Poland win United Cup, but is Swiatek’s form a worry?

38:14you know noted that it would be impossible for elderly or remotely infirm people to to to go to a tennis event and experience those kind of conditions and just sort of the juxtaposition of that and then you know al-Khraz and Sinna arriving via private jet it just and sort of looking around like oh is anybody going to draw a line between these between the between the climate change and the private jets or are we all just going to I don't know my snowflake moment it does feel a bit like does anybody care about this stuff anymore there's a Michael Jackson musical that's just opened down the road here in Melbourne I'm like nobody cares about stuff anymore anyway that's it for part one join us in part two when we'll talk about other tennis stuff.

39:16Welcome back to part two of today's pod where we should definitely talk now about Irina Sabalenka, who has won Brisbane again, who has nailed herself on as if she needed nailing anywhere. But she has further nailed herself on as the heavy favourite for the Australian Open title with a win in the final over Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk. 6-4, 6-2. Now, yeah, on paper, she was the heavy favourite in that match-up. But how about the players that Kostiuk beat to get there? Three top ten players in a row. Amanda Inisimova, Mira Andreeva, Jessica Bagula. Marta Kostiuk was awesome this week. And Sabalenka took care of her quite handily in that final, having beat Karina Mukova in the semi-finals.

40:07It was a joyful match, that semi-final, that I watched almost in its entirety, that David, you watched in the middle of the night. She's taken care of everybody this week, Sabalenka, and lots of different types of players as well. Just the absolute dream preparation for Melbourne. Yeah, I think that's true. On both counts. I sort of feel like the United Cup, as wonderful an event as it is, is emotionally very tiring. Like, I look at the teams that were out there. It's wonderful, and I'm sure it'll give them great feels. But I also wonder how tired they all are after it, you know, when they go to Melbourne.

40:50Whereas I look at Sabalenka, who's played Brisbane, and she has encountered all these different playing styles and players who are playing well. And she's just sort of worked them out as she's gone along. I mean, the match against Muko, she was absolutely sensational, really, to use the old word. And she was, the most devastating shot in many ways for me was her use of the backhand drop shot. Because you could see, and the same happened a little bit in a couple of moments today, where an opponent is drawing her into a slice exchange or a shot where she's got to use that. And then suddenly she'll just throw in a drop shot.

41:28and she plays it with such confidence and such knowledge of when to do it and what it'll do to the opponent and what to do after it, where to run. And it's become a real weapon in the game of Irina Sabalenka. Mukava tried everything. She tried everything she's got in that expansive toolkit of hers. She's had a good week. She looks healthy, thank goodness. But she just couldn't make any impact against Sabalenka. And then you had the final today with a player who could make impact, actually. I think what Marta Kostic has shown this week as a real light bulb discovery for me, I did not know she had that sort of power.

42:09I'm not even sure that she really realised that if she just opened her shoulders quite like that, that the devastation that she could cause against those big hitting opponents that she's beaten. I mean, she lost three games against Jessica Bagula. but again you know she was three love down in the final against Sabalenka pretty nervy opening and then suddenly she reeled off three games in a row with just the most awesome hitting and looking at Sabalenka and thinking I wonder what she's making out of that and really she became steadier Sabalenka in the match and and Kostiuk didn't but I hope that this isn't just a one week moment of exciting tennis from Kostiuk above her normal level I hope this is the new her because to me that new level if if it is repeatable puts her in with the top 10 players in the world you know and the players that could be in the quarterfinals and maybe better but I don't know whether it's just the one week Matt a new Marta Kostiuk I mean she has always been one of those players who I've looked at and thought you could be ranked higher than you are you could be doing even better than you are like I do feel like she's been almost waiting to happen for for quite a while now but I do think again the serve has often been a bit of an issue for her which I think looked good this week and as David said that extra firepower that she had was was really notable um so yes I I definitely to me it felt quite repeatable what she was doing um given the foundations that she's laid over the over the last couple of years or so with her game so I yeah I definitely feel pretty confident that Kostiuk can can have a good season and and keep this up?

44:11We were braced for things being awkward after the match. We knew there wasn't going to be a handshake because Marta Kostiuk, like a lot of the Ukrainian players, doesn't do handshakes with Russian and Belarusian opponents. Sabalenka knew there wasn't going to be a handshake. The cameras cut away from it, but I don't, I think that all sort of played out fairly smoothly sabalenka was caught on on mike on the broadcast i was watching saying to the i think it was the wta communications representative they were discussing you know ceremony requirements and sabalenka said there's not going to be a picture with with the two of us right um and there wasn't a picture with with the two of them um and it was incredibly sad and uncomfortable Matt I think even even more so than I was expecting and I was I was braced for it yeah I think definitely Kostiuk I thought spoke incredibly well during the ceremony she didn't mention Sabalenka by name in a way that often you know players will do in the ceremony they'll normally start with their opponent and and congratulating them but she did uh to say i thank all my opponents this week um for the matches and sort of helping to bring out this this level in me and then when it was sabalenka's turn to speak she did start by congratulating marta kostyuk um she didn't she didn't turn around to look at her when she said those words but she said the right things and and spoke very very nicely about about kostiuk's game and and wished her well for the season ahead and then i don't think there were any as you said photos of them together afterwards i think they were done um individually um and of course there was also the the sort of added layer of mess between them because of what happened at the end of last year when Kostiuk was taken out of context by Tennis 365 with her comments about Sabalenka being more powerful and that situation I don't I don't know whether Sabalenka was fully across the revision that came out afterwards.

46:54I think that that reporting was so bad and so irresponsible that the damage had already been done. And, you know, what they did was inserted a question about intimidation. So it made it really sound like Kostit was saying something worse about Sabalenka. and also they took out her comments about Kostiuk saying that she's sure that players are not taking anything to boost their testosterone levels and they sort of left it open in that original reporting that Kostiuk might have been hinting at that. I still think you can maybe have some issues with what Kostiuk said there but it was nowhere near as bad as it first seemed when the correction from tennis 365 eventually came.

47:46But it strikes me that just the damage has been done there and very notably Sabalenka kissed her biceps when she won the match today.

48:01In the men's final in Brisbane, Daniel Medvedev, he's back folks, or is he? I don't know. He beat Brandon Nakashima in the final 6-2, 7-6. He's back, although he's still doing the thing that he's always done, which is winning titles he's never won before. I had a moment of panic when he was a break-up in the second set of this final. Because I thought he'd won Brisbane. I thought, has he won Brisbane before? No, he can't do this. The universe can't allow this to happen. This is one of my favourite, funniest trivia things in tennis. But no, he hasn't won Brisbane before. So it was on. He had a little wobble there at the end.

48:47Got broken back and taken to a tie break by Nakashima, but then accelerated through the tie break very quickly. Impossible question for you both. Is Daniel Medvedev back? Certainly partially. Certainly partially. and I think the rest of the story will unfold in front of us and I know again that's unsatisfactory punditry in many ways but the fact is I think he's playing way way better he's playing the best he's played since he was back here whatever but I don't feel like he's at the level he used to be at yet because it's not a big enough sample size I think at the end of last year, he was already showing improved form and improved interest.

49:37The fact that he kind of changed his whole team and brought Thomas Johansson on board, I thought that was a really important moment for him of realisation and recognition, acknowledgement that he was gone, really. And it was a big question mark. Do you really want to put the work in? Do you really want to uncover all the stones to try and get back there again? And it's not going to be an overnight thing. And it's still not. But to win this title off the back of the improvements he's clearly made. And he's got his nice short back and sides haircut. And he suddenly looks neat. And he looks invested.

50:10I think his interest level is back. I think his tennis is looking good. But let's not forget just how good he used to be. You know, this is a guy who was right there with Nadal and Djokovic. And, I mean, okay, not as good as them. But he was fighting out for the titles. He used to beat Yannick Sinner all the time, and then suddenly he stopped beating him. And some of that is because Sinner got so good as well. But clearly Medvedev regressed. And I just feel like it looks like the fog has cleared in his brain, and he's really up for it. So I'm fascinated to see whether his body can cope, whether his game is.

50:53You know, at some point, some players lose something with the game. They lose a bit of potency, and I'm trying to find out whether he's still got that or not and I'm not sure yet. Maybe the comb over was the problem. He's ditched the comb over and he's back. I thought, Matt, that his ground strokes had bite back on them. Still question marks about the serve. I'm not sure the serve will ever be back to 2019 pre-hernia. levels but I thought from the back of the court there was a bit more pep in the shots. Yes I thought the same actually and I'm you know I'm wary because I do think those conditions in Brisbane generally are quite quick aren't they and maybe that also helped Marta Kostiuk find a bit of extra extra in her ground strokes but also I think with Kostiuk it was the it was the intent behind them really that was so notable and I think with Medvedev it was definitely there, it was definitely able to hurt opponents again.

52:02He served really well in this match against Tiafoe and I do think his first serve has, like you say, not got back to its peak level but I do think it's better than where it was. I think his shoulder was a bit of an issue for a while, it strikes me that maybe that's a bit better than it was. I still think the second serve he's got some problems with but I was impressed today because I felt like I'd seen Medvedev lose that match he played today a lot last year where he serves for it double faults on match point loses his way and I thought he could completely go there and implode but kind of what David's saying about how some of the fog's cleared and he seems a little bit calmer on court and he reset to use Pam Shriver's word really well in that tie break And yeah, like, let's see if he can beat Benjamin Bonzi in the first round of a slam before declaring him back.

52:58And his form last year at the slams was absolutely appalling. He won one match, I think, at the slams all of last year. Nothing to defend. Right. So I tend to come down on the side as David, like, I don't think Never Dave's ever going to be back to where he was in terms of world number one. and, you know, right at the top of the sport. I do think those days have gone. But I remember us having a conversation at the end of the last year about whether he could get back in the ATP finals, for example, in 2026. And it feels like that is achievable, you know, with this form, with the picture of men's tennis right now.

53:36You know, we've talked about Fritz struggling. Daniil, world number three is up for grabs. Right. Like, it is, really. and Medvedev is, you know, if Zverev's in that conversation, if Fritz is in that conversation, which they are, I would say this kind of form from Medvedev would, and given his history in terms of he has won a lot of titles and done a lot of winning, it would put him in that conversation. So a sort of half and half. He's back to something closer to... He's not in the abyss. Yeah, he's not in the doldrums. Because he really was for a little bit there. He was. But yeah, if the draw gods like us at all, they will draw him to face Benjamin Bonzi in round one of the Australian Open, because that's the only way we'll truly know if he's back.

54:38Let's go back to the women. Let's head to Auckland, where Alina Svitolina won the title. She beat Wong Jin Yu in the final there, 6-3, 7-6. Some very good Svitolina Monfils vibes over in Auckland. Hasn't Monfils won the men's title there before? In fact, didn't he win it to become the oldest human ever to win anything? Isn't that a thing? Sounds possible. He definitely won it at quite a late stage in his career, shall we say. back when David you declared him the player of the season I think well I was right at that point he was awesome you persuaded me I signed up for you first three months of the year he was absolutely sensational last year well played Lina Svitolina and he did indeed beat Zizou Berg's in the final 6-3, 6-4 last year in Auckland and I did see a bit of Svitolina really close match with Sonny Cartel that was good she was playing well she was playing solid we've got so used to her hitting the living day lights out of the ball in the last couple of years but she was moving incredibly well she was just like a moving wall and I was thinking good luck knocking that down Cartel served for the match there didn't she against Vitalina but she did well to turn it round and yeah I thought this final which was the only one of the finals today I didn't watch live I had to resort to highlights it was a 4am job in the UK for this and there was going to be about five tennis matches starting at 6am so I had to pace myself but I felt like it was her experience shining through in this one it felt like she played the big moments better than Wong who impressed in that second set and she's got such a good finals record Svitolina she's won 19 of her 23 finals on the WTA tour like she knows how to get these done when she's closed them out when she's in those latter stages and yeah it's really impressive this sort of second career that she's built for herself for Linus Svitolina and continues to impress Heading to Hong Kong prepare yourself for heartbreak Lorenzo Mazzetti has lost another final.

57:10He needs to have a word with Fitalina. This time to Alexander Bublik, who makes his top 10 debut as a result of this result this week in Hong Kong. He was likely to make his top 10 debut kind of regardless at some point in the next few weeks because he's got basically nothing to defend. but still it has happened and that's an incredible achievement for him Lorenzo Mazzetti has made his top 5 debut as celebrated by Flavio Caballi on Instagram in sort of just good Italian vibes Caballi was hitting at Melbourne Park with Sara Arani today Oh really? Yeah he's just the sort of Italian vibes guy he's the David Law of Italian tennis so look that is incredible for Lorenzo Mazzetti and the good news is that world number three is up for grabs Lorenzo well and Alexander Bublik but the bad news is you have lost another final and you haven't won one now since 2022 and that is a problem I would think overall they come out of this tournament both of those two feeling pretty good I mean, Bud Blick in the top 10 for the first time, he was absolutely bowled over by it at the end in the sort of celebration.

58:34You could sell that really meant something to him. And obviously a year has gone by and he was in nowhere a year ago. But Mazzetti's just been doing it incrementally, hasn't he? And because he hasn't won titles on long the way, it's pretty hard to make these sort of ranking gains when you're not actually holding any trophies at the end of it all. So he's been very consistent. and I do feel like this is a step in a real step in the right direction because it's on a hard court and and you know I met was it last year in Melbourne Matt that you you purposefully on the first day of the tournament went out to watch Lorenzo Mazzetti I seem to remember this happening I do that a lot and yes it definitely sounds like Matt yeah and he was on here I think You definitely came back and were a bit disillusioned with things.

59:20And because he's such a wonderful watch, isn't he? I mean, watching him play against a guy like Bublik is really fun. But I think that the strides are being taken here. This time last year, you definitely said, and I'm sure definitely did say on various podcasts, Matt, Lorenzo Mazzetti has a hardcore problem. Would you say that now? no I don't think I would I think he has really got a lot better on hard courts over the last year sort of emphasised the back end of last year really with that US Open run and then in particular I think the matches he played after that actually like against even in a match he lost against Novak Djokovic in Athens he was awesome and then the nightmare tour right and then he played great against uh dimonor at the atp finals didn't he and got that win and it was a real moment and this was all happening on hard court so so no i wouldn't i wouldn't say so i think some of the changes he's made to his game have helped him his serve he's getting a bit more out of that and he's hitting his forehand brilliantly like so well and that that shot is doing damage even on a on a hard court now I think the thing about the titles is it's like you would definitely have rather had the progress he's made over the last few years and not picked up any titles rather than just one a couple here and there just to say that you've got some titles like I think you would sign for what he's done in terms of his trajectory and his improvement absolutely the problem is especially given it's not like he hasn't won titles he's not carrying that chain around yeah his neck okay it's been a while but yeah he has cleared the hurdle yeah I think for me the bigger thing is what does the finals record represent does it still say something sort of a bit fundamental about the game or mindset and I think he still slightly just lacks that killer instinct you know I think he He really improved his resistance and his resilience last year in matches.

1:01:31Like, remember that run in Monte Carlo where he kept coming from a set down and playing all those three set matches? And that was something we'd never really seen from him before. And he's tough to beat now, I would say, Mazzetti. He really is. He has far fewer matches where he just totally doesn't show up. but can he like go out there and get it and level up in the biggest moments i think i think that's what his sort of finals record sort of slightly represents he's struggling just slightly to just get over the line and that is just the quality that i think you have to you have to either you've got it or you've got to develop it you know like i think i think we have seen some players develop at that to a to a certain extent and he's still young enough that i think he can but that it is still missing i would say from zetti and i think that's the bigger deal than oh he hasn't won a he hasn't won a 250 in the last few years like that that i don't think that change moves the needle all that much but maybe he needs to win one to unlock it i don't know i don't i don't know it's a sort of it's like sort of chicken and egg situation um but he's playing really well uh and He was a bit injured in this final.

1:02:48His elbows seemed to be bothering him. I don't think he had a medical timeout, but he had some treatment on it. He did actually come out and win the doubles final afterwards with Sonnego. So he has won a title in doubles. And they'd been struggling to win. They'd lost two finals last year as well. But he's in a good place. I think Mazzetti generally, he's on the right track. But the problem is it's hanging over him. He's desperate to win a title. And I think if he can just get that burden off him, that might help sort of unleash him even more. It's tough seeing players injured in like the first week of the season, isn't it?

1:03:32I feel like I've seen more of that. Could be confirmation bias because, you know, I'm so conscious all the time of season length and lack of off season and, you know, how flogged the players are. And but. Yeah, seeing players injured now and hearing about withdrawals and long term chronic issues and young players, which we'll be talking about in part three, it's it's a bit of a buzzkill and I'm and I'm worried about it. So do come back for part three and more buzzkill and other news. Welcome back to part three of today's pod where we have wildcard news from the Australian Open. Justice for Stan Wawrinka.

1:04:22He gets an Australian Open wildcard. Was it ever in doubt? Who knows? I think it might have been quite in doubt at one point. That is the sense I get. But in a world where wild cards exist, obviously true justice, David, is wild cards not existing. But in a world where wild cards exist, justice has been done. So you don't want Stamford Rinker in the Australian Open? I'd love him to get his ranking up and qualify. Come on, he's 40. Qualified by right. Right, well, you know. You don't want him in?

1:05:04No. Not at the expense of the integrity of the sport, David. That means more to me. Okay. Yeah, I mean, listen, I'm glad he's in and Nick Kyrgios isn't, put it that way. Kyrgios apparently was so decent that he didn't want to have a wild card at the expense of somebody else who could make better use of it. Yes, news from Nick Kyrgios' Instagram. He said, after some good conversations with Tennis Australia, I've made the call to focus on doubles for this year's Australian Open. That is going to take some beating as a line for this year for 2026. I'm fit and back on court yeah we saw that we saw you losing to Alex Kovacevic but five setters are a different beast and I'm not quite ready to go the distance yet this tournament means everything to me but I'd rather give my spot my spot you entitled twat I'd rather give my spot to somebody who's ready to make their moment count it's all building blocks and I'll be back next year and pumped to compete.

1:06:27See you out there. Look at that, Catherine. You and Nick Kyrgios have got common ground, the integrity of the sport he's thinking about there. We both care equally for the integrity of the sport. Yeah, what a selfless act from Nick Kyrgios. Can't wait to see him in the doubles. in less good news Jung Chin Wen finalist here just two years ago obviously a very injury blighted 2025 season well that continues she's out of the Australian Open continuing to recover from that elbow injury that she had surgery on last year she said making this decision has been incredibly difficult for me Melbourne is my lucky place where I won my first Grand Slam main draw match and had my best experience.

1:07:21Although my recovery is progressing well and my off-season has gone smoothly, to play a Grand Slam requires players to maintain an extreme competitive condition. Currently, I have not yet reached my best condition that I've set for myself. Now, that's a fairly upbeat statement, but the fact is, David, she had this surgery many months ago and she's not fit yet and that is a fairly big concern i would say at this stage yeah and those sort of body parts as well whether it's wrist or elbow or anything like that you always worry don't you just how do you rehab that how do you get fit whilst also stress testing that part of the body it's not easy and she's so good for the sport she's such an important player really on numerous levels and she's a great kind of contender for top titles at her best too and this just has stopped her in her tracks and it's a terrible shame, I hope she's well soon Yeah, we wish her well, tennis is better for her being a relevant force in it.

1:08:41Last bit of news before we look ahead to this week, some news reported in The Athletic by Matt Futterman, some brilliant reporting by Matt Futterman about secret clandestine meetings. It's the traitors of the tennis world and it's been happening in London. Matt reports days before the start of the Australian Open in Melbourne, several of the most powerful leaders in tennis gathered 10 ,000 miles away to chart their way out of the antitrust lawsuits that threaten their power. The leaders of the men's and women's tours and the organisers of the other three Grand Slam tournaments, so all of them apart from the Australian Open, spent Tuesday and Wednesday of last week in closed-door meetings in London, according to three sources that were briefed on the discussions.

1:09:34The leaders discussed the structure of a deal aimed at giving tournaments financial security, producing more revenue for the sport and giving players the increased pay benefits and voice for which they've been pushing ever harder in recent months. Basically, this is about reaching some kind of settlement with the PTPA for the lawsuit that they lodged last year. And the reason the Australian Open are involved in this is because they have already reached a private individual settlement with the PTPA. Now I'd say, David, my knowledge of sort of lawsuits, particularly US lawsuits, is not sufficient or substantial for me to really draw any major conclusions.

1:10:22The only one thing that strikes me is if this lawsuit had absolutely nothing to it, it would have been dismissed by now by a judge. It's obviously got some legs. Now, Matt Futterman does report later in the piece that the Grand Slams and the tours are appealing to a judge for the lawsuit to be thrown out on various different technical ground so there's still room for that to happen yet these things rumble on and on but it's obviously cleared the first hurdle of credibility or maybe the first few hurdles is is what strikes me yeah this is further evidence that they're sufficiently concerned about it that they're all getting together to try to find a way out um and even though the professional tennis players association has taken this hit to its own credibility with novak jokovic is distancing himself from the organisation he kind of co-invented.

1:11:26These are still serious lawsuits, and they require attention. And that's what's been happening. And it sounds like there's still quite a long way to go in that. I mean, Matt reports that they're not close to any sort of resolution here or anything like that. Whereas I found his line about Tennis Australia's decision to settle absolutely fascinating he said that deal essentially meant that tennis australia had switched sides in a tacit agreement to help the ptpa wage a fight against its former allies um i i just i just found that really interesting um the the maneuvering that that's going on here um and you know when that was reported at the time just before christmas Tennis Australia were very keen to make sure that it was reported that they were not accepting any fault or that they had done anything wrong.

1:12:28But they were settling. You know, they were getting this out of the way. And I just, I mean, it's, it's, it's, I don't have the knowledge either. But I suppose I'm, I'm somewhat, somewhat taken by how much this seems to have rattled everybody in the sport to have to come together and do something about it. So it's, it's clearly a serious business. And that line, David, that you picked out about Tennis Australia and what their decision to settle apparently represents. all the more interesting in light of the reporting that hasn't been confirmed by any means but the reporting a few weeks ago that Craig Tiley would be leaving Tennis Australia to take up the role as head of the USTA um I said that hasn't been confirmed but it hasn't been denied either and and those were credible sources reporting reporting that that was in the works so As ever, the web of tennis authorities and infrastructure is sticky and complicated.

1:13:37Okay, tennis this week, folks. Tennis this week. We have a WTA 500 in Adelaide at the same time as an ATP 250. Madison Keys is the top seed in the women's event after Jessica Pagula withdrew. She's the defending champion, of course, Madison Keys. Mira Andreva is the de facto top seed because Pagula withdrew after the draw. Clear as day. Round one matches include Doria Kazikina, of course, now representing Australia, takes on Maria Sakary in round one. Victoria Mboko against Beatrice Hadajmaier. Eilid Tomlianovic against Clara Towson. Svea Kenin against Maya Joint. That's a tough draw. Very tough week for Maya Joint so far.

1:14:29And Yelena Ostapenko against Hotly Tipped for Success, Teresa Valantova. In the men's event in Adelaide, Alejandro Davidovic, Shakina and Tommy Paul are the top two seeds. Also in the draw are Valentin Vachero. Stefanos Tsitsipas, Thomas Mahatch and Francisco Sarundolo. How long do you think I will still be including Vachero in the also in the draw section of the weekly previews? I'm intrigued and I'm going to be monitoring closely. Okay. I love seeing who you've picked out. I'm like, oh, you think that's noteworthy, do you? But no, I accept Vachero clears the bar at the moment. round one matches include Sebastian Korda against Tenasi Koukinakis and Terence Atman against Ugo Mbair another one that's probably on thin ice re-being picked out I would say tough news out of Adelaide today Joel Fonseca he was supposed to play Hong Kong wasn't he last week withdrew from that he's now withdrawn from Adelaide too this was the statement from his team Joel has a straightened spine and suffered a stress fracture five years ago when he was still a junior.

1:15:51Therefore, his lower back is the most sensitive area of his body. And being a high performance athlete requires constant care. That worries me a lot. I know about stress fractures in backs and the long term problems thereof. The fact that it's still a concern five years later suggests that it will probably always be a concern to some degree. It's a very similar situation to what we see Artifees continuing to struggle with. I found this news, and particularly that statement and the sort of revelation of what exactly is going on Fonseca, I found that a real bummer. Like that's a big worry for me with him.

1:16:36and with too many of them you know there's there's so many young players right now that are suffering and it's not just short-term muscle injuries these are things that really worry you um no i i i was one of the little stories from the andy murray uh podcast the the that we did yesterday um was about his wrist injury and when he was a sort of 19 and it cost him three months and he'd got knee joint problems so I take some hope from the fact that he was able to overcome them and have a long career but you know the Draper, Feast and hopefully not Fonseca you know we just the sport needs these guys The WTA are in Hobart this week in Tasmania WTA 250 there Raducanu is playing McCartney Kessler, they're the top two seeds.

1:17:35Round one matches include 45-year-old Venus Williams against 38-year-old Tatiana Maria. Excellent stuff. Also, well, I say excellent stuff. Excellent stuff within the landscape of wildcards existing. Also, we have Bob Oroko-Chikova and Peyton Stearns, round one. And we have Janice Chen against Eva Jovic, two exciting young talents. The ATP are in Auckland, where Ben Shelton and Kasper Rood are the top two seeds. We also have Guillermo Fis, Jakob Mensik and Cameron Norrie all in the draw. And of course, we have the Australian Open qualifying this week too. We'll be keeping an eye on that. And we have the one point slam.

1:18:25And I've seen multiple trailers for that on Channel 9 this week. And I am worried. I'm obviously open and pure-hearted about it. It's going to be brilliant. But I am worried. There are Australian celebrities taking part. I don't understand the one-point slam anymore. I don't want Australian celebrities in it. It has gone from one to a hundred in like, which obviously is in the spirit of the one point slam. Let's go all in. It's just not what it was. But maybe it'll be still good. I'm going into it with an open mind. I'm going to the qualifiers tomorrow, which are apparently, you have to really dig around to find this information.

1:19:13They are starting from 5pm and they're tomorrow, Monday and Tuesday on court six. It's the qualifiers for the plebs. I don't think these random Australian celebrities have to go through the qualifiers. So there's no celebrities at the qualifiers and there's no pros at the qualifiers. No. And there's... It's all ams. And have there already been some... So basically going to watch a lot of club level tennis players. Play one point. Play one point against one another. Are there any AMs who've already qualified for the big night on Wednesday? I couldn't quite get a handle on that for the website, Matt.

1:19:55Because there's a website which highlights the champions from each of the regions. Yeah. And at first I thought, oh, I'll do some research. These are my guys. These are the people I'm going to be cheering for on Wednesday. I got a press release about them. Right. but I don't know if they've only gone into the qualifiers tomorrow night in which case premature press release folks yeah but I will go and do some important journalism tomorrow and I will let you know thank you and that is our next pod after the one point slam on Wednesday covering all the important stuff from the Australian Open David and Matt are travelling tomorrow tomorrow monday arriving tuesday night all being well please cross all fingers for them we recorded our australian open relived show last night and that will be up on monday so probably by the time you're listening to this it is already up um or very soon to be up so if you're a friend of the tennis podcast check that out or if you'd like to be a friend of the tennis podcast in order to check that out then the link of course is in our show notes um we are going to have a little meetup in Garden Square before the One Point Slam on Wednesday 6pm meeting where Matt?

1:21:19By Leslie Bowery's bust in Garden Square which is our favourite iconic spot where we recorded an emergency pod what was that six years ago now and we always get a little photo there whenever we go back to Melbourne Park so just go round all the busts and find Leslie Bowery and we will be there like an episode of the traitors where you have to murder in plain sight so if you you're around melbourne on monday and you'd like to come and say hi and generally we'll get pumped together about the one point slam and the the actual australian open then we'll see you at leslie bowery at 6 p.m on wednesday then we have our draw show on thursday matt we like an Australian Open draw.

1:22:07They had a marching band last year. I believe they've already set up the live stream and they've advertised it. They know what they're doing in Australia. We like it. We like it and we'll be here to talk about it with our show on Thursday. Friday is media day. We'll be going to all the press conferences asking all the important questions. David's going to be asking everybody about heated rivalry, I'm sure. Then we have our final Australian Open preview hype show on Saturday. And then it all kicks off on Sunday. I always forget about the Sunday start here. It's not in my DNA yet. But anyway, it all kicks off on Sunday.

1:22:52And we will be here with daily pods, of course. And you can follow our adventures on Instagram. I was a bit short of content today, so I had to disclose a very bad thing that happened to me whilst in a Starbucks toilet. So do check that out on Instagram. I haven't seen that myself yet.

1:23:16Such a bad moment. And also do sign up to... I feel like I should clarify. I was going to say, it's really bad, but I think you might also be imagining something worse given the mention of the toilet. I've managed to make it sound worse than it actually is, and it was pretty bad. But it wasn't like toilet stuff. It just happened. I just happened to be in the toilet. Great. It wasn't toilet stuff. Okay. Do sign up to the newsletter. No toilet stuff in there. You get stats and you get Matt's stats, predictions every day of the Australian Open. We put ourselves out there to be humiliated. so if that sounds fun and it always is fun then sign up to our newsletter it is free and the link is in our show notes and there really is good stuff in there it's not just you know we really put a lot of love into those newsletters and it's good it's good content that you don't get elsewhere it is not just pictures of dogs although they definitely are pictures of dogs and speaking of dogs folks hello to my lovely mascot Bodie I feel like that's the first time I'm saying that I did his big intro last week but this is my first hello Bodie and it feels good hope you're well Bodie David says a big hello to Maisie hi Maisie and Matt of course says hello to Roger hello Roger your paws are very popular on our Instagram this week very popular and speaking of Roger he's back isn't he Saturday our hype show Federer

1:25:07that hype show better not clash with Crowded House I was going to say are we more excited about Federer or Crowded House we're pretty into Crowded House to be honest they've got some bangers hello to our executive producers Greg, Chris and Jeff you're all legends and we salute you Matt let's have some shout outs we have two shout outs today the first for Lucia Carey who was born in Venezuela and now lives in Brooklyn New York goodness hello Lucia what a name wonderful a Venezuelan living in America that's wow must be quite a time for Lucia keep you in our thoughts and Lucia says the shout out was gifted to me by my best friend Stephanie I started playing tennis in 2020 which led me to becoming a mega fan of this podcast my non-stop tennis talk eventually convinced my friend Steph to pick up a racket and also listen to the show it has become our shared favourite obsession oh gosh you've influenced Stephanie to actually start playing tennis like Jib yeah our editor in the Philippines it's my favourite thing when people say that the pod got them into playing tennis Lucia that is absolutely lovely thank you for sharing that really lovely and Lucia says I'd like to know if you know of any Venezuelan tennis players I only know of Garbine Muguruza being born there.

1:26:49And I don't know her any more. No. No, same. I would have said Garbini Muguruza. In the early stages of her career, there was talk of whether she might represent Venezuela. Wasn't there, but eventually elected for Spain. No, but I'm sure there will be one day, Lucia. And we also have Madeline Schnittke. Oh. Hello, Madeline. Hi, Madeline. Who is from Chicago. Home of the Bears, who had a big win last night in the very dying seconds against the Green Bay Packers. Quite the comeback. It's funny how often that happens, isn't it? I think it's like the Labour Cup and the sport is engineered for drama in the dying seconds.

1:27:44And you're like this. Madeline says I was brought into the TTP fam during Wimbledon 2022 by my two best friends from law school, Melissa and Catherine. Same church, different pew. And the shared TTP chat has brought us even closer together. My most vivid memory of the pod is listening to the Jimmy Connors relived episode on a long walk and literally crying in the street hearing the guest editor's personal story. Shout out. Nice, Greg. It's so great to hear all the connections tennis has. That was executive producer Greg that guest edited that show. And it's one of the ones that sticks with me as well.

1:28:32big moment to be called Madeline you've got a very famous Lily Allen song named after you I knew that that silence is the sound of David nodding along Madeline thank you that's it just the two shout outs today Madeline and Lucia just the two the big two that is the end of our 2025 number three is up number three is up for grabs that's the theme of our show yeah Madeline and Lucia thank you ever so much for being friends of the tennis podcast we are of course part of the Athletic Podcast Network Matt, David get yourselves to Melbourne safely I can't wait to see you and we will be back on Wednesday when we're all together in Melbourne we'll speak to you then

1:29:30Enjoy going 0 Rule 5