on the
Speaker 6: player councils, a player council, and she was very happy
Speaker 6: with the result of it all. I think it's a
Speaker 6: fantastic initiative. I've always thought when the women go away
Speaker 6: have a baby and then come back and played a
Speaker 6: high level, it's amazing.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 6: And then as you said about Belinda bencicch playing so
Speaker 6: well right now in the quarterfinals have been near wells
Speaker 6: one Abu Dhabi probably about a month ago, the five hundred,
Speaker 6: and it's just astonishing that they can come back and
Speaker 6: play so well. So an amazing initiative and great to see.
Speaker 1: Yeah, couldn't agreement well onto my own court my eye. Yes,
Speaker 1: Madison Keys the champion. I've been watching Maddie for many years.
Speaker 1: She's got an amazing game and at the moment over
Speaker 1: in Indian Wells, she's the three set queen and she's
Speaker 1: absolutely smashing it over there. She's still undefeated in twenty
Speaker 1: twenty five. She's had fifteen match win streak and she
Speaker 1: always seems to find a way to win. Five verse
Speaker 1: seven wins at AO were three setters, and this week
Speaker 1: alone at Indian Wells, in her third round, she defeated
Speaker 1: Mertons despite dropping four match points in the second set.
Speaker 1: In the round of sixteen, she defeated Vekisch after losing
Speaker 1: a first set four six. On the added pressure she's
Speaker 1: dealing with since winning a first Grand Slam, she said,
Speaker 1: for the first time, I'm trying to manage my own expectations.
Speaker 1: Mental clarity.
Speaker 8: Yeah.
Speaker 4: She was great at the AO two when she did
Speaker 4: her press conference right and talked about all the work
Speaker 4: she'd done mentally.
Speaker 3: It's great to see her starting to actually fulfill that
Speaker 3: potential that's been there for a long and.
Speaker 1: I think if you go back and watch the women's
Speaker 1: final of the Australian Open this year, it's one of
Speaker 1: the truest examples of partnership betweeneen player and coach I
Speaker 1: think I've seen in a long time, because they're married.
Speaker 3: It does help me married, there's a few years go
Speaker 3: and coach that wife of yours exactly. But you watch
Speaker 3: with a bit of danger, by the way, every little.
Speaker 1: Bit of strategy that he would give to her, you
Speaker 1: could see her taking it in, digesting it and then
Speaker 1: putting it in action. So jump on the air YouTube channel, Luke,
Speaker 1: you can watch that final back tis for you.
Speaker 6: It's just put a whole lot of pressure on me.
Speaker 6: I'll be a good cook too, so going quite well.
Speaker 6: And I message him after that said, damn it, why
Speaker 6: did you do that? But yeah, great to see a
Speaker 6: combination work like that, And as you said, gives me hope.
Speaker 6: You saw a lot of the positive stuff her listening
Speaker 6: to Bjorn. You didn't see the negative stuff or the
Speaker 6: don't tell me there was some of that. I'm probably
Speaker 6: more talking from my own experience. It's it's great to
Speaker 6: see and I think she said in the past, you've
Speaker 6: been getting those winning positions and just not committing to
Speaker 6: her brand of tennis. I think, in her words, was
Speaker 6: playing on her own terms in those moments when the.
Speaker 3: Pressure was on.
Speaker 6: So it was just great to see that she was
Speaker 6: able to do that.
Speaker 4: The other one I wanted to call out was ben
Speaker 4: chicch defeating golf, which I think is probably worthy and
Speaker 4: I know you touched on it before, but defeating her
Speaker 4: three six six three six four.
Speaker 1: Like pretty because Coco has kind of got quite a bit.
Speaker 3: Of history something. Guys on this side of the table
Speaker 3: will never know how difficult that is to have a baby. Yeah,
Speaker 3: and come back like that, it's impressive and take my
Speaker 3: hat off.
Speaker 4: To it, like amazing. I didn't expect that when I
Speaker 4: saw it.
Speaker 2: Good for her, Yeah, it's great. Sad for golf, that's.
Speaker 1: Right, good for the baby, something something to talking about it.
Speaker 2: There's also a shout out to Cocoa Goff. His birthday
Speaker 2: is today, twenty one. Yeah, twenty one, that's all. Yeah, Yeah,
Speaker 2: how scary is that?
Speaker 3: I don't want to look at myself in the mirror again.
Speaker 3: Twenty first was last century.
Speaker 1: I can tell you that we assumed.
Speaker 3: Thank you, Thanks for that.
Speaker 1: A little bit of moving on up and moving on across.
Speaker 1: It's part two of the Sunshine Double, the Miami one
Speaker 1: thousand at P and W t A events kicking off
Speaker 1: next week, and a number of Ossie women have been
Speaker 1: arriving early in Miami for a training block ahead of
Speaker 1: their respective qualities and main drawers.
Speaker 2: Welcome to Miami. Time may hear Miami? I hear that song?
Speaker 1: Continue, let's carry on with this.
Speaker 3: There's a bit of Don Johnson in. He doesn't know
Speaker 3: who Don Johnson is. Probably think.
Speaker 1: Roll up the sleeves of the suit jacket. Yeah, getting
Speaker 1: your greg in a mirror.
Speaker 3: You were last centry to were you generation?
Speaker 1: It's a.
Speaker 6: It's at the hard Rock Stadium there in Miami. So
Speaker 6: the NFL where the Miami Dolphins play. A bit of
Speaker 6: an NFL fantasy tragic myself, to be honest, when I
Speaker 6: played there a few years ago, I was throwing some
Speaker 6: arrible spirals trying to be the quarterbacks there. But it's
Speaker 6: a it's a great.
Speaker 1: Tournament you're in. You've got to be a kicker.
Speaker 6: I was kicking it actually mostly, but yeah again it's
Speaker 6: the two week events, longer this time around, and fantastic
Speaker 6: time of the year to be there in the in
Speaker 6: the summer. And I think you know, I've spoken about
Speaker 6: this quite a bit, but especially start of the year,
Speaker 6: we saw the men, Australian men doing so well. I
Speaker 6: think we had eight or nine in the top hundred.
Speaker 6: But I was really looking at the women and I
Speaker 6: felt like we might have had two or even one
Speaker 6: at the start of the year. We've got four now,
Speaker 6: with maybe two or three right in the cast, including
Speaker 6: my wife Daria. So very excited to see that push.
Speaker 6: I think it's very interesting when you see one or
Speaker 6: two get in a few more follow so I think
Speaker 6: that sort of happened on the men's side and we're
Speaker 6: starting to sit on the women's and I'm very excited
Speaker 6: to see that progress.
Speaker 1: Brilliant. So more women's tennis news. We've got up a
Speaker 1: BJK Cup tie in Brisbane. Lot's happening up there. It's
Speaker 1: a three way tie, just a little bit different Australia,
Speaker 1: Kazakhstan and Colombia, taking place April ten to twelve. But
Speaker 1: Pat rafter Arena in Brisbane bre your thoughts on the
Speaker 1: Bjkking Cup.
Speaker 2: I'm excited for it.
Speaker 4: We were lucky enough to have the BJK Cup in
Speaker 4: Brisbane last year as well, so it's great to have
Speaker 4: it here in Australian shores.
Speaker 2: Again. Very excited to hear who the teams are.
Speaker 4: The entry for teams were due today and so we
Speaker 4: can announce who those are for each of the countries tomorrow,
Speaker 4: so stay tuned. We do know that Kim Birell is
Speaker 4: in the Aussie team, which is exciting. In terms of
Speaker 4: Kazakhstan and Columbia, I don't have any insights on that,
Speaker 4: but I'll look to you guys to see who you
Speaker 4: think might be in those teams.
Speaker 1: Luke, you'd have an insight, wouldn't you.
Speaker 6: I might know who our team is, but I'm definitely
Speaker 6: not allowed to share that. Sorry, we might know too, okayink,
Speaker 6: sorry of yours. So Kazakhstan, I believe they'll be led
Speaker 6: by Yulia put In Savor, who's a great player, very
Speaker 6: strong in singles and doubles. I think she's around thirty
Speaker 6: in the world, so very very tough customer. And then
Speaker 6: Columbia Camilla Osorio, who again I believe she's probably around
Speaker 6: eighty in the world and very good an outitue, a
Speaker 6: great competitor, makes a lot of ball so and I
Speaker 6: believe they've got a pretty good doubles combination as well.
Speaker 6: So work cut out for our women. But as I
Speaker 6: mentioned before, we've got so many to choose from, and
Speaker 6: whoever we put in, we'll comprise a really strong team that's.
Speaker 1: Great should be a damn good tie. I love pat
Speaker 1: Raft Arena, the whole Queensland Tennis Center. There really fun
Speaker 1: environment facility. It's like a little baby Ao the whole precinct.
Speaker 1: So jump online Ticketmaster, get your tickets, head up there
Speaker 1: to Queensland. It's going to be a really good tie.
Speaker 3: Great atmosphere in that little story. Yeah, it's a perfect
Speaker 3: size in so many ways, not too big, you don't
Speaker 3: lose any contact.
Speaker 1: You know, absolutely feel.
Speaker 3: Like you're really really a beautiful, beautifully structured stadium that
Speaker 3: provides atmosphere.
Speaker 1: It's great, definitely, and just that little gap at the
Speaker 1: top for a bit of cool breeze in the afternoon. Perfect.
Speaker 3: It's got a good name on the roof too.
Speaker 1: Yeah, good Patty for me. There's a little gray patch
Speaker 1: in the middle of the court that's where a bird
Speaker 1: flu pass.
Speaker 8: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Well, before we go to a break, here's a chat
Speaker 1: with vic Rudnikov she had with Emerson Jones ahead of
Speaker 1: her upcoming role as Orange Girl at next month's tie.
Speaker 12: Emson Jones, Welcome to the show.
Speaker 5: Thank you.
Speaker 12: Is this your first time on a podcast today?
Speaker 5: No, I did one in Canberra International and I did
Speaker 5: that awesome.
Speaker 12: So you're a bit of a pro.
Speaker 13: Now we will make you feel like one by the
Speaker 13: end of this. Do you listen to any podcasts? Are
Speaker 13: you more of a music person.
Speaker 5: I don't really listen to any podcasts. I'm definitely more
Speaker 5: of a music person.
Speaker 13: Yeah, And do you have like a hype song or
Speaker 13: something you listened to before a match, or a genre
Speaker 13: an artist that kind of gets you on the zone?
Speaker 5: I like NF but that's yeah, probably if I were
Speaker 5: about to go on court, just to make sure songs.
Speaker 12: Yeah, I'll have to say.
Speaker 13: You've got a pretty exciting life for a sixteen year old,
Speaker 13: and you had your first win at WTA level in
Speaker 13: Adelaide earlier this year.
Speaker 12: Can you tell me a bit about that experience.
Speaker 5: Yeah, firstly, it was great to get a wild card
Speaker 5: into my first five hundred and WTA. It was really exciting.
Speaker 5: I wasn't expecting to win a first round, so I
Speaker 5: was pretty happy with how I played and how I
Speaker 5: performed for both of the matches. So yeah, I'm pretty
Speaker 5: proud of.
Speaker 13: That and an AO wild card as well. What have
Speaker 13: you learned from that experience of playing your first Grand
Speaker 13: Slam main draw.
Speaker 2: I think it was a pretty tough draw.
Speaker 5: To get the first round of a Grand Slam. But
Speaker 5: it's all about the experience, and I think I had
Speaker 5: a pretty great one playing against the one of the
Speaker 5: top women in the world, so I really enjoyed my experience.
Speaker 13: Yeah, and obviously you are the junior world number one,
Speaker 13: You're in the top three hundred on the WTA Tour
Speaker 13: and we just hit four women in the top one
Speaker 13: hundred from Australia.
Speaker 12: How does that motivate you.
Speaker 5: I think it's exciting for everyone who plays Australian tennis
Speaker 5: knowing that that level is possible, and I know most
Speaker 5: of both all for the girls, so I think it's
Speaker 5: pretty exciting for them and exciting that I know it's possible.
Speaker 6: Yeah.
Speaker 13: Yeah, and it doesn't really just kind of make you
Speaker 13: believe all the hard work everything's going to pay off.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I do, because I also see how they train,
Speaker 5: I've hit with them, and I just think it's it's
Speaker 5: really exciting to know that that's right there.
Speaker 7: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 13: And your brother Hayden, is also a tennis player, and
Speaker 13: your parents have a bit of a sporting background as well.
Speaker 13: What's it like to be in a family of elite athletes.
Speaker 5: I think it's good that my brother plays tennis, because
Speaker 5: you know, we used to travel a lot together when
Speaker 5: Hayden was.
Speaker 12: Still in juniors.
Speaker 5: Now it's a bit different because you know, he's playing
Speaker 5: men's in another country and I'm still doing some junior
Speaker 5: and women's.
Speaker 2: So it was really good.
Speaker 5: But my mom, my mom was a really good triathlete,
Speaker 5: so I think that inspires me because she worked really hard.
Speaker 13: Yeah, and other than tennis, what do you and Hayden
Speaker 13: kind of have in common or what do you do
Speaker 13: for fine when you are together?
Speaker 5: We do board games. He always asked Dad to do
Speaker 5: board games, and Dad always gets quite annoyed at him
Speaker 5: because you know, he's always asking when Dad's busy. So
Speaker 5: I sometimes step in and do amuse him with some
Speaker 5: board games?
Speaker 12: And yeah, and what's the go to board game? And
Speaker 12: who usually wins?
Speaker 5: So Hayden and Dad like playing Katan and I don't
Speaker 5: really know how to play it, and I don't like it.
Speaker 5: I've tried once and I just didn't like it. So
Speaker 5: I found a board game that both of us would
Speaker 5: like called Cludo. Yeah, I enjoyed that. That's probably the
Speaker 5: only one.
Speaker 12: And who wins normally?
Speaker 5: Uh, I can't tell if he's cheating or not most
Speaker 5: of the time, but I normally Haynes's really good at
Speaker 5: board games, so I'd say probably him.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 13: And coming up is the Billie Jean Kin Cup Qualifier
Speaker 13: in April, and it's been announced you have a very
Speaker 13: special role there.
Speaker 12: Can you tell us a bit about what you'll be
Speaker 12: doing in Brisbane?
Speaker 5: Well, I got picked for Orange Girl, so that's really exciting.
Speaker 5: I guess I get to hit with the top women,
Speaker 5: the girls who are playing on the team, So that's
Speaker 5: really exciting for me, getting to hit with them and
Speaker 5: getting to stay with them going out to dinner.
Speaker 13: Yeah, And obviously we don't know the full team yet,
Speaker 13: but we've got Kim who's been announced.
Speaker 12: You have much of a relationship with her.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Kim.
Speaker 5: Kim actually went to my school. Obviously she was way
Speaker 5: higher grade than me. But yeah, I know Kim because
Speaker 5: she lives on the Gold Coast too. We sometimes have
Speaker 5: hits when I'm there and she's there. Yeah, and in
Speaker 5: Brisbane too we hit.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 13: And have you been able to form any other friendships
Speaker 13: with some of the other Ouzsie girls as well?
Speaker 5: Yeah, I know for a while a bit now, a
Speaker 5: couple of years since she came here, so I think
Speaker 5: that's gonna be pretty good if she's, you know, in
Speaker 5: the team. And I don't really I don't really know
Speaker 5: Eiler too much. I've seen her around. Seems really nice.
Speaker 13: So yeah, exciting. And Sam Stoza is captain. How much
Speaker 13: of an influence has she had on you and your
Speaker 13: tennis career?
Speaker 10: Yeah?
Speaker 5: I know Sam because my old coach, Dave Taylor coached her,
Speaker 5: So I have a bit of a relationship with Sam.
Speaker 5: She hit with me two years ago ao, that was
Speaker 5: my first hit with her, and I think she gives
Speaker 5: me really good advice. Yeah.
Speaker 12: Yeah, and not just Aussie's.
Speaker 13: But are there any other players on the tour that
Speaker 13: you kind of model your game off or anyone else
Speaker 13: that kind of influences how you play.
Speaker 5: I really like Saberlenka. I think her game style and
Speaker 5: just her you know, how she really wants to win.
Speaker 5: I think I really look up to that. Yeah.
Speaker 13: And my last question, obviously we're getting to know you
Speaker 13: a bit better today, Emerson. What's one thing that our
Speaker 13: listeners should know about you?
Speaker 5: One thing you should know about me?
Speaker 13: Yeah, you could take a second to have a think.
Speaker 13: I know I've kind of put you on the spot here.
Speaker 5: I used to be a very good swimmer when I
Speaker 5: was younger. I used to my mom made me do swimming.
Speaker 5: I didn't really enjoy it, but I used to go
Speaker 5: to like the regionals and all that for it.
Speaker 2: So yeah, so you're pretty good.
Speaker 5: Yeah, well I don't know about now. I mean, I
Speaker 5: still have it, I think, but you know, I used
Speaker 5: to be pretty good at it.
Speaker 13: Well, luckily you still have tennis. Thank you so much
Speaker 13: for joining me today and can't wait to see what
Speaker 13: you do next this year.
Speaker 5: Thanks, thank you.
Speaker 1: All right, welcome back. We've had a fun little lad break.
Speaker 1: We had some fun chats. What did you get up
Speaker 1: to that last ab break?
Speaker 2: I flipped my hair?
Speaker 1: Oh that was good.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I actually did.
Speaker 1: That's nice. Well, Brae will stick with you. It's time
Speaker 1: for Breeze Top five. Yeah, hang on, send it all
Speaker 1: up the buttons and you to me. I just need
Speaker 1: to so that's I want to say. That's three. Okay, cool,
Speaker 1: I'm ready.
Speaker 2: Okay cool.
Speaker 4: So this week's top five, I'm focusing on the top
Speaker 4: five tennis player tattoos.
Speaker 1: I don't have a button for that, but no, no, it's.
Speaker 4: Exciting, right, and we'll figure out why I've leant into this,
Speaker 4: but we'll start with five. Five British Dan Evans forum
Speaker 4: says every saint has a past, every sinner has a future,
Speaker 4: which I think is quite funny coming from Dan Evans.
Speaker 1: True, is it is it to do with Yannick at all?
Speaker 2: Or oh yeah, because you hadic sinner, you got it?
Speaker 6: What I thought?
Speaker 5: Yeah?
Speaker 1: It just like I'm pretty sure he does have a future.
Speaker 1: He'll be fine.
Speaker 2: I think you will if you want about cool.
Speaker 4: Four Vandreusiva Wimbledon champ twenty twenty three, so very well
Speaker 4: known for having tattoos. She got her first tattoo when
Speaker 4: she was sixteen. But my favorite hers, which is above
Speaker 4: her right elbow, is no rain, no flowers.
Speaker 1: What a great little It's great.
Speaker 8: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, although yesterday there was no rain, no tennis at
Speaker 1: Indian Wells.
Speaker 2: But it's quite good.
Speaker 4: But yeah, in twenty twenty three, I could find that
Speaker 4: she had reported she had ten tattoos, but I reckon
Speaker 4: she's had more since because she really finds it an
Speaker 4: art form beautiful.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I thought it was a good one.
Speaker 5: Three.
Speaker 4: Okay, we can't chat tats without curios, can we. Yeah,
Speaker 4: love is a bit of ink, But I had to
Speaker 4: pull this one out as my favor and something he
Speaker 4: told GQ a couple of years ago. And I'm going
Speaker 4: to get how I say this wrong, but Blastois is
Speaker 4: smack bang in the middle of his chest, I believe,
Speaker 4: which is his favorite Pokemon. And then obviously Charizad Girida
Speaker 4: Doors can't really get go past those. I feel like
Speaker 4: worldwhide If people don't Pokemon, they know who those Pokemon are.
Speaker 1: But that's fine. He's not seven though.
Speaker 2: No, but he loves Pokemon.
Speaker 1: That's cool. Buy a Donner cover.
Speaker 2: Anyway, the fact that he's got Pokemon. I thought it
Speaker 2: was interesting.
Speaker 1: Yeah cool. He'll definitely not regret that on his ay
Speaker 1: fourth birthday.
Speaker 2: He probably won't, to be fair.
Speaker 1: Sure the man lives with no regrets.
Speaker 2: He doesn't. Yeah.
Speaker 5: Good.
Speaker 2: Trouble number two.
Speaker 3: It look good with flabby skin, you know that's true.
Speaker 1: But it's the Pokemon evolving.
Speaker 2: Okay. The whole reason of why we did this.
Speaker 4: Carlos Akrez he has a tattoo I already like, and
Speaker 4: we talked to him about it during AO. It's got it,
Speaker 4: says Cabetha Corathon, which translates to head, heart and balls,
Speaker 4: and he says it can be attributed to his grandfather
Speaker 4: who always encouraged him to focus on the three season life,
Speaker 4: which I quite like. I don't know what I expect. Anyway,
Speaker 4: he has a new tattoo. So he walked out on
Speaker 4: court Indian Wells with the new tattoo of the date
Speaker 4: twenty three oh four, twenty.
Speaker 2: Five, and everyone was looking at it.
Speaker 4: It turns out it's a fake tattoo and it's all
Speaker 4: about the promotion of his new Netflix documentary that launches
Speaker 4: on the twenty third of April during Miami Open, which
Speaker 4: is called Carlos Arcrez My Way.
Speaker 2: So not a bad little promotion.
Speaker 1: Do, but he was truly committed it'd be a real
Speaker 1: tat well he.
Speaker 2: Probably he might make it real once he sees how
Speaker 2: many people.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, well that's true. But again once the check clearse,
Speaker 1: you really want to permit tat last button?
Speaker 2: Okay, number one?
Speaker 1: What has to go?
Speaker 4: To Massetti Italian He has a tattoo of a heartbeat
Speaker 4: intertwined with a tennis racket. Now it's not just that
Speaker 4: his uncle is a cardiologist and his uncle took a
Speaker 4: set of Marsetti's frequency of his heartbeat, and that is
Speaker 4: the heartbeat that's in his tattoo.
Speaker 2: Which I thought was quite nice.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a bit much.
Speaker 2: I thought it was sweet grow a heart.
Speaker 1: Well, well, I don't want to get a tattoo one,
Speaker 1: but is there a button to finish us up? No
Speaker 1: more buttons?
Speaker 2: That was really good. I did it better than the
Speaker 2: loved one?
Speaker 5: Right?
Speaker 1: Have you got any tats? I do great round the
Speaker 1: table tattoos. No tats, I don't believe it. Okay, I've
Speaker 1: got one, But do you actually.
Speaker 2: Dolphin?
Speaker 1: Long story short, It does resemble a tramp stamp in
Speaker 1: the sense of where it is. It's on my left
Speaker 1: hip and I don't remember getting it, but it was
Speaker 1: in Thailand.
Speaker 4: What is it?
Speaker 1: It's a shamrock?
Speaker 2: Oh are you Irish?
Speaker 1: Nope.
Speaker 3: There'll be a time when that doesn't look like a
Speaker 3: shamrock exactly.
Speaker 1: It'll be like, what's what rooted vase of flowers on
Speaker 1: your back?
Speaker 2: I can't wait to tell everyone.
Speaker 1: Yeah, cool, cool, crea great Well speaking, that's my low point.
Speaker 1: But talking about Ace of the week, let's do it.
Speaker 1: Who wants to start us off with the Ace of
Speaker 1: the week. Doesn't have to be chance related.
Speaker 3: I prefer if it wasn't, I can start Look, I
Speaker 3: have a friend down here, and I'm going to embarras
Speaker 3: him by saying this in the studio. He denies being
Speaker 3: a friend occasionally. Yeah, he's American, he's about He's from Chicago.
Speaker 3: I met him in Kansas when we were seventeen years old,
Speaker 3: and he found out in recent years that I am
Speaker 3: an R. M. Williams boot.
Speaker 1: A pair on right now, So do I.
Speaker 3: And I've got a fetish of not many things in life,
Speaker 3: but i love Armon Williams boots. So he's got onto
Speaker 3: this fad over the last few years. He was down
Speaker 3: here a couple of years ago. He had a couple
Speaker 3: of pairs in his closet. He has purchased four pairs
Speaker 3: of arm Williams boots. In the last two weeks, He's
Speaker 3: got two feet. He now has seven pairs of arm
Speaker 3: Williams boots. He bought a new chocolate pair, chocolate leather.
Speaker 3: They're unbelievably look they're good looking.
Speaker 1: I'm on board.
Speaker 3: He bought a pair of blue suede boots in honor
Speaker 3: of Elvis President, and he bought two burnished pairs of
Speaker 3: Aaron Winning's boots. Useful that a very dressy, very classy
Speaker 3: he's just worried about how he's going to get them
Speaker 3: back to the US. Sure, you're going to hit that,
Speaker 3: import would I would tell him to leave them at
Speaker 3: my place, except he's the wrong size, so he needs
Speaker 3: to get him out of my house. But yeah, that
Speaker 3: made my day. It made my week. That's my age
Speaker 3: of the week.
Speaker 1: What about which heel did you get? Did you get
Speaker 1: the flat, the block or the cuban?
Speaker 3: Not the cuban, not the kids.
Speaker 1: That's a bit extreme. He got the flat, Okay, the flat?
Speaker 3: Yeah, so that'll that will help the Achilles heel.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you've got to keep it that.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I bet you had Aaron Williams at Cobb Dogglar,
Speaker 3: didn't you look? I bet you did.
Speaker 6: I'm very embarrassed you don't have it. I'm just looking
Speaker 6: at yours underneath the table. I might be heading there
Speaker 6: right off this podcast. Also, they look good.
Speaker 3: And they were a limited season, but they've just come
Speaker 3: back in. They've got them.
Speaker 1: This is not paid content, is big Baron Williams chat
Speaker 1: to us.
Speaker 2: I don't know our email, but we.
Speaker 1: Also love the last season Bloodstones.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 3: But last thing I want to say is when I
Speaker 3: saw the advertisement of Hugh Jackman. Did you see that?
Speaker 3: I did? I rushed out and bought two piers huge
Speaker 3: you do you? That was the funniest I love a
Speaker 3: bit of boarding us and yeah, that was perfect. It
Speaker 3: was a perfect advertisement.
Speaker 1: Well, great to having the studio special arm we sponsored guest.
Speaker 1: Look what's your ace of the week.
Speaker 6: So here in Melbourne it's known as the sporting capital
Speaker 6: of the world for sure. So we've got the Aussie
Speaker 6: Rules starting tonight. Opening round was last week but there
Speaker 6: were two games on and I'm a Culton supporter. We
Speaker 6: own the opening round against the Tigers. Fitz He's looking
Speaker 6: at me.
Speaker 2: Because I don't we Why did that change? Is Richmond
Speaker 2: and no longer? Good?
Speaker 1: Well you are sitting in Tigerland.
Speaker 2: I am a Tiger fan. Yeah, I'm about to move
Speaker 2: to Carlton to be fair.
Speaker 6: The Blues are heavy favorite, so that's why I'm going.
Speaker 2: It wouldn't be hard.
Speaker 6: And then just walking around here at Melton Park prior
Speaker 6: to this podcast, hearing the f ones yes firing up.
Speaker 6: So the opening race of the New F one season
Speaker 6: here in Melbourne on Sunday supposed to be raining, so
Speaker 6: typical Melbourne. Think Saturday qualifying is thirty five and then
Speaker 6: Sunday races raining and twenty so nice little child forum.
Speaker 1: But I get you with the tires out.
Speaker 6: Great time of year and looking forward to the weekend.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, I mean it is absolutely an incredible global event,
Speaker 1: almost as good as the Australian Open. But yeah, Melbourne,
Speaker 1: it's brand. Yeah it is great, but tow the company
Speaker 1: line break.
Speaker 2: Yeah, doesn't touch at all on how good the AO is.
Speaker 1: Well played. I'm going to sit here quietly because that
Speaker 1: was going to be mine, So I'm going to think
Speaker 1: of another one while you go your.
Speaker 2: Yeah cool on the spot.
Speaker 4: My ace of the week is pretty boring at the
Speaker 4: moment because I'm back at work and life has got
Speaker 4: a bit more boring. But I do have a great
Speaker 4: week ahead in terms of I have a friend's who
Speaker 4: had a birthday this week, Ellie gosber All, shout out
Speaker 4: to you. She used to work here. I used to
Speaker 4: be our chief content officer's executive assistant.
Speaker 2: She sets left us, so she should be dead to me.
Speaker 1: But she's not knocking around during this Year's kept her accreditation.
Speaker 8: No, she did not keep it.
Speaker 1: She bought a ticket.
Speaker 2: She bought a ticket.
Speaker 4: Anyway, it's her birthday, so I'm going out for dinner
Speaker 4: with her tomorrow night and a couple of her friends
Speaker 4: which will work at Tennis Australia as well, so that
Speaker 4: will be nice. And then I'm back to playing tennis
Speaker 4: next week as well. So cool Wednesday Saturday.
Speaker 2: I'm back on court. I will play with playing at
Speaker 2: Forkner Park again. I'm not playing here yet.
Speaker 4: It's very hard for a lowly publican person to get
Speaker 4: onto the NTC indoor courts.
Speaker 2: Just to let you know, but you've got got the
Speaker 2: hook up. Yeah, I'm a hitting partner with Luke's.
Speaker 1: When I watched that, that would be it'd be great content.
Speaker 4: Once I've played a little bit more. When you come
Speaker 4: back after you go away with the Alex Demonor Foundation,
Speaker 4: then we'll play after that.
Speaker 1: Yeah great. Well, I suppose I was going to do
Speaker 1: for my as of the week the Melbourne g Prix.
Speaker 2: Are you going?
Speaker 1: I'm not going, but I suppose I'm technically actually on
Speaker 1: rest and recovery leave right now, so just annual leave
Speaker 1: for a night. Who works the Australian Open. But I
Speaker 1: came back in to do the podcast. But on my leave,
Speaker 1: I've been doing practically nothing and Jesus been good. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's been really, really nice. I was telling fifty before
Speaker 1: that I was actually I hit the driving range at
Speaker 1: my local golf course earlier this week and I lost
Speaker 1: track of how many buckets of balls I went through
Speaker 1: my hand. I still quite can't quite close it fully,
Speaker 1: but it was just so cathartic. And that's my as
Speaker 1: of the week, whacking balls with not a care in
Speaker 1: the world and not having to walk after them, just
Speaker 1: get into the bucket.
Speaker 3: Yeah, beautiful.
Speaker 2: I do love a driving range.
Speaker 1: Good fun, so much fun.
Speaker 9: That was.
Speaker 1: Yeah, the last ball was a bit wanting there on
Speaker 1: your own. Yeah, drinking day, drinking alone while on lead.
Speaker 9: That is a worry.
Speaker 1: That's a worry a mid strength anyway. Well, that's the
Speaker 1: end of the show.
Speaker 2: It's been.
Speaker 3: He wants me to say something, No, I want to
Speaker 3: say one thing. I just want to pay tribute to
Speaker 3: Luke Saville. Yes, he's retired. It's the first time I've
Speaker 3: seen him since he's been retired. This is a kid
Speaker 3: that can mentor a lot of our young players. He's
Speaker 3: left a legacy that is something special. He's from South Australia,
Speaker 3: so I'm naturally a little biased towards Luke, but I
Speaker 3: want to give you tribute, mate, for what you did
Speaker 3: for us, what you've done for our sport and how
Speaker 3: you do. How you conducted yourself for me was the
Speaker 3: most beautiful thing. And you played Davis Cup, you represented
Speaker 3: us in Olympic Games. You had a great career, but mate,
Speaker 3: you left a great legacy. Not everyone, as we all know,
Speaker 3: can say that about their careers, but you can. So
Speaker 3: well done. Yeah, congratulations.
Speaker 6: I'm yeah, as you said, those achievements, but very happy
Speaker 6: how I conducted myself and left a good legacy for
Speaker 6: juniors to follow. And Mate, I've looked up to you
Speaker 6: my whole career as well, and can't.
Speaker 3: A mutual obsession. I didn't know.
Speaker 6: I can't say I ever saw you play. Sorry, but
Speaker 6: just yeah, big fan of yourself. So thank you.
Speaker 9: This is about you, Luke.
Speaker 6: Now I'm going to put it on the back on you.
Speaker 1: I don't like this even now.
Speaker 3: Yeah that's what that's you know, there's not enough personalities
Speaker 3: like like Luke's in our sports, so I wanted to
Speaker 3: say that that's great.
Speaker 4: Good on you, And for anyone who wants to read
Speaker 4: more about Luke, we have a story, multiple stories on
Speaker 4: him on Tennis Dot com toda are you? And also
Speaker 4: if you're an Australian Tennis mag subscriber, there was a
Speaker 4: big write up on Luke.
Speaker 2: I don't know whether you've even read it.
Speaker 4: He's looking this magazine which I actually read on Tuesday.
Speaker 4: Wasn't next No, the calendar comes out later. No, but
Speaker 4: I'll give you a copy of the magazine so you
Speaker 4: can have a readers.
Speaker 6: A few on our table here.
Speaker 1: So four we need to update that LD of these.
Speaker 2: No, they're not that old. But the latest one isn't
Speaker 2: there it does?
Speaker 3: It have cobb dogglar at the top of it.
Speaker 1: What a place?
Speaker 8: So what a name?
Speaker 6: Population of three hundred people on the Murray River in
Speaker 6: South Australia. Shout out to everyone back home.
Speaker 1: Sounds picture perfect. Well, ladies and gentlemen, thank you very
Speaker 1: much for joining us for another edition of the Tennis.
Speaker 1: I'ms ab Muhlebark. Stick around and come back next week.
Speaker 1: We'll be jumping into Miami for the second half of
Speaker 1: the Sunshine Double. Don't forget. You can watch this episode
Speaker 1: and every other episode of The Tennis on the Australian
Speaker 1: Open YouTube channel. Jump on there like and subscribe. Hit
Speaker 1: that bell so you never miss an episode. We've also
Speaker 1: got full matches, cut down matches, match highlights, interviews, amazing
Speaker 1: content on the AA YouTube channel. And that's it from me.
Speaker 1: It's going to be a blast. Fits He's got one.
Speaker 3: More, go Leanni. Yes, yeah, Little Yanni, go Leanni.
Speaker 1: Aloha Leanni, Yeah, beautiful heart. We'll have a great week
Speaker 1: in tennis. We'll see you next week. And that's it.
Speaker 5: Oh,