Aus Open Preview with Pam Shriver!

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1:08Matt Roberts: Hello and welcome to the Tennis Podcast coming to you on the eve of the first Grand Slam of the 2026 season. The press conferences are all done. The soon to be out of date predictions have all been made. All that's left is crowded house, Roger Federer and one more sleep until it all gets underway. Yes, this is our Australian Open hype show, which means, of course, we have the return of David Law. David.

1:34David Law: Yeah, I'm ready. I'm ready. That hype stuff. Not that it needs it because it looks bloody good without me anyway.

1:41Matt Roberts: And we have, of course, for a hype show, a very special guest, your friend of mine, big with dads, it's Pamela Howard-Schriver. Yes, she's back. Let's see if I can still string a sentence or two together. Thanks for having me. Big with dads, Pam, regardless of how many sentences you can string together, I reckon. Matt?

2:02Catherine Whitaker: I'm here. I haven't got a name tag on like Pam has. I'm enjoying looking at that.

2:08Matt Roberts: Pam you're bringing Shriver Resets to the masses yeah the reset I'm morphing before your eyes into a mindset performance coach which is something near and dear to my heart as you guys know the last few years and really grateful to be partnering again with Yonex a racket I played with the last 10 years of my career they make the best frame in the business and they want to support their players and any resource I can give in my 47 years of pro tennis experience I'm ready to give it whether you're trying to prevent burnout whether you're trying to manage your skills mid-match so that you can still breathe and have clarity of thought this is my I think it's my last pivot well I'd never say last but it's it's kind of a cool one I'm really enjoying it never say never again Pam that's a James Bond title never never isn't that a James Bond title that's right yeah yeah well that's a good segue done well there haven't I Matt's mindset will never be anything but positive after after yesterday still riding high matt

3:11Catherine Whitaker: i am yeah i'm not gonna lie yeah did you see my call out pam call out of sorry maybe i didn't you're not nearly online enough yeah that's good that's part of my reset not to be online enough you're practicing what you preach yeah well the pod actually it wasn't a call out for me specifically it was a call out for the pod from amanda nissimova oh of course i heard it i heard it because i listened this morning when I was working out in the gym. Of course I did. I smiled and I felt great.

3:41Matt Roberts: My brother is a big Yonex guy, big Yonex advocate. He's also a Lucanardi advocate, so I'm not sure how his credibility is, but he's always banging on about his Yonexes. Right. Today is the last day before Grand Slam Action begins for 2026. It is also, by the way, the final call for Grand Slam predictions, guest editorships and pet mascots before we close those categories down when play starts at 11am local time in Australia tomorrow. So if you want to take us on at predictions at one of the slams, edit a friend's show or make your pet a mascot, then you have very limited time to sign up via the link in the show notes.

4:24Matt Roberts: And what you also get by becoming a friend of the pod of any form is access to all of our bonus content, past, present and future. And that includes the latest freshly dropped episode of Tennis Podcast Meets, our interview series that releases every Grand Slam. And this time around, folks, we have an A-list line-up. Not that they're not always in their own way, but this time we have Grigor Dimitrov, Taylor Fritz, Jasmine Paolini, Teresa Valantova and a really special interview that the three of us did earlier today with one-point slam finalist and slayer of Nick Kyrgios and Alexander Zverev back-to-back, Joanna Garland.

5:10Matt Roberts: Pam, we love Joanna Garland. Well, when I commentated on her match of hers about nine, 12 months ago, I nicknamed her Judy Garland, Wizard of Oz. And you know what? She became almost the Wizard of Oz. Yeah, we will be following her progress so close. We're trying to get our editor, Jib, to fly to a WTA 125 event in Manila next week. Yeah, if you're listening, Jib. Yeah, we haven't told him that yet, but that's our plan, Jib.

5:36Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, go there, take her, Joanna Garland, sign.

5:39Matt Roberts: Yeah.

5:40Catherine Whitaker: Cheer hard. Yeah, oh, the way I'm going to be streaming WTA 125 over the coming months.

5:46Matt Roberts: Yeah, she's an absolute joy, folks. So that episode is up, and it is available for Friends of the Pod, and we're very proud of it, so we hope you enjoy it too. Now, today we have an order of play to go through our first grand slam order of play of the season. We have some results to talk about. Matt's trying very hard not to be distracted by Thomas Mahatch at the moment, who's a breakup in the final set of his Adelaide final, to quote Novak Djokovic against Ugo and Bear. And I think it's Novak Djokovic with whom we should start because he came into the main interview room. He's always the last one in, isn't he?

6:24Matt Roberts: Always. And usually he puts us through it. He sets a time of, you know, 1pm on Friday and ends up coming in at 5pm on Saturday. Whereas this time he cut out the hoo-ha and just said, folks, we all know it's going to be 5pm on Saturday. And there we all were, 5pm on Saturday. But I have to say, David, that was not the Novak Djokovic I was expecting. I was quite shocked by how tired and weary and resigned he seemed and sounded.

6:58David Law: Yeah, I was a bit as well. I mean, I suppose he was introduced into the room by the moderator as playing in his 21st Australian Open. And I suppose when you've been through this whole process and you've won the thing, what is it, 10 times? and you've been in all these pre-tournament press conferences, probably it does get a bit wearying and boring and you might struggle to show much enthusiasm. Not that he wasn't polite when he walked in and he gave all the questions his due care and attention, but there was just a bit of a lack of fizz about him. There wasn't much energy. He didn't look that up for it all, to be honest, and that's fine.

7:39David Law: He needs to, I guess, ultimately look up for it when he gets out on the tennis court. But I asked him in my first question about his health, given that he'd produced some good performances at Grand Slams, consistent performances last year, without breaking through against the ones that he really wants to beat. But he'd been in a constant battle with his body. He was always struggling with something. And that's no great surprise at the age of 38. And I wanted to know from him whether he'd found solutions in the off-season. You know, he'd had a couple of months without having to play tournaments.

8:11David Law: Has he figured it out? How does he feel? I just didn't get a really positive vibe from him. And he said he'd pulled out of Adelaide last week. Adelaide. Because he'd felt something. And I think an issue with the neck. And I don't get the sense that he has cracked it, if you like. He constantly talked last year about how he kept running into a wall, really, physically. and it was almost like his energy levels would deplete as he was going through a Grand Slam and by the time he really needed it against an Alcaraz or a Sinner obviously a year ago against Alcaraz he did find something incredibly special but that's a year ago, he hasn't produced anything like that since and today, I don't know, sometimes we can over-evaluate the importance of somebody looking up beat in a press conference before a tournament but I also wouldn't want to dismiss what felt like a fairly weary looking guy.

9:15Matt Roberts: Yeah, and it wasn't just sort of his tone or appearance or body language, it was all of that, but it was also things he said. You know, he was asked about the pursuit of 25 and he said 24 is a good number. He was asked a very positively framed question about being sort of the best guy at slams last year other than Alcaraz and Sinner. And the question was, what sets you and Alcaraz and Sinner apart? You know, he was, in the framing of the question, he was being put in with Alcaraz and Sinner. And it was, well, in one sense, it was a double-sided question. It was, A, what sets them apart, but also what sets you apart from, like, the rest, the Fritzes and the Mazzettis that didn't reach all four Grand Slam semifinals last year like you did and the answer to the question that the answer that he gave was all about what he's missing all about what he doesn't have that Alcaraz and Sinner has he said I don't know what everybody else is missing that's different to me but I know what I'm missing he said I'm missing a bit of juice in my legs to be honest it was a really dejected resigned answer I thought

10:35Catherine Whitaker: yeah and the whole tone of the press conference in that sense shocked me a bit because i remember his press conference at the u.s open last year when he'd gone out of that tournament and he and he'd reframed things you know it was it was like he was talking about having a slightly different purpose in tennis now he he knows the reality of how good cinema and alcaraz are and he was talking about other stuff that he can still get from this sport and then you come to the first grand slam of the year and he's talking all it all being about Sinu and Alcaraz again and how short he is from them and to go to David's point not like he's found anything extra or new in the last few months to sort of make up that gap and yeah it's almost like I've come into this tournament with a slight bit of Novak Djokovic weariness because I'm thinking, well, what is going to be new?

11:32Catherine Whitaker: And it's almost like he's got that a little bit as well. And those things that he was talking about at the end of last season just weren't really present in his press conference today. And look, obviously it comes with the caveat of this tournament has been the Novak Djokovic Open and he can find something, he can create some drama, he can make the first few days of this tournament about him and I might well end up thinking wow we've had another great Novak Djokovic moment along the way I think that is entirely possible but like at the moment I'm kind of thinking he's probably we're probably going to see what we saw at the last three majors of last year he's he's the most likely guy to come through his section and Sinner's pretty likely to beat him in three or four sets in the semi-finals and And, you know, I'm just looking for something extra, but how do you get something extra when you're 38?

12:28Catherine Whitaker: Like, it's just a very, very odd situation right now with Novak Djokovic. Can I bring up some big picture stuff from years gone by? Of course, it's 18 years ago, right? He won his first major down here beating Sangha. And I was courtside for that match for ESPN, which was kind of cool. But I also want to bring up five years ago, because that was an extraordinary trauma, what he went through. And one thing I feel like when athletes are getting ready to try and perform at their best and however the mind takes them back, revisits stuff that's gone on in their life, you know, I just want to kind of like hold true to what he went through five years ago.

13:10And not saying that that entered his mind today, but you never know when something that horrendous is what he went through. And I'm saying it was a complicated time for the sport, right, during COVID and when he was arrested and detained. And, you know, the ESPN team was back in Bristol, Connecticut, calling back-to-back Australian Opens from Connecticut, not down here. So I'm just saying, like, who knows how he is. He's had more injuries probably the first major of the year than any other major I can think of through the years. But nobody, nobody has practiced strong mindset training. and I feel if anyone can pull it together between now and when he plays his first round, it'll be Novak, and let's just see.

13:53What a gift we have to see him still in the conversation.

13:59Matt Roberts: Yeah, it's funny. When he was asked that question about what sets him apart still, to which he gave the answer, I'm missing some juice in my legs, I was expecting him to talk about mindset. And like, for me, until he retires, he will be the strongest player mentally on tour. Like, I can't imagine an athlete that is stronger mentally than him, really. And also, like, still understanding five-set tennis.

14:29Catherine Whitaker: Okay, you know, he doesn't have the juice in his legs at the latter stages against Sinu and Alcaraz, but he's still a master in the early rounds of understanding the ebbs and flows of five-set tennis. And there was also so much opportunity to talk up, you know, what a great player he still is. And the trampoline effect on his ground strokes that David talks about and the improvements on his serve. Like, he is still an incredible player and an incredible player to watch up close. And, you know, I've sounded down on Novak Djokovic there. But, you know, I agree with Pam. Like, it is still amazing that he's doing what he's doing.

15:02Catherine Whitaker: And we're privileged to be witnessing it. But, yeah, like the fact that he didn't even talk about that. And look, maybe he can't win. Maybe if he does talk himself up, people will say, oh, you're being really arrogant. But he was kind of presented with the chance.

15:20Matt Roberts: He's never talked himself down like that before. This was different. And to be honest, the whole lead-up has felt different. As you say, as soon as things kick off, he still does have a way to bend these tournaments around him and make himself the main character. And that could so easily happen. But I do think it's been notable in the build-up how much less Novak Djokovic has felt centre of attention this time around.

15:50David Law: Yeah, I think this is the first time in Australia that I can remember that since he started winning the thing. because even a year ago he arrived here with Andy Murray as his coach so he was the absolute centre of attention

16:04Matt Roberts: Is that definitely real David?

16:06David Law: It struck me actually when we were at the one point slam how a year earlier we'd been off to the first Novak Djokovic Andy Murray practice session and we'd all been trying to sit in a position that would help us best eavesdrop on their first ever conversation as a sort of pair and you know that didn't last that long but it had that incredible high of Djokovic beating Alcaraz. You can't underestimate how extraordinary that is, really. And I think Murray made me realise that again when we spoke to him a few weeks ago. But, yeah, he comes in this time. It had sort of almost passed me by that he'd actually withdrawn from that Adelaide tournament because it didn't feel that significant.

16:49David Law: I wasn't surprised, really, because he doesn't often play warm-ups now. He often is injured with something. He seems to be injured more often than not. And I imagine, Pam, that must be quite wearying for any professional athlete when you just start going into events and there's always something. You know, you're fighting your body. Yeah, it's a big stressor, right, when you're not sure of the body, especially if you're playing three out of five sets. You know, as you just reminded us, David, of what we were going through 12 months ago with Andy Murray here as coach of Djokovic, I just want to do a quick reflection and a shout back home, because obviously I just want to say to my home area of L.A., like I recognize what you guys were going through last year.

17:31I couldn't come down here. I had to cancel last minute. I just want to say thoughts to all my buddies back in L.A. who are 12 months into the rebuild and how much the Australian Open within one week of when the fires went out or when the fires started, how much support actually L.A. felt from this tournament. So I just want to kind of put 12 months ago in that perspective and say that I do think that if Djokovic had Andy Murray on his team this year, I would feel a little more trust that he could work his way through this issue that he's dealing with right now. Why is that? Well, because I feel like Murray worked through everything.

18:11Everything physically that you could feel and still get himself up as ready as he could be. yeah it's kind of interesting that he doesn't have a peer and a friend i mean i know he's he's always going to have a great professional team around him but you need the intangibles when you're trying to get every last drop out at the very very end um and and we'll see i think it's what katherine said who knows he could reset and he could surprise us and be in the middle weekend and let's fg because who knows he um he had stuff to say about the ptpa didn't he in his

18:46David Law: decision to to leave that organization yeah he wasn't sort of reserved about it the way i expected him to be in as much as if you remember the statement he put out he kind of said look i'm no longer involved with them i don't like the way they've used my name um in all their communications and basically this is the last i'm going to say on the subject um well matt futterman of the athletic asked him a question about you know what what his influence is likely to be in the tennis world in the future what it what how he would see himself and and kind of his views generally on on the p2pa how he feels about it now because i mean this is this is a an organization that he invented he created alongside vashak pospasol as he as he explained and he spoke for some time about it all and he sounded quite a little bit sad about that as well really about how that's and i'm not surprised really because you know you you you push something like that when you're getting a quite a lot of blowback you're going to get a lot of blowback from the organizations from the atp from certain of the players certain of the sneering people are in the industry i mean i think some of us in the media you know sneered a bit at the start and it and it was a bit some of it didn't look great with their photo shoot and all that sort of thing but you know he believed in it and he pushed it and got it to a point where it's now launching these lawsuits that are actually leading to like a settlement with tennis australia and suddenly djokovic is no longer part of it and has distanced himself from it all i i sort of think crikey it's a shame you didn't find a way to make make it work for yourself to still be part of this clearly it matters to you but they did some some things that he didn't agree with and he's now just

20:38Matt Roberts: throwing them aside yeah and especially sort of he's done this at a stage of his career particularly obviously more acute as time goes on that he must be thinking about legacy and he must have thought of the ptpa as something that was going to form a big part of his legacy and And that's gone. Can I say one of the great failures, I think, of professional pro tennis is not being cohesive. And how our greatest champions, whether or not they're at the end of their career, they're recently retired, like Federer down here or Serena, how they can contribute in an incredibly powerful way to the sport of tennis growing.

21:19These are things that take strategy and cohesiveness. and it's a big miss from our sport. Like Novak shouldn't have to be the one to figure this out on his own. Like he should have the support of our sport to figure it out, just like Federer should have had in the now four and a half years since he stepped down. So come on, tennis. Let's get it together so that these amazing athletes that are followed throughout the world can continue to grow our sport in a thoughtful way that makes them feel satisfied and makes their fans feel satisfied, and tennis.

21:56Matt Roberts: We also had Emma Raducanu in the main press conference room this evening talking about her forehand, talking very confusingly about her forehand, Matt, on which there has been a lot of attention.

22:11Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, I mean, watching her in the United Cup the other week, it was the first thing I noticed when I was watching her play. I was like, Amir Adekarnu's got a different swing on the forehand and a bigger swing, a bigger loop, which, you know, stood out to me. And then when I thought it through, it kind of made a bit of sense because I know that she has talked before about wanting to get a bit more shape on that shot and that kind of thing. But at the same time, I thought one of Amir Adekarnu's great strengths as a player over the years has been her ability to take the ball early, you know, and that swing looked like it could get rushed to me, particularly on a fast court.

22:54Catherine Whitaker: And maybe it's also, you know, she's trying to create some extra pace on it, so it's sort of swinging bigger and harder at the ball. The Emirato kind of forehand has probably needed a bit of work doing to it over the years. But today in the press conference, she sort of was talking about how it hasn't really happened on purpose. It's not been an intentional thing to lengthen the swing, but it is lengthened and she is feeling rushed on it.

23:22Matt Roberts: And she shares your concerns. Well, obviously, in this day and age of heavier pace, like generally a bigger take back is counter to what most of us have been feeling is right for this era. Yeah, they were, I don't know whether to be alarmed by what she was saying. I mean, it was great that she was being so open and straightforward and detailed about it. It was a great answer. It was in response to a question by Tomanie Carial, and I know they have a real relationship, and Emma really trusts him, and that's brilliant. But yeah, it was, she said, Francis, who is, that's how she refers to Francisco Roig, she basically said, we spent the entirety of the last few weeks working on my forehand in a kind of big picture way, but what we've been doing is actually disadvantageous for this Grand Slam.

24:25Matt Roberts: That was my sort of, that's my pracy of what she said.

24:31Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, this Grand Slam where the courts are quicker and she is feeling rushed on that shot.

24:38Matt Roberts: And I think she's feeling rushed kind of generally because she arrived today from Hobart where she lost a couple of days ago. She said she hadn't hit today. She was hitting, she had a practice scheduled for 9pm tonight because, of course, she's seen the schedule. She's playing day one, Sunday start, and she scheduled second match after a men's on the second court here. So she's scheduled a late practice to try and get herself in the right swing of things for that. But it's not ideal, is it? I get the impression that, you know, she's got a good draw in round one and there were periods of the match that I saw her play against Maria Sakharin at United Cup where I was very encouraged by what I saw from her.

25:27Matt Roberts: So I think she'll probably win three. but overall it was sort of not a great, didn't leave you with a great feeling about her prospects.

25:36Catherine Whitaker: No, and I mean, I must say, she didn't talk about the forehand in, like the tone of her voice wasn't, like she was really concerned about it. You know, she sort of talked about it, as you said, quite openly, quite casually, as though, you know, it's something we'll fix. But that idea of being rushed has been the theme of her start to the season, hasn't it? because she was hitting only very late before playing at the United Cup, playing points even later. I think she was also trialling a Yonex racket, actually, during the off-season and ended up going back to the Wilson for the matches because she just feels she needs a bit more time with it before actually playing matches with the Yonex or switching racket.

26:18Catherine Whitaker: But everything just seems a bit rushed, as I say. And yeah, it's not what you want coming out for the start of the new season. I guess. Feeling rushed, especially on the eve of the major, is the enemy. But this is where she can call on her past experience. And the fact that she seemed, and I wasn't in the press conference, is the way you are. The way that she seemed comfortable in communicating her concerns is actually a good sign. It means it's not overpowering her to the point where she wants to keep it a secret.

26:49Matt Roberts: Yeah, I had the same feeling, Pam. We had newly Australian Dario Kazekina in press today. her first pre-Australian open press conference as an Australian, David.

27:02David Law: Yeah, quite an extraordinary listen to this. 20 minutes she was in there talking to the media, all of whom asking the questions were Australian accents. I listened to it. I wasn't in there myself, but I listened to the audio from it. And it was quite something, really, to hear this. and to hear the kind of cultural transition that she's trying to make as well as playing under the flag. You know, she wants to understand the culture here. She wants to get to know it. And it really came through just what a hard time she's had, really, the last couple of years. I mean, she wasn't complaining. She wasn't moaning.

27:46David Law: She wasn't none of that. She wasn't feeling sorry for herself. but I got the sense from the way she was speaking that, I mean, she describes, she says, I've been trying to get out of this hole and finally I can breathe now that I'm Australian, now that I feel Australian, now that I'm playing for Australia and I'm here. And she was just absolutely bowled over by how accepted she feels by everybody here. I think the general demeanour and attitude of people that she encounters here is the complete antithesis of what she's experienced in a lot of her life, certainly in recent years to date. and yeah I think this has been a lot I mean she actually took a break from the sport last year late last year and you know she says I just love the way the locals will just say you know come on just go for it just give it a crack she said and she started saying Adelaide

28:51Matt Roberts: that'll be the real tell you're only Australian if

28:55David Law: but no it's it's it's it is one of the great things I think about this country as a sort of melting pot really is is that that you know we we've been in the company of Jelena Dokic the last few days and remember the ups and downs of her transition to becoming Australian and and it was tough at times but I think she's felt accepted in the end you know and and and Isla Tomljanovic and and so many different players over the years and you know it's it's great that Kasikina has been welcomed in like this. If I can bring up in women's tennis history a couple other examples. Hanna Monlakova actually left Czech Republic Czechoslovakia back in the time and became an Australian back in the early 80s and they really embraced her but I want to kind of go even back further.

29:46I think someone who's going to be down here for Tennis Channel is Martina Navratilova and what Kasikina's gone through is a little bit of a defection from her home country and finding the best place to resettle and I do think you can get a lot of peace from talking to somebody else who's not been through the same journey but I would tell Daria Kasikina while Navratilova's down here I don't know if Hannah's here I know her daughter has a wild card and I spoke to Ellie the other day at Kujong but there is a long list of women's tennis especially from eastern bloc countries that have resettled that I think she can find that she's not alone in what she's been through and I admire her strength and what she's going through and I wish her the best.

30:31Really powerful stuff.

30:33Matt Roberts: Okay that is it for part one. Join us in part two when we'll well we'll talk about Thomas Mahatch.

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32:55Matt Roberts: Welcome back to part two of today's tennis podcast where I was going to talk about the order of play, but seeing as Thomas Mahatch has gone and got the job done over Matt's right shoulder, we'll save the order of play for part three and we'll talk about Thomas Mahatch, Matt. 6-4, 6-7, 6-2 over Ugo Mbair to win the Adelaide title. Unfortunately, only 250 sweet, sweet points for your fantasy team. You had briefly thought you were getting 500. Is he going to win the Australian Open now, Matt?

33:31Catherine Whitaker: Absolutely not. But I told you, though, you can't write off that talent. He is so good. Like, he is unbelievably good. The things he can do on a tennis court, he is going to keep doing things like this, I think. Whether he can make that next step, and we've seen it before, where he's looked good in the first few rounds of a slam, and then he suddenly has a big opportunity, and he, you know, lays a bit of an egg. Like, I don't think, you know, we've learned anything new in that sense. Doesn't this feel like a step, though?

34:13David Law: I mean, the one thing that struck me is, yes, we see this spectacular tennis from him quite a lot without necessarily amounting to an awful lot. But he was very efficient in beating Tommy Paul and now Hugo Umbert. You know, these are good wins. They are good wins.

34:31Catherine Whitaker: I mean, he did still manage to lose the second set today. But it was a high-quality match, wasn't it? And he played really well. To me, look, it actually doesn't feel like that much of a step. This is the sort of thing I do expect him to be able to do. And, you know, he's got a tough first round here in Australia against Grigor Dimitrov. Like, having to go from this high to that first round, I think, is tricky. But, look, I love seeing him play like this because he's a showman and a talented one. and a Yonex player. Yes. If I can just kind of say... Yeah, can you help his mindset, please? Well, it's interesting, because meetings earlier today, one of my first really official days on the new job, was I asked a question, like, obviously I know U.S.

35:18tennis Yonex players, I know women throughout the world, because of my two and a half years with Donna Vekic, but I'm actually quite curious what men from countries not U.S. might hear that my experience could help, and one of the questions that Yonex brought up was, do you think you can help Thomas Mahach? And like, if he wants to be helped by someone of a different gender, different generation, different country, I think I can help him. But we'll see. I find it fascinating. And of course, Tommy Paul, also a Yonex player, so much talent, and Brad Stein's his coach. And it's going to be interesting in this new world for me is which guys are going to be willing to accept some help from a female who's been around the block.

36:04Bloomin' hope so, Pam.

36:05Catherine Whitaker: I really hope so, yeah. I'll be dropping him if he's not accepting help from Pam Shriver.

36:12David Law: Whether or not he does do jump forehands.

36:16Matt Roberts: The Adelaide women's title, which was a 500, good news for David, was won by Miran Draver. She beat Victoria Mboko 6-3, 6-1. David Mboko was three love up when I left watching this match.

36:31David Law: she only won one game from that point onwards yeah I mean there was a period in the second set where the trainer came out and I think was taking her blood pressure which kind of tells you she wasn't feeling great and I don't want to take anything away from Andreva in that assessment that observation but yeah not everything was right in Mboko's world just at that point one thing I noticed throughout the tournament is how often in fact how often this year in the first couple of weeks of the year Andreva has started slowly and either lost her first set or been a breakdown but has just played her way into a match you know sometimes I talk about how a best a three set match can feel like such a short amount of time to be able to get yourself into a match I don't ever feel like that with Andreva she always feels like she's just got time to lose a break or so forth and feel feel out a match and find a way back into it yeah I think

37:36Catherine Whitaker: the only time I've ever thought that with Andre was kind of the end of last season where it did feel like she'd hit the wall yeah and I feel like for her game she's someone who's so sort of methodical and you have to be I think sharp in your mind and calm and willing to willing to get into a match like that and I think last year after all the front-loaded success she had I think by the end of the season she was she was tired and she wasn't able to sort of engage in those matches in in quite the same way and it would it would often it would often come out with sort of quite negative sort of body language but she seems like someone who's really benefited from the off-season a reset and this is now her first title since Indian Wells and it and it just it just sets her up again as one of the absolute players to look out for albeit as we mentioned the other day she

38:30Matt Roberts: does have a tough draw at the australian open can we talk about the jacket i didn't see the jacket i want to thank myself she's got she's got uh branded bespoke clothing i don't know whether it's just a jacket but it says i want to thank myself yeah and then it says mirror do we like it as far as like with my mindset hat on I want to say I think that's a beautiful thing like to put yourself and to show a little self love I think it's awesome whether or not I would advertise it to the world I don't know I love her I want to thank myself thing I'm a big fan of that not sure how I feel about her going so corporate with it so early I think it's

39:15David Law: quite funny it was my initial reaction

39:20Matt Roberts: While we're on the subject of kit I wasn't going to go here but Yannick's in his kit The worst tennis kit you've ever seen The colours It's a hate crime

39:28Catherine Whitaker: He doesn't seem particularly keen on it either

39:30Matt Roberts: He has slagged it off and quite right too He has been stitched up It looks like someone's Taking the piss out of him quite frankly

39:38Catherine Whitaker: Well it looks like a urine sample Yeah That was more on the mustard Side of things

39:46Matt Roberts: Usually it's, you know, people can have, like, it's so horrible. Is it for the whole tournament now? Particularly horrible on him with his colouring.

39:56David Law: I don't think they could have done a worse job of putting him in a kit.

40:01Matt Roberts: It's unbelievable.

40:03David Law: If he still wins, who cares? I'm no fashion guru. I think he cares a bit. I know that looks rubbish. Those photos are, like, I mean, he doesn't want to not win just because he's wearing a shit kit.

40:15Matt Roberts: But like, you know, the more you win, the more photos of you in perpetuity out there. God, it's bad.

40:28Matt Roberts: Hobart, Elisabetta Cotciareto won the title there. A qualifier, Pam, beat Eva Jovic in the final four and four. I think you watched this. Yeah, I did. I did. I watched it pretty much from midway through the first set. We know Cotciareto has had some pretty good results the last 12 months. In fact, she was qualifying for Hobart. Surprise me. Because last time I saw her play a match was when she was thumping Pagula out on court two at Wimbledon easily. So obviously when she hits her high end, and she did today, Coach Uretta came midway through each set, just came up with unbelievable shots. Some of their rallies, if you can go on YouTube and watch it, they had some great rallies.

41:07And I was watching from my new job standpoint, because Jovic is one of the more promising young Yonex players. I think she has a great future from the US not far from my house in LA she grew up in the Palos Verdes Peninsula near where Tracy Austin grew up so I was curious about this match but Coach Uretta was just too tough and I do think Jovic finished one match at like 1am the dreaded 1am finish at Hobart

41:33Catherine Whitaker: don't get me started and so I think she was a little tired and now it's the big transition Hobart's over, how quickly can you get yourself to Melbourne, reset that have a light hit maybe on Sunday, day one, and get ready for your first round. It is a quick pivot.

41:48Matt Roberts: And the same applies to Jakub Menchik, who's won the title in Auckland, defeating Sebastian Baez 6-3, 7-6, and even more so because Auckland's that bit further. It's, what, a four-hour flight from here. That's, I mean, obviously that's a brilliant result for Menchik and for Baez, P.S. What a start to the season. The most unbelievable start to this season. I mean, he was a guy that was a punchline on hard courts not that long ago.

42:17David Law: He was a good draw on hard court, wasn't he?

42:19Matt Roberts: Yeah, everywhere other than a clay court, he was a good draw, and he's been incredible.

42:22Catherine Whitaker: Two slam finals for Baez in 2026. Although, do you remember who Baez lost to at the U.S. Open when I called somebody a piece of work? I think it was Medvedev beat Baez in fourth set on, it wasn't the sensation on Armstrong. No, that was on Armstrong. I'm just saying.

42:44David Law: Pam, just on playing the week before, I mean, back in the day, you would have been playing Eastbourne and then Wimbledon, for instance, right? Only doubles. During the key part of my career, I would play Birmingham. Yeah. Do pretty well in singles. Poor titles there. And then maybe just play doubles in Eastbourne. Martina and Chrissie, though, can I just say back in the day, they played some unbelievable Eastbourne finals the night before, but then it's like a two-hour drive. You know, if you get on an airplane, you know, when Donna got to within two points of a Wimbledon final a year and a half ago, she lost in the finals tough three-setter to Schneider in Bad Humberg, but the private jet got her from Bad Humberg to some private airfield in, you know, outside London.

43:27She got to her flat by 8.30 at night. It all depends on the transition. I know Monterey has been the week before the U.S. Open the last couple of years on the women's side. that's been a brutal transition because that's that four to five hour plane ride like Auckland is. Hours matter under this situation.

43:46David Law: But do you think, and Catherine was reading off the players there that have got these titles or been in these finals, do you think that they are on the back foot a little bit? Because obviously you've got the matches in your legs and you've got this great winning feeling and all that sort of thing. Depends on the mindset a little bit, right? Like how can you reset, rest, recover? Don't feel like you have to do anything in the first 20 hours. Just really rest. Okay, go from getting on the plane. Obviously, there's so much that goes into just getting your gear and everything from one hotel room to the next.

44:19Faf is the word you're looking for. Yeah, faf. There is a lot of faf in this transition. The more your team can help you so that you're just walking through the airport.

44:28Matt Roberts: Yeah. Team. You're my team.

44:32Catherine Whitaker: Yeah. We help sometimes, don't we? It's quite interesting. Adelaide has been a good war for the women in recent years. It's an hour flight. Right. So is Hobart. Right. But Auckland's different. Yeah. I mean, Keys last year won Adelaide, went on to win the Australian Open. Sabalenka in 2023. Barty in 2022. Like, it's been a successful transition. Is that an Andreva prediction, Matt? No. Well, Ostapenko also won Adelaide in 2024 and then lost in the third round. So it doesn't, it's not a perfect stat. So the weather is exactly similar, maybe 20 hours apart. It's the same weather. Right.

45:10Matt Roberts: Yeah, that's a very good point. Similar court speed as well. I believe Hobart's slower, quite a lot slower. That was certainly what Emre Adekarni was seeming to be saying in press earlier. It's going to be interesting to see. And we'll be back in part three to talk about our first order of play of the Grand Slam season. AI is only as powerful as the platform it's built into. That's why it's no surprise that more than 85 % of the 14500 use the ServiceNow AI platform. While other platforms duct tape tools together, ServiceNow seamlessly unifies people, data, workflows and AI, connecting every corner of your business.

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46:50Matt Roberts: Welcome back to part three of today's tennis podcast, where the time is upon us to look through an order of play. It all starts on Rod Laver Arena tomorrow at 11.30 a.m. We have some staggered start times on different courts, so bear with me here. Rod Laver Arena starts at 11.30 a.m. with the qualifier, Aleksandra Sassnovic, against seventh seed Jasmine Paolini. Matt has Paolini skin in the game. Having tennis podcast meets with

47:23Catherine Whitaker: Paolini yesterday. Yeah, we don't want to curse. do we?

47:27Matt Roberts: Exactly. And yeah, tough opening the main court on a grand slam. You know, you're the opening act, aren't you? You're a crowded house.

47:37David Law: We haven't seen much of Sasnovic in recent times, but she's a quality player. She's tricky. I think she's tricky. And having qualified makes you trickier, doesn't it? She's got an extraordinary service motion.

47:50Matt Roberts: Yes. Describe. Or just describe the face that Pam just made. Yeah, it doesn't flow. It's not fluid, is it? No. If it works for her, but not one you'd coach from an early age. No. And middle of the day, ball's going to be jumping. I'm not predicting an upset, but tricky. Second on Rod Laver Arena tomorrow, Alexander Zverev against Gabriel Diallo. David thinks that's upset watch.

48:18David Law: Yeah, I do. I mean, look, I've still got, ultimately, I've put Zverev in the quarters, But I think this is a real live danger, this first round match against a guy who's going to be looking eyeball to eyeball at him at the net for that coin toss. Find out in the newsletter whether or not you've hedged. Yeah, find out indeed. Subscribe to that newsletter if you haven't already.

48:42Matt Roberts: The night session on Rod Laver Arena tomorrow starting at 7pm is Arena Sabalenka, the two-time champion, against Sarah Rakutamanja Rajana. the French wild card.

48:56Catherine Whitaker: Can I say, you really have got that name nailed, I think. So I listened this morning to, or whenever you said the name for the first time, I just want you to know it's a great skill. Like literally, I could have practiced for three hours on that name and not been able to do that. Like the way your brain works, I just want to say, way to go, Catherine.

49:16Matt Roberts: Thank you, Pam. What are the chances that I have stumbled upon a career where that skill is actually useful? like I could be working in IT and I'd never know I had that skill anyway which makes you wonder what skills what other skills I have that I'll never know about

49:32Catherine Whitaker: I could be great at darts

49:37Catherine Whitaker: we can practice that it feels achievable to find that out

49:41Matt Roberts: I might be great at free diving never going to try

49:45Catherine Whitaker: and also when is it going to become particularly handy that you can say her name in the Burtick van der Zand School when he had his moment, you were there you were ready

49:55Matt Roberts: people were impressed, maybe it's going to be tomorrow night she's really it's not going to be tomorrow night, but she is talented I do, but she's she's got skills, she's one to watch for the future for sure also not going to be tomorrow night for Adam Walton I don't think, against Carlos Alcaraz, but he'll give it

50:13Catherine Whitaker: a good go, speaking of got skills Carlos Alcaraz

50:18Matt Roberts: yes, a sensation on the night session on Rod Laver Arena.

50:23Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, I mean, look, always happy to watch Carlos Alcres play. Going to be watching his serve.

50:29Matt Roberts: Yes, absolutely. And how similar it may or may not be to Novak Djokovic is. The second court tomorrow opens with Maria Sakharie against L 'Elia Jean-Jean, which I'd call a soft launch. I mean, they are soft launches, aren't they, the Sunday starts? Yeah.

50:48David Law: I suppose Zachary and Tsitsipas here do have a heck of a following don't they there's a large Greek community here that does come out to watch and create an atmosphere but I mean yes she has not had the best of times in the last year or so

51:05Catherine Whitaker: and that almost makes it a bit odder to me that it's got that slot rather than like John Caine where you've also got the general public getting into John Caine whereas you've got Svitolina and you've got Venus Williams on John Kane. Obviously, great that they can be seen by grounds pass holders. Like, really cool. But I just sort of would have thought that those bigger names might have opened the second court.

51:31Matt Roberts: Speaking of soft launch, second on the second court tomorrow. Francisco Sarundolo against Jung Zijen.

51:39Well, I want to see, you know, I just got to say, I want to see players like Sarundolo try and, like, raise the level a bit. I mean, we know he's got one of the best forehands in the world. I just find it really, really interesting to see who can level up at the start of a year.

51:55Matt Roberts: Pam's going to be there. Second on the second court, Pam. That's the place to be. The night session on the second court tomorrow starts with one of the picks on the men's side for round one. Alexander Bublik against Jensen Brooksby. Would we call that upset watch? I think a better one. Yeah, I think Brooksby, I saw him down here a few years ago before his suspension. and man, he was tough. On court three, I watched him play. I was waiting to interview him if he won and he did. Bublik, you know, he's got a little pressure on him now. We'll see. I think that is one of the watch matches. What it's probably going to be or has a good chance to be is a long match with a women's match to follow it.

52:38Matt Roberts: And Emerita Kahn, she didn't go nuclear on it, but she made it clear that that's really tough

52:44David Law: to be scheduled there.

52:46Matt Roberts: and it occurred to me as I was hearing that answer from Emma Raducanu that that is a situation, that is an example where an attempted equality actually ends up in active inequality because there is the semblance of equality with always a men's match and always a women's match in the night session. It means that men can never play second after a men's match. That scenario never happens to men and it happens repeatedly to women. And, yeah, it's just things that don't occur. I mean, look, it didn't occur to me to today, but I'm not in charge of making schedules and I wish this stuff was, you know, just saying, boom, yeah, two men, two women, hashtag equality.

53:35Matt Roberts: It's not as simple as that. No, it's not as simple. But if you are going to play second match on at night after a men's, I'd like to do it on the Sunday where I think you have an extra day, right? Yes. But then Raducanu's arrived from Hobart, so actually I think she would have preferred not to be on the Sunday. Yeah, no, I get it. I get it. Yeah. Nothing's ever perfect, isn't it? Raducanu's opponent, incidentally, Mananchaya Sawankiao. That's pretty good, too. I don't know if that, I'm not absolutely confident I've nailed that, but that's my best attempt for now, and I will try and seek confirmation that I'm vaguely in the right ballpark there.

54:13Matt Roberts: Okay, moving on to the John Kane Arena. A real connoisseur's pick, I think, first up there at 11am. Arthur Ferry, the British qualifier, very stylish player, up against Flavio Caballi.

54:27David Law: Yeah, that's a nice ball strikers match between two guys who can really move as well. I mean, look, obviously Caballi is head and shoulders above in terms of level. as a guy who's just done so much more with his career to this point. But Arthur Ferry's somebody who's stood out to us for a couple of years because when you see him, when the ball comes off his racket, it's got that trampoline effect that Matt was talking about earlier. He punches bigger than his size and rocks players back on their heels with how sweet his ball strike is. but sometimes you then see a player transition up against a guy who's top 20 or so and you suddenly realize what the difference is so it'll be fascinating to see whether whether he whether having had three qualifying matches coming in with some form caballi's got a bit of pressure

55:23Matt Roberts: whether he can actually make that close or not yeah i'm into that match second on john kane tomorrow elena svitalina against christina bookshire third on it's the sort of twilight session it's a not before 5pm for Francis Tiafoe against Jason Kubler or Kublev was it a driver we had here

55:44Catherine Whitaker: a couple of years ago I was talking about what a good time he had watching Kublev

55:48Matt Roberts: and last on John Kane tomorrow Olga Danilovic against Venus Williams was asked about Olga Danilovic in her press conference today the question was do you know anything about your opponent, Olga Danilovic? And the press conference reads, the answer reads, pause, very talented. Love to see young women doing positive things. That's it. I just want to say, I remember being on Venus Williams' match with Serena here in the second round in 1998. Wow. 1998. And we're talking about her in 2026.

56:29David Law: 28 years ago. Yeah. Incredible. Crazy.

56:32Matt Roberts: Kia Arena. There's some sensations happening. We've got Talia Gibson, the wildcard against Anna Blinkova. Tristan Schulhatay. One day I'm going to have to say his name in a more professional setting and I'm going to say Schulhatay.

56:49David Law: Skullcate.

56:51Matt Roberts: Tristan Skullcate against Korentan Mute, the 32nd seed. We have a not before 3.30 for the third match on Kia Arena and that's Michael Zheng against Sebastian Korda. And the final match on KIA Arena is Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova against Bai Zhu Zuan of China. The 1573 Arena tomorrow or Sunday, depending on when you're listening to this, is where you will find Mir Mir Ketsamanovic against Thomas Martina Cheveri, Katerina Alexandrova against the Turkish player Zeynep Sonmez, Benjamin Bonzi, not against Daniel Medvedev, but instead against Cameron Norrie. However, are we supposed to know how good Daniel Medvedev is at the moment until he plays Benjamin Bonzi?

57:40Catherine Whitaker: And in fact, Norrie was also a winner over Daniel Medvedev in the first round of a major last year.

57:48Matt Roberts: Yes, very good.

57:49Catherine Whitaker: This is the two people who beat Medvedev in the first round of slams last year facing off.

57:54Matt Roberts: The ANZ Arena tomorrow, which is what they've renamed Court 3, it's gone corporate, Pam. I'm sad about this. and they've they've ruined the outside of it it used to have the lovely graffiti on it and I get I get it the sponsor wants it to be all in sponsor colours but

58:09Catherine Whitaker: oh it's lost so much character capitalism is bad

58:12Matt Roberts: isn't it yeah well we can always go to the bar court yeah yeah court six is where it's at the ANZ arena tomorrow is Jania Stremska against Elena Gabriella Rusa Elsa Giacomo against Marta Kostiuk uh Kua Ugo Carabelli what is the C Camilo Ugo Carabelli, that's the Badger, against Marton Fucevic. Patrick Kipson against Francisco Comissana. And Polina Kudomitova against, oh my, haven't practiced this one, bear with me, Guilmar Maristani Zuelta de Reales. Matt?

58:54Catherine Whitaker: Why are you coming to me? Is she Spanish?

58:56Matt Roberts: She's Spanish, yeah. Did it not sound Spanish? Well, that's last on court seven. I mean, maybe I have like, it doesn't matter. Oh, okay, sorry. Sorry, I don't want to correct. Folks, Pam is absolutely right. I'm going to have to say that name again now, and it's entirely my own doing. Fuchovic against Karabelli is indeed on the ANZ arena. That is followed by Susan Lamans against Anna Potopova. Then on court six, we've got Putin Saver Hadaj Maya.

59:29Catherine Whitaker: Hang on, so they've put Putin Saver on the bar court?

59:31Matt Roberts: Yes.

59:32Catherine Whitaker: Good work.

59:33Matt Roberts: But first up at 11 a.m., so one for the diehards. You need a couple of drinks. Emilio Nava against another Jacquet.

59:43Catherine Whitaker: Kirian.

59:44Matt Roberts: Kirian Jacquet. Isn't there a female Jacquet?

59:47Catherine Whitaker: There's a Chloe Pacquet.

59:49Matt Roberts: Oh, I'm getting Jacamo and Pacquet. I've done a thing there.

59:54Catherine Whitaker: You've done a sort of answer smash.

59:56Matt Roberts: Yeah. OK, no, this is a new person altogether. It is Karl, Kirian, Kirian Jacquet. Never heard of him. He's a wild card. He's got the reciprocal wild card. That's why I haven't heard of him. I refuse to acknowledge that. Yannick Hanfman against Zachary Schweider, the qualifier from the US, is last on court six. And now we get to court seven, as Pam rightly points out, which is where we find Patrick Kipson against Francisco Comissania and Polina Kudamitova, who now represents Uzbekistan, against Jomar Maristani's Vuelta de Reales. Wow. That's well done. Do we keep going? Do we keep going on this interview?

1:00:38Matt Roberts: We're almost there now. We have four more matches. Shall I be a completist about this? Yes. Okay. Let me do the first one on court eight. Katie McNally. Okay, you go ahead. Do you not want to do who Katie McNally's playing? Yeah. Humeno Katsume. Sakatsume. Yeah, let's... I've been practicing Jumer, who, of course, is... He's rough. Second on court eight. Yeah, second on court eight against... I like first on court 13. Me too. Pam, you're getting ahead of yourself. Liam Draxel from Canada is the opponent of Demir Jumher. And then, finally, court 13. This starts at 2 p.m. Hayley Baptiste against Marketa von Drosheva.

1:01:18Matt Roberts: Court 13. That's a connoisseur's pick, isn't it? and Jaime Faria the Portuguese qualifier this is the last match on court 13 against Alexander Blocks who's got in as a lucky loser

1:01:31Catherine Whitaker: having retired in the final round of qualifying

1:01:34Matt Roberts: doesn't bode brilliantly that does it

1:01:36Catherine Whitaker: it never feels great to me

1:01:37Matt Roberts: no

1:01:39Catherine Whitaker: although he is in my fantasy team so I'm thrilled he's in the main draw

1:01:43Matt Roberts: that's your day one any upsets Pam? of course there's going to be upsets but which? Do you think Zverev could face a challenge? I think Brooksby could upset Boblick. Right. Yeah. You know, it's always hard. It's always for sure hard to know. I really want to know how Venus Williams is going to play against Danilovic because, to be honest, to see a Venus Williams-Cocoa golf second-round match at a major six years after a Cocoa beater at Wimbledon would be unreal. I think that's a decent draw for Venus because Danilovic is a shot maker. I think the nightmare for Venus would be somebody that would just extend their alleys and make her run.

1:02:26Matt Roberts: That's not Danilovic at all.

1:02:29Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, she's played a lot of good tennis, Venus Williams, in these past six months. Often not quite able to get over the line, but she's had good sets and good moments. I do think it's possible that she can win that for sure. And it's a mindset challenge, right? To play against someone who's in their mid-40s and you're in your 20s and you think macho-wise it's me.

1:02:52Matt Roberts: It's like the pros playing the ams in the one-point slam, isn't it? Exactly. Okay, I can't wait. We're ready for it to get going now, aren't we?

1:03:00Catherine Whitaker: Oh, hell yeah.

1:03:01Matt Roberts: Yeah. That was this morning.

1:03:03Catherine Whitaker: Yeah. It's been such a big build-up. Yes. So many exhibitions. They're all great. But let's get going.

1:03:12Matt Roberts: Pam, can I introduce you to Gus? our Australian Open mascot. This is Gus. She's the one on the right having a kiss with this other lovely Labrador. Oh, Pam, hello, Beau. Yep, Beau got groomed today, but this is all about Gus. I'm now distracted by my boyfriend, Beau. I know, we got a lot of dogs, but Beau's a freebie. I got to get Beau sponsored. I got to get him a slot. Today is Gus's birthday, Pam. An update from Renee. She says when we introduced her as the Australian Open mascot a couple of days ago, she was eight. But today she's very excited to report that she's officially turned nine. That's Bo's age.

1:03:54Matt Roberts: Oh, what a great age. What a vintage. 63. That's my age. Gus is spending her birthday exactly where she's happiest, in the snowy vineyard of Hudson Valley in upstate New York, eating snacks and celebrating with her younger brother, Tumble. Oh, my gosh. She's doing a nose bump with her brother, Pam. Oh. She's even been gifted a squeaky tennis ball, which she will certainly destroy within seconds. Happy birthday, Gus. Hello to our mascots, of course. Hello, Bodie. Hello, Maisie. Hello, Roger. Matt, let's have some shout-outs.

1:04:29Catherine Whitaker: We have Chris Wiley from Cambridge. Hi, Chris. Hello, Chris. Chris says that for the first time, we've been successful in the Wimbledon ballot with tickets for Centre Court on the middle Sunday. Yes, Chris.

1:04:44Matt Roberts: That's awesome.

1:04:45Catherine Whitaker: You're going to love it.

1:04:46Matt Roberts: Chris like Chris Wilkinson.

1:04:49David Law: Wow. There's a late 90s British player reference. Chris Evert. Chris O 'Neill. The last one before Barty to win on the female side. Chris Bailey. An early 90s British player reference. Chris Guccione. Chris Lewis. Oh, very good. He's come up with a sensation. Yeah, Chris Lewis. One of the runner-up from 1983.

1:05:12Matt Roberts: Chris, there's something for everybody in that selection I'm sure you'll agree

1:05:16David Law: Christine Truman

1:05:17Matt Roberts: Chris, have a great Wimbledon I'm thrilled for you

1:05:21Catherine Whitaker: We've also got Moshi from Tel Aviv Hello Moshi

1:05:26Matt Roberts: I think we know Moshi maybe

1:05:28Catherine Whitaker: Yes, Moshi's a long time listener and says I want to dedicate this shout out to my dear dad which means lion in Hebrew

1:05:37Matt Roberts: Love that

1:05:38Catherine Whitaker: My dad decided I would go to tennis lessons when I was six years old without asking me. At first I hated it, but slowly I fell in love with it. You know, and Israel has one of the best player development programs through the last few decades. It's amazing. And just thoughts go out as I return to Australia for what the Jewish population went through a few weeks ago at Bandai Beach. So happy that he sponsored this. This is awesome. Get on, you Moshi. And Moshi says, don't bother to find tennis moshies, but my brothers call me Mo so we can mention Michael Mo and little Mo very good thank you Moshi and finally we have Alan Chalmers oh Alan get out of here

1:06:25David Law: Alan Chalmers who run the tennis history bookshop absolutely

1:06:33Catherine Whitaker: tennis historian he describes himself as you love those Matt

1:06:38Matt Roberts: I mean, we all love those, but... Fantastic. Yeah. Oh, that's really special. Thank you, Alan. Thank you, Alan. Thank you, Moshi. Thank you, Chris. Thank you to our executive producers, Greg, Chris and Jeff. We are, of course, part of the Athletic Podcast Network. We will be back tomorrow with our day one Australian Open podcast, the first, of course, of 15, which is pretty standard now at Grand Slams. So thank you for listening. Do join us then. We do want to end this episode, though, with an important tribute, David.

1:07:10David Law: Yes, we want to pay tribute to John Roberts, or JR as we knew him, who was the tennis correspondent to the independent newspaper in the UK for nearly 20 years between 1990 and his retirement in 2010. He sadly passed away in the last few days and is somebody that left a huge impression on everybody he met, including his readers as well. He worked for The Independent for all those years, but also wrote for The Daily Express, The Guardian and The Daily Mail. He ghost-wrote books and columns for the great Liverpool football manager Bill Shankly, Kevin Keegan and George Best. And if you follow your football in the UK, those names will need no further elaboration.

1:07:55David Law: But in tennis, well, we have an association that represents journalists who travel the world covering the sport called the International Tennis Writers Association. and Catherine Matt and myself are all members. And over the last couple of days, our email inboxes have been alive with tributes to John from journalists all over the world. And I'll just give you a very quick smattering of those. Richard Evans, a veteran fellow writer from the UK, said it was a privilege to work with a colleague as good, as decent and amusing and dedicated to his craft as JR. He wrote with fairness and lucidity and even managed to keep a Man United bias out of his football reporting, which he covered as well as he did tennis.

1:08:32David Law: Peter Bodo in the US said John did not chase fads and never did anything just to draw attention to himself except by producing clean, well-executed stories that got things right. And Linda Pearce, formerly of the age in Melbourne, said she will never forget how kind and welcoming John Roberts was to me as a young female tennis writer at a time when there weren't too many of us. Personally, I knew John for over a decade. I echo all of those words. If John was in the media room, everybody else in there was in a better mood as a result. He was a lovely man and he'll be much missed.

1:09:07Matt Roberts: Yeah, lovely words, David. Very well said. Pam, thank you for your time today. It's wonderful to have you back in Melbourne. Nice to be back. Can't wait. Missed last year. Can't wait to be here this year. Love it. See you on the bar court and see you tomorrow at the end of day one.

1:09:32David Law: Where's your playlist taking you?

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