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Hi, this is Billie Jean King. This is Marion Bartotti. This is Bianca Andreescu. I'm Mats Villander. This is Mary Carrillo. This is Pam Schreiber. This is Yannick Noah, and you're listening to The Tennis Podcast. Well, hello and welcome to Tennis Podcast Towers Melbourne and our Australian Open 2025. preview show hello in particular well not in particular but you know a very live hello to everybody that is joining us live on youtube right now and is seeing
the slightly odd bit of artwork behind Matt Roberts' head that you may or may not be finding distracting over the course of the next hour. Hello to Hannah who is shepherding the chat and I'm sure doing some... very amusing commentary on said artwork um brings out the color of your eyes matt thank you and the owner of the airbnb clearly likes it because there's another one over there which isn't in shot but identical yeah intrusive blue
pansy like flowers all over the apartment but as you can see the the selling point was the enormous corner sofa uh that we are currently sitting on yeah if you happen to be sort of um aware of what Sebastian Corder was wearing for his final in Adelaide, shirt-wise. The artwork's a little bit like that.
Yeah, and we're very aware because Sebastian Corder for his final in Adelaide is currently on the absolutely enormous telly right in front of us. We're tennis podcasters. We should be keeping an eye on the live tennis, although I actually can't.
see Sebastian Corder right now because cameraman Matthew has just walked right in front of him if you if you hear occasional uh laughter or the sound of snoring that is uh cameraman matthew diligently doing his job he's had a big day today i mean he's he's done he's done two hours of paddle and he's hot footed it here so he's allowed to snore a bit yep The time of this live show was scheduled around cameraman Matthew losing at Paddle.
We are very pleased to be here, folks. We are now about 14 and a half hours away from the start of the 2025 Grand Slam tennis season. What are we going to talk about today? about the pre-tournament... the players that came through the main press conference room today that we didn't get a chance to speak to yesterday. Headliners there are Carlos Alcaraz and Elena Rabatkinner we spoke to as well. Matt had an intimate situation with Mira Andre.
I regretted that sentence as soon as I started delivering it. But we're live and it's uneditable. I had a normal chat with Mira Andreva. What I meant to say was there weren't many people in the room and Matt got... Chance to really chat to Mirandreva. Nailed it. Thank you. Yeah, so we'll be talking about that. We'll be talking about the results.
that have happened in the last remaining lead-up events. We've had Hobart, we've had Auckland, we've had Adelaide, the final of which is happening on the absolutely enormous telly right in front of us right now, the men's final rather. We've already had the women's. final we are going to look ahead to tomorrow's
Order of play. Talk about that for a moment, David, while I cough. Yes, tomorrow's order of play, which starts at 11 o'clock on the non-Rodlaver Arena alone, is that right? And then it gets to midday from Rodlaver Arena? 11.30. Close. So I took over the presenting of the podcast for a second or two, like the old days, and I messed it up. Okay. It's all right, David. I'm back in the game. We will talk about The Order of Clay, which don't worry, when we come to it, I do have the official...
order of play right in front of me here and the other thing we're going to be doing is taking a few of your questions about the Australian Open about the draw about the order of play anything you like so pop your questions in the chat when it comes to it later on in the show I'm keeping an eye on the chat and I'll try and answer as many of them as possible. Really please check in on the chat to see that people are finding my choking funny. Okay.
Just before we start getting into it, a word from our sponsor, because the tennis podcast during this Australian Open is brought to you by Steve Fergal's International Tennis Tours. They are, have we been practicing? I'll need you to have been practicing. your gateway to premium tennis events worldwide your gateway to premium tennis events worldwide
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Priority access before they are live to the public. So toursfortennis.com forward slash podcast. Now let's talk about tennis. Sorry, just briefly distracted by Felix Auger-Liasim, who I think... We're going to have to have some takes on a little bit later because it looks like he's going to win this Adelaide final. He is currently 6-3, 2-3 in the second set against Sebastian Korda. But let's talk about Carlos.
He was first into the press conference room today. And much like Irina Sabalenka yesterday, loving life, Matt. Just, it's great to be Carlos Alcaraz. It's looked great to be Carlos Alcarez for a long time, hasn't it? And, you know, that's fair enough, really, isn't it? Like, he's so good at what he does. I do think that there is a bit of a difference, though, with him compared to Yannick Sinner, compared to Irina Sabalenka, in that he...
He's kind of still a work in progress. And in particular, he's a very big work in progress right now with his serve. That was a big... big talking point during this press conference. We've all noticed that he's got a new service motion for this season. He's been working on it during the very, very short off-season. And he was really quite interesting about...
what's changed and why it's changed. And he spoke about this in English and in Spanish. He talked about wanting to get more rhythm into his service motion. It used to be quite stop-start, and he thinks that if it can be... bit more rhythmical that can help him with you know a higher first serve percentage more precision uh to do that he says he's more relaxed in his wrist It's a lot of changes. There's a lot going on. I know top players do make tweaks over the course of their career.
For Tennis Relived, we go back and watch old footage of current players and you're struck by how different their game looks. You watched some of Djokovic's first Australian Open match against Marit Safin as a 17-year-old for our latest edition of Tennis Relived, and he looked a completely different player. But... For one sweeping change in one very short off-season, this is big. It is, and I think...
The only little bit of concern about it that I have for this tournament, having not seen it in action yet in a match situation, the slight concern that I have is that it's in his head. which reminded me a little bit of the build-up to the French Open last year where, you know... He was in his head about whether to hit out on his forehand or not. And he ended up winning the French Open. So maybe we shouldn't be too concerned. He's shown that he can...
you know, win a major title while still having something lodged in his brain. But he never played anything close to his best tennis at the French Open last year. It was different because it was injury-related. I think there was some caution there because he was worried about provoking a bit of pain, perhaps. This is a technical change. I don't think he's made a technical change because of...
It's to try and make the serve better. But it is in his head. And I think a free Carlos Alcaraz is kind of what you want out there. You don't want him inhibited by something. He's also added a bit of weight to his racket. He's added five grams to it, which he didn't really go into detail about why he's done that. But he did talk about the fact that, you know, he's really tested it with the elbow and the arm and it's not causing him any issues. So he's confident that that's the...
That's a good change. But yeah, it's coming into the season without any actual matches under his belt with these changes. So he's going to have to trial them in real time in the first few rounds of the Australian Open. He can probably do that. But it does, to me, make him a little bit different to Sinner, who we know is just a dead cert with his game. And Sabalenka as well. Alcaraz is obviously... like a similar favorite to those but also working through these these new elements to his game
Al Karaz has added weight to his racket, but removed weight from his hair, so it all balances out, says Hannah. That's the same gag that Matt Futterman made. Is it? Yeah, two great minds. He was asked a lot about... Juan Carlos Ferreira from a number of different angles today. Carlos Alcaraz, wasn't he? Partly because Juan Carlos Ferreira wasn't here this time.
last year and that was a big topic of conversation and partly from the angle of this new situation that the Australian Open are trialling this year of having coaches on court. physically on the court. Now, I learned a little bit more about this today. It's going to be on the top three show courts and it is not mandatory. for the coaches but it is heavily encouraged and the understanding is that most if not all top players coaches will will agree to do it
I wonder if that actually will be the case in practice. But we'll see. It's interesting that the pushback, I get the sense that the pushback isn't what you'd think. You might expect the pushback to be that it's intrusive or that they don't want their conversations between coach and player to be. as audible as they're going to I think end up being on the broadcast the pushback is actually about it being potentially not a great place to view the matches from and therefore you know make
have takes and give tactical input to your player. And that's what Alcaraz said. He said, Juan Carlos, it's good for me to have Juan Carlos close to me like that so I can have conversations with him, but it's not that great for him. in terms of how he sees the match. And, you know, he's not actually the only person we've heard that from, coach-wise. And that will be interesting to see.
whether there is any pushback after the matches once they've actually experienced this. I mean, they are used to it, a lot of them, from the United Cup because a lot of coaches are sitting in the corner like that. And I think... I think it'll be probably quite a quick process of getting used to this new setting, new scenario. People do not like change initially. They are averse to it. It feels a little awkward, a bit weird.
People very quickly just get used to it and that becomes the norm. I really like it. I really like the... the ambition of it from the Australian Open, to just go ahead and do it, to just go and make this happen. I get the sense there's been no consulting with the tours or the players as such. Maybe there has, but...
I get the feeling that they've just decided they think it's a really good idea and you guys are going to have to get used to it. You don't have to do it, but this is something we believe in. A bit like the... the fans that can just walk straight in and not have to wait for three games to go by. So can't wait for Jordan Thompson's reaction. Confirmed, by the way, there is an extra bar court. Right.
So Jordan Thompson's reaction isn't influencing anything. In fact, they're going against his reactions. In fact, they've probably thought, Jordan Thompson doesn't like it, let's do it. He's their number two? Australian number two? Be him and Popperin would be close, right? I believe there are three seeded Australian men. That's a grand slam for the first time since... Oh, I read this in the media notes earlier. I want to say Wimbledon 2000. And that would be Popper and Dimonor and Tomo. Okay.
You know how to keep an Aussie audience happy, Matt. I learnt my lesson during the first five minutes of the live show the other night where I upset them. I can't remember what I said, but for the rest of the show, I was predicting Popper to win the Australian Open. just to keep them happy. We actually asked permission whether we were allowed to use the term sensations and we actually got a very positive response to that. There are people out there that don't like...
us calling Australian sensations, but we didn't coin it anyway. There was one other little line from the Alquaz press conference, which I enjoy. In fact, it was the first line. A lot of players were asked today, what shot they would take from a... from a tennis player throughout history, past or present. And I was just thinking, is it possible for David to like Carlos Alcaraz more than he already does? And then Alcaraz chooses the Andre Agassi return.
I did. I almost wanted to go, yes, Carlos! Because David is the guy who always, you know, when everyone is waxing, very rightly waxing lyrical about Novak Djokovic's return and calling it the best ever, David's always like... It probably is, but don't forget Agassi. You're always like... I didn't say it probably is. I said it isn't because it's Andre Agassi. And the fact of the matter is...
I'm sure, I don't doubt the quality of Djokovic's return, but it has never been tested against... a serve and volleyer relentlessly coming in in a team at Wimbledon as Andre Agassi the fact that Agassi you started this I'm going to finish it the fact that in 1992 I was trying to be nice to you David Andre Andre Agassi. No, I mean the thread. Now we're going to go on for a while. The fact that in 1992, Andre Agassi faced Boris Becker, Goran Ivanovic, John McEnroe on grass at a time when...
Nobody stayed at the back. Nobody. And he beat them all with his return of serve. I mean, maybe Novak Djokovic could have done that if you put him in a time machine and sent him back. Go back and watch the guy. Go back and watch his hand-eye coordination and the speed with which he's reacting and actually being aggressive. That's the thing. He's not just getting it back and getting it deep. He's actually hurting people of their best shot.
And I think Carlos Alcaraz is absolutely right. I was really surprised you picked that because I... Don't think of him as an Andreva type going back and watching matches from before he was born. And let's face it. So Carlos Alcaraz is 21 on the spot maths on a live show. What am I doing? But so he.
was born in 2003 i think yeah so really he doesn't have any live that's youtube that's youtube that he's he knows about agassi's returns from and I'm I'm pleased he's watching Agassi returns on YouTube do you know the funny thing is generationally if when people were saying it about Andre Agassi commentators of the day would say, well, I mean, what about Jimmy Connors?
And that's the thing. Generationally, there will be somebody. And the truth is, I think the tasks that they face are slightly different. I don't necessarily think Agassi's return would be anywhere near as effective now. as it was then, because people are staying at the back. He can't hurt serve and volleyers. People didn't want to serve and volley against him because he would hurt them so much. Whereas Djokovic has perfected his return for a baseline game.
Yeah, I do wish we had the access to time machines that I so want, but we don't. Just retrospectively putting detour to the 90s in the agenda. For today's show. For all future podcasts. Yeah, for all future podcasts. Section two, the 90s. Jack Draper was in press. Predominantly British press, but I think there was some international interest as well. And that's kind of a shift, really, for Draper, isn't it? You know, he's now a semi-finalist at the last...
Grand Slam and I think the biggest source of interest was around his injury he's done this objectively slightly odd thing of pulling out of events either side of the Australian Open um he pulled out the United Cup and he's pre-pulled out of the Davis Cup tie, the GB Davis Cup tie, after the Australian Open, but said, I'll be playing the Australian Open. So it's like, well. No idea what to make of that, but it sounds, David, like he's fit. Yeah, it certainly... It doesn't sound like he's...
Not going to play anyway. I mean, he did use the word 100% fit as if he wouldn't have played if he wasn't. But I... I have to say, when I saw his name come up as him coming to the interview room, I hadn't really thought he was necessarily going to be a big main room interview, and I thought, oh. Is this a pullout? David, Jacob Fernley was in the main room today.
I think you're overestimating how high the bar is. I suppose he's playing Kyrgios, so there would have been a lot of local interest in him. But I take your point. Most of the players came in yesterday, didn't they? So I think that they were probably picking more players. to go in the main interview room. But yeah, Jack Draper. And there is still a pretty big British following of journalists in Australia. And there's quite a few British players this time. So...
I've got to say, I don't have huge hopes for Draper of having a major run here. We were talking, I think one of the questions late on last year was, who's going to have the better year out of him and Artifice? Draper was having some decent results. And I came out on the side of feet, not just because I'm his big fan, but because I don't think he gets injured as much. I don't trust that...
Draper doesn't have these sort of breakdowns physically and I hope that that's wrong I think everyone was a little bit you know kind of taken aback by the fact that he pulled out of those events, as you said, either side of the Australian Open. It's a slightly odd move. Having read his transcript today, I think my take on it is that he feels like he's missed out.
on the off season to build strength and to do all the things that you want to do to build up your fitness during the off season because he was injured. Now he's fit again. but he needs some time to do the work that he should have been doing in the off-season. And I think he's probably regrettably decided that that means that the Davis Cup has to go, just to give him a chunk of time.
to sort of make up for lost time, I suppose, if that makes sense. Like, I think we probably should be a little bit just... wary that he's probably not going to have his best tournament here because you know okay he's he's talking in terms of being fit but he hasn't got the matches in um
So it feels hard to believe that he's 100% ready. I think he's fit enough to play, but he needs some time after the Australian Open to build himself back up, which is what he was planning to do during the off-season, but he couldn't because he was injured, if that makes sense. Yeah, total sense. Absolutely. Elena Rebecca came in to press today. Sixth seed here. There were some questions about...
her form and her fitness and how she performed at the United Cup, which was really, really well. But there were... a lot of questions about her recent Instagram post announcing that her former coach Stefano Vukov, with whom she split prior to the... US Open last year announcing that he would be returning to the team in some capacity. We don't exactly know. And as reported in The Athletic. Her new coach, Goran Ivanovic, being very blindsided by this news and also the news that...
As long suspected, Stefano Vukov is under investigation and has been provisionally suspended by the WTA from being a coach on the WTA Tour. being accredited at uh at tour events so you know understandably that was a big topic of conversation and she didn't shut it down altogether like she sometimes has done with with areas of discussion that she...
She doesn't feel comfortable with. I mean, certainly she is not trusting of the media, Elena Rabakina. But she also was very clearly deeply uncomfortable with going there.
at all um she was looking over at the moderator all the time kind of equally for reassurance and it was just sort of a hopeful look that she might shut it down i thought it was a very well moderated question press conference because all the questions i felt were were completely valid and unnecessary but i'm not sure it provided an awful lot of clarity about about what this situation is. I mean, she...
repeated in a bit more detail what she said in Sydney at the United Cup, which is, I've never reported Stefano. He has never mistreated me. I'm happy he's back on the team. That's that. She was asked what capacity he's back on the team in, whether it's specifically a coaching capacity. And she wasn't particularly drawn on that. She made it clear she's not happy with what... people in the game have to say about the situation.
She did name Pam Shriver in that press conference as somebody who has been outspoken about how she feels about the situation as she sees it. And I don't know. I don't feel any differently now than I did before that press conference. But I also don't feel... I mean, there's still a part of me that thinks she could win the thing because she's that good a tennis player. But I... I lean more on the side of she's very vulnerable. Yeah, I share that view. I don't trust in everything I'm hearing there.
And that's based on various conversations you have and things you hear. And I don't think we've heard the last of this at all. I think over the next few weeks, well, we're waiting to see what the WTA actually does, aren't we? And whether they say anything, whether they reveal the... decision and the reasons for it, etc. But this isn't over, I don't think.
And it just all still feels deeply uncomfortable. A grand slam is about to start. She's going into it. And we don't have any resolution from this at all. And look, it's that tension between she's an adult woman.
in some ways a position of power. She's very rich. These people are under her employ to... you know in in one respect and you know is it infantilizing to suggest that that she is not the best person to determine the nature of the the situation she's in but equally There are plenty of examples of players, people, lots of different people in lots of different circumstances.
Pam Shriver being the most obvious one, whose story we know very well. And I would urge you to listen to Pam Shriver, listen, read, seek out Pam's story that she's so bravely told. Prominent example of somebody that did not recognise the nature of the situation she was in until very long after the fact. And P.S. We're still thinking of you, Pam. over in LA and everybody in LA just now. Moving on, Matt, to your... Normal chat. Your really normal chat with Miran Draver.
Tell us everything. Yes. It was in... Maybe this is boring media chat, but it was in media room two, which... I think is much, much smaller than it used to be. And that is a bit of a theme that we've picked up here in our first few days at Melbourne Park. The media areas are much smaller than they have been in the past few years.
And I think that's why some players are being brought to the main interview room that wouldn't normally be, because there isn't actually a sort of medium-sized room. There's a very big room, and then there's lots of quite small rooms. I used to like... Room 2 a lot. That was where Maxime Cressy told us he wanted to be world number one. Yeah. They should put a plaque up for that. Last time I looked at his ranking, which was...
I don't think he was even in quality, was he? Maybe a couple of months ago. He was well outside the world's top 200. Oof. Yeah. I mean, I feel for him, you know. Cameron Matthew laughed at the mere mention of Matt Seymour's name. I don't know whether... whether injuries have affected his career at all. But, I mean, he's had so many losses. Weren't filming BTS of Maxime Cressy, were you, Matthew? Anyway, back to Mirand Graver. Yes.
So it was me and one other journalist, so it meant that I was able to have a normal chat with Mira Andreva. And I actually asked her quite a lot about her doubles with Diana Schneider. Because I just thought it was interesting that they won that title together in Brisbane a week ago or so. And it was only their third event playing together. They teamed up for the Olympics.
And they did really well. So they said, let's do more of this. But they already had partners for kind of the US hard court swing. They played in Beijing and got to the quarters there. And Draper said, we were meant to play Wuhan, but we forgot to sign in. But after that, they had a chat and they've decided to commit to playing doubles together this year. They're going to play all the slams. They're going to play the Masters 1000 events. Love that. Yeah, I think it's perfect for...
the stage of the career that they're at, right? And she also made the point, like, obviously singles is the priority, but she does, you know, she wants to win in doubles as well. I think she's at a stage where, you know, her sort of physicality can probably cope with... with the two playing a lot of matches. And I said, what do you get out of doubles? And, you know, I was very much expecting her to say kind of what they all say.
You know, it's kind of like as soon as you mention doubles, everyone's mind just goes to volleying. She did. She did talk about net play, but she in particular. talk about the fact that she wants to learn to take more risks on the court. She needs to be a bolder tennis player. And she says she's practicing doing that through doubles. You know, if she can sort of train her mind to take risks in the doubles, she thinks it will work.
then translate into the singles and she's talking there about you know crossing at the net you know when when the opportunity arises and and the little things like that maybe maybe you know making some bigger plays on return and that kind of thing and so And she's in it for the doubles, but she's also in it, of course, to improve her singles game. And I think watching her in Brisbane against Sabalenka, she is trying to be more aggressive on the court. I think she's aware that...
Sometimes there are players, particularly someone like Sabalenka, who can take the racket out of her hand. She's so good at counter-punching and absorbing pace, but I think it's really, really hard to get right to the top without also... forcing the issue yourself and she's already learning that she needs to needs to do that so as as ever amir andreva press conference
was just really, really fascinating. Did you ask her about mixed doubles with Daniel Medvedev at the Olympics? No. Well, that's a missed opportunity. Just on her playing doubles, I am happy to hear for her mental health and her happiness that she is as well, because... It's a lonely life, the tennis tour, isn't it? And she has a good coach and somebody I've always thought is a good person in Conchita Martinez, but very different ages. And I think it's...
It's cool that she gets to have a regular social point on the court. It feels like she's on quite a similar arc to Coco Gough, really. If you're going to be a teen phenom, there are so many cautionary tales about that. That goes wrong as often as it goes right. I feel like Coco Goff's blueprint for being a... Team Phenom is the one to follow, if he possibly can. And she is so far ahead of all the other teenagers. I think...
I don't know if it's still true, but very recently she was the only teenager in the top 100. And she's up in the top 15 or so. She's so far ahead of the curve. And yeah, I think doubles is her.
It's a great thing for her to be doing right now. And she's doing it really well when she's not playing with... And although Schneider is older, in terms of tour time, because she... took the college route she's kind of at the same you know they're in the same bracket aren't they um okay well good news for me is that i've got androva and my fantasy team bad news is she's in a dreadful part of the draw
Who's around? Sabalenka. It's the Sabalenka. Sabalenka's very much around. It's a problem. Yeah. She starts against Marie Buzkova. Tomorrow. Who is just like... a test right like she should pass it but she's not going to give you that match you've got to play well absolutely um just that that's it in terms of uh media day pre-tournament
press conferences. Just one other tidbit that we got today was we have the date of Yannick Sinner's CAS hearing, the Court of Arbitration for Sport, hearing the case of WADA, who were appealing the... determination of the ITIA and seeking a ban for Yannick Sinner in his doping case. That hearing will be on April... The 16th. Now, it is incredibly variable how long it will take. There won't be a verdict on the day. What happens is you have the hearing. It's considered.
by a judge or a panel of judges and then they come back some days, weeks, months later and deliver their verdict. I know it's boring, but it's kind of how long is a piece of string in terms of when we know the situation. But given that we knew it wasn't going to be during the Australian Open, I felt like sooner was... better for Yannick Sinner because if he gets, let's say he gets a three-month ban, you'd rather have that in February than in April. Yeah. Well, cameraman Matthew liked that point.
No, it is a problem, really, generally speaking, the amount of time that it would take in terms of how much it might impact his grandson's season. And it could decimate it. This could be it, really, this tournament. And yeah, the whole feeling around it is... He's awkward. It's awkward speaking to him. It's awkward to know how to view his success here. And then if he is removed from the sport...
How do you then view those grandsons in his absence? The whole thing is a nightmare, really, in that regard. But that's what you get when you get positive tests. Yeah, lots of people asking in the chat, you know, what kind of ban, if any, do we expect him to get? Honestly, I don't know. The majority opinion seems to be the majority of informed opinion seems to be that he's likely to get something, something between three months and, I mean, maybe a year, but three months and six months.
is what I hear mostly but honestly who knows and in terms of timeline look it's not going to be the next day but I don't think it's going to take then it's going to take months I think somewhere between kind of two weeks and six weeks don't you know don't don't hold me to that but that's that's the sense I get Maybe the fact that he just has a date will lift something in his mind. You know, it's a tiny bit of clarity, isn't it? I don't know. We shall see.
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Of course, my Felix Orgelia scene takes of a few moments ago are... Completely now null and void. Here we are in a third set. He's dominating it, isn't he? Hopefully. Where are we? Oh, he's three love up in the third. You've got nothing to worry about. Maybe the takes will come back into play. Look.
Let's talk about the other results that we've had today in the lead up events. And hopefully by the time we finish talking about those, we'll know where we are with Felix as much as we ever know where we are with dear old Felix Orgelius. Gael Monfils has won the Auckland title, beating Zizou Burgs in the final today. He is the oldest ATP titleist since Ken Rosewall. in 1977 look i i didn't i was under no illusions that guillemot feast was any kind of spring chicken but it snuck up on me that
He was in oldest title list since territory. I... did not realise that's where we were with Game 1 Feast. Isn't that partly because you didn't think you'd win another title? Because I didn't. Yes, it is. I'm amazed, really. I think it's an amazing achievement. You only need one, David. Yes. Maybe this is the one.
He certainly looked so chuffed. I didn't get to watch the whole match, but I saw the trophy presentation afterwards and it was quite spectacular. The New Zealand sort of... ceremony was really special and he was just sort of staring at it in awe, I think, and really feeling privileged to have won a title. obviously at the age years, but also I think in New Zealand and the way they celebrated him. And I just didn't think we would ever see him win another title. I think I kind of thought...
What his career was was about experiences and lap of honour in a way. But he has fought tooth and nail for that title. He was 6-1, 5-2 down. in the first round against Pedro Martinez. Wow. And has gone on to win the title. He's a guy now, Monfils, who, as you said, has got this line about being one of the oldest ever. ATP title winners as you said only Ken Rosewell and Pancho Gonzalez is the other one who was older than him but like when I think of Monfils I still think of like
the guy who had the amazing junior career and won, what was it, the three slams in 2004? Yeah, everything but the US Open that Murray won. Yeah, so he's got like these bookends now, an amazing junior record and, you know, sort of... winning very, very late into his 30s. He was really tight in the final game, but he did manage to get over the line. And yeah, it's fantastic.
for him um just a great sort of feel-good story to kind of go in go into a slam with well go into a first round match with giovanni and pesci bengar with that's the bad news like that that serve is waiting for him um It's very very rare for a champion of a tournament the week before the Australian Open to actually go very far in the tournament at all.
In the last 10 years, no one's got to the quarterfinals if they've won a title the week before the Australian Open. And a lot of them haven't had Giovanni Pesciperi. Is that men's only? It's a men's stat, yeah. Yeah, wow. I did say, though, a couple of days ago that I think there's a chance he might just get under the skin a little bit from Pesci Pericard if he can get excited in a match. The problem is...
Those sort of matches against a player like that, they just don't seem to ignite a lot of the time, do they? Just a note from the interview that I did yesterday with Ben Shelton. He referenced Gaël Monfils as the guy... He was asked who was your favourite player growing up. And he talked a lot about Federer and he talked about Nadal being a lefty himself. He feels influenced by Nadal. But he said, you know...
I've just watched all of Gail Monfils' highlight reels. You know, I will just put those on and entertain myself. And I get that. If you want to listen to that, by the way, it is... one of the interviews featured in Loitering with Law, Melbourne edition, working title for the series. David's less keen on it than I am. I invented it yesterday. David came up with it. Yeah, I did. And I sort of...
Didn't really think too hard about it and now I'm slightly regretting it. Well, anyway, it's available as a bonus podcast for friends of the pod. If you want to enjoy that, we've also got the first edition of Tennis Relived. for 2025, which is up now for friends. So if you want to become a friend of the pod, then the link to do that is in our show notes. Another big result for David, McCartney Kessler.
is the Hobart champion. She beat Elisa Mertens in the final today. Now, if you don't understand the David Law McCartney Kessler backstory, where have you been, folks? Because David was, there was a question in our end of year quiz about Jung Shui, who will come up again momentarily. Bear with me. Because Jung Shui, of course, went on the longest ever.
losing streak in tour history 24 losses in a row it was finally snapped that streak in beijing last year by mccartney kessler and the identity of the player that snapped or was on the receiving end of... I was going to say, she snapped her own streak. The identity of the player that was on the receiving end of snapping that streak was the subject of a quiz question in our end-of-year quiz, brilliantly crafted by Matt.
David had one of those moments where you absolutely know who it is. You've got a picture of them in your mind. You remember the match, but you simply can't remember the name. So David's answer to this question was Meredith Schofield. Ha ha ha ha ha. He doesn't exist. Well, I'm sure there is one out there. Maybe there is a tennis one that I've just got somewhere lodged in my brain from the 90s. But yeah, I have to say every time I see McCartney do anything, I sort of punch.
the air and i say go on meredith and the addendum to this story is that mccartney kessler hobart champion as of a few hours ago has has drawn jung shui in the first round of the australian open which is the sort of niche tennis line that gets Matt Roberts going. That I live for. In fact, I couldn't think of a stat. I've been trying to think of a stat all day. And I thought, no, go with your heart.
So my heart went to Zhong Shui versus McCartney-Kessler in the first round, and I did something about that. Subscribe to the newsletter. Thanks for setting me up for that promo, Matt. Much appreciated. And that is McCartney Kessler's second tour title. She has sort of... probably achieved more than we've realized, I suppose. I think she's up close to around the top 50 in the world now. And both of those titles have been the week before Slam.
She won in the land last year before the US Open, and now she's won Hobart before the Australian Open. And hands up, that is a week of the season that I struggle to pay full attention to. The Grand Slam is right around the corner. So honestly, she is a player that has slightly passed me by in terms of her game. Not David. No. I'm keeping my eye out. But yeah, let's see if Zhang Shuang...
I can do it again. Let's see. We had a title today for Madison Keys in Adelaide. She beat Jessica Pagula in a three-set final. God, I just... What do you do with Madison Keys? She just... She just blooming well pops up when you're least expecting it, doesn't she? And then, I don't know, what does it mean, David? And the thing is, I watched that match here at the flat while we were setting up for this show, and she was...
She was set up, and then suddenly she's behind, and then she's going off the court for treatment. And she had her leg strapped up. And I did just think, this is...
This is what Madison Key's career has become of recent times. You know, she'll sort of have a decent run and then she'll just run into the brick wall of an injury in a match and she's had to retire from a lot of big... matches and I did feel oh no you know imagine coming all the way to Australia getting to a final on the brink of the Australian Open and then hitting
an injury like that. And listen, for all we know, that may be serious. Suddenly, the next thing I know, I mean, I didn't turn her back for more than about 15, 20 minutes, and she's won the third set 6-1. So... She still has incredible talent and power that hurts. Some games don't move through... a generation or go with you once you get into the next raft of younger players. I mean, hers stacks up. It's still a bit wild. I still don't feel like she's got complete control of it.
She's still dangerous. She played really good tennis in the summer last year, Madison Keyes. On the clay, she was brilliant through the season. She kept losing to Sviantec. At Wimbledon, she was playing the match of the tournament against Paolini before she had to retire there. She was really good in the middle portion of last season.
tailed off a little bit at the end but she got a title in that period where she was playing well as well in Charleston like as David said it's it's she's been around a while but she's continued to have a lot of success she's very consistent at slams you know she sort of regularly gets to about the fourth round like I think that's probably what we can
expect at least at this year's Australian Open. She's in that section in the draw with Rabakina, I believe, who, as we've talked about, a big unknown. And, you know, so it's probably a section that she could come through. But, you know, having to have the legs strapped, playing all these matches in the week before, it just...
It should lead you to think, wow, she's going to have an amazing tournament, but it just so often doesn't work like that. But I just think in the moment, it's obviously a great win for her and to beat a fellow American who they're sort of jostling. jostling with is big. That was an excellent take, Matt, and also a perfectly timed take for me to be able to bring the people live news that Felix Auger-Elisim has indeed beaten Sebastian Cordes 6-1 in the third to win the Adelaide.
title, What Does It Mean? He looks thrilled. So thrilled. He is so pumped and he's hugging his team and I think probably in truth We get so tied up with what does it mean, and I'm as guilty as anybody for that, that we forget that for guys like him, when you've had a really bad time...
At the moment, he just doesn't care what it means. He just feels so relieved and happy that he's ending a tournament week with a win, holding the trophy, having beaten everybody, silenced maybe some doubts within himself. And, I mean, he's had quite a lot of injuries last year himself, hasn't he? And, honestly, I don't know what it means because I still look at that stat that you've just referenced about...
about nobody even reaching the quarterfinals if they've won a tournament the week before. And I understand that. I mean, you know, he's now got to go from Adelaide to Melbourne. He's got loads of matches in his legs. On one level, he may be just in great form. Another level he's got to start playing best of five set tennis. And is that ideal? I don't know. But I think that for someone like him, this is big.
really, just for coming into the tournament and actually feeling like he's worth something as a contender to have a run. He's got some recent... evidence of being good. And I think it's hurt him of late. I think he's looked like he's doubted himself. Well, he's just run himself to the title there, so good for him. What it also means is points for Reggie. Because Reggie, who has flipping Carlos Alcaraz in his team...
also has Felix Orgele. And Reggie's with us live. He says, my team is interesting because whilst I have Alcaraz, Rabatkin and Osaka, I also have Bookshire and Kuzmova. Runchakova, Reggie. Sorry, Runchakova. Never change, Reggie. That is Orjali Asim's first title outdoors. Wow. His five previous ones I've just checked here. I thought that was right. I've just pulled up his record. Rotterdam, Florence, Basel.
So his three titles were on that tear when he won them all back to back? And Antwerp. He's won Basel twice. He had five titles, but they were all indoors. This is his first one outdoors. And he used to have a finals problem. A live stat from Matt. He used to have a big finals problem. He lost his first eight, but he's won six of his next eight. Very good. Live stats.
Okay. I actually think that that will do him more good than rest and coming in fresh to this tournament. I think that he's a really fit lad. I mean, there's no stone left unturned. If he's not injured, I back him to be fresh enough. And now he takes in wins. So can he roll over a couple early on? and make himself a factor and first title outdoors that's massive because that must have been a huge question mark in his mind and maybe that's why he's I mean he is that
You're right, that was a huge celebration from him. Incidentally, and somebody else has just pointed this out in the live chat, the women's event... is a 500 the men's is a 250 and still the women's final is is first and maybe that's advantageous for the players because they get to get it done and get to melbourne and probably for that reason they you know no one will have anything to say about it but What does it take? What does it take for the women to be the headline act?
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This is the section of the show where I invite your questions, send them through on the live chat if you have any. As a jumping off point, I will talk you through tomorrow's order of play, the first Grand Slam order of play of 2020. And please know that I am as... pumped as it gets about this grand slam i am a 10 out of 10 i am somebody that was whooping and hollering for the one point slam such as my excitement about this tennis season so that is the place from which this comment comes
Tomorrow's order of play is an absolute dud. Tell me I'm wrong. I'm not going to tell you you're wrong. I was surprised because last year with the big Sunday start, they went pretty big. Like... It was a really, really great order of play, I seem to remember, last year. I think maybe it turned out to be slightly better than it was because the Prismic-Djokovic match was so surprisingly gripping.
But they have done that thing again. I think it's only 32 matches. They're only using 10 courts, and yet they are kind of expecting it to be their busiest day. I remember last year, that was...
You know, like the tournament were saying, great, you know, look how many people are coming through the gates. And the people who were through the gates were saying, look how crowded this is. Look how busy it is. I believe it was their highest single day of revenue ever, the Sunday last year. So maybe they're thinking, look. those people are going to come regardless of the schedule we don't
We don't need to sell that day. It's a weekend day. It's still in the school holidays. It's still, you know, an Australian holiday time. Like Monday is kind of back to work today out here, isn't it? Maybe that's the reason. Kasper Ruud and Jaume Munar on Rod Laver tomorrow. You'd be annoyed, wouldn't you? That is a long match of baseline rallies, isn't it? I mean, it might not be long.
I suppose, but it's definitely three sets, and yeah, I mean, that wouldn't be my top of the list. Yeah, I mean, Sinner, Alcarez, Djokovic, Goff, Sviontek are all playing. Monday's order of play is so good that Svantec Senyarkova is on the John Kane Arena. It's not even on the second court. Monday is so stacked. It is going to be incredible. But it does feel like these three days...
Could have been better balanced. But anyway, here's your hype for tomorrow's order of play. Tidoni against Jung Chin Wen, who I think might be a bit injured, opens up Broadleaf Arena. Then it's the big rude Munar. Maybe it'll be a thriller. I've been wrong before or I'll be wrong again. Then it's intentionally blank. There's a lot of intentionally blank on this order of plans. Does it say intentionally blank? It does, yeah.
It does. And remember intentionally blank when we're still here at 3am. Yeah. Because it will be intentionally Blank's fault, amongst other things. Night session starts at 7pm with Arena Sabalenka against Sloane Stephens, which could be fantastic. I'm reluctant to have too high hopes for all the reasons that we discussed on yesterday.
But there's potential there. And then the final match of the day in the night session is Luka Pui against Alexander Zverev. On the second court, we start with Otto Vertinen against... Art of Feast. I think this is where Matt plans to start his day. I'm into that. I thought you said it was a dud of a day. Art of Feast? Hold on. You're going to that? Yep.
I want to go to that. Let's go together. Then it's Deanne Parry against Donna Vekic, which I'm going to be commentating on. Very pleased to have a Donna Vekic match. I think the second court's good. Tomorrow. Yes. Yuri Lehechka against... Who's this guy? Aussie Wildcard. Lee 2. He played Alcaraz in the first round of the US Open and he was fun. That guy. He was fun. Very fun. OK. Lehechka 2.
and then Blink of a Savile. Okay, that all floats your boat, does it? Three of them do. John Kane Arena starts with Buzkova Andreeva. I think that could be good. Yep. That's one of my picks for tomorrow. Then Nishikori Montero, then Bedosa Wong, and then Umber Giganti, which is one of the better names on tour at the moment. Staradub Ceva against Fernandes opens the Kia Arena. Christina.
The Belgian qualifier Onklin against Radia Pelka, second on Kira Arena. Demir Jumhur against Alexander Vukic is third on. And then Marta Kostiuk against now Hibino. The 15th... 73 Arena. Thomas Mahatch is last on there against Sumit Nagel and Towson against Nozkova. Is the second match on there. Court three opens with Hugo Gaston against One Point Slam champion Omar Jessica. He's already got his 60 grand and his multiple mentions on the tennis podcast. Omar Jessica.
It's, you know, he speaks. I think I might need to go and have a little look at what he's like in non-one-point slam action. Well, look, I'm no way more to seeker expert, but I did... struggled to identify him as the pro amongst the amateurs at the one point stand. But then he went and won it, didn't he? So more fool me. But yeah. We'll see. We'll see on the Omar Jessica front. Okay. A lot of questions about intentionally blank coming in on the chat.
Tomorrow's order of play. What does that leave for Tuesday? What a question. Taylor Fritz. Taylor Fritz. Elena Rabachner. Yep. Alex Dimonor. Yeah. The big Hubert. That's our Hubie. That's our Hubie. That's something that cameraman Matthew said, right? That's his saying. Yeah, that is our Hubie. Who do you think will be the surprise in the tournament?
In fact, a couple of different versions of that question. Because yes, in yesterday's... I know, I'm sorry. Having to pick a surprise. I know. What constitutes a surprise? Well, look, yesterday's show... I prefaced the draw chat with...
we're kind of expecting the expected at this one quite often quite often we go into slams and say well it's really open and you know as you say the point of it being open and expecting surprises is you don't know exactly what they're going to be you just feel like it's going to be one of those slams it's open whereas we've said this doesn't feel particularly open in either draw but if someone's gonna pull off a surprise who might it be
Well, mine was Tommy Paul beating Alexander Zverev. I don't know how surprising that is. Well, and Matt picked Alexi Popper in... to do big things at the live show, but that may have been just to ingratiate himself with an Australian audience. I picked Alexi Popper into not do big things at this tournament, having seen him play it the other day. Yeah, talk us through that. I don't know. I just...
I actually really like Alexey Popper. I really rate him. And it didn't surprise me that he was a real threat. to top players. I mean, I wouldn't have picked him to beat Novak Djokovic at the US Open, but he's somebody I don't think they like playing because he is dangerous. But this is so different. He comes into Australia suddenly now expected to do stuff because he's one of their big hopes and he's had these results.
Recently, I don't think he's looked that convincing. I know it's a practice match, but I watched him with Alcaraz, and his game wasn't really working. And maybe he was just trying things out. But I thought, I'm not that confident you're going to have a great Australian Open.
I know that's not a massive surprise, but still. Talk us through why you did your big pick, Matt, other than to ingratiate yourself with an Australian audience. I think I'm right in saying that he's in the Rublev Medvedev section. of the draw and I suppose I suppose part of the thinking behind you know Popperin might go far is is that someone someone needs to not go far right and Out of the top seeds, Medvedev to me feels the most vulnerable given...
the state of his game last year, given the fact that he hasn't played in a while. I just think Medvedev could be vulnerable here. That is very much against his form here. He's very good at the Australian Open. He's had a lot of good runs here. But he's in that section. And again, Rublev as well. can be vulnerable. And I think Poparin has got enough firepower to be able to hurt them. He just jumped out to me as a name in a section of the draw where the seeds...
aren't as reliable as Sinner and Djokovic and Alcaraz and Fritz. We got a few questions about some of the younger players. The participants in the next-gen finals a few weeks ago, Jean-Fonseca has qualified. He was the champion. And he's got Rublev. For the next-gen finals, he's got Andre Rublev. Does he have a chance against Rublev? I think he does.
I'd be very interested to see how he holds up physically. Because I kind of think he's going to need to win it inside the distance. You know, and... because Rublev's going to be able to last the course, and he's that PlayStation tennis player who just keeps on making balls. And so Fonseca's going to have to be ending rallies, a lot of them. But I do think he's got the ability. Learn it in, the American.
Talent has also qualified here. He was among the... Was he a finalist at the Next Gen finals? Beaten by Fonseca in the final, yeah. That's right. And Nishesh Basavaredi as well, who's... a american player of indian descent which is um of great great interest um and great significance i think um he had a he's a He's a bit further along the curve of senior tennis than Lernity and he's been playing more challenger events and is a couple of years older. I think he's got Novak Djokovic in round one.
This is unlikely to be the tournament for him, but we're being asked who is going to have the better career of those two. Learn a TN. Or... Nishesh Basavredi. I can tell you my brother who watches lots of challenger tennis and whose takes on these young players. I know Luca Nardi hasn't come off yet, but he...
Even though Leonard Tien is the one that has a lot more attention on him, I think, because he's had the more standout junior results. I know my brother rates Basavaredi more highly. Tien, I thought... look quite underpowered at the next-gen finals. Like, he struggles to get that serve up, you know.
much higher than actually 100 miles an hour. It's not a big serve that he's got. He's not big off the ground. I think he's an incredibly intelligent tennis player. And that can take you... take you a long way but I don't know I don't see many top top players these days without firepower personally I want to see them here in this environment
And you get more of a sense, I feel, over these long matches and against top players and when it really matters and all that sort of stuff. What I would say, though, is... A year ago, if anybody had told me that Dino Prismic wasn't going to have made massive strides after that performance against Novak Djokovic, I would never have believed it. He has been very injured. I know. I understand that. But...
But even so, he still played a lot of matches and he hasn't won many of them. And I do remember talking to... to Goran Vinicic a little bit about him when I spoke to him back in February because obviously we were coming off the back of that very exciting you know he felt he was maybe not a little underpowered or a little you know and I thought really goodness you know that's not something that I would have believed but it's you often see somebody have
a great win or a great performance or a few of them. I mean, I even think back to when Borna Cioric came on the scene as a 16, 17-year-old and was really pushing... top players beating some of them because he was, and I think because he was a very early developer, he looked like a big... man an athlete at a very young age a bit nadal like almost and he's had a good career but it hasn't been the career that i expected it to be and that is what they say about felix roger aliassime for example like
If you're ahead of the curve physically in juniors, that can kind of flatter to deceive. I think so. In terms of your potential. We are being asked multiple questions about Burtick van der Sand School. Okay, great. Yeah, watch out, Australia. He's coming for your guy. He's here to poop on some parties. Is he? I don't think so. But I didn't think he'd beat Carlos Alcrast. Yeah, you forgot that he existed. Yeah, literally. Sorry, he's got... Alex de Menor. I mean, I've got to be honest.
I don't think Dimonor likes that draw much. Interesting. I think he... The truth is... It could be a very straightforward win for Dimenor if the Boatik van der Zanschorp shows up that often does, who kind of feels like he's not really with you. He feels like he's not really in the room sometimes. But when he is, he's plumb and dangerous. And we've seen it multiple times. And I just think the ball that...
he's going to get from dim and all, he's going to probably quite like it. It's going to be about hitting clean shots. He's not going to have to deal with vicious top spin or anything like that. He's going to get a lot of flat balls to hit. And if he's on, he's dangerous. So, I don't know. I'm interested to watch it because I just don't know which Baltic's coming. These aren't good old...
Predictions for Australians, David. This is a tough scene for an Australian audience. Okay, going to end it there, except to say that lots of people are asking about Lulu's son. And she's in my fantasy team. I'm a Lulu Sun believer. Maybe not specifically at this slam, but very generally. Watch out for Lulu's son. She's coming. She's coming this year. I need that to be true for the sake of my credibility. We have a mascot for this show. That mascot is Jagger. Well, R.
Jagger and Gucci. Again. Again. Yeah, absolutely. Laura Boughton has, is that right? Laura Boughton? Am I pronouncing that right? You've got the same information that I do, don't you? Yes, I would have gone with that. Thank you. He's put them forward as mascots again and they are repeat mascots who live with Laura's sister Amy and niece Sophia in Fairfield, Connecticut.
Possibly somewhere we've driven through. The Half Sisters are Bernadoodles, Matt's new favourite breed. Yep. Is it? Yep, because my mascot. This year is a Bernadoodle. Matt's TBC is a Bernadoodle. They are age three and two. I'm looking at them now and that's hugely distracting, Matt, because I now can't look away. It's like when I...
Walked past a Cavapoo puppy at the coffee place this morning and I became a bit weird. You did this massive double take. You literally stopped me in my tracks. Like you put your arm out so I couldn't actually... Block your view. I was thinking, I bet that really freaked these people out. It looked like it freaked them out a bit as well. I was making eye contact with the owner. Sort of with my eyes imploring for an invitation to pet the puppy. But clearly my behaviour...
in the proceedings. Split seconds have been too weird and she looked, she looked alarmed, quite frankly. Anyway, back to Jagger and Gucci, the half-sister Bernadoodles, who were definitely still in their... Again, Bernadito puppies, Matt's fave. They're enjoying roughhousing together, bringing their mum various treasures from the yard, running on the beach. I love watching dogs frolicking on the beach. It's just...
Food for the soul. Eating treats and generally enjoying life. They're total cuties with the most soulful eyes can confirm who bring tremendous joy to everyone they encounter. So thank you, Laura. You are... living your best life with with Bernadoodles that is for sure so thank you Laura and thank you Jagger and Gucci hello to our mascots of course Mats TBC courtesy of Carrie
Carrie should, you know, turn TBC into a name. Could you think of a name that, you know, TBC? Is there a tennis player with... We'll workshop that, folks. David? Nothing like putting him on the spot. Come up with a tennis player with the initials TBC. David? You've got Maisie and you're feeling pretty confident. I feel great when Maisie's in my corner. That's when I'm at my absolute best. If I had the on-court coaching thing in the corner with Maisie there...
I'd be unbeatable. Can't tell you how well I'd perform if I had a dog sitting in the corner. Hello to Phoebe, my mascot. We shared a lift earlier with a corgi and given the experience I'd had... morning with the cavapoo puppy and definitely being a bit weird about it i tried my best to be normal in the lift with the corgi and i think i succeeded you you absolutely did but it was a it was a
crashing blow to us that lift journey because we got identified as as volunteers at the tennis yeah we clearly don't look remotely professional are you volunteering no um So, yes, hello to TBC Maisie and Phoebe. Hello, of course, also to our top folks and executive producers, Greg, Chris and Jeff. And Matt, we have shout outs. Shout out to all the volunteers, by the way. They do do great work. Of course.
We have Sally Wells in Cape Town. Hello, Sally. Hi, Sally. Sally has a cat called Yoda. That's cool. And Sally has met Catherine and David at Queen's. Yeah. Oh. I thought I recognised Sally's name. And hopes to meet me. Well, make it so. I'm trying to formulate a Yoda speaks in jumbled sentences. If we weren't live right now, I'd be seamlessly pulling off a Yoda.
But my brain just can't go quickly enough. My quickly brain enough just can't go. Confused you are. Thank you, Sally. Very good, David. Thank you, Sally. We've also got Elise Lane in Newcastle, upon Tyne, not Australia. Like Elise Mertens, same spelling? Yes. Tough day for Elise Mertens. Lost the Hobart final set, six love. To Meredith. Yes. You've been to Newcastle lots. I have, yes, because I went to university in Durham, very close by.
Lovely city, Newcastle. Lots of beautiful buildings. Great city. And we met Elise at Wimbledon last year. She came to the live show. Thanks for doing that, Elise. Much appreciated. Thanks, Elise. Thank you. And finally, we have Sarah Lewis, who is from Kent. Hello, Sarah. Hi, Sarah. Can you feel me desperately trying to not do Sarah Borwell again, as I always do? And then me coming off the back of it with an even older British tennis player reference, Sarah Gomer.
I'm having deja vu Tell us about Sarah Sarah says that she was delighted to spot David at Wimbledon Too far away to approach, but he was head and shoulders above the crowd. That's what I'm good at, Sarah. It was wet middle Saturday and I had caught three seats. So I spent a lot of time drinking tea under an umbrella. Oh, bless you. It was blooming wet and cold at Wimbledon last year, wasn't it? I did multiple live podcasts wearing gloves.
In July. Yes. So Sarah, I feel your pain. You're a hardy tennis fan. And Hannah's from Kent. So that's the hope. Yeah. There you go. Lovely. Thank you, Sarah. Thank you to all our friends of the Tennis Podcast. If you'd like to become a friend and get access to all of those bonus shows, including David's Excellent.
productive loitering uh our latest edition and all editions of tennis relived access to the barge where you can hang out with hannah all the time and new for 2025 ad free listening then the link to do that is in our show notes folks it is five or seven minutes to ten melbourne time which means that we are less than 22 hours away i think from the start of the 2025 grand slam tennis season is that no we're way less than 22 hours away i meant 10 hours
Oh, it's great being live, isn't it? This is my identity crisis again. We're about 13 hours away, aren't we? Great. Okay.
note to self about live maths folks we cannot wait 15 more live 15 more daily grand slams it would be very tennis to start the day at like eight o'clock at night and then just play forever but thankfully we are we are playing at 11 in the morning that's the big innovation for next year yeah i'm gonna go and get a good night's sleep uh because maybe i need it thank you for joining us folks thanks for joining us live if you did uh we'll be with you tomorrow at the end of play
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