Aus Open Day 1 - How did post-Ferrero Alcaraz look?

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1:16Matt Roberts: Well hello and welcome to the Tennis Podcast coming to you shortly after 11pm on a perfect Melbourne night at the tail end of day one of the Australian Open we are all three present and correct to talk through everything of note that's happened today and to look ahead to tomorrow and, of course, to give out the real prize at Melbourne Park, sensation of the day, the big return. That prize will not be going to Adam Walton, who has just moments ago left the Rod Laver Arena after a straight set's defeat to career slam, chasing Carlos Alcaraz. Alcaraz's first professional match, not under the tutelage of Juan Carlos Ferreiro.

2:01Matt Roberts: He seemed pretty chuffed with his own level today, judging on what he just said to Jim Currier in the post-match on-court interview. Do you agree, Matt, did we learn anything about Carlos Alcaraz today? And will we learn anything about him potentially before the final?

2:21Catherine Whitaker: Well, we learned that he's spent his off-season playing board games and getting ready for the Australian Open that way, as he told Jim Currier just then.

2:30Matt Roberts: Yeah, the question was, tell us how hard a day in the life of Carlos Alcaraz during the pre-season is. And he said, well, I play a bit of tennis and then I play some board games at home, which, you know, I'm sure he's playing it down. But that sounds fine. Sign me up.

2:48Catherine Whitaker: I learned some stuff about Adam Walton. Like, that guy did not miss a serve for so much of this match. His spot serving was very impressive and sort of kept Alcarez at bay, I think, sort of stopped Alcarez from fully being able to just build up a lead, as he did a little bit in that final set. But it took until that third set for him to be able to do it. No, I don't think so, to answer your question, what did we learn about Carlos Alcarez. If you two did, I'd be interested. but I'm very wary of falling into the trap of reading everything through a Juan Carlos Ferreira lens and sort of examining every little detail and thinking, is that because Juan Carlos Ferreira is not here?

3:37Catherine Whitaker: I think he just played a good match today against a player playing really well and there were some moments where I think he could have been a bit, you know, less erratic with his game, but generally I thought he was very good. It didn't sort of bowl me over in the same way that the first round of the US Open did against Opelka, where it was notable how on it he was straight away. But I think that's the difference between the US Open and the Australian Open, isn't it? Especially for Alcaraz with his lack of matches coming into the Australian Open. He is reliant on these first few rounds to sharpen up a little bit, whereas he was sharp right from the off at the US Open.

4:18Catherine Whitaker: So whether that can feed into the final stages because he's going to need to be fully sharp to beat Yannick Sinner if he does play him in the final. Gosh, we're already talking about the final on the day one podcast. But I sort of have faith that he's going to sharpen up as this tournament goes on and that was a nice start.

4:40Matt Roberts: Yeah, I thought it was a great start taking account of inevitable rust at it being the first match of the season. And yeah, it just, Juan Carlos Ferrer was not asked about by Jim Currier during that post-match interview. I suspect he will be asked about again during press conferences. But I would be surprised, given how Alcraz was responding to such questions a couple of days ago, I'd be surprised if we get much more. There's clearly a party line there. He doesn't want to give any more. So unless he has a moment of really letting his guard down, I don't think we're going to learn anything. And I wonder if his and Sinner's level is so much higher than everybody else that it's just going to be this question hanging over the whole tournament that we might not get an answer about until the final, David.

5:35David Law: Well, the semi-final.

5:38Matt Roberts: I set you up for that

5:39David Law: you're welcome I appreciate it look despite the fact that I have raised that as something that I think could happen Al Kraz runs into Daniel Medvedev and comes unstuck the logical conclusion is that this is going to end up the same way as all the others have recently and that actually their roads to the to the final are pretty inevitable and feel inevitable. At the moment, you know, there's no reason to think much other than the simple fact that Juan Carlos Ferreira has left the building. He went to break down in the second set. I didn't actually see that break. I looked up on the TV screen and within about 28 seconds, he got the break back.

6:30David Law: There was never any real peril in this match for our crowds whatsoever, despite the fact that Walton played well. I think there was that jeopardy on paper against Opelka at the US Open and I think that heightened senses. And as you said, he'd just come off playing a hard court season and loads and loads of tennis before that whereas he's had this, as Jim Currier said to him, nine weeks without playing a tournament. That's a long time. I was trying to think, I can't think in the years I've been watching tennis many players just coming in and having their first match of the season at the Australian Open.

7:10David Law: That feels pretty unusual to me that him and Sinner do that. But I think it is also a measure of the fact that they are so far and away above the majority of the field that they... I mean, I think Alcruz was experimenting with stuff out there today. He was choosing which shot to hit. He wasn't executing all of them perfectly. There were quite a lot of shots going long, I thought, you know. But I would expect that, really. I maybe don't expect to see as many of those from Sinner because they are different players in that regard. But, no, I mean, perfectly acceptable day's work for Carl Southcrest today.

7:51Matt Roberts: Yannick Hanfman for him in round two. Good player, but I expect room for experimenting there as well.

7:59David Law: Me too.

8:00Matt Roberts: Yeah, and potentially in every match until the final. we shall see semi-final shall we stick with the men's and shall we row all the way back to the first match of the day on the John Kane Arena we come into day one of any Grand Slam particularly the first Slam of the season we come in full of hope we come in full of joy we come in fresh I came in for the first time my first Grand Slam as a Kabali guy David how was it? a fresh new look at life he had the shits david he had a watery shit he had as bad as bad a case of the shits as i think well i mean who knows what was going on behind the scenes but in terms of what was evident front of house a really

8:55David Law: a really acute case of the shit and this isn't just guesswork on our part is it no

9:01Matt Roberts: no the trainer was out after the first game uh and the the first word i was able to tune into in that discussion was diarrhea and the first question uh poor old flavio was asked by the trainer was are you watery i didn't catch the answer but on the basis of what unfolded the answer was yes he did one of those it's one of my favorite moves in tennis it's a it's a bit like the fist pump apology or the apology fist bump he did the um rally rally into jog off court to

9:41Catherine Whitaker: the toilet like there was no yeah i don't think that uh fairy's shot had bounced twice and he was already off to the loo after losing the first i feel so sorry yeah he that's horrible he was in a

9:57Matt Roberts: bad way and i i could give you takes about how i do think his sort of resistance even in the circumstances looked a little feeble to me like if you're gonna stay out there

10:14Matt Roberts: I don't know like I guess I'm I guess I'm even though I'm a ciboli guy now like he hasn't quite earned the total benefit of the doubt from me in terms of flakiness I suppose like there was a set and a half there where he well certainly a set where he might as well have thrown in the towel and just gone and sat on the loo for all of our sakes but i'm not going to go too far down that road because we've all been there and i don't want to kick a man when he's down but it is bloody awful for i mean i mean what a horrible stroke of luck well that was i mean

10:56David Law: when when we listened to this conversation we just looked at each other and just just imagine You've got a best of five set match ahead of you in high 20 degrees Celsius. Best case scenario. And you've got diarrhea.

11:12Matt Roberts: And you've got Arthur Ferry, who's not really giving up anything and is a really good player. OK, there's probably a ceiling to that game in terms of the weaponry that he's got. But he was so impressive today, Matt.

11:27Catherine Whitaker: He was very good. Yeah. And ruthless. You know, he didn't allow Caballi to get any hope in this match, really, whatsoever. And I think he'd been very impressive in qualifying as well, hadn't he, Ferry? So he's having a really nice run here, even this match aside. You know, getting into the main draw was a big deal for him. But it is gutting for Caballi. And also for the, you know, bigger picture of men's tennis as well. You know, like if you're coming up with a list of players that you're excited about and for in 2026, obviously you're now a Kabbali guy. Catherine, I think a lot of people became a Kabbali guy during that incredible tie break against the Zuburgs at the end of last season.

12:15Catherine Whitaker: And obviously we know how hard it is to end one season and pick up another one with that momentum. But Kabbali had shown enough last year with that Wimbledon quarterfinal as well. for I think he was probably on a lot of people's lists in terms of, okay, I don't think he's as good as Sinu and Alcaraz, but can he get into the top 10? Can he make a jump? And obviously there's still a big, long season ahead and he can still do those things. But this felt like a chance, a moment for him. Because, you know, like he had a bad start to last year, didn't he? He just couldn't win matches at the start of the season.

12:51Catherine Whitaker: and this was a chance to really only earn points. He's not going to be losing points for a while. It's all upside, but he's got this stomach issue and just takes him out in round one and before the tournament's even really got going. It was a real bummer, actually.

13:10Matt Roberts: Yeah, not even midday, was it? And he was popping some quite serious pills and looking a beaten man out there on John Kane. not even midday on the Sunday of the Australian Open and you lost to Igor Svantec in your one-point slam match, your one and only one-point slam match. It's been a rough trip to Melbourne for Flavio Caballi and it's tested me, but I will stick with him.

13:43Catherine Whitaker: I would say there was far less disgrace in Caballi's one-point slam exit than a lot of people's.

13:48Matt Roberts: oh absolutely yeah I'm just saying is he happy with how Melbourne's gone no he's not he's leaving a sad sad man

13:57Catherine Whitaker: he was also exposed to the world he doesn't really know how to play rock paper scissors that was a bad moment

14:03Matt Roberts: he also had a hang on I'm struggling to remember who he was against he also had a devastating defeat at the United Cup I remember I was courtside

14:11Catherine Whitaker: for the Rinderknecht wasn't it

14:12Matt Roberts: yes I was courtside for the women's match that followed it and he was sat in front of me eating the saddest plate of plain rice you've ever seen. It was like he was punishing himself. In fact, I think this has been a devastating trip to Australia for Flavio Caballi.

14:30David Law: You better not desert him, Catherine.

14:32Matt Roberts: That would finish him off. He's on my fantasy team. I've got him until the next transfer window at least. No, don't worry, Flavio. I'm sticking with you brackets for now. Alexander Zverev was in a touch of peril today David lost the first set on the tie break to Gabriel Diallo of Canada then fairly straightforward 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 overall how much upside how much downside for Zverev in this match because he was very ropey for quite a lot of it but actually used it to find some form it looked like.

15:13David Law: I think that sums it up. If I was Verev and I think he said this on court, I think he leaves that court feeling pretty good, pretty good about himself because after the first set, I genuinely thought he could well be going out because he just had no feel on the ball whatsoever. I mean, he was sort of like trying to find the strings I mean, so many of his shots looked as though they weren't really in the sweet spot of the racket. So, I mean, the backhand, yes, but on the forehand, which is the one that goes off, he was missing all over the place. 4-1 down against Diallo, who's 6 '7", big server, was going for his shots, was causing him all sorts of problems.

16:00David Law: But Diallo just let him back into the setting, in all honesty. I think there was a 40-love game that he got broken in, and he ended up at 4-all. goes to a tie break, Diallo wins the tie break 7-1 Zverev all over the place angry, smashing rackets I thought he's exactly in the sort of position that I remember him being against Artur Rindeknesh at Wimbledon it feels a little bit like that against a big server and Diallo, I mean I've got to be honest I think he was appalling after that really for most of the match he lost the next four games in about 15 minutes he really just didn't play a solid match at all and I realise you want to go for your shots but he was all over the place but at the same time Zverev's serve was kind of keeping him in his own games, in his own service games to get to that tie break even when he was struggling him with the rest of his game and then the rest of the game started to follow the serve and and by the end the last two sets he was actually hitting his forehand I thought really well it was coming out of the middle of the racket he was hitting it with aggression and assertiveness as well and you know he's he's talked about how he just hasn't had matches I mean he had two matches I think at the United Cup including that loss to Hubert Hercatch and again this similar kind of profile of player today somebody who can make rhythm difficult to find but I think by the end of it he played himself into some form now it'll be fascinating to see whether that continues because he's he's going to have a tough match on paper in the second round whoever it's against in Alexander Muller who's beaten him before and Alexi Poprin who's dangerous but who's Verev's always beaten in the past but you know these are not great first and second round draws I mean, he said he wasn't happy when he saw Diallo was his opponent.

18:04David Law: He was worried about it. But I would have thought he'll be pretty pleased, not only to have come through, but to have found some form.

18:13Matt Roberts: Interesting. Yeah. Muller or Popper in next, that'll be decided tomorrow. There's quite a lot of matches, winners that we'll talk about today who don't know their next round opponents because of the way the round ones are staggered over three days. and it leaves us all at sea about figuring out what side of the draw everybody's on. But by the end of this week, folks, we'll have it all straightened out in our minds. Staying with kind of runners and riders in the men's side of things, I feel like maybe we should go to Alexander Bublik next, given that he's a top 10 player and he put in a very mature, can't believe I'm saying this disciplined performance today to beat Jenson Brooksby a break per set four four and four is this a new Alexander Bublik David it's quite interesting he

19:05David Law: kind of asked that in the little media huddle he had upstairs afterwards and it was not asked by me because it was not sort of framed with the kind of underarm serve element in mind um in in I mean And that was sort of brought up. And I sort of thought, oh, my word, I've gone down this road. This is not going to end well, you know, because he tends to get pretty prickly about those types of questions. And he didn't. He said, yeah, I do play the odd one now and again, but, you know, not very often. He was much more serious in his approach on the court and also in the interview. you um and actually the fact that you brought him up as sort of the third main player we're talking about i think says something and and he's aware of it too you know i said i asked him do you feel different coming here this year than you have in the past because here he is a top 10 player and he said yeah probably because i mean for a start this is the first time in seven years that i haven't been playing at 11 o 'clock in the morning on a side court in the middle of nowhere he's on a decent court, on a sort of good slot of the schedule and he's a big deal really, I mean he might not be, he's not Alcrastin a big deal or top five in the world but he's he's being taken notice of and he says look that makes it easier as well, when you start getting these better court assignments that helps, you know he pointed out that's an advantage that the top players have so So I think he's taking the benefits of that.

20:50David Law: And I think he feels pretty bullish about his chances of a run here. Whereas at Wimbledon, he never seems convincing before the tournament in the press conference.

21:03Matt Roberts: He didn't like the pressure that came with winning that Haller title and beating Sinner en route. Did it seem to have the opposite effect on him to apparently what reaching the world's top 10 is having on him right here? I do wonder if he's getting a taste for it all. Like, that feeling of reaching the top 10. Give me more of that.

21:26David Law: And he said, you know, I'm not here to sightsees as I used to do that and things like that. I'm not, you know, he goes, I'd rather be at home with my family, but I'm here to do a job. I'm here to do a job. And I thought, OK, this sounds pretty serious business.

21:45Matt Roberts: OK. Pretty serious business from Alexander Bublik. It is a brave new world, just not for Flavio Caballi. Cameron Norrie. I'm scraping the barrel here of who to talk about on the mensage. It's been a bit of a soft launch today, hasn't it? I mean, it always is. It always is.

22:06David Law: I mean, you dilute the order of play if you put it over three days. That's the nature of it. I mean, look, they've had record crowds here today. I think, what, 100 ,000 people in total in the day and night sessions combined? Yeah, it has been busy. Astonishing numbers of people. So it's very popular. They're certainly making plenty of money out of it. But, I mean, yeah, Norrie and Bonzi is a match that I said to Matt, that could be long beforehand. And then about 15 minutes later, Norrie had won the first set six love. And I thought, OK, that was a good prediction. But it did end up going five.

22:45Matt Roberts: Matt described Norrie as possessed after the first set. He has these moments, Norrie, doesn't he?

22:52Catherine Whitaker: He does. He has something about him and he really gets his teeth into his match or seems to be out for an opponent. He's a bit spiky like that sometimes, Norrie. he can also be the opposite and he can sometimes be a bit nothing

23:09Matt Roberts: and it

23:12Catherine Whitaker: strikes me that today he was his better self and he was pushed here because Bonzi really turned it on and took her two sets to one lead and Nuri had to come back and win it in five and that's a good win in the end I think.

23:26Matt Roberts: And look he could become relevant because he's a potential third round opponent for Alexander Zverev and he's challenged him before here, in fact, came very close to beating him here a couple of years ago. When I became a

23:39David Law: Norrie guy for about 15 minutes. What a night that was. Because he played like Jimmy Connors in the 1991 US Open. He was rushing the net. He was hitting left-handed, inside-out, back-hand winner's heart. It was amazing.

23:53Matt Roberts: It felt like we'd entered the parallel universe on that pod. Oh, fun. Should we talk about Michael Zheng?

24:02David Law: Yes.

24:02Matt Roberts: Wasn't expecting to be talking about Michael Zhang. It is absolutely okay if you're listening to this and going, who is Michael Zhang? Not many people do know. He beat his countryman, Seb Corder, today. He came back from ahead. He led by two sets to love, 6-4, 6-4, lost the next two, 3-6, 6-7. And he came back and he won the fifth 6-3. He is a senior at Columbia University in New York. And that stat leads more, that fact rather leads me to a stat that came through from the brilliant Greg Sharko, who I know you know David back from ATP days. He's working here for the tournament as a researcher and stats and facts guy for the World Feed commentary team.

24:55Matt Roberts: and he came through with the stat this morning that there are 25 players in the men's main draw at this year's Australian Open who have played college tennis one of which of course is Zhang and that is the most since the Australian Open in 1989 when there were also 25. It's an interesting trend and Michael Zhang looks like a great advert for going to college.

25:21David Law: Yeah and he very much intends to go back there after this tournament. He's not planning on going pro. He said, maybe if I beat Carlos Alcaraz, which is a potential third-round opponent, I might go pro. But he has actually got to get past Karantan Mute in the second round first. So that's one at a time. He's a lovely fella, 21 years of age. And actually, I mean, the fact that he's here doing this is pretty astonishing. Because when he was 700 in the world just sort of seven or eight months ago, he had to win some challenges even to get into the qualifying here which he successfully did came through three rounds of that there was one match against Lucas Klein that he was leading 7-1 in the deciding set tie break and yet he found himself match point down 9-10 down before eventually winning it 12-10 so you know he's had a hairy ride to get here He's 6 '2", according to the ATP website, but he doesn't look that.

26:28David Law: He looks very slight. Very compact strokes. Nothing much is going wrong with that game, I'm telling you. And a heck of a pair of wheels. Yeah, and he needs it. This guy has not got a big serve. He was playing quarter today, and I think you're in the deciding set. Corda's hit 21 aces Zheng's hit 4 4 aces in 5 sets you know you're not getting many free points there but as you said he can move his back hand looks like it's tucked into his body with the two hands and he can just direct it very easily it's so precise like watching a computer game really seeing him play tennis and made me feel for Sebastian Corda a bit you know to think a few years ago he was the coming guy and and a lot was expected of him and and he's had that horrible wrist injury and it's so difficult to come back from those things but but sheng is you know it's one of the nice things about the sport i suppose is that from our perspective at least is that new people come along and i really liked his demeanor he

27:41Catherine Whitaker: seemed pretty unflappable which i think is going to be interesting where he faces mute in the next round right and like aims to flap people yeah i mean today in fact that's his whole game i mean today he finished off um tristan school kate who i now have to pause and think about how to pronounce

28:04Matt Roberts: his name before saying it every single time there was a a a credible professional australian radio journalist in our working room earlier on today who was doing a radio report and said Trista Schoolkate and my internal monologue said you're pronouncing it wrong thank goodness I didn't say it out loud

28:27Catherine Whitaker: well Mute finished him off today despite being unable to move I mean that is an aspect for that match he hurt his leg quite badly while he was up two sets to love and three love Mute and it sort of allowed Schoolkate back into that third set but anyway eventually Mute did get over the line he finished it with an underarm serve and of course got booed and of course loved it so that's the environment Zheng will be going into when he faces him but then you know I have not watched a lot of US college tennis I must say but everything I read about it and hear about it those are the kind of environments he will be used to he's a two-time ncaa champion jeng and i think it's interesting because i do think we often have a a mental image a picture of people coming out of college tennis and they're in my mind anyway they're a bit more in the ben shelton mold in terms of real energy and character and trying to impose yourself on a match whereas jeng is you know i've only watched him today but today he was very much not like that he was he was quite serene and I quite enjoyed that that element to his game and yeah he's got quite a loose arm on the forehand skinny frame nimble nifty great retriever and he came up with some some great shots down the stretch to to close out Gorda so yeah he was a it was a classic Grand Slam opening week day one match that where I'm actually I did not have my eyes on going into it did not know about Michael Zheng before today and he ended up really sort of improving my day

30:09David Law: and I had a great time watching him he still doesn't know if he's going to be allowed to keep the prize money yes um it's been an ongoing subject hasn't it it's not as cut and dry as it

30:20Matt Roberts: used to be it used to be simply you you if you're if you don't turn pro if you're remaining at college you can't keep the prize money it's um it's more complicated than that now we were hearing about it with Oliver Tarvit at Wimbledon last year who sort of tied himself in knots a little bit in a press conference about how his accountant was going to find a loophole in the system you can claim a lot of expenses I think

30:51Catherine Whitaker: yes

30:52Matt Roberts: and accountants are good with expenses certainly Oliver Tarvit's accountant apparently was good with expenses

30:58David Law: we'll put Michael Zhang in touch

31:00Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, Matt Futterman's written in his write-up of this match. It's possible he can't accept that money as a college player, except for covering his tennis-related expenses, but there may be some wiggle room since he's a second-semester senior. He said he'd have to check with his coach. I don't want to get into trouble, Jeng said.

31:20Matt Roberts: That is a more sensible answer than the one Oliver Tavit gave at Wimbledon last year.

31:25David Law: By the way, one line I saw in an ATP website piece written about Michael Zhang that I liked was that he said he thinks his studies help his tennis in as much as he's kind of almost become capable of managing things. Because he's having to do both. It's making him a more kind of, I'm paraphrasing here, but a more complete person in that he's able to juggle things and not just be obsessed with tennis all the time.

31:58Matt Roberts: I remember Nathan Chen, the figure skating, the great figure skater and rainy Olympic champion, he said the same. He was a student at Yale and kept on getting asked about whether he was going to drop out because he was so good at ice skating and he would always give a very similar answer answer and he got his Yale degree and got an Olympic gold that's cool very overachieving yeah I cannot wait for Zhang Zhang Mute in a few days time it'll be a couple of days time won't it yes it'll be so it'll be after after Wednesday yeah yeah okay last result I think to touch upon from the men's side of things uh Francisco Sarundolo uh with the straight sets went over Zhang Zhejian 6-3, 7-6, 6-3, fairly straightforward for Sir Rundulo, but a really touching tribute from him to Guillermo Salatino after the match, David.

33:02David Law: Yeah, Guillermo, a colleague of ours, a media member for many, many years, somebody that I've known throughout my career without really knowing him because of the language barrier, but somebody that would unfailingly walk past, smile, say hello, share greetings, and clearly love being here and at the sport. And he retired just three years ago from the sport. And we were really sad today to hear that he'd passed away. And there was an email written by a colleague of his and a colleague of ours, Sebastian Fest from Clay Magazine from Argentina and Sebastian summed this up he said Guillermo's stature in Argentina and much of Latin America extended beyond the world of tennis and even journalism he was a figure known and admired by millions of sports and news enthusiasts and basically was was the voice of tennis in Argentina and clearly that has not been lost on Francisco Sarundolo which I think is a wonderful thing, good on Sarundolo for recognising him and yeah, as he wrote Sebastian, may he rest in peace

34:22Matt Roberts: Absolutely, a really a really classy moving tribute from Francisco Sarundolo and that's it I think for a round up of the men's results from today Join us in part two when we'll turn our attention to the women and how a bad day got worse for Matt Roberts.

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36:29Matt Roberts: Running, hiking, golf, Pilates, and so much more. Made with sweat-wicking yarns, blister-fighting details, and targeted arch support. Bombas Sport is pro-level socks from the pros of socks. For another pro, you. Go to bombas.com slash audio and use code audio for 20 % off your first purchase. That's bombas.com and use code audio. Welcome back to part two of today's tennis podcast from day one of the Australian Open. and we will talk about the two-time champion Arena Sabalenka. We'll talk about Jasmine Paolini. We'll talk about the incredible uplifting story of Zeynep Sonmez. But I feel like given I trailed it at the end of part one, we should get Matt's terrible, the tale of Matt's terrible day out of the way.

37:16Matt Roberts: Matt, how did Venus Williams make a bad day worse for you?

37:21Catherine Whitaker: Well, it started at 2 a.m. when I woke up for Fulham. And we lost in the 91st minute to Leeds. I had gone back to sleep by that point. I could see the direction that the match was going and thought, sleep is going to be better for me here. Then I optimistically watched the Bills in the playoffs and they lost in overtime in devastating fashion.

37:52Matt Roberts: and then you were multi-screening that with um with watery cabali

37:58Catherine Whitaker: in the media work room yeah and then we had venus williams i mean who didn't want venus williams to win today like all good and live it all good and live it her

38:12Matt Roberts: family and that's about it but you put extra stakes on it by making her your prediction

38:19Catherine Whitaker: I did. You needed this. I had 95 points on the line, which is just a brilliant place to be at the end of day one of a slam. And I was feeling good about that. I was feeling like I had called this because Venus Williams was up for love in the deciding set, having played the most wonderful opening set. like brilliant this was a really good match in the first set and venus had set points they were coming and going and finally on her fourth one it's just this back and forth rally between uh venus and and danilevich and it's like who's gonna who's gonna pull the trigger down the line first because they were both just going big but up the center of the court and venus was the one who did it took the set the john kane arena is going mad for her she has a bit of a lull in the second set Venus Williams loses it and comes out though and builds that four love lead in the decider and honestly I thought I thought it was done I really thought Venus was going to get this done she was playing so well I think what happened was that she got a bit tense and a bit tentative at four love up and I think credit to Dinovic because she she played really well from that point really didn't didn't really miss a ball from from that point onwards and it got to four all and this was this was the crushing game because she just had chance after chance Venus to get five four ahead stop the run of games against her and yet every single time she had a game point she just could not find a first serve as hard as she was trying it just would not go in and Olga Danilovic was taking advantage of the second serve, getting it back to Deuce, and then eventually Danilovic managed to get the break in that game and then serve it out.

40:17Catherine Whitaker: And in the end, it was six games in a row from her to win the match. And look, it was a very special performance from Venus Williams, even in defeat, you know, 45 years old, playing like that, like absolutely wonderful. but I was just desperate for her to get the win. Yeah, so that's my tale of three heartbreaking losses.

40:47Matt Roberts: At least you're not Flavio Gabali. Yeah, but we are pleased, Roelga Dnilovic and her family. Sure. Yeah, have had a great day. Yeah, I mean, look, she's, we've said it all before, it remains true it becomes truer every time she plays and is competitive in matches like these

41:09David Law: but Venus Williams is a marvel I mean that was astonishing it's two and a half hours and she's running around this court smashing winners all over the place at 45 I haven't seen that in in I mean we were talking I can remember Martina Navratilova winning winning a match at that sort of age i can't remember exactly what age um at wimbledon back in what 2004 but this in this era i mean yes we talk about roger federer got to 40 and novak jogovich is 38 and serena williams but i mean venus is five six seven years older than all of these and she's got an autoimmune disease let's not forget it's staggering to me that she this is this is way better tennis than

42:02Matt Roberts: she's played for years as well yeah absolutely and hopefully we will we will get to see her again uh the two-time former champion last year's beaten finalist arena sabalenka uh she opened the Rod Laver Arena night session tonight they've got a new kind of walk on ceremony thing going on it's been created by a sort of theatrical set designer, she's done Lady Gaga set, she's done a lot of very famous work in the theatre and she's created this kind of water sort of parting of the Red Sea type vibe in the in the tunnel and then the players whereas they used to get to the entrance to the court wait there to to each be announced on one after the other they now disappear to separate corners of the court and uh announced on and they they arrive in in via different tunnels and for each of these ceremonies there's one at the start of the day session one at the start of the night session and the roof is closed, and the visual of the roof opening and the light gradually emerging like a spotlight onto the Rod Laver Arena is all part of the show.

43:25Matt Roberts: And it is that the roof opening and the light shining down like something biblical is really visually spectacular. But is it better than the roof just being open?

43:39Catherine Whitaker: Open the roofs.

43:42Matt Roberts: Open the roofs. Anyway, Irina Sabalenka comes out in her, it's not a custom Nike kit, but it's a custom colourway of the Nike kit that if you're watching this year's Australian Open, you're going to get very familiar with. I think the women's ones are really cool. I wasn't a huge fan of Carlos Alcaraz's, but relative to Yannick Sinners, he looked splendid. and 6-4, 6-1 for Sabalenka over Sarah Rakitamanga Rajana who I think really showed what she can do tonight, really really did she is a lovely player I really believe in her talent, if she can stay injury free, continue to get physically stronger beef up the serve a little bit obviously in particular the second serve that Irina Sabalenka was predictably all over she's got beautiful dexterity a lovely backhand but not a weak forehand at all I think she's got the tools and she showed it tonight

44:51Catherine Whitaker: yeah she was very impressive in that first set Sabalenka had to work hard to win that she was sometimes taking the ball early on return but a lot of the time she was stepping back and actually hitting with quite a lot of shape and height and giving Sabalenka not much pace. She was getting Sabalenka moving, not giving her the same ball, not giving her rhythm, using a drop shot. You know, she didn't seem intimidated. She was really composed. It was great to see, actually. But I mentioned the drop shot. It was actually a Sabalenka chasing down a drop shot that changed the whole kind of feel and I guess trajectory of that first set and ultimately the match because she chased down the drop shot Sabalenka and had to whip it from so low and only really had one option and that was to go straight at Rakutamanga and boy did she, like went straight at her head.

45:51Catherine Whitaker: It was a totally legitimate shot. It was the only shot she had.

45:54Matt Roberts: Matt made a big noise in the working room. Jumped out of his skin a bit.

45:59Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, like I thought, wow, like that's such a bold shot to hit but it was the perfect shot and it helped to win that point win that game and ultimately the set and the match it was a yeah it was a it was a real moment um and Sabalenka then was was much more comfortable in the in the second set but yeah kind of one of those matches where both of them come out come out you know having kind of impressed I suppose

46:21Matt Roberts: she plays by Jujuan in the next round who beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova on the Kia Arena this evening you watched a bit of that David?

46:30David Law: Yeah it's only the end it was one of those that was kind of the fourth match going on because at the time we'd got Venus Williams we'd got Carlos Alcraz, Emeril O 'Connor had just started but this match was well into its third hour and was just kind of chugging along and I kind of just thought I'll pick up the result and then next thing I know they're starting a ten point tie break at the end and then I'm engrossed and it was so dramatic you know the the battle going on because there were a lot of fans by Chinese fans in the in the stadium with flags flying a lot of noise she was having chances she she had a couple of match points before she got over the line and when she finally did I mean just fell flat on her back and roaring come on and And that was a good win because Pavlyuchenkova still hits such a clean, sweet ball and has real power.

47:26David Law: You know, it's kind of travelled with her through the generations in a way. You know, whereas some players kind of can get left behind. She hasn't. But Bay stood up to it. You know, she's really tenacious. And, I mean, I suspect Sabalenka's power will be another level altogether. but it's kind of another new name to me really and certainly in terms of somebody I've not watched before and yeah, I enjoyed it.

47:55Matt Roberts: Tricky start for her against Mananchaya Sawankhiau of Thailand who hits a really impressive ball and Radhikhanu was sluggish to start this match. I imagine nerves were a big, big factor here. You know, she has not had the ideal preparation for this tournament at all. But she, I felt like she was in some proper trouble in the midway point of this first set. She was a breakdown. So Ankiyao looked pretty composed out there. And there was just a flash of panic in Raducanu's eyes. That forehand was looking unsettled. settled and she really dug in and found a game, found a way through. She was hitting lovely backhands by the end of it.

48:44Matt Roberts: I kept on tapping Matt's arm and saying, just checking you've seen this one. And of course he had. He's got a weird radar for when there's a good backhand happening. He's got Carlos Alcaraz live in front of him and yet he just sort of knows when there's a

49:02David Law: beautiful backhand

49:03Matt Roberts: down the line happening on a screen in his vicinity. Of course, yeah.

49:08Catherine Whitaker: It's my sixth sense.

49:11Matt Roberts: Fair dues. Okay, Jasmine Paolini, a winner, one and two, over the apparently not at all tricky Alexander Sasnovich. Not for Jasmine Paolini, anyway. Turns out, I underestimated her.

49:25Catherine Whitaker: Who would have thought it?

49:26Matt Roberts: Who would have thought it?

49:27Catherine Whitaker: And her draw has opened up today because I think the next couple of matches we're going to talk about, like they were in her section the seeds that have lost so a doubly good day for paolini she did her job and some other people might have might have helped her out a bit as well yes now the next

49:45Matt Roberts: few matches on the agenda are buckle up folks you've got a wild ride ahead for the next few minutes where would you like to start matt well i'd like to start with elsa giacomo go for it You like her.

50:01Catherine Whitaker: I became a bit obsessed with this match.

50:04Matt Roberts: It was 24 hours ago that I was confusing her with Kiri and Jacquet. Now Matt's a Giacomo guy. Take it away.

50:15Catherine Whitaker: She's, in my mind, I'm formulating a take that she's a bit like a far less good WTA Medvedev. You know, like she's all arms and limbs. she's there's so much limb yeah she wears these shorts that are like diapers it's just she's just all leg and got very long arms she's got funky technique really funky technique she's not afraid of a back and forth with her box like that was a running theme throughout it um and she fights extremely hard you know like these are all sort of things that I would describe Medvedev as, and she was bringing them to the court. And honestly, look, she's up against one of the informed players, Marta Kostiuk, having impressed everyone with her run in Brisbane to the final, where she beat three top 10 players in a row.

51:10Catherine Whitaker: You know, I was very much intrigued by what Kostiuk could do at this tournament. I really thought she was capable of having a run, you know, to the second week. And yet she was not convincing today at all, Kostiuk. She got over the line in the first set but made hard work of it. And then she went to serve for the match in the second set and played a terrible game and ended up in another tie break and lost it. And then the third set was just absolutely wild. Like Kostiuk was the better player, really. She was holding serve easily and kept generating break points, but she could not take them. She ended up not taking 17 break points in the match, seven of them in the deciding set and it just became a bit comical you know like chances were coming and going there were shanks all over the place occasional brilliance but a lot of the opposite and i was just i was just finding it really really funny it was just a good time but then unfortunately with kostiuk serving to take it into a tie break she rolled her ankle badly, took a fall and it was one of those where you thought it was bad in the moment and then you saw the replay and David, we were in the press room together and everyone wince, didn't they, when they saw the replay.

52:35David Law: I mean, in unison, several of us just went, oh no, you know, it was just, took your breath away and I thought her season could be over with it, it looked so horrible. Fortunately, She, I mean, clearly not the wind out of her and was a shock, terrible shock, but she got it taped up. And actually she performed really well, considering, didn't she, to finish the match, but was unable to win it.

53:08Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, exactly. So it went to this tiebreak and, look, the tiebreak was messy, to be quite honest, from both players. but in the end Giacomo gets the win and there's a stat here that it's the fifth women's match at a Grand Slam in the Open era to end with three tie breaks you know this was 6-7, 7-6, 7-6 a very rare score line only the fifth there have been three in the last five years and then you have to go back to the US Open in 1985 for the first one, which, sorry Pam, was Graf beating Shriver. 7-6, 6-7, 7-6. So Elsa Giacomo in that company today.

54:01Matt Roberts: I'm excited to wake up to a message from Pam with some crazy memories from that match.

54:08David Law: Carlos Alcaraz is on his way to the main room.

54:10Matt Roberts: Carlos Alcaraz on his way. It is Yulia Putin-Saver next for Elsa Giacomo.

54:17David Law: Oh, my word. When is that happening?

54:20Matt Roberts: That's her award. Putin-Saver beat Beatrice Adagmeyer today. 367563. On court six, the bar court.

54:33David Law: It's also perfect, isn't it?

54:35Matt Roberts: Which did turn out to be perfect scheduling. I mean, it was packed to the brim with Brazilian fans in full voice. I mean, it was just wonderful atmosphere out there. But of course, Julia Putin's savour, fuel to her fire. When she won this match, she did a sort of provocative dance, took a bow in the direction of the most vocal Brazilian support and sung Vamos a la Playa at them.

55:03Catherine Whitaker: Which is not Portuguese.

55:06Matt Roberts: No, no, it wasn't. but it was goodness knows what she was thinking but yeah let's just say she took a lot of pleasure in that victory yeah

55:21Catherine Whitaker: and upset a lot of people

55:23Matt Roberts: yeah and so like right in her sweet spot in a few days time and really like consequential tennis matches for the actual sort of outcome of this tournament and it's latter stages are happening that we might need to report on Matt will be dedicating his day to Giacomo against Putin's saver.

55:43Catherine Whitaker: I will. I will. And actually today wasn't the first time that Giacomo had unexpectedly been sort of match of the day early on at a slam because of course she had that match against Lois Boisson at the French Open last year.

55:57Matt Roberts: Which I actually do remember because I'd randomly made Lois Boisson my pick, my prediction for the day. She brought me home some sweet, sweet points which I can take no credit for because I did, that was a shot in the dark. But I was paying attention to that match as a result because I had something riding on it. And it was... It was wild. God, it was chaotic. Yeah, she is chaotic.

56:21Catherine Whitaker: Absolutely chaotic. If you want a fun time, honestly. Imagine if she gets in the head of Putin's saver. Oh, I am imagining.

56:32Matt Roberts: Okay, next up, let's take you to the 1573 arena. and on paper the biggest upset of the day. Step aside, Flavio Caballi, the 11th seed, crashed out in the women's draw. Ekaterina Alexandreva to Zeynep Sonmez, the world number 112 from Turkey. Not necessarily the highest quality match. It certainly had its moments. Zeynep Sonmez really had her moments. but just the most incredible atmosphere out on 1573 arena 754664 this match uh alexandre having led three love in the deciding set david you got a whiff of the vibes and came out to watch the some of the deciding set and had you not been six foot seven you wouldn't have been able to see any of it.

57:30Matt Roberts: It was only because you were able to look over the layers and layers of fans who were not only in the stadium, but queuing to get in. I mean, we know about the Greek fans in Melbourne. We know about the Croatian fans, you know, the Serbian fans, the Turkish fans are so fantastic. They, I mean, look, it doesn't necessarily fill my heart with joy to find out that I'm commentating on Ekaterina Alexandreva. She's just good luck to her. She's just not necessarily my bag. But I had so much fun commentating on that match today because those, I mean, Zeynep Sonmez is a really cool story. And goodness me, she's a tenacious, dogged, poised tennis player.

58:18Matt Roberts: I really enjoyed her tennis. But mostly I just enjoyed her riding this wave of support and seemingly being in dialogue with the fans out there. They would give her something and then she would give something back to them. And they were sort of sustaining one another for the two and a half hours of this match.

58:39David Law: I think that's the magic of Grand Slam tennis generally. I think particularly this one, this tournament, when a player from a country that maybe hasn't got that many players or is just so passionate generally, they come out in force here. They always have, right back to when Sweden had all those players, Croatia, Marcus Bagdatis, think of him. I remember the Lebanese player last year that I was amongst all of their fans. and yeah I mean this was red and white flags everywhere you you looked in that in that arena and when I arrived it was literally to try to get the last few minutes of it and there were people circling that arena all the way around four or five deep just queuing up to trying to get into to a to a stadium that was full but they're not getting in right so they were just craning the next trying to look around the corner see see if they could watch what's going on well i'll tell you what you could hear what was going on um and that's part of the beauty of week one of this tournament and um yeah i i i feel a bit for alexandreva because i end up hoping that she would lose that match because i want more of that atmosphere yeah and look she's tough alexandreva

1:00:02Matt Roberts: she doesn't give you much to get your teeth into in terms of really kind of feeling for her or willing her on because she just looks so... She's a real moper. And I know what you're portraying outwardly can so often not be a reflection of what's going on inside. I really do know that. But it is tough when you're watching somebody and she's just so quick to be dejected. There were periods of this match where she'd suddenly hit her stride and, OK, she's middling the ball. She's the 11th seed against the world number 112. And you're like, right, you found it now. All you need to do is not just drop off a cliff.

1:00:47Matt Roberts: And she'd miss one and she just slumps and disappeared for several games. She's so streaky.

1:00:57David Law: Never dials it in, does she? She's still going after shots when maybe she's not in form. Yeah, and in a very kind of what certainly appears from the outside

1:01:09Matt Roberts: to be a kind of patternless way. It doesn't look like there's an awful lot of thought behind it. It's just, it looks like ball bashing.

1:01:17David Law: Yeah, she's thrashing the ball around. Yeah. And if she's having a good day, it's irresistible. If she's not, it's an unforced air of fest. It was hot out there, wasn't it?

1:01:28Matt Roberts: It was apparently, I don't know how or why, but 1573 is the hottest court at Melbourne Park. And it's one of the least sheltered as well, gets quite a lot of breeze. Like conditions are, I've commentated a few matches over there and conditions always seem to be a big topic of discussion. I've also shepherded Katerina Alexandrovich out of this tournament in round one now for three consecutive years.

1:01:56David Law: Oh, goodness me.

1:01:58Matt Roberts: to Laura Siegmund two years ago. In three hours of my life, I'm never getting back. Last year to Emma Raducanu and this year to Zeynep Sonmez. But it was a joy. I really loved it. And Sonmez is cool. I don't know how far she can go, but she's being mentored by Hans-Jabur a little bit. Well, Jabur's on maternity leave and Jabur's lent her her coach for a little while. So it'd be fun to see what she can do. and she's a real trailblazer in Turkish tennis, which is cool. Alina Svitolina, a winner today comfortably over Christina Bookcher, 6-4, 6-1. Hayley Baptiste, also a winner, not though over Marketa Vondroshova.

1:02:45Matt Roberts: Vondroshova pulled out this morning with the shoulder injury that she's been plagued by for so long. just such a bummer to get the news that Vondroshova was pulling out of the tournament that she's you know she's still struggling with this that we wouldn't be getting Baptiste against Vondroshova which was a match we'd all circle to pay close attention to today we ended up getting Townsend Baptiste which was also fun and Baptiste winning through in three sets okay that is it for Part two, but don't go anywhere, folks. Part three is a look ahead to tomorrow and crucially, our Sensation of the Day segment.

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1:04:46Matt Roberts: Welcome back to part three of today's tennis podcast, where it is, of course, the long-awaited return of sensation of the day. And today's very easy, I think. I mean...

1:04:59Catherine Whitaker: Oh, it's a slam dunk.

1:05:00Matt Roberts: Yeah, it's got to be a slam dunk, hasn't it? There was a period of about four and a half minutes where Adam Walton tried to make it a conversation. But I'm afraid one break of the Carlos Alcaraz serve does not a sensation of the day make.

1:05:15Catherine Whitaker: When you've got someone who's won a full tennis match. Exactly. You know, I think if you were putting up against winning a full tennis match versus taking a set off Carlos Alcaraz, taking two sets off Carlos Alcaraz, then we can have a conversation. but a little flurry in the middle of the second set. Sorry, Adam Walton. As well as you served and as well as you played, you're not sensation of the day.

1:05:41Matt Roberts: No, sensation of the day is Talia Gibson. She beat Anna Blinkova, and apparently she was awesome. Now, I wouldn't exactly know because there was a lot going on and I didn't think to pay huge attention to Talia Gibson, but luckily we have a correspondent.

1:06:02Catherine Whitaker: We do. Teach Trez, who is out here in Melbourne, was watching the Channel 9 coverage. Had no choice. They had Gibson on, so that's what he was watching. He said he was a bit sceptical. But ended up loving it. Described her as playing fearless tennis. And she, in her press conference, compared herself game-style-wise to the likes of Savalenka and Rabakina. Whoa! In terms of big hitting, liking to be aggressive she wasn't saying she was as good as them but that's her that's her aim you know to play a bit like them and it sounds like she absolutely did that front foot tennis against against blink of her got got a bit tight in the second set it was a very convincing lead she had got pegged back but but managed to win it uh yeah congrats on your big sensation of the day title

1:06:56David Law: You know, I saw today the radio reporter that first called an Australian player a sensation. Our guy. Today. Who was the original sensation again? John Millman. Right. Of course it was.

1:07:15Matt Roberts: I see him around too and I give him such a fond smile and he must think I'm so odd.

1:07:27Matt Roberts: it's meant with nothing but love. I promise you that. Yeah, Talia Gibson, the only Australian winner on day one. And look, it was interesting the scheduling today because she wasn't necessarily favourite to beat Anna Blinkover and none of the four Australians scheduled today really would necessarily have been expected to win. It's interesting they didn't think, right, let's get this Australian charge going strong on day one, but obviously they've got Alex de Menor tomorrow, they've got Emerson Jones, a Vogue sensation, a Vogue designated sensation.

1:08:04David Law: Would Alex de Menor be allowed to be a sensation? No, look, we've discussed this before.

1:08:09Matt Roberts: Would he have to win the Australian Open? The problem is Alex de Menor is not a sensation.

1:08:13Catherine Whitaker: No, he's not eligible.

1:08:14Matt Roberts: Because he's not ironic in any way. He's too good. He's too good. Yeah. But it's going to get to the point where he's the only... Look, cross that bridge when we come to it.

1:08:27David Law: Yeah, maybe a sensation is going to have a sensational run.

1:08:29Matt Roberts: Absolutely, that's the point. I hope so. It'll be fun. So fun. Yeah. Right, tomorrow, folks, the day two order of play has been out for ages. They released it very early, didn't they? Rod Laver Arena is opened by Coco Gough tomorrow. She ticks on Camilla Rakimova, one of the formerly Russian players, now representing Uzbekistan. Second on Rod Laver Arena, Mackenzie McDonald. Now, this isn't the name we were expecting here. It was supposed to be Matteo Berrettini taking on not sensational Alex de Minore. We had the news yesterday that Matteo Berrettini has had to withdraw. The curse continues. Just so sad for Berrettini.

1:09:16Matt Roberts: It does mean that Mackenzie McDonald comes in as a lucky loser. and it probably means a bit of a sigh of relief for Alex de Manor, quite frankly.

1:09:26David Law: Yeah, there's less threat on paper considerably against McDonald, who's a very good player, but he just doesn't carry the firepower that Berrettini does. And yeah, as sad as I am for Berrettini, I'm equally sad for myself because my fantasy team has now lost Vondrosova and Berrettini and neither one of those things could have been predicted.

1:09:51Matt Roberts: can't predict diarrhea either David the night sessions tomorrow the two night sessions on the two main courts both have the women's matches up first followed by the men's you love to see it on Rod Laver Arena it's Yuan Yui the qualifier the Chinese qualifier taking on Iga Svjantek and that is followed by Pedro Martinez of one point slam fame taking on Novak Djokovic the fourth seed and ten time champion second court tomorrow starts with daniel medvedev i wonder if he asked to be first on just to prevent getting into any kind of sort of stuck in a late night rut cycle because that happened last year didn't it his first match no two years ago his first match finished it yeah against rusevori at two o 'clock in the morning and then it was unfair to schedule him in the day session from that point onwards because it would be diminishing his recovery time so he just got stuck in this nightmare of late finishes.

1:10:53David Law: That's the one that got you, isn't it? The Roussevori match. That's the one that made Matt kick off with that rant.

1:11:00Matt Roberts: Yeah, picture of a broken sport. No, no, no. No, that was Medvedev last year.

1:11:04Catherine Whitaker: That was Medvedev last year against TN. Two years ago, there was this tournament called Wimbledon.

1:11:11Matt Roberts: It's always Medvedev. Yeah. Well, he's got Jesper de Jong tomorrow, so who knows what's coming from Matt Roberts. Following that, big day for Matt Roberts on the second court tomorrow. Simona Voltert from Switzerland is the first round opponent of Amanda Anisimova. In the night session on the second court, we open with Donna Vekic against Mira Andreva. And second on, it's Matea Bellucci. Matea Bellucci, almost said Monica, against Kasper Rude. They're booby-trapping me because they only put the initial on the order of play. M. Bellucci is a stitch-up. irresponsible yeah thank you it's embalucci against caspar rude uh the john cain arena tomorrow starts with nuno borgias against felix auger alias seam then it's jessica pegula against anastasia zakarova i think i'm going to be commentating that match the twilight she has a funky serve zakarova she does doesn't she okay now i want to watch this because i haven't seen that the night session the twilight session on john kane is yulia starved up to save uh the ukrainian qualifier taking on isla tomlianovic making a play for sensation of the day and then also making the same play alexi popperin against alexander muller last on john kane that's going to be long yes kia arena tomorrow storm hunter the qualifier taking on jessica boothas and monero She's had a great start to the season, was brilliant at the United Cup, that win over Coco Goff, of course, but she's taking on a sensation.

1:12:53Matt Roberts: Good match there. I think so. Mateo Arnaldi against Andrei Rublev, second on. Laszlo Gerrard against Stan Marenka playing his final Australian Open. That one's on the Kia Arena, which I think should be fun, atmos-wise. And then finally, Barbora Krejcikova against Deanna Schneider. 1573 tomorrow is where you'll find eminor varro jordan thompson um they haven't put him on the bar court no hang on i get these things confused it was the sitza bros that complained about the bar court and it was jordan thompson that complained about the people moving during

1:13:35Catherine Whitaker: points being too woke is that right that is exactly right as as ludicrous as that sounds that is exactly right

1:13:43Matt Roberts: yeah

1:13:48Matt Roberts: well he's second on 1573 tomorrow third on 1573 is Emerson Jones against Victoria Mboko

1:13:55Catherine Whitaker: yes please

1:13:56Matt Roberts: actually now I look through the schedule it's a huge day for sensations

1:13:59Catherine Whitaker: oh they're everywhere

1:14:01Matt Roberts: I think we're going to have to reserve quite a big segment of the show tomorrow for debate about sensation of the day I'll bear that in mind we got Kenan against Stearns on the ANZ arena. Priscilla Hon against Marina Stakusic. Alexander Vukic. Okay, it's sensation central tomorrow. Absolutely jam-packed with sensations.

1:14:27David Law: Today we were grasping around. Yeah.

1:14:29Matt Roberts: It was a soft launch today. Now I look through the schedule, it really was a soft launch today. But look, we found stuff to talk about. Elsa Giacomo, thank you very much. it has been a fun day but I am looking forward to tomorrow we have Gus, our mascot resplendent in orange today like Maria Zachary, she won the first match on the second court today, hit a round the net post winner

1:14:57David Law: oh that was an astonishing shot, sort of forehand slice, knifed with right to left bend that just clipped The sidelines, unbelievable.

1:15:09Matt Roberts: Yeah, shot of the day for sure. And Gus is channeling Zachary in that orange outfit today. So that's brilliant stuff, Gus. You're meeting the moment like any good Grand Slam mascot should. We have Bodie and Maisie and Roger, our mascots, of course. Hello to you. Hello, Bodie. Hope you're enjoying your first slam as my mascot. Hello to Greg, Chris and Jeff, our executive producers. Matt shall we have some shout outs we have Caroline

1:15:40Catherine Whitaker: from South Buckinghamshire hello Caroline who says that she loves listening but is still missing Rafa

1:15:51Matt Roberts: lots of people like we get that quite a lot don't we yeah that generation of

1:15:56David Law: players it takes a little while but people I think do bounce back and find somebody

1:16:03Matt Roberts: else to like but it's a tough absence yeah if you've been really i don't think i've ever been through something like that being so attached to a particular player just because you see we view the sport differently but i can imagine that is hard to just sort of move on and find somebody else um but it'll happen eventually caroline time heals um like caroline dollar hide yes i've got a memory of david once going quite big on caroline dollar hide really that's not i feel like you had a cameron norrie moment where you watched her hit a ball

1:16:45Catherine Whitaker: hard and thought oh i mean that that does sound possible did she beat danielle collins at the us

1:16:53Matt Roberts: open quite possibly did you watch it and think she was good and talk about that on the podcast

1:17:00David Law: i don't exactly know i've said a lot of nonsense

1:17:03Matt Roberts: i think that might have happened there you go caroline dollarhyde who's next matt chelsea giller

1:17:14Catherine Whitaker: hello chelsea hi chelsea from washington dc nice and chelsea says i got my boyfriend into tennis this year largely with the help of the podcast we went to the french open together and he made me a picture frame board with open frames for the other three majors can't wait to fill it out over the years.

1:17:34David Law: That's so cool.

1:17:36Matt Roberts: That really is cool. Oh, Chelsea, like... The football club. Chelsea's definitely had that before, though, hasn't she? Any tennis... Well, I'm going to mention Dominic Thiem, who's famously a die-hard Chelsea fan, isn't he? Inexplicably.

1:17:57Catherine Whitaker: You can't have everything, can you? Couldn't have said it better.

1:18:01Matt Roberts: Yeah. Chelsea, that's lovely.

1:18:02Catherine Whitaker: thank you very much and finally we have anna from california hello anna anna says like most listeners i love listening to the pod while i walk my dog oh thanks for keeping us company i've played tennis all my life but never been to a professional match in person where should i start

1:18:26Matt Roberts: well there's plenty of options in california to choose from so maybe start local and expand out from there? Like Anna Bondar?

1:18:36David Law: Yes. Or Anna Ivanovic.

1:18:38Matt Roberts: Anna Kalinskaya.

1:18:40David Law: Yeah, there's plenty. Anna Chakvitadzi. From the tennis world. I thought of Anna Chakvitadzi the other day.

1:18:52Why?

1:18:56David Law: Because I was asked for an Anna. A tennis Anna. And that's what came to my mind as well. OK.

1:19:03Matt Roberts: If she's...

1:19:05Catherine Whitaker: It's a pretty legitimate answer. Yeah.

1:19:07Matt Roberts: Anna. Anna, Chelsea and Caroline. Thank you very much. Caroline Dollehy did play Daniel Collins at the US Open when we thought that was Daniel Collins' final US Open. That's why I remember it. Your involvement in it is still TBC. We'll work on it. I might have made that up. Anyway, Caroline, Chelsea, Anna, thank you ever so much we consider yourselves shouted out we are part of the Athletic Podcast Network this has been day one of the Australian Open we're going to walk home now while Jib in the Philippines edits the show big day for Jib tomorrow Alexandre Ayala in action we love Jib we wish him well with the edit and we wish Alexandre Ayala well with bringing joy to Jib's life thank you for listening We will speak to you tomorrow on Day 2 of the Australian Open.

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