In short
Australian Open 2026 hype and preview coverage, including press-conference reactions, recent tournament results (Adelaide, Hobart, Auckland), and a detailed first-round order-of-play rundown.
Guests (and backgrounds)
- Pamela Howard-Shriver (Pam Shriver): former pro tennis player; now a mindset/performance coach; partners with Yonex (played with Yonex for the last 10 years). She discusses resets for burnout prevention and mid-match clarity.
- David Law and Matt Futterman are hosts/commentators (not guests), with Law returning for the hype show.
Key claims
- Djokovic’s Australian Open press conference felt unusually tired and resigned; he cited lacking “juice in my legs” and sounded less upbeat than last season, suggesting limited “extra” beyond likely semifinal outcomes.
- Emma Raducanu is feeling “rushed” on her forehand and is arriving from Hobart without ideal hitting time.
- Daria Kasatkina’s Australian transition appears to be going positively, with strong local acceptance.
Notable examples
Djokovic’s Adelaide withdrawal; Raducanu’s late practice scheduling; Kasatkina’s “finally I can breathe” comments; Thomas Mahatch’s Adelaide title and next-round threat vs Grigor Dimitrov; Mirra Andreeva’s Adelaide-style slow starts; Mirra Andreeva’s “I want to thank myself” jacket; Venus Williams’ brief scouting of Olga Danilovich (“very talented”).
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOPam Shriver's Return and Reset
0:45 to 3:05
Pam Shriver discusses her transition to mindset performance coaching and partnership with Yonex.
“Let's see if I can still string a sentence or two together.”
Grand Slam Predictions and Special Content
3:05 to 4:55
The hosts discuss predictions and special content available for friends of the podcast.
“guest editorships and pet mascots before we close those categories down when play starts at 11am local time in Australia tomorrow.”
Novak Djokovic's Press Conference Insights
4:55 to 14:02
Analysis of Novak Djokovic's recent press conference and his current mindset heading into the Australian Open.
“And I think it's Novak Djokovic with whom we should start because he came into the main interview room.”
Djokovic's Unique Position Ahead of the Australian Open
14:02 to 17:33
Discussion on Djokovic's current standing and the unusual dynamics surrounding his preparation for the Australian Open.
“Yeah, I think this is the first time in Australia that I can remember that since he started winning the thing.”
Reflection on the PTPA and Djokovic's Legacy
17:33 to 20:38
Exploration of Djokovic's departure from the PTPA and its implications for his legacy in tennis.
“He could reset and he could surprise us and be in the middle weekend and let's FG because who knows?”
Emma Raducanu's Forehand Issues and Season Start
20:38 to 25:34
Analysis of Emma Raducanu's forehand adjustments and her rushed start to the new tennis season.
“And maybe it's also, you know, she's trying to create some extra pace on it, so sort of swinging bigger and harder at the ball.”
Daria Kasatkina's Transition to Australian Identity
25:34 to 28:00
Discussion on Daria Kasatkina's experiences and cultural transition as she represents Australia.
“and the fact that she seemed, and I wasn't in the press conference as the way you were, the way that she seemed comfortable in communicating her concerns is actually a good sign.”
Journey of Acceptance in Women's Tennis
28:00 to 29:42
Discussion about the challenges and experiences of female players transitioning to Australian tennis.
“And, you know, it's great that Kasikina has been welcomed in like this.”
Journey of Acceptance in Women's Tennis
29:48 to 30:56
Discussion about the challenges and experiences of female players transitioning to Australian tennis.
“And also an official ticket and travel provider for the chicest of all the slams, Roland Garros.”
Thomas Mahach's Performance Analysis
31:09 to 34:48
Analysis of Thomas Mahach's recent performance and his potential in the Australian Open.
“6 '4", 6 '7", 6 '2", over Ugo Mbair to win the Adelaide title.”
Show all 23 chapters
Miran Draver's Title Win
34:48 to 36:46
Recap of Miran Draver's victory in Hobart and her potential moving forward.
“in the second set where the trainer came out and I think was taking her blood pressure, which kind of tells you she wasn't feeling great.”
Fashion Critique in Tennis
36:46 to 38:26
Discussion about player outfits, particularly Yannick's controversial kit.
“I don't know whether it's just a jacket, but it says, I want to thank myself.”
Transitioning Between Tournaments
38:26 to 42:00
Insights into the challenges players face when transitioning between tournaments.
“But, like, you know, the more you win, the more photos of you in perpetuity out there.”
Players' Mindset and Transition
42:00 to 43:38
Explore how players manage transitions and mindsets before major tournaments.
“But do you think, and Catherine was reading off the players there that have got these titles or been in these finals, do you think that they are on the back foot a little bit?”
Previewing the First Matches
43:38 to 45:33
Discussion of the first matches in the Australian Open and player dynamics.
“And we'll be back in part three to talk about our first order of play of the Grand Slam season.”
Night Sessions and Scheduling Challenges
45:33 to 49:59
Examining the complexities of match scheduling and the implications for equality.
“Subscribe to that newsletter if you haven't already.”
Court Previews and Player Dynamics
49:59 to 55:30
Analysis of different matches across various courts in the tournament.
“It means that men can never play second after a men's match.”
Final Thoughts on Upcoming Matches
55:30 to 56:01
Wrap-up discussion focusing on key matches and players to watch.
“Patrick Kipson against Francisco Comissana and Polina Kudomitova against, oh my haven't practiced this one, bear with me Guilmar Maristani Zuelta de Reales Matt?”
Match Predictions and Analysis
56:01 to 58:40
Pam and the hosts discuss upcoming matches and potential upsets at the Australian Open.
“I'm going to have to say that name again now, and it's entirely my own doing.”
Venus Williams' Performance Outlook
58:41 to 1:00:56
The panel debates Venus Williams' chances against her opponent and the implications of age in tennis.
“Do you think Zverev could face a challenge there?”
Introducing the Australian Open Mascot
1:00:57 to 1:02:30
The hosts introduce Gus, the Australian Open mascot, and celebrate her birthday.
“eating snacks and celebrating with her younger brother, Tumble.”
Listener Shout-Outs
1:02:31 to 1:04:44
The hosts read shout-outs from listeners, sharing personal tennis stories and experiences.
“My dad decided I would go to tennis lessons when I was six years old without asking me.”
Tribute to John Roberts
1:04:45 to 1:06:14
The hosts pay tribute to journalist John Roberts, reflecting on his impact in tennis journalism.
“But in tennis, well, we have an association that represents journalists who travel the world covering the sport called the International Tennis Writers Association and Catherine Matt and myself are all members.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:10Hello and welcome to the Tennis Podcast coming to you on the eve of the first Grand Slam of the 2026 season. The press conferences are all done. The soon to be out of date predictions have all been made. All that's left is crowded house, Roger Federer, and one more sleep until it all gets underway. Yes, this is our Australian Open hype show, which means, of course, we have the return of David Law. David? Yeah, I'm ready. I'm ready. That hype stuff. Not that it needs it, because it looks bloody good without me anyway. And we have, of course, for a hype show, a very special guest, your friend of mine, big with dads.
0:50It's Pamela Howard-Schriver. Yes, she's back. Let's see if I can still string a sentence or two together. Thanks for having me. Big with that, Pam, regardless of how many sentences you can string together, I reckon. Matt? I'm here. I haven't got a name tag on like Pam has. I'm enjoying looking at that. Pam, you're bringing Shriver Resets to the masses. Yeah, the reset. I'm morphing before your eyes into a mindset performance coach, which is something near and dear to my heart, as you guys know, the last few years. And really grateful to be partnering again with Yonex, a racket I played with the last 10 years of my career.
1:30They make the best frame in the business, and they want to support their players. And any resource I can give in my 47 years of pro tennis experience, I'm ready to give it, whether you're trying to prevent burnout, whether you're trying to manage your skills mid-match, so that you can still breathe and have clarity of thought. But this is my, I think it's my last pivot. Well, I'd never say last, but it's kind of a cool one. I'm really enjoying it. Never say never again, Pam. That's a James Bond title. Never say never. Isn't that a James Bond title? That's right, yeah. Yeah. Well, that's a good segue.
2:04Very good, Catherine. Done well there, haven't I? Matt's mindset will never be anything but positive after yesterday. Still riding high, Matt? I am, yeah. I'm not going to lie. Yeah. Did you see my call out, Pam? Call out of? Sorry. Maybe I didn't. Pam, you're not nearly online enough. Yeah. Well, that's good. That's part of my reset. It's hard to be online enough. You're practicing what you preach. Yeah. Well, the pod, actually. It wasn't a call out for me specifically. It was a call out for the pod from Amanda Nisimova. Oh, of course I heard it. I heard it because I listened this morning when I was working out in the gym.
2:39Of course I did. I smiled and I felt great. And my brother is a big Yonex guy. Big Yonex advocate. He's also a Luca Nardi advocate, so I'm not sure how his credibility is, but he's always banging on about his Yonexes. Right. Today is the last day before Grand Slam action begins for 2026. It is also, by the way, the final call for Grand Slam predictions, guest editorships and pet mascots before we close those categories down when play starts at 11am local time in Australia tomorrow. So if you want to take us on at predictions at one of the slams, edit a friend show or make your pet a mascot, then you have very limited time to sign up via the link in the show notes.
3:26And what you also get by becoming a friend of the pod of any form is access to all of our bonus content, past, present and future. And that includes the latest freshly dropped episode of Tennis Podcast Meets, our interview series that releases every Grand Slam. And this time around, folks, we have an A-list line-up. Not that they're not always in their own way, but this time we have Grigor Dimitrov, Taylor Fritz, Jasmine Paolini, Teresa Valantova and a really special interview that the three of us did earlier today with one-point slam finalist and slayer of Nick Kyrgios and Alexander Zverev back-to-back, Joanna Garland.
4:12Pam, we love Joanna Garland. Well, when I commentated on her match of hers about nine, 12 months ago, I nicknamed her Judy Garland, Wizard of Oz. And you know what? She became almost the Wizard of Oz. Yeah, we will be following her progress so close. We're trying to get our editor, Jib, to fly to a WTA 125 event in Manila next week. Yeah, if you're listening, Jib. Yeah, we haven't told him that yet, but that's our plan, Jib. Go there, take her, Joanna Garland, sign. Yeah. Cheer hard. yeah oh the way i'm going to be streaming wpa 125 so over the coming months yeah she's an absolute joy folks so uh that episode is up and it is available for friends of the pod and we're very proud of it so we hope you enjoy it too now today we have an order of play to go through our first grand slam order of play of the season we have some results to talk about matt's trying very hard not to be distracted by thomas mahatch at the moment who's a breakup in the final set of his Adelaide final, to quote Novak Djokovic, against Hugo and Bear.
5:17And I think it's Novak Djokovic with whom we should start because he came into the main interview room. He's always the last one in, isn't he? Always. And usually he puts us through it. He sets a time of 1pm on Friday and ends up coming in at 5pm on Saturday. Whereas this time he cut out the hoo-ha and just said, folks, we all know it's going to be 5pm on Saturday. And there we all were, 5pm on Saturday. But I have to say, David, that was not the Novak Djokovic I was expecting. I was quite shocked by how tired and weary and resigned he seemed and sounded. Yeah, I was a bit as well. I mean, I suppose he was introduced into the room by the moderator as playing in his 21st Australian Open.
6:11And I suppose when you've been through this whole process and you've won the thing, what is it, 10 times? And you've been in all these pre-tournament press conferences. Probably it does get a bit wearying and boring. And, you know, you might struggle to show much enthusiasm. Not that he wasn't polite when he walked in and he gave all the questions his due care and attention. but there was just a bit of a lack of fizz about him there wasn't much energy there wasn't he didn't look that up for it all to be honest and that's fine he needs to I guess ultimately look up for it when he gets out on the tennis court but I asked him in my first question about his health given that he he'd produced some good performances at Grand Slams consistent performances last year without breaking through against the ones that he really wants to beat But he'd been in a constant battle with his body.
7:01He was always struggling with something. And that's no great surprise at the age of 38. And I wanted to know from him whether he'd found solutions in the off-season. You know, he'd had a couple of months without having to play tournaments. Has he figured it out? How does he feel? I just didn't get a really positive vibe from him. And he said he'd pulled out of Adelaide last week. Adelaide. Because he'd felt something. and I think an issue with the neck and I don't get the sense that he has cracked it, if you like. You know, he constantly talked last year about how he kept running into a wall really physically and it was almost like his energy levels would deplete as he was going through a Grand Slam and by the time he really needed it against an Alcaraz or a Sinner, obviously a year ago against Alcaraz he did find something incredibly special but that's a year ago he hasn't produced anything like that since and and today I don't know sometimes we can over evaluate the importance of somebody looking upbeat in a press conference before a tournament but I also wouldn't want to dismiss what felt like a fairly weary looking guy yeah and it wasn't just sort of his tone or appearance or body language it was all of that but it was also things he said you know he was asked about the pursuit of 25 and he said 24 is a good number he was asked a very positively framed question about being sort of the best guy at slams last year other than alcaraz and sinner and and he and the question was what sets you and Alcaraz and Sinner apart.
8:51You know, he was, in the framing of the question, he was being put in with Alcaraz and Sinner. And it was, well, in one sense, it was a double-sided question. It was A, what sets them apart, but also what sets you apart from, like, the rest, the Fritzes and the Mazzettis that didn't reach all four Grand Slam semifinals last year like you did. And the answer to the question, the answer that he gave was all about what he's missing, all about what he doesn't have that Alcaraz and Sinner has. He said, I don't know what everybody else is missing that's different to me, but I know what I'm missing. He said, I'm missing a bit of juice in my legs, to be honest.
9:30It was a really dejected, resigned answer, I thought. Yeah, and the whole tone of the press conference in that sense shocked me a bit because I remember his press conference at the US Open last year when he'd gone out of that tournament, and he'd reframed things. It was like he was talking about having a slightly different purpose in tennis now. He knows the reality of how good Sinu and Alcaraz are, and he was talking about other stuff that he can still get from this sport. And then you come to the first Grand Slam of the year, and he's talking all being about Sinu and Alcaraz again, and how short he is from them.
10:14And to go to David's point, not like he's found anything extra or new in the last few months to sort of make up that gap. And yeah, it's almost like I've come into this tournament with a slight bit of Novak Djokovic weariness because I'm thinking, well, what is going to be new? And it's almost like he's got that a little bit as well. And those things that he was talking about at the end of last season just weren't really present in his press conference today. And look, obviously it comes with the caveat of this tournament has been the Novak Djokovic Open and he can find something, he can create some drama, he can make the first few days of this tournament about him.
10:58And I might well end up thinking, wow, we've had another great Novak Djokovic moment along the way. I think that is entirely possible. But at the moment, I'm kind of thinking we're probably going to see what we saw at the last three majors of last year. He's the most likely guy to come through his section. And Sinner's pretty likely to beat him in three or four sets in the semifinals. And I'm just looking for something extra. But how do you get something extra when you're 38? It's just a very, very odd situation right now with Novak Djokovic. can I bring up some big picture stuff from years gone by?
11:38Of course, it's 18 years ago, right? He won his first major down here beating Sangha. I was courtside for that match for ESPN, which was kind of cool. But I also want to bring up five years ago because that was an extraordinary trauma, what he went through. And one thing I feel like when athletes are getting ready to try and perform at their best, and however the mind takes them back, revisits stuff that's gone on in their life you know i just want to kind of like hold true to what he went through five years ago and not saying that that entered his mind today but you never know when something that horrendous is what he went through and i'm saying it was a complicated time for the sport right during covid and when he was arrested and detained and you know the espn team was back in bristol connecticut calling back-to-back australian opens from connecticut not down here.
12:34So I'm just saying like, who knows how he is. He's had more injuries probably the first major of the year than any other major I can think of through the years. But nobody, nobody has practiced strong mindset training. And I feel if anyone can pull it together between now and when he plays his first round, it'll be Novak. And let's just see what, what a, what a gift we have to see him still in the conversation. yeah it's funny I when he was asked that question about what sets him apart still to which he gave the answer I'm missing some juice in my legs I was expecting him to talk about mindset and like for me until he retires he will be the strongest player mentally on on tour like I can't imagine an athlete that is stronger mentally than him really and and also like still understanding five-set tennis okay you know he doesn't have the juice in his legs at the latter stages against Sinu and Alcaraz but he's still a master in the early rounds of understanding the ebbs and flows of five-set tennis and there was also so much opportunity to talk up you know what a great player he still is and the trampoline effect on his ground strokes that David talks about and the improvements on his serve like he is still an incredible player and an incredible player to watch up close and you know i i've sounded down on novat djokovic there but you know it agree with pam like it is still amazing that he's doing what he's doing and and we're privileged to be witnessing it but yeah like the fact that he didn't even didn't even talk about that and and look maybe he can't win you know maybe if he if he does talk himself up people people will will say oh you're being really arrogant but he was kind of presented with the chance it wasn't he's never talked himself down like that before this was this was different and to be honest the whole the whole lead-up has felt different he as you say as soon as things kick off he still does have a way to bend these tournaments around him and make himself the main character and that could so easily happen but i do think it's been notable in the build-up how much less novak djokovic has felt centre of attention this time around.
14:53Yeah, I think this is the first time in Australia that I can remember that since he started winning the thing. You know, because even a year ago, he arrived here with Andy Murray as his coach. So he was the absolute centre of attention. Is that definitely real, David? Are we sure? I mean, it struck me actually when we were at the one-point slam how a year earlier we'd been off to the first Novak Djokovic-Andy Murray practice session and we'd all been trying to sit in a position that would help us best eavesdrop on their first ever conversation as a sort of pair. And, you know, that didn't last that long, but it had that incredible high of Djokovic beating Alcaraz.
15:32You know, you can't underestimate how extraordinary that is, really. And I think Murray made me realise that again when we spoke to him a few weeks ago. but yeah he comes in this time it had sort of almost passed me by that he'd actually withdrawn from that Adelaide tournament because it didn't feel that significant I wasn't surprised really because I don't he doesn't often play warm-ups now he often is injured with something he seems to be injured more often than not and I imagine Pam that must be quite wearying for any professional athlete when you just start going into events and there's always something you know you're fighting your body yeah it's a big stressor right when you're not sure if the body especially if you're playing three out of five sets you know as you just reminded us David of what we were going through 12 months ago with uh Andy Murray here as coach of Djokovic I just want to do a quick reflection and a shout back home because obviously I just want to say to my home area of LA like I recognize what you guys were going through last year I couldn't come down here I had to cancel last minute.
16:37I just want to say thoughts to all my buddies back in LA who are 12 months into the rebuild and how much the Australian Open within one week of when the fires went out or when the fires started, how much support actually LA felt from this tournament. So I just want to kind of put 12 months ago in that perspective and say that I do think that If Djokovic had Andy Murray on his team this year, I would feel a little more trust that he could work his way through this issue that he's dealing with right now. Why is that? Well, because I feel like Murray worked through everything. Everything physically that you could feel and still get himself up as ready as he could be.
17:19Yeah, it's kind of interesting that he doesn't have a peer and a friend. I mean, I know he's always going to have a great professional team around him, but you need the intangibles. when you're trying to get every last drop out at the very, very end. And we'll see. I think it's what Catherine said. Who knows? He could reset and he could surprise us and be in the middle weekend and let's FG because who knows? He had stuff to say about the PTPA, didn't he, in his decision to leave that organization. Yeah, he wasn't sort of reserved about it the way I expected him to be in as much as, if you remember the statement he put out, he kind of said, look, I'm no longer involved with them.
18:02I don't like the way they've used my name in all their communications. And basically, this is the last I'm going to say on the subject. Well, Matt Futterman of The Athletic asked him a question about what his influence is likely to be in the tennis world in the future, how he would see himself and kind of his views generally on the PTPA, how he feels about it now because I mean this is this is a an organization that he invented he created alongside Vasek Pospisal as he as he explained and he spoke for some time about it all and he sounded quite a little bit sad about that as well really about how that's and I'm not surprised really because you know you you you push something like that when you're getting a quite a lot of blowback you're going to get a lot of blowback from the organizations from the ATP from certain of the players certain of the sneering people are in the industry i mean i think some of us in the media you know sneered a bit at the start and it and it was a bit some of it didn't look great with their photo shoot and all that sort of thing but you know he believed in it and he pushed it and got it to a point where it's now launching these lawsuits that are actually leading to like a settlement with tennis australia and suddenly djokovic is no longer part of it and And has distanced himself from it all.
19:25I sort of think, crikey, it's a shame you didn't find a way to make it work for yourself to still be part of this. Clearly it matters to you. But they did some things that you didn't agree with. And he's now just thrown them aside. Yeah. And especially sort of he's done this at a stage of his career, obviously more acute as time goes on, that he must be thinking about legacy. and he must have thought of the PTPA as something that was going to form a big part of his legacy, and that's gone. Can I say one of the great failures, I think, of professional pro tennis is not being cohesive in how our greatest champions, whether or not they're at the end of their career, or they're recently retired, like Federer down here, or Serena, or how they can contribute in an incredibly powerful way to the sport of tennis growing.
20:21Like, these are things that take strategy and cohesiveness, and it's a big miss from our sport. Like, Novak shouldn't have to be the one to figure this out on his own. Like, he should have the support of our sport to figure it out, just like Federer should have had in the now four and a half years since he stepped down. So come on, tennis, let's get it together so that these amazing athletes that are followed throughout the world can continue to grow our sport in a thoughtful way that makes them feel satisfied and makes their fans feel satisfied. And tennis. We also had Emma Raducanu in the main press conference room this evening talking about her forehand, talking very confusingly about her forehand Matt on which there has been a lot of attention yeah I mean watching her in the United Cup the other week it was the first thing I noticed when I was watching her play I was like Emerita Kahn who's got a different swing on the forehand and a bigger swing a bigger loop which you know stood out to me and then when I thought it through it kind of made a bit of sense because I know that she has talked before about wanting to get a bit more shape on that shot and that kind of thing.
21:41But at the same time, I thought one of Emerita Kahn whose great strengths as a player over the years has been her ability to take the ball early, you know, and that swing looked like it could get rushed to me, particularly on a fast court. And maybe it's also, you know, she's trying to create some extra pace on it, so sort of swinging bigger and harder at the ball. The Emirate kind of forehand has probably needed a bit of work doing to it over the years. But today in the press conference, she sort of was talking about how it hasn't really happened on purpose. It's not been an intentional thing to lengthen the swing, but it is lengthened and she is feeling rushed on it.
22:25And she shares your concerns. Well, obviously in this day and age of heavier pace, like generally a bigger take back is counter to what most of us have been feeling is right for this era. Yeah, they were, I don't know whether to be alarmed by what she was saying. I mean, it was great that she was being so open and straightforward and detailed about it. It was a great answer. So it was in response to a question by Tomaini Carial, and I know they have a real relationship, and Emma really trusts him, and that's brilliant. But yeah, it was, she said, Francis, who is, that's how she refers to Francisco Roig, she basically said, we spent the entirety of the last few weeks working on my forehand in a kind of big picture way, but what we've been doing is actually disadvantageous for this grand slam that that was that was my sort of that's my pricey of what she said yeah this grand slam where the courts are quicker and she is feeling rushed on that shot and i think she's feeling rushed kind of generally because she arrived today from Hobart where she lost a couple of days ago she said she hadn't hit today, she was hitting she had her practice scheduled for 9pm tonight because of course she's seen the schedule she's playing day one, Sunday start and she scheduled second match after a men's on the second court here so she's scheduled a late practice to try and get herself in the right swing of things for that but it's not ideal is it I get the impression that you know she's got a she's got a good draw in in round one and there were there were periods of the match that I saw her play against Maria Sakharin at United Cup where I was very encouraged by what I saw from her so I think she'll probably probably win through but overall it was sort of not a great didn't leave you with a great feeling about her prospects no and I mean I must say she didn't talk about the forehand in like the tone of her voice wasn't like she was really concerned about it you know she sort of talked about it as you said quite openly quite casually as though you know it's something we'll fix but that idea of being rushed has been the theme of her start to the season hasn't it because she was she was hitting only very late before playing at the United Cup playing points even later I think she was also trialling a Yonex racket actually during the off-season and ended up going back to the Wilson for the matches because she just feels she needs a bit more time with it before actually playing matches with the Yonex or switching racket.
25:20But everything just seems a bit rushed, as I say. And, yeah, it's not what you want coming out for the start of the new season, I guess. Yeah, feeling rushed, especially on the eve of the Major, is the enemy. But this is where she can call on her past experience. and the fact that she seemed, and I wasn't in the press conference as the way you were, the way that she seemed comfortable in communicating her concerns is actually a good sign. It means it's not overpowering her to the point where she wants to keep it a secret. Yeah, I had the same feeling, Pam. We had newly Australian Dario Kazekina in press today, her first pre-Australian open press conference as an Australian, David.
26:04Yeah, quite an extraordinary listen this 20 minutes she was in there um talking to to the media all of whom asking the questions were australian accents uh i listened to it i wasn't in there myself but i listened to the the the the audio from it and it was quite something really to to hear this and to hear the the kind of cultural transition that she's trying to make as well as playing under the flag you know she she she wants to understand the culture here she wants to get to know it and and and it really came through just what a hard time she's had really the last couple years i mean she wasn't complaining she wasn't moaning she wasn't none of that wasn't feeling sorry for herself but i got the sense from from the way she was speaking that i mean she she describes she says i've been trying to get out of this hole and finally I can breathe now that now that I'm Australian now that I feel Australian now that I'm playing for Australia and I'm here and she was just absolutely bowled over by how accepted she feels by by everybody here she I think the the general demeanor and attitude of people that she encounters here is the the complete antithesis of of what she's experienced in a lot of her life, certainly in recent years to date.
27:32And, yeah, I think this has been a lot. I mean, she actually took a break from the sport last year, late last year. And, you know, she says, I just love the way the locals will just say, you know, come on, just go for it. Just give it a crack, she said. And she started saying Adelaide. That'll be the real tell. You're only Australian if. but no it's it's it's it is one of the great things i think about this country as a sort of melting pot really is is that that you know we we've been in the company of jelena dockage the last few days and remember the ups and downs of her transition to becoming australian and and it was tough at times but i think she's felt accepted in the end you know and and and Isla Tomljanovic and so many different players over the years.
28:28And, you know, it's great that Kasikina has been welcomed in like this. If I can bring up in women's tennis history a couple other examples, Hanna Monlakova actually left Czech Republic, Czechoslovakia back in the time and became an Australian back in the early 80s, and they really embraced her. But I want to kind of go even back further. I think someone who's going to be down here for Tennis Channel is Martina Navratilova And what Kasikina's gone through is a little bit of a defection from her home country and finding the best place to resettle. And I do think you can get a lot of peace from talking to somebody else who's not been through the same journey.
29:06But I would tell Daria Kasikina, while Navratilova's down here, I don't know if Hannah's here. I know her daughter has a wild card, and I spoke to Ellie the other day at Kujong. but there is a long list of women's tennis especially from eastern bloc countries that have resettled that i think she can find that she's not alone in what she's been through and i admire her strength and what she's going through and i wish her the best really powerful stuff okay that is it for part one join us in part two when we'll well we'll talk about thomas mahach But first, a word from our sponsors, Steve Fergal's International Tennis Tours.
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31:00That's tours4tennis.com forward slash podcast and save 10 % with the code PARIS10. We'll see you there. Welcome back to part two of today's tennis podcast, where I was going to talk about the order of play, but seeing as Thomas Mahatch has gone and got the job done over Matt's right shoulder, we'll save the order of play for part three, and we'll talk about Thomas Mahatch, Matt. 6 '4", 6 '7", 6 '2", over Ugo Mbair to win the Adelaide title. Unfortunately, only 250 sweet, sweet points for your fantasy team. you had briefly thought you were getting 500. Is he going to win the Australian Open now, Matt?
31:45Absolutely not. But I told you, though, you just you can't you can't write off that talent. He is so good. Like he is unbelievably good. The things he can do on a tennis court. He is going to he's going to keep he's going to keep doing things like this. I think whether he can make that next step and we've seen it before where he's looked good in the first few rounds of a slam and then he suddenly has a has a big big opportunity and he you know lays a bit of an egg like I don't think I don't think you know we've learned anything new doesn't it feel like a step though I mean the one thing that struck me is yes we see this spectacular tennis from him quite a lot without necessarily amounting to an awful lot but he was very efficient in in beating Tommy Paul and now Hugo Embert you know these are good wins they are good wins I mean he did he did still manage to lose the second set today but it was a high quality match wasn't it and he he played really well to me look it actually doesn't feel like that much of a step.
32:56This is the sort of thing I do expect him to be able to do. He's got a tough first round here in Australia against Kvigal Dimitrov. Having to go from this high to that first round I think is tricky, but I love seeing him play like this because he's a showman and a talented one. And a Yonix player. If I can just kind of say... Can you help his mindset please? It's interesting because meetings earlier today, one of my first really official days on the new job, was I asked a question like, obviously I know U.S. tennis, Yonex players. I know women throughout the world because of my two and a half years with Donna Vekic.
33:37But I'm actually quite curious what men from countries not U.S. might hear that my experience could help. And one of the questions that Yonex brought up was, do you think you can help Thomas Mahach? and like if he wants to be helped by someone of a different gender different generation different country i think i can help him but we'll see um i find it fascinating and of course tommy paul also a yonix player so much talent and brad stein's his coach and you know it's going to be interesting in this new world for me is which guys are going to be willing to accept some help from a female who's been around the block i'm in hope so i really hope so yeah that'll be dropping him if he's not accepting help from Pam Shriver.
34:26Whether or not he does do jump four hands. The Adelaide women's title, which was a 500, good news for David, was won by Miran Draver. She beat Victoria Mboko 6-3, 6-1. David Mboko was three love up when I left watching this match. She only won one game from that point onwards. There was a period in the second set where the trainer came out and I think was taking her blood pressure, which kind of tells you she wasn't feeling great. And I don't want to take anything away from Andreva in that assessment, that observation. But yeah, not everything was right in Mboko's world just at that point. One thing I noticed throughout the tournament is how often, in fact, how often this year first couple of weeks of the year and drava has started slowly and either lost her first set or being a breakdown but has just played her way into a match you know sometimes i talk about how how best a three set match can feel like such a short amount of time to be able to get yourself into a match i don't ever feel like that with andreva she always feels like she's just got time to lose a break or so forth and feel out a match and find a way back into it.
35:48Yeah, I think the only time I've ever thought that with Andre was kind of the end of last season where it did feel like she'd hit the wall. Yeah. And I feel like for her game, she's someone who's so sort of methodical and you have to be, I think, sharp in your mind and calm and willing to get into a match like that. And I think last year, after all the front-loaded success she had, I think by the end of the season she was tired. And she wasn't able to sort of engage in those matches in quite the same way. And it would often come out with sort of quite negative sort of body language. But she seems like someone who's really benefited from the off-season, a reset.
36:33And this is now her first title since Indian Wells. and it just sets her up again as one of the absolute players to look out for, albeit, as we mentioned the other day, she does have a tough draw at the Australian Open. Can we talk about the jacket? I didn't see the jacket. I want to thank myself. She's got branded bespoke clothing. I don't know whether it's just a jacket, but it says, I want to thank myself. And then it says, mirror. do we like it as far as like with my mindset hat on I want to say I think that's a beautiful thing like to put yourself and to show a little self love I think it's awesome whether or not I would advertise it to the world I don't know I love her I want to thank myself thing I'm a big fan of that not sure how I feel about her going so corporate with it so early I think it's quite funny it was my initial reaction while we're on the subject of kit i wasn't going to go here but yannick's in his kit the worst tennis kit you've ever seen the colors it's a hate crime what is it he doesn't seem to know i mean he has slagged it off and like quite right too he has been stitched up it looks like someone's taking the piss out of him quite frankly well it looks like a urine sample yeah yeah yeah i mean I was more on the mustard side of things.
38:00Usually it's, you know, people can have to, like, it's so horrible. Is it for the whole tournament now? Particularly horrible on him with his coloring. I don't think they could have done a worse job of putting him in a kit. It's unbelievable. If he still wins, who cares? I'm no fashion guru. I think he cares a bit. I know that looks rubbish. I mean, he doesn't want to not win just because he's wearing shit kit. But, like, you know, the more you win, the more photos of you in perpetuity out there. God, it's bad.
Read the full transcript
38:41Hobart, Elisabetta Cotciareto won the title there. A qualifier, Pam, beat Eva Jovic in the final four and four. I think you watched this. Yeah, I did. I did. I watched it pretty much from midway through the first set. We know Coach Uretto has had some pretty good results the last 12 months. In fact, she was qualifying for Hobart. Surprise me. Because last time I saw her play a match was when she was thumping Pagula out on court two at Wimbledon easily. So obviously when she hits her high end, and she did today, Coach Uretto came midway through each set, just came up with unbelievable shots. Some of their rallies, if you can go on YouTube and watch it, they had some great rallies.
39:21And I was watching from my new job standpoint because Jovic is one of the more promising young Yonex players. I think she has a great future from the U.S., not far from my house in LA. She grew up in the Palos Verdes Peninsula near where Tracy Austin grew up. So I was curious about this match, but Coach Uretta was just too tough. And I do think Jovic finished one match at like 1 a.m., the dreaded 1 a.m. finish at Hobart. Don't get me started. Yeah, I know. And so I think she's a little tired. And now it's the big transition, right? OK, Hobart's over. How quickly can you get yourself to Melbourne, reset, have a light hit maybe on Sunday, day one and get ready for your first round?
40:00It is a quick pivot. And the same applies to Jakub Menchik, who's won the title in Auckland, defeating Sebastian Byers 6-3, 7-6. And even more so because Auckland's that bit further. It's what, a four hour flight from here? that's, I mean, obviously that's a brilliant result for Men's Seek and for Baez, PS. What a start to the season. The most unbelievable start to this season. I mean, he was a guy that was a punchline on hard courts not that long ago. He was a good draw on hard court, wasn't he? Yeah, everywhere other than a clay court, he was a good draw and he's been incredible. Two slam finals for Baez in 2026.
40:39Although, do you remember who Baez lost to at the US Open when I called somebody a piece of work? I think it was Medvedev beat Baez in fourth set on, it wasn't the sensation on Armstrong. No, that was on Armstrong. I'm just saying. Pam, just on playing the week before, I mean, back in the day, you would have been playing Eastbourne and then Wimbledon, for instance, right? Only doubles. During the key part of my career, I would play Birmingham. Yeah. Do pretty well in singles. Four titles there. and then maybe just play doubles in Eastbourne. Martina and Chrissy, though, can I just say back in the day, they played some unbelievable Eastbourne finals the night before, but then it's like a two-hour drive.
41:25You don't have to get on an airplane. You know, when Donna got to within two points of a Wimbledon final a year and a half ago, she lost in the finals, tough three-setter to Schneider in Bad Humberg, but the private jet got her from Bad Humberg to some private airfield in, you know, outside London. She got to her flat by 8.30 at night. It all depends on the transition. I know Monterey has been the week before the U.S. Open the last couple of years on the women's side. That's been a brutal transition because that's that four to five hour plane ride like Auckland is. Hours matter under this situation.
42:00But do you think, and Catherine was reading off the players there that have got these titles or been in these finals, do you think that they are on the back foot a little bit? Because obviously you've got the matches in your legs and you've got this great winning feeling and all that sort of thing. It depends on the mindset a little bit, right? Like how can you reset, rest, recover? Don't feel like you have to do anything in the first 20 hours. Just really rest. Okay, go from getting on the plane. Obviously, there's so much that goes into just getting your gear and everything from one hotel room to the next.
42:32Faf is the word you're looking for. There is a lot of faf in this transition. The more your team can help you so that you're just walking through the airport, yeah team you're my team yeah we help sometimes don't we yeah it's quite it's quite interesting adelaide has been a good for the women in recent years it's an hour flight right so it's hobart right but oakland's different yeah i mean adelaide keys last year won adelaide went on to win the australian open uh sabalenka in 2023 barty in 2022 like it's been a it's been a successful Well, Ostopenko also won Adelaide in 2024 and then lost in the third round.
43:14So it's not a perfect stat. Also, the weather is exactly similar, maybe 20 hours apart. It's the same weather. Right. Yeah, that's a very good point. Similar court speed as well. I believe Hobart's slower, quite a lot slower. That was certainly what Emirat Akarni was seeming to be saying in press earlier. Anyway, interesting. It's going to be interesting to see. And we'll be back in part three to talk about our first order of play of the Grand Slam season. Welcome back to part three of today's tennis podcast, where the time is upon us to look through an order of play. It all starts on Rod Laver Arena tomorrow at 11.30am.
43:57We have some staggered start times on different courts, so bear with me here. Rod Laverina starts at 11.30am with the qualifier, Aleksandra Sasnovic, against seventh seed, Jasmine Paolini. Matt has Paolini skin in the game. Having tennis podcast meets with Paolini yesterday. Yeah, we don't want to curse, do we? Exactly. And yeah, tough opening the main court on a grand slam. You know, you're the opening act, aren't you? You're a crowded house. we haven't seen much of Sassnovich in recent times but she's a quality player, she's tricky I think she's tricky and having qualified makes you trickier doesn't it?
44:42she's got an extraordinary service motion yes describe or just describe the face that Pam just made yeah it's not it doesn't flow it's not fluid is it? no, if it works for her but not one you'd coach from an early age no And middle of the day, ball's going to be jumping. I'm not predicting an upset, but tricky. Second on Rod Laver Arena tomorrow, Alexander Zverev against Gabriel Diallo. David thinks that's upset watch. Yeah, I do. I've still got, ultimately, I've put Zverev in the quarters, but I think this is a real live danger, this first round match, against a guy who's going to be looking eyeball to eyeball at him at the net for that coin toss.
45:29Find out in the newsletter whether or not you've hedged. Yeah, find out indeed. Subscribe to that newsletter if you haven't already. The night session on Rod Laver Arena tomorrow, starting at 7pm, is Arena Sabalenka, the two-time champion, against Sarah Rakuta manager Rajana, the French wild card. Can I say, you really have got that name nailed, I think. So I listened this morning, or whenever you said the name for the first time, I just want you to know it's a great skill like literally I could have practiced for three hours on that name and not been able to do that like the way your brain works I just want to say way to go Catherine thank you Pam what are the chances that I have stumbled upon a career where that skill is actually useful like I could be working in IT and I'd never know I had that skill anyway which makes you wonder what skills what other skills I have that I'll never know about I could be great at darts.
46:32We can practice that. We can try that. It feels achievable to find that out. Okay, I might be great at free diving. Never going to try. And also, when is it going to become particularly handy that you can say her name, you know, in the Baltic Van der Zand School? You know, when he had his moment, you were there. You were ready. People were impressed. Maybe it's going to be tomorrow night. She's really... Look, it's not going to be tomorrow night, but she is talented. I do, but she's got skills. She is one to watch for the future, for sure. Also, not going to be tomorrow night for Adam Walton, I don't think, against Carlos Alcaraz, but he'll give it a good go.
47:09Speaking of got skills, Carlos Alcaraz. Yes, a sensation on the night session on Rod Laver Arena. I mean, look, always happy to watch Carlos Alcaraz play. Going to be watching his serve. Yes, absolutely. And how similar it may or may not be to Novak Djokovic is. The second court tomorrow opens with Maria Sakharie against L 'Elia Jean-Jean, which I'd call a soft launch. I mean, they are soft launches, aren't they, the Sunday starts? Yeah. I suppose Sakharie and Tsitsipas here do have a heck of a following, don't they? there's a large Greek community here that does come out to watch and create an atmosphere.
47:56But I mean, yes, she has not had the best of times in the last year or so. And that almost makes it a bit odder to me that it's got that slot, rather than like John Kane, where you've also got the general public getting into John Kane. Whereas you've got Svitolino and you've got Venus Williams on John Kane. Obviously, great that they can be seen by grounds pass holders. Like, really cool. But I just sort of would have thought that those bigger names might have opened the second court. Speaking of soft launch, second on the second court tomorrow, Francisco Sarundolo against Zhang Zhijian.
48:33Well, I want to see, you know, I just got to say, I want to see players like Sarundolo try and, like, raise the level a bit. I mean, we know he's got one of the best forehands in the world. I just find it really, really interesting to see who can level up at the start of a year. Pam's going to be there. Second on the second court, Pam. That's the place to be. The night session on the second court tomorrow starts with one of the picks on the men's side for round one. Alexander Bublik against Jensen Brooksby. Would we call that upset watch? I think a better one. Yeah. I think Brooksby, I saw him down here a few years ago before his suspension, and man, he was tough.
49:14On court three, I watched him play. I was waiting to interview him if he won, and he did. Bublik, you know, he's got a little pressure on him now. We'll see. I think that is one of the watch matches. What it's probably going to be, or has a good chance to be, is a long match with a women's match to follow it. And Emma Raducanu, she didn't go nuclear on it, but she made it clear that that's really tough to be scheduled there. And it occurred to me as I was hearing that answer from Emma Raducanu that that is a situation, that is an example where an attempted equality actually ends up in active inequality because there is the semblance of equality with always a men's match and always a women's match in the night session.
50:02It means that men can never play second after a men's match. That scenario never happens to men. And it happens repeatedly to women. And, yeah, it's just things that don't occur. I mean, look, it didn't occur to me today, but I'm not in charge of making schedules. And I wish this stuff was, you know, just saying, boom, yeah, two men, two women, hashtag equality. It's not as simple as that. No, it's not as simple. But if you are going to play second match on at night after a men's, I'd like to do it on the Sunday where I think you have an extra day, right? Yes. But then Raducanu's arrived from Hobart.
50:44So actually, I think she would have preferred not to be on the Sunday. I get it. I get it. Yeah. Nothing's ever perfect, isn't it? Raducanu's opponent, incidentally, Mananchaya Sawankiao. That's pretty good, too. I don't know if that, I'm not absolutely confident I've nailed that, but that's my best attempt for now. And I will try and seek confirmation that I'm vaguely in the right ballpark there. Okay, moving on to the John Kane Arena. A real connoisseur's pick, I think, first up there at 11am. Arthur Ferry, the British qualifier, very stylish player, up against Flavio Caballi. Yeah, that's a nice ball strikers match between two guys who can really move as well.
51:30I mean, look, obviously Caballi is head and shoulders above in terms of level as a guy who's just done so much more with his career to this point. But Arthur Ferry's somebody who's stood out to us for a couple of years because when you see him, when the ball comes off his racket, it's got that trampoline effect that Matt was talking about earlier. He punches bigger than his size and rocks players back on their heels with how sweet his ball strike is. But sometimes you then see a player transition up against a guy who's top 20 or so and you suddenly realise what the difference is. So it'll be fascinating to see whether having had three qualifying matches She's coming in with some form.
52:16Caballi's got a bit of pressure, whether he can actually make that close or not. Yeah, I'm into that match. Second on John Kane tomorrow, Elina Svitolina against Christina Bookshire. Third on, it's the sort of twilight session. It's a not before 5pm for Francis Tiafoe against Jason Kubler, or Kublev, as our... Was it a driver we had here? Yes. A couple of years ago? Yeah, I was talking about what a good time he had watching Kublev. And last on John Kane tomorrow, Olga Danilovich against Venus Williams. Venus Williams was asked about Olga Danilovich in her press conference today. The question was, do you know anything about your opponent, Olga Danilovich?
53:00And the press conference reads, the answer reads, pause, very talented. Love to see young women doing positive things. That's it. I just want to say, I remember being on Venus Williams' match with Serena here in the second round in 1998. Wow. 1998. And we're talking about her in 2026. 28 years ago. Yeah. Incredible, isn't it? Crazy. Kia Arena. There's some sensations happening. We've got Talia Gibson, the wild card against Anna Blinkova. Tristan Schulhatay. one day I'm going to have to say his name in a more professional setting and I'm going to say Shulhate Skullcate Tristan Skullcate against Korentan Mute, the 32nd seed we have a not before 3.30 for the third match on Kia Arena and that's Michael Zheng against Sebastian Korda and the final match on Kia Arena is Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova against by Zhu Zhuang of China.
54:09The 1573 arena tomorrow or Sunday, depending on when you're listening to this, is where you will find Mir Mir Ketsamanovic against Thomas Martina Chiveri, Katerina Alexandrovic against the Turkish player Zeynep Sonmez, Benjamin Bonzi, not against Daniel Medvedev, but instead against Cameron Norrie. However, are we supposed to know how good Daniel Medvedev is at the moment until he plays Benjamin Bonzi? And in fact, Norrie was also a winner over Daniil Medvedev in the first round of a major last year. Yes, very good. This is the two people who beat Medvedev in the first round of slams last year facing off.
54:49The ANZ Arena tomorrow, which is what they've renamed Court 3, it's gone corporate, Pam. I'm sad about this. And they've painted it. They've ruined the outside of it. It used to have the lovely graffiti on it, and I get it. The sponsor wants it to be all in sponsor colours, but... Oh, it's lost so much character. Capitalism is bad, isn't it? Yeah. Well, we can always go to the bar court. Yeah, court six is where it's at. The ANZ Arena tomorrow is Jania Stremska against Elena Gabriela Rusa. Elsa Giacomo against Marta Kostiuk. Ugo Carabelli, what is the C? Camilo. Camilo Ugo Carabelli, that's the badger, against Marton Fuchovic.
55:31Patrick Kipson against Francisco Comissana and Polina Kudomitova against, oh my haven't practiced this one, bear with me Guilmar Maristani Zuelta de Reales Matt? Why are you coming to me? Is she Spanish? Did it not sound Spanish? That's last on court 7 I mean maybe I have like It doesn't matter. Oh, okay, sorry. Sorry, I don't want to correct. Folks, Pam is absolutely right. I'm going to have to say that name again now, and it's entirely my own doing. Fuchovic against Karabelli is indeed on the ANZ arena. That is followed by Susan Lamans against Anna Potopova. Then on court six, we've got Putin-Sever Hadadj Mayer.
56:24Hang on, so they've put Putin-Sever on the bar court? Yes. Good work. But first up at 11 a.m., so. Bloody Mary time. One for the diehards. You need a couple of drinks. Emilio Nava against another Jacquet. Kirian. Kirian Jacquet. Isn't there a female Jacquet? There's a Chloe Pacquet. Oh, I'm getting Jacamo and Pacquet. I've done a thing there. You've done a sort of answer smash. Yeah, okay. No, this is a new person altogether. It is Carl. Kirian. Kirian Jacquet. Never heard of him. He's a wild card. He's got the reciprocal wildcard. That's why I haven't heard of him. I refuse to acknowledge that.
57:05Yannick Hanfman against Zachary Schweider, the qualifier for the US, is last on court six. And now we get to court seven, as Pam rightly points out, which is where we find Patrick Kipson against Francisco Comissania and Polina Kudamitova, who now represents Uzbekistan, against Jomar Maristani's Vuelta de Reales. Wow. That's well done. Do we keep going? Do we keep going on this interview? We're almost there, though. We have four more matches. Shall I be a completist about this? Yes. Okay. Let me do the first one on court eight. Katie McNally. Okay, you go ahead. Do you not want to do who Katie McNally's playing?
57:45Yeah, Humeno Katsume. Sakatsume. Yeah, let's... I've been practicing Zoomer, who, of course, is... He's rough. Second on court eight. Yeah, second on court eight. I like first on court 13. Me too. Pam, you're getting ahead of yourself. Liam Draxel from Canada is the opponent of Demir Jumhur. And then finally, court 13, this starts at 2pm, Hayley Baptiste against Marquette von Drosheva. Court 13, that's a connoisseur's pick, isn't it? And Jaime Faria, the Portuguese qualifier, this is the last match on court 13, against Alexander Blocks, who's got in as a lucky loser. Having retired in the final round of qualifying.
58:29Doesn't bode brilliantly that, does it? It never feels great to me. No. Although he is in my fantasy team, so I'm thrilled he's in the main draw. That's your day one. Any upsets, Pam? Of course there's going to be upsets. But which? Do you think Zverev could face a challenge there? I think Brooksby could upset Public. Right. Yeah. You know, it's always hard. It's always for sure hard to know. I really want to know how Venus Williams is going to play against Danilovic. Because to be honest, to see a Venus Williams-Cocoa golf second round match at a major, six years after a Cocoa beater at Wimbledon, would be unreal.
59:12I think that's a decent draw for Venus because Danilovic is a shot maker. I think the nightmare for Venus would be somebody that would just extend their rallies and make her run. That's not Danilovic at all. Yeah, she's played a lot of good tennis, Venus Williams. in these past six months. Often not quite able to get over the line, but she's had good sets and good moments. Yeah, I do think it's possible that she can win that for sure. And it's a mindset challenge, right? To play against someone who's in their mid-40s and you're in your 20s and you think macho-wise it's me. It's like the pros playing the ams in the one-point slam, isn't it?
59:50Exactly. Okay, I can't wait. We're ready for it to get going now, aren't we? Oh, hell yeah. Yeah. That was this morning. Yeah, it's been such a big build-up. So many exhibitions, they're all great, but let's get going. Pam, can I introduce you to Gus, our Australian Open mascot? This is Gus. She's the one on the right having a kiss with this other lovely Labrador. Oh, Pam, hello, Beau. Yeah, Beau got groomed today, but this is all about Gus. I'm now distracted by my boyfriend, Beau. I know, we got a lot of dogs, but Beau's a freebie. I've got to get Beau sponsored. I've got to get him a slot. Today is Gus's birthday, pal.
1:00:37An update from Renee. She says, when we introduced her as the Australian Open mascot a couple of days ago, she was eight, but today she's very excited to report that she's officially turned nine. That's Beau's age. Oh, what a great age. What a vintage. 63. That's my age. Gus is spending her birthday exactly where she's happiest, in the snowy vineyard of Hudson Valley in upstate New York, eating snacks and celebrating with her younger brother, Tumble. Oh, my gosh, she's doing a nose bump with her brother, Pam. She's even being gifted a squeaky tennis ball, which she will certainly destroy within seconds.
1:01:13Happy birthday, Gus. Hello to our mascots, of course. Hello, Bodie. Hello, Maisie. Hello, Roger. Matt let's have some shout outs We have Chris Wiley From Cambridge Hello Chris Chris says that For the first time we've been successful In the Wimbledon Ballot With tickets for Centre Court on the middle Sunday Oh yes Chris That's awesome Chris like Chris Wilkinson Wow There's a late 90s British player reference Like Chris Evert Chris O 'Neill the last one before Barty to win on the female side Chris Bailey an early 90s British player Chris Guccione Chris Lewis Chris Lewis from the runner up from 1983 Chris there's something for everybody in that selection Christine Truman Chris have a great Wimbledon I'm thrilled for you we've also got Moshi from Tel Aviv.
1:02:20Right, Moshi. Hello, Moshi. I think we know Moshi, maybe? Moshi's... Yes, Moshi's a long-time listener and says, I want to dedicate this shout-out to my dear dad, Aye, which means lion in Hebrew. Oh. Love that. My dad decided I would go to tennis lessons when I was six years old without asking me. At first, I hated it, but slowly, I fell in love with it. You know, and Israel has one of the best player development programs through the last few decades. It's amazing. And just thoughts go out as I return to Australia for what the Jewish population went through a few weeks ago at Bandai Beach. So happy that he sponsored this.
1:02:58This is awesome. Get on, you Moshi. And Moshi says, don't bother to find tennis moshies, but my brothers call me Mo, so we can mention Michael Mo. And Little Mo. Very good. Little Mo, yes. Great. Thank you, Moshi. And finally, we have Alan Chalmers. oh alan get out of here alan chalmers who run the tennis history bookshop absolutely yep tennis historian he describes himself as yeah you love those matt i mean we all love those but fantastic yeah oh that's really special thank you alan thank you alan thank you moshi thank you chris thank you to our executive producers greg chris and jeff we are of course part of the Athletic Podcast Network.
1:03:47We will be back tomorrow with our day one Australian Open podcast, the first, of course, of 15, which is pretty standard now at Grand Slams. So thank you for listening. Do join us then. We do want to end this episode, though, with an important tribute, David. Yes, we want to pay tribute to John Roberts, or JR as we knew him, who was the tennis correspondent to the independent newspaper in the UK for nearly 20 years between 1990 and his retirement in 2010. He sadly passed away in the last few days and is somebody that left a huge impression on everybody he met including his readers as well. He worked for the independent for all those years but also wrote for the Daily Express, the Guardian and the Daily Mail.
1:04:36He ghost wrote books and columns for the great Liverpool football manager Bill Shankly, Kevin Keegan and George Best. And if you follow your football in the UK, those names will need no further elaboration. But in tennis, well, we have an association that represents journalists who travel the world covering the sport called the International Tennis Writers Association and Catherine Matt and myself are all members. And over the last couple of days, our email inboxes have been alive with tributes to John from journalists all over the world. and I'll just give you a very quick smattering of those.
1:05:10Richard Evans, a veteran fellow writer from the UK, said it was a privilege to work with a colleague as good, as decent and amusing and dedicated to his craft as JR. He wrote with fairness and lucidity and even managed to keep a Man United bias out of his football reporting, which he covered as well as he did tennis. Peter Bodo in the US said John did not chase fads and never did anything just to draw attention to himself except by producing clean, well-executed stories that got things right. And Linda Pearce, formerly of the age in Melbourne, said she will never forget how kind and welcoming John Roberts was to me as a young female tennis writer at a time when there weren't too many of us.
1:05:50Personally, I knew John for over a decade. I echo all of those words. If John was in the media room, everybody else in there was in a better mood as a result. He was a lovely man and he'll be much missed. yeah lovely words David very well said Pam thank you uh for your time today it's wonderful thanks for having me back in Melbourne nice to be back can't wait we missed last year can't wait to be here this year love it see you on the bar court and see you tomorrow at the end of day one
From the publisher
The one and only Pam Shriver joins Catherine, David and Matt to get hyped for the start of the Australian Open.
Part one - Tales from the press conference room as Novak Djokovic enters this Australian Open strangely under the radar, Emma Raducanu reveals a technique change on the forehand, and Daria Kasatkina opens up about the joy of becoming an Australian citizen.
Part two (31:08) - Titles for Mirra Andreeva and Tomas Machac in Adelaide. Can they bring that form with them to Melbourne?
Part three (43:45) - A look through the order of play on Sunday. Do we foresee any upsets?
The Tennis Podcast throughout the Australian Open is sponsored by Steve Furgal’s International Tennis Tours - the Premium Hospitality and Experience Provider! For 10% off the best official ticket packages for Roland Garros, go to Tours4Tennis.com/Podcast, select your tickets and use the discount code Tennis10 at checkout.
Official ticket and travel packages are offered and fulfilled by Steve Furgal’s International Tennis Tours.
Specifically for our promotions, Steve Furgal’s Tennis Tours is the Official Travel Provider of the USTA and the US
Open, and an Official Provider of Roland-Garros packages. Exclusive Tennis Podcast listener offers expire
February 28, 2026. Terms, pricing, availability, and restrictions apply. See website for details
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