January 22, 2023 • 28 mins
Stefanos Tsitsipas joins us after holding off Jannik Sinner in a five-set re-match of their 2022 quarterfinal, Sebastian Korda upstages Hubert Hurkacz to advance to the last eight, Iga Swiatek shock exit leaves the women’s and men’s quarterfinals devoid of the top two seeds for the first time in the Open Era — we dissect Elena Rybakina’s win and preview Day 8 action: Aryna Sabalenka v Belinda Bencic and Alex de Minaur v Novak Djokovic, plus which player’s attribute do the fans most wish they had?
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Just dug out by her catch.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
He leans into his own back head, picks.
Speaker 3 (00:04):
Up on the forehead from corner, another forehead from quarters.
Speaker 4 (00:07):
Gadge a brilliant hits the line, quarter picks up well hercuts, He.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Passes entire line.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
He has had some he's the.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Most enormous precious situ actions that he's into the quarter finals.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
Of the Australian Open. Hi, everyone, and welcome to the
AO Show with me. John hoovenars on the ground here
at Melbourne Park and didn't day seven dish ups some
jaw dropping moments. Here's what's coming up on the show.
Quarter quarter finals bound as Sebbie hangs tough against Huby.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
Oh those little moments that I've gone through, just kind
of learning from a stamped patient, stink.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Positive fonte swept aside by Rabai Kanner.
Speaker 5 (00:52):
When you will play against number one, I think you've
written I think.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
Towards Titsipas shows sinner, no mercy, that us a ripper
as we see here, plus all the key results from
Day seven, a preview of Day eight and which player
attributes to the fans covet.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Nick Kirios's rage for the tennis game.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
That's all ahead on the AO show.
Speaker 6 (01:17):
Match point CITs a pass sirs to the four and
a center cross call back.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
That way Winter.
Speaker 4 (01:22):
Oh, that was a test tonight, but Stefanos stand tall
a five steve win over Yanick Sinner.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Stefanos Sitsipass has tightened his Australian Open stranglehold on Janick
Sinner to reach the last eight, but not without a
significant challenge. In a rematch of last year's quarter final,
the Greek third seed was in control for the opening
two sets, dominating first serve points, but Sinner responded positively
in the third set, particularly on return. With ten break
(01:52):
point opportunities. He converted just one, but it was enough
to take the set, and he replicated the pattern in
the fourth, sending the match to a gripping decider. The
battle was fierce until the sixth game, when Sitsipas opened
up two break points. He converted the second thanks to
a loose Sinner foehand out wide, and he maintained the
(02:13):
margin on the way to a six four sixty four
three six four six six ' three win.
Speaker 7 (02:18):
I mean, what a great night a.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Ripper as we see here that was.
Speaker 7 (02:27):
Super I had an unbelievable bond and on the other
side of the court today playing incredible Dennis on the
third and fourth.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
Set, defeated and dejected, Sinner slumped back down the walk
of champions, ruining twenty two missed break point opportunities.
Speaker 8 (02:41):
A couple of missus, easy missus and had it. The
match has changed quite fast than after. He was throing
well and and that's it.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
I'm joined now by Ersin Kadaris and Stefanos. Is a
quirky character, isn't he?
Speaker 9 (02:57):
Oh yeah, he definitely is. I mean he always provides
the enters painment in the interviews that he does. He
works with the fans a lot. He loved the attention
that he's getting. And Rod Labor was there watching today,
which I know he has a lot of respect for
Rod Labor. So a special match for him and a
big battle. The Stephanus came into our studio and he
(03:17):
was absolutely knackered, as you can imagine after a four
hour battle.
Speaker 7 (03:20):
Today was obviously longer than any other match that I've
played in the last three matches that I did, and
he was very physical. It was a long match with
a lot of rallies, with a lot of intensity. Uh,
if you can call it that as a you can
refer to it as a dip. I don't know, but
it was definitely you know, it could have been different
(03:41):
for sure.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
No, No, I didn't say you had a dip.
Speaker 9 (03:44):
I'm just saying someone who.
Speaker 7 (03:46):
If I could, if I could include myself in there. No,
I wouldn't say it did, because I played a great
opponent today. But hopefully you're definitely you're not aiming for
a dip, and if it happens, it happens. You just
have to learn how to survive it, that's all.
Speaker 9 (04:02):
Hey, it was so cool to see Rock Labor watching
a match today as well. Do you ever think back
at like what it must have been like for these
guys back in the day with the wooden rackets and
they were by themselves, like I don't think they had
physios and everything.
Speaker 7 (04:16):
Yes, I have thought about it a lot. I haven't
had the chance to ask Rod, even though I've been
around him a little bit in some of the events,
But I'm sure it was a very different lifestyle to
what it is now. And of course professional one one
could say, but not as professional as it is these days.
(04:38):
So definitely have a lot of respect for these type
of players because they played with equipment that was heavy,
as heavy as a camera, and you know, playing with
the wooden racket is probably the most difficult thing ever.
I've tried link with it. Yeah, the face is so small.
(04:58):
If you don't hear it, if you don't hit it right,
you're out so better. You have to practice constantly to
get it right.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
Awaiting sits a pass. In the quarterfinals is Yuri Lahechka,
who produced one of the upsets of the tournament, stunning
Felix Augier Aliassim in four sets. It was a battle
of the serves between the Czech world number seventy one
and the Canadian sixth seed, each managing just one break
of serve for the match. They won the same number
of points in the fourth set, but Lahechka managed to
(05:28):
raise his level in the pressure moments. Augier Aliasim, a
quarter finalist last year, bowing out four to six sixty
three seven, six, seven six.
Speaker 10 (05:36):
It's been tough tough week for me, to be honest.
I gave everything I had. I had some good moments
and the first set was good. I was serving well today,
but too many parts of my game or not at
the level they need to be in order to win
against players like him and the other players in the draft.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
The Victor Lahechka spoke with reporter Josh Martin after his
remarkable win.
Speaker 11 (06:00):
Congratulations, this has been an amazing tournament run so far.
You've been the Australian opens Giant slayer. How are you
feeling right now? Are you on cloud nine? Is this
the best winning your career?
Speaker 12 (06:11):
Yeah?
Speaker 6 (06:11):
I think it is for sure, because I feel amazing,
you know, and through this tournament I managed to play
very well, and I'm very happy that I'm true. Of course,
I hope it's not over, and I'm looking forward to
my next match, you know, and to focus on the
right things to do to recover well, to eat well,
(06:32):
and to prepare well on my next matchup.
Speaker 11 (06:34):
What happened in your off season? This is a big
change for you at Grand Slams.
Speaker 6 (06:39):
I mean, when I had my off season, you know,
we did some pre season preparation, you know, and we
sat down with the team, you know, and we talked
through the unsuccessful Grand Slams, you know, matches which I
played last year, you know, because I played main draw
in every one of them. Two times I had like
(07:01):
a bad draw. Let's say like that. But the two
times I had, I had it in my own arms,
you know. So we talked through that, We took all
the experiences out of it, what we could, what we
could improve, what we should do the same, and what
we shouldn't, and I think we managed it well. And
now we are looking to play in the Quorse. So yeah,
(07:23):
I'm very happy.
Speaker 11 (07:24):
I mean, you could easily say that the drawer you
have right now is a bad draw, but you've managed
to get through.
Speaker 6 (07:30):
Yeah, I mean that's the thing. If you're not seated,
you know, on a Grand Slam, then of course you
know there is nothing much you can choose from. You know,
you're on Grand Slam. Here are the best players ever.
Speaker 5 (07:40):
You know.
Speaker 6 (07:42):
What you can search and what you can look. You know,
everyone here is playing in a very great form, you know.
And I beat it. I beat the three seedy guys.
So for me, the most important thing is just to
focus on my own game, you know, to focus on
my own a preparation all before every serve, before every
(08:03):
ever return, to focus on myself and then I know
what my game can do, and then just focus on
doing dirt things.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
Sebastian Corter has continued his golden run in Melbourne, triumphing
in a five set thriller against Hubert Hercutch to reach
his maiden Grand Slam quarterfinal. After conceding serve early, the
American twenty ninth seed dropped the first set to the
towering Pole, but Quarter hit back in the second, dominating
the net points and making inroads on his opponent's serve.
(08:37):
The third set was a similar story as he continued
to capitalize on her catcher's errors, including three double faults
to establish a two sets to one lead, but the
Poll was able to arrest the momentum in a thirty
eight minute fourth set, breaking the American serve twice to
send it to a decider. There, both players refused to
yield in a gripping fifth quarter, saving two break points
(08:59):
in the eleventh to force a super tie break, and
despite trailing by an early mini break, the twenty two
year old held his nerve and turned the tables on
a frustrated her catch before ending the match in style
three six six, three six two one six seven to six.
Speaker 13 (09:16):
Yeah, I just tried to stay as calm as they
possibly could as there was a late night the match
before and kind of just coming out here playing the
day during the condition, different conditions, so it's as difficult,
but you know, I'm very happy with the way I
kind of just stayed down, kept going through it, and
you know, the outcome was great.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
Quarter's mental game is proving a key weapon in his
campaign that's seen him take down seventh seed Daniel Medvedev
and the tenth seed in succession.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
I think I'm really good at just kind of moving forward,
learning from my mistakes, what I've done in the past,
and then using them in matches like this. I think,
you know, I've had a tough match with Rafa, with
serving for it a couple of times, match point with Djokovic,
and I think that really helped me, especially in the
last March with Medvedev closing out that tiebreaker, and then
(10:05):
today as well. I think all those little moments that
I've gone through, just kind of learning from the staying patient,
staying positive and just going through the process, I think
have really helped me going forward. And yeah, definitely those
kinds of losses hurt the most, but my parents and
the people around me are really big to just keep going.
(10:25):
You're doing great, just stay positive and stay the course.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
The top seed French Open and US Open champion is
on the ropes here back and return for and from
Rebeccaa wensday point wins the match. The top seeded out
for the first time in the Open era. None of
the top two men's or women's seeds will compete in
the last date of a Grand Slam. World number one
igash Fontek was today defeated in straight sets by last
(10:55):
year's Wimbledon champ Elena Rabaikana. The Kazakh twenty second seed,
broke Tech right out of the gates before three unforced
erarors put the setback on par rebaik and I controlled
her nerves and hit a crucial backhand winner to break
again late in the set, which he took six ' four,
tightening her service game. In the second the Kuzakh won
eighty one percent of first serves. An untimely unforced era
(11:18):
from the racket of Schviontek in the ninth game gave
Rebiken of the break and she was never headed, winning
six four, six 'y four.
Speaker 5 (11:25):
When you play against number one, I think you've really
not think to lose, and I knew that I had
to be aggressive from the first ball because she's a
great mover and she defense really well.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
After a tough couple of weeks for the world number one,
she wants to work on her mental game for the
rest of the season.
Speaker 14 (11:44):
I felt the pressure and I felt that I don't
want to lose instead of that I want to win.
So that's I think it's a base of what I
should focus on in the next couple of weeks.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
Joining me on the roundtable today a tennis writer and
commentator Stephanie Miles and Dan Wood from Tennis Australia's Game
Insight Group. Things were a little off today for Iger.
She was running late coming onto court and she received
a time violation before she'd even served a ball. Steph,
what did you observe about there?
Speaker 15 (12:13):
Well, my thought about that was ultimately that there obviously
were things going on off court, whether in the warm
up or possibly in her interactions with people, or any
possible thing could have happened before the match, because yeah,
I mean, it's a big match and you know what
time you're playing, and you don't generally show up late
unless there's a reason. Now whether we find out what
(12:35):
that reason is remains to be seen, but certainly she
started off off kilter and it never really got much
better from there?
Speaker 1 (12:42):
Did it broken in the very first game? And Dylan,
we've got you on today from the Game Insight group
to talk a little bit about serve return stats. So
what insights can you bring especially in that first set.
Speaker 16 (12:53):
Yeah, So I think Ega was just really struggling to
get herself into the game on the return. I mean,
Robi Keina was so dominant with the first she went
at forty one percent unreturned and you just can't get
any sort of rhythm from the baseline.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
There fifty seven percent shrion Tech in terms of first
serve points one to Rebiken is eighty percent, So there
was quite a disparity there. How soon do you think
emotionally it all hit home for Ego?
Speaker 2 (13:17):
Well, I think she knew it going in.
Speaker 15 (13:20):
Rebiken doesn't get a lot of attention because she doesn't
draw very much attention to herself. For one thing, she's
a Wimbledon champion and the other thing is that she
was probably the young the player most affected by the
pandemic and the stoppage of play because she was but
maybe nineteen then, and she was absolutely on a roll.
She was on the rise that most people thought she
(13:41):
might be on and then the next thing, you know,
you don't play tennis for five months, and then after
that it gets super complicated. So perhaps only now, maybe
she's showing people who don't pay as close attention as
some of us do. But she's one of those women
who could serve one eighty five and up. And when
you can do that and hit as hard as she does,
going to be trouble for anybody. So I don't think
(14:02):
that I don't think her quality surprised Shantech at all.
I think that Shantek's issues today were all on her side.
But again, you know, when you serve that hard in
that well, you're going to win most of your points
and you're going to be hard to break. Like that's
not even rocket science, that's that's just something she has
to get. That's something she has to accept. But at
the same time, she didn't do the job on her
(14:24):
side of the court.
Speaker 16 (14:25):
Yeah, I think absolutely. When you're only winning twenty percent
on the return of a first serve is going to
be a long day for you. She just really didn't
vary up her return position at all. Whereas Robbie Cannon
was always able to get a good raad on the
Swinetech second serve, and she hit every return on the
ad court from within about half a meter of her
starting position. So she obviously had that sorted.
Speaker 15 (14:44):
And the thing is now they are allowed to have coaching.
So if she was not picking up on the things
that you're mentioning, which is kind of the job, and
not passing that along to her, there's one of two things.
Either he was not noticing that or paying attention, or
she wasn't paying any attention to him, and either one
is possible.
Speaker 8 (15:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
The other thing we wanted to speak about was the
length of points.
Speaker 16 (15:06):
Yeah, so any any rally that was under four shots,
the total count was forty three thirty two in Rabbi
Kana's favor. So that just shows a real dominance in
getting in control of that rally. Early when Igor was
able to extend the rally, she was having more success,
but that just wasn't the case today.
Speaker 15 (15:20):
Well, she's a much better defender anyway. She moves a
lot better, i mean exponentially better than Rabbi Kina does.
She has to make her points exactly the way, you know,
as you pointed out the way that she did.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
But Shantek can.
Speaker 15 (15:32):
I mean, she can do that, you know, she just
didn't really do it very well today. She didn't do
much of anything particularly well today. And if you'd ask
me before the tournament if I would pick Shantek or
I would pick the field, I would have picked the
field because I just figure so many things can happen
during the course of a Grand Slam, and so many
things went right for her in Grand slams last year.
I feel like somehow these things even out somewhere, and
(15:55):
this tournament particularly has been so wacky, and in saying
that this would be the place that would.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
Happen, maybe the ranking points flat to her somewhat, particularly
because her opponent missed out on the Wimbledon points potentially
wouldn't have actually met at this stage of the Slam
if she had.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
Well, I heard.
Speaker 15 (16:09):
I've heard that a lot over the last little while,
and my counter argument to that is, Okay, yes, she
didn't get those points, she would have been in much
better shape for.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
The rest of the year. But you know what, she
didn't make any other points either.
Speaker 15 (16:22):
She's basically the same spot that she was before Wimbledon
and hasn't made any progress, you know, throughout the rest
of the season, so part of that is on her
as well. But again, what comes first, chicken or the egg.
If she has better seating positions, maybe she gets better
draws and maybe she does do better. I mean, look,
she was a little bit hard done by by that,
but life. Whoever said life was fair?
Speaker 8 (16:53):
Into the quarter finals, she goes and Aftapanco.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
The seventeenth seed goes through. Coco Cough exits pre tournament
fancy Coco Goff has joined the seeds exodus after former
French Open champion Ylena Ostapenko blitzed the seventh seed in
straight sets. Gough came undone in the face of Ostapenko's
aggressive style of play, with the Latvian blasting nine more
(17:19):
winners than her opponent. She came up clutch in pressure
moments too, converting all three of her break points and
saving seven of the eight that she faced. Josh Martin
joins me now and Josh she had the pleasure of
speaking with Elena after her win.
Speaker 11 (17:33):
Yeah, so it was her best AO result ever, her
best result at a hard court slam ever. But most importantly,
it's also the first time that she's made a quarter
final since Wimbledon twenty eighteen, just after a French Open success,
and she told me how much she's changed since then.
Speaker 17 (17:49):
I'm probably more mature now because I needed a couple
of years to get used to the French Open win,
because the life completely changed and everybody expected so much
from you and attention from everywhere. So now I feel
like I'm more mature and I'm playing well this week
and hopefully I can keep it up, and of course
it feels great to be here.
Speaker 11 (18:08):
Do you think that burden of that early success has
now lifted.
Speaker 17 (18:12):
Yeah, I feel like I really have nothing to lose
time just trying to enjoy myself more on the court,
and I was working a lot in pre seasons, so
I think it pays off.
Speaker 11 (18:24):
What kind of work were you doing in that pre sison, Yeah, I.
Speaker 17 (18:28):
Was working more on my consistency on everything, just feeling
my shots, movement, fitness level, a lot of things. So
and of course it gives me kind of confidence. But
it's always hard to come back after like two months
with not playing matches, so you really need a little
bit of time to get used to the playing matches.
Speaker 11 (18:49):
You're dominating with that aggressive style that you're known for.
How do you think that's going to hold up against
someone like Rebecca the next round, who's known for her
big serve. Do you think he can still work like
that eating those aggressive winners.
Speaker 17 (19:02):
Of course, she's a good player and it's gonna be
a tough match. But I feel like I just have
to focus more on myself and just to play aggressive
and make it hard for her.
Speaker 11 (19:14):
And today you came out really in the clutch. You
convoted three of your break points, all three of your
break points, and you saved seven of eight. What's helping
you mentally on the court at the moment.
Speaker 17 (19:26):
I'm just trying to enjoy myself more and just to
focus on the game and try to not see or
hear anything outside the court, just to be in the
game and try to be as consistent as possible.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
Goth exits Melbourne in the fourth round for the second time,
unable to match Ostapenko's power.
Speaker 18 (19:45):
There's bas I was hitting deep and she was hitting
them like on the line and hitting them back deep
multiple over and over again.
Speaker 2 (19:51):
So it's just one of those days.
Speaker 18 (19:53):
I just didn't go my way and went her way.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
Come on, hotch K has extended his career best result
at the Australian Open double bageling Yoshi Hito Nishioka in
a straight sets annihilation. The Japanese thirty first seed had
no answers for the big serving Russian in the first
two sets, winning just two points in the second set alone.
Honor was on the line in a third set tiebreak,
but it was too little, too late, as Kutchanov went
(20:22):
on to win six love, six love, seven to six
in under two hours.
Speaker 12 (20:26):
Tough to see what's happening. Obviously I played well, maybe
he didn in some situations, you know, but it's it's tennis,
you know, And I remember myself in that situation. Was weird.
Also last year in Rome, I won first set against
Titsipas six y four, and then suddenly I was losing
zero three zero, and I'm like, Hawaii cannot win one game.
I mean, with my serve and everything.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
Women's number three seed Jessica Pogula has ousted former world
number two bubb or A Kratsikova in straight sets to
reach the quarter finals for the third straight year. The
American could have been even more efficient, converting only two
of her thirteen break point chances in the first set.
Pagoula is now the highest remaining seed in both singles draws.
Speaker 19 (21:07):
I still don't really feel like that because I mean
I look at the draw and there's still girls that
I mean, today, she won you know, French Open, you
have Rabikino who won Wimbledon last year. You have Ico
who does really well here. You Caroline won the championship.
So like, it doesn't really feel like I'm the highest left.
Even though that's I guess a cool stat it feels
(21:29):
like there's still a long ways to go, to be honest.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
Her next opponent is Victoria Azarenka, who fought back from
a shaky start to end the charm run of China's Julian.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
I feel so relieved.
Speaker 20 (21:40):
It was, you know, two hours forty of complete pressure,
point by point, you know, momentum shift. There was everything
in this match, and I'm just so happy I was
able to manage. The beginning of the year, I had
a lot of a couple of very close matches that
they didn't turn my way. So I'm just very happy that,
you know, it took my chances.
Speaker 2 (21:59):
I really went for it.
Speaker 20 (22:00):
That was down fifteen forty and I was like, okay,
you have to take it.
Speaker 2 (22:03):
Nobody's going to give it to you.
Speaker 20 (22:05):
So yeah, I'm I'm just very proud of myself for
doing that.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
Ju leaves Melbourne having recorded her best Grand Slam result
in nine years on the tour.
Speaker 21 (22:14):
Yeah, I mean this obviously gave me a lot of confidence,
like make me believe in myself I can play like
a better tennis But I need to get more chance
to play against player like this to be able to
beat them. So yeah, I for sure I will play
more big tournament And yeah, let's see.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
Let's have a look at some matches tomorrow, Day eight,
the continuation of the fourth round, and we'll start Steph
with Arena Sabalanca, the fifth seed, taking on Belinda Bencic.
Speaker 2 (22:49):
I kind of like that matchup quite a bit.
Speaker 15 (22:51):
They're both pretty fiery, they're both capable of everything and nothing,
and it could very very easily be.
Speaker 2 (22:59):
A final, you know.
Speaker 15 (23:00):
I The thing about Benchit that's sort of tricky is
that she's she's a grown up now, she's an adult player.
She's she's she's been higher than she is now. She's
probably not necessarily played better tennis than she is right now.
She's got a new coach in Dimitri Tersenoff, who coached
Seblenka for a number of years and and he knew
(23:21):
her pretty well, and so he's going to have a
lot of insight about how she could potentially get into
her head. You know, that's the one thing and the
other thing with with Seblanka, she proved a lot of
things to herself.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
Last year.
Speaker 15 (23:36):
She had terrible serving was starting at the beginning of
the season and basically running through the whole season and
the way I think she may have had some help
with this, but she came to terms with it in
the sense that she realized that she's actually a darn
good tennis player and that the serve isn't the only
thing that weapon that she has that allows her to
win mattress because she still managed to have a pretty
(23:57):
decent season despite that.
Speaker 16 (23:59):
And just on your point about the serve, you know,
the big difference this year at the Open, sabalank is
winning eighty five percent of points on her first serve,
which is insanely high. But for me, this game will
be decided by the how benchit can control. The sabalancafoehand.
Sabalalanka has got nearly ten kilometers above the women's average
in terms of pace on that groundstroke. So it's just
going to be a matter of cam Benshit's handle that
(24:19):
difference that she wouldn't have seen coming into this match.
Speaker 15 (24:22):
Benchi is just pretty good at handling piece. I mean,
she's used to it. That's pretty much most of what
they face most of the time. And she takes the
ball very early. But that's really the key there because
because that's hard to do.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
The third career meeting for those two a first career
meeting for our next match focus Alex Demenor taking on
Novak Djokovic and a few years ago, demon Or had
a third round matchup with rough On Nadal here on
Rod Labor Arena and the place was electric. If you
think that was big, this bodes for one hell of
a contest.
Speaker 15 (24:52):
I think he's going to have the crowd. I think
that's really helpful. I would say, you know, many years ago,
that might have been something that affected Djokovic, but he's
so used to not having the crowd on his side
that he's figured out a way a long time ago
to use that. So and he's so experienced, he's been
at this so long that.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
That's not going to phase him.
Speaker 15 (25:13):
What the only thing I can see that would really
would phase him is if Demonor is able to get
him on the move enough to test out that hamstring.
Speaker 16 (25:22):
Demona has to try and keep the point short. You know,
Djokovic is going at nearly seventy percent points one for
the tournament in rallies over eight shots. That's going to
be really difficult for Demonar because he's also incredibly high
in that in that area. But you know, he's going
up against one of the best returners that the game's
ever seen, So he's going to have to try and
keep those points really short, which is uncomfortable for him.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
Yeah, it's not even it's not even his game.
Speaker 15 (25:41):
I mean, that's not how he makes his money, and
so it's going to be very difficult under the circumstances
with the crowd going wild at home at a home
slamming its Novak Djokovic to all of a sudden do
with three point sixty on basically the way.
Speaker 2 (25:53):
He's played tennis his whole life.
Speaker 15 (25:55):
You know, I mean, I think the odds of that,
even if it even comes to mind, or if he
even tries it, I think the odds of success.
Speaker 2 (26:00):
On that or well, maybe not zero but pretty close.
Speaker 1 (26:03):
Do you think if he takes him to a fourth
or fifth set, his chances increase.
Speaker 15 (26:07):
Demino, Yeah, assuming that the more pressure you put on
that hamstring, the more the possibility comes. And I don't
wish this on him, but when you have a hamstring strand,
it can go from a grade one to a Grade
two with one false move, so maybe it increases the
odds of that happening. At the same time, one of
the reasons why nobody, almost nobody has been able to
win a major title in the Djokovic, Nadal, Federer era
(26:30):
is because they know how to manage five set matches
better than anybody else, in part because they've played more
of them than anybody else, but they they they know
what to do, and so often we see it with
the younger players, even Demino are still young, but he's
he's not a kid anymore. That they're the ones who
end up pooping out physically before thirty five year old
Djokovic does.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
And I mean his game does that to people.
Speaker 15 (26:54):
And also there's the stress of oh my god, am
I really going to beat one of these guys, And
so there are so many factors that are in the
favor of the big three type of guys. So yes,
if it's a physical thing, no, if it's a tennis thing.
Speaker 16 (27:07):
When we look at the physical battle stats we have,
Djokovic is just going as well as he always is.
All of his numbers are above, he's hitting his sprints,
he's above his average number of sprints, high intensity changes,
and then total distance that he's covered in the last
two games. So yeah, I'm not saying the hampshiing's not there,
but maybe he's just hiding it really well.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
From Barattini's forehand to Barty's slice, backhand and Curios's kick serve,
there are so many iconic weapons in players arsenal, but
which players attributes with the fans most like to have.
Speaker 10 (27:39):
I love the Federal players out Federal fan, so I
think they'll be his finash or how delicate he is
in front of the board.
Speaker 11 (27:47):
I love that Djokovic's passion, love his passion.
Speaker 1 (27:51):
Murray serving d speed and.
Speaker 11 (27:55):
Good guy go Refa's arms.
Speaker 8 (27:57):
Nick Kurios is rage for the tennis game, Nick Currios's temper.
Speaker 16 (28:01):
Curios going through a billion dollars worth of rackets in a.
Speaker 11 (28:04):
Day, probably ash Barty's back and slice.
Speaker 3 (28:07):
I think that'd be good.
Speaker 2 (28:08):
She tends to get her opponents with that quite a bit.
Speaker 4 (28:11):
I'm here for the experience, so I think every player counts.
That's what I think about the great experience. That what
Ausraia Open. Yeah, I'm not into someone. I'm just like
experience of what it is, what's happening right.
Speaker 1 (28:21):
Now, wonderful stuff. I'd quite like to have Seb Carter's
wingspan myself. He's got more reach than Inspector Gadget's home WiFi.
Speaker 11 (28:30):
That bloke.
Speaker 1 (28:31):
Anyway. That's all from a cracking Day seven from the
Australian Open. Join me again tomorrow for Day eight and
the completion of the fourth round, including the big one,
Demon versus Joker. In the meantime, be sure to subscribe,
and if you like what you're hear, please rate and
review so more fans can enjoy the AO show.
Just dug out by her catch.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
He leans into his own back head, picks.
Speaker 3 (00:04):
Up on the forehead from corner, another forehead from quarters.
Speaker 4 (00:07):
Gadge a brilliant hits the line, quarter picks up well hercuts, He.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Passes entire line.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
He has had some he's the.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Most enormous precious situ actions that he's into the quarter finals.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
Of the Australian Open. Hi, everyone, and welcome to the
AO Show with me. John hoovenars on the ground here
at Melbourne Park and didn't day seven dish ups some
jaw dropping moments. Here's what's coming up on the show.
Quarter quarter finals bound as Sebbie hangs tough against Huby.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
Oh those little moments that I've gone through, just kind
of learning from a stamped patient, stink.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Positive fonte swept aside by Rabai Kanner.
Speaker 5 (00:52):
When you will play against number one, I think you've
written I think.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
Towards Titsipas shows sinner, no mercy, that us a ripper
as we see here, plus all the key results from
Day seven, a preview of Day eight and which player
attributes to the fans covet.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Nick Kirios's rage for the tennis game.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
That's all ahead on the AO show.
Speaker 6 (01:17):
Match point CITs a pass sirs to the four and
a center cross call back.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
That way Winter.
Speaker 4 (01:22):
Oh, that was a test tonight, but Stefanos stand tall
a five steve win over Yanick Sinner.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Stefanos Sitsipass has tightened his Australian Open stranglehold on Janick
Sinner to reach the last eight, but not without a
significant challenge. In a rematch of last year's quarter final,
the Greek third seed was in control for the opening
two sets, dominating first serve points, but Sinner responded positively
in the third set, particularly on return. With ten break
(01:52):
point opportunities. He converted just one, but it was enough
to take the set, and he replicated the pattern in
the fourth, sending the match to a gripping decider. The
battle was fierce until the sixth game, when Sitsipas opened
up two break points. He converted the second thanks to
a loose Sinner foehand out wide, and he maintained the
(02:13):
margin on the way to a six four sixty four
three six four six six ' three win.
Speaker 7 (02:18):
I mean, what a great night a.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Ripper as we see here that was.
Speaker 7 (02:27):
Super I had an unbelievable bond and on the other
side of the court today playing incredible Dennis on the
third and fourth.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
Set, defeated and dejected, Sinner slumped back down the walk
of champions, ruining twenty two missed break point opportunities.
Speaker 8 (02:41):
A couple of missus, easy missus and had it. The
match has changed quite fast than after. He was throing
well and and that's it.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
I'm joined now by Ersin Kadaris and Stefanos. Is a
quirky character, isn't he?
Speaker 9 (02:57):
Oh yeah, he definitely is. I mean he always provides
the enters painment in the interviews that he does. He
works with the fans a lot. He loved the attention
that he's getting. And Rod Labor was there watching today,
which I know he has a lot of respect for
Rod Labor. So a special match for him and a
big battle. The Stephanus came into our studio and he
(03:17):
was absolutely knackered, as you can imagine after a four
hour battle.
Speaker 7 (03:20):
Today was obviously longer than any other match that I've
played in the last three matches that I did, and
he was very physical. It was a long match with
a lot of rallies, with a lot of intensity. Uh,
if you can call it that as a you can
refer to it as a dip. I don't know, but
it was definitely you know, it could have been different
(03:41):
for sure.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
No, No, I didn't say you had a dip.
Speaker 9 (03:44):
I'm just saying someone who.
Speaker 7 (03:46):
If I could, if I could include myself in there. No,
I wouldn't say it did, because I played a great
opponent today. But hopefully you're definitely you're not aiming for
a dip, and if it happens, it happens. You just
have to learn how to survive it, that's all.
Speaker 9 (04:02):
Hey, it was so cool to see Rock Labor watching
a match today as well. Do you ever think back
at like what it must have been like for these
guys back in the day with the wooden rackets and
they were by themselves, like I don't think they had
physios and everything.
Speaker 7 (04:16):
Yes, I have thought about it a lot. I haven't
had the chance to ask Rod, even though I've been
around him a little bit in some of the events,
But I'm sure it was a very different lifestyle to
what it is now. And of course professional one one
could say, but not as professional as it is these days.
(04:38):
So definitely have a lot of respect for these type
of players because they played with equipment that was heavy,
as heavy as a camera, and you know, playing with
the wooden racket is probably the most difficult thing ever.
I've tried link with it. Yeah, the face is so small.
(04:58):
If you don't hear it, if you don't hit it right,
you're out so better. You have to practice constantly to
get it right.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
Awaiting sits a pass. In the quarterfinals is Yuri Lahechka,
who produced one of the upsets of the tournament, stunning
Felix Augier Aliassim in four sets. It was a battle
of the serves between the Czech world number seventy one
and the Canadian sixth seed, each managing just one break
of serve for the match. They won the same number
of points in the fourth set, but Lahechka managed to
(05:28):
raise his level in the pressure moments. Augier Aliasim, a
quarter finalist last year, bowing out four to six sixty
three seven, six, seven six.
Speaker 10 (05:36):
It's been tough tough week for me, to be honest.
I gave everything I had. I had some good moments
and the first set was good. I was serving well today,
but too many parts of my game or not at
the level they need to be in order to win
against players like him and the other players in the draft.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
The Victor Lahechka spoke with reporter Josh Martin after his
remarkable win.
Speaker 11 (06:00):
Congratulations, this has been an amazing tournament run so far.
You've been the Australian opens Giant slayer. How are you
feeling right now? Are you on cloud nine? Is this
the best winning your career?
Speaker 12 (06:11):
Yeah?
Speaker 6 (06:11):
I think it is for sure, because I feel amazing,
you know, and through this tournament I managed to play
very well, and I'm very happy that I'm true. Of course,
I hope it's not over, and I'm looking forward to
my next match, you know, and to focus on the
right things to do to recover well, to eat well,
(06:32):
and to prepare well on my next matchup.
Speaker 11 (06:34):
What happened in your off season? This is a big
change for you at Grand Slams.
Speaker 6 (06:39):
I mean, when I had my off season, you know,
we did some pre season preparation, you know, and we
sat down with the team, you know, and we talked
through the unsuccessful Grand Slams, you know, matches which I
played last year, you know, because I played main draw
in every one of them. Two times I had like
(07:01):
a bad draw. Let's say like that. But the two
times I had, I had it in my own arms,
you know. So we talked through that, We took all
the experiences out of it, what we could, what we
could improve, what we should do the same, and what
we shouldn't, and I think we managed it well. And
now we are looking to play in the Quorse. So yeah,
(07:23):
I'm very happy.
Speaker 11 (07:24):
I mean, you could easily say that the drawer you
have right now is a bad draw, but you've managed
to get through.
Speaker 6 (07:30):
Yeah, I mean that's the thing. If you're not seated,
you know, on a Grand Slam, then of course you
know there is nothing much you can choose from. You know,
you're on Grand Slam. Here are the best players ever.
Speaker 5 (07:40):
You know.
Speaker 6 (07:42):
What you can search and what you can look. You know,
everyone here is playing in a very great form, you know.
And I beat it. I beat the three seedy guys.
So for me, the most important thing is just to
focus on my own game, you know, to focus on
my own a preparation all before every serve, before every
(08:03):
ever return, to focus on myself and then I know
what my game can do, and then just focus on
doing dirt things.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
Sebastian Corter has continued his golden run in Melbourne, triumphing
in a five set thriller against Hubert Hercutch to reach
his maiden Grand Slam quarterfinal. After conceding serve early, the
American twenty ninth seed dropped the first set to the
towering Pole, but Quarter hit back in the second, dominating
the net points and making inroads on his opponent's serve.
(08:37):
The third set was a similar story as he continued
to capitalize on her catcher's errors, including three double faults
to establish a two sets to one lead, but the
Poll was able to arrest the momentum in a thirty
eight minute fourth set, breaking the American serve twice to
send it to a decider. There, both players refused to
yield in a gripping fifth quarter, saving two break points
(08:59):
in the eleventh to force a super tie break, and
despite trailing by an early mini break, the twenty two
year old held his nerve and turned the tables on
a frustrated her catch before ending the match in style
three six six, three six two one six seven to six.
Speaker 13 (09:16):
Yeah, I just tried to stay as calm as they
possibly could as there was a late night the match
before and kind of just coming out here playing the
day during the condition, different conditions, so it's as difficult,
but you know, I'm very happy with the way I
kind of just stayed down, kept going through it, and
you know, the outcome was great.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
Quarter's mental game is proving a key weapon in his
campaign that's seen him take down seventh seed Daniel Medvedev
and the tenth seed in succession.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
I think I'm really good at just kind of moving forward,
learning from my mistakes, what I've done in the past,
and then using them in matches like this. I think,
you know, I've had a tough match with Rafa, with
serving for it a couple of times, match point with Djokovic,
and I think that really helped me, especially in the
last March with Medvedev closing out that tiebreaker, and then
(10:05):
today as well. I think all those little moments that
I've gone through, just kind of learning from the staying patient,
staying positive and just going through the process, I think
have really helped me going forward. And yeah, definitely those
kinds of losses hurt the most, but my parents and
the people around me are really big to just keep going.
(10:25):
You're doing great, just stay positive and stay the course.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
The top seed French Open and US Open champion is
on the ropes here back and return for and from
Rebeccaa wensday point wins the match. The top seeded out
for the first time in the Open era. None of
the top two men's or women's seeds will compete in
the last date of a Grand Slam. World number one
igash Fontek was today defeated in straight sets by last
(10:55):
year's Wimbledon champ Elena Rabaikana. The Kazakh twenty second seed,
broke Tech right out of the gates before three unforced
erarors put the setback on par rebaik and I controlled
her nerves and hit a crucial backhand winner to break
again late in the set, which he took six ' four,
tightening her service game. In the second the Kuzakh won
eighty one percent of first serves. An untimely unforced era
(11:18):
from the racket of Schviontek in the ninth game gave
Rebiken of the break and she was never headed, winning
six four, six 'y four.
Speaker 5 (11:25):
When you play against number one, I think you've really
not think to lose, and I knew that I had
to be aggressive from the first ball because she's a
great mover and she defense really well.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
After a tough couple of weeks for the world number one,
she wants to work on her mental game for the
rest of the season.
Speaker 14 (11:44):
I felt the pressure and I felt that I don't
want to lose instead of that I want to win.
So that's I think it's a base of what I
should focus on in the next couple of weeks.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
Joining me on the roundtable today a tennis writer and
commentator Stephanie Miles and Dan Wood from Tennis Australia's Game
Insight Group. Things were a little off today for Iger.
She was running late coming onto court and she received
a time violation before she'd even served a ball. Steph,
what did you observe about there?
Speaker 15 (12:13):
Well, my thought about that was ultimately that there obviously
were things going on off court, whether in the warm
up or possibly in her interactions with people, or any
possible thing could have happened before the match, because yeah,
I mean, it's a big match and you know what
time you're playing, and you don't generally show up late
unless there's a reason. Now whether we find out what
(12:35):
that reason is remains to be seen, but certainly she
started off off kilter and it never really got much
better from there?
Speaker 1 (12:42):
Did it broken in the very first game? And Dylan,
we've got you on today from the Game Insight group
to talk a little bit about serve return stats. So
what insights can you bring especially in that first set.
Speaker 16 (12:53):
Yeah, So I think Ega was just really struggling to
get herself into the game on the return. I mean,
Robi Keina was so dominant with the first she went
at forty one percent unreturned and you just can't get
any sort of rhythm from the baseline.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
There fifty seven percent shrion Tech in terms of first
serve points one to Rebiken is eighty percent, So there
was quite a disparity there. How soon do you think
emotionally it all hit home for Ego?
Speaker 2 (13:17):
Well, I think she knew it going in.
Speaker 15 (13:20):
Rebiken doesn't get a lot of attention because she doesn't
draw very much attention to herself. For one thing, she's
a Wimbledon champion and the other thing is that she
was probably the young the player most affected by the
pandemic and the stoppage of play because she was but
maybe nineteen then, and she was absolutely on a roll.
She was on the rise that most people thought she
(13:41):
might be on and then the next thing, you know,
you don't play tennis for five months, and then after
that it gets super complicated. So perhaps only now, maybe
she's showing people who don't pay as close attention as
some of us do. But she's one of those women
who could serve one eighty five and up. And when
you can do that and hit as hard as she does,
going to be trouble for anybody. So I don't think
(14:02):
that I don't think her quality surprised Shantech at all.
I think that Shantek's issues today were all on her side.
But again, you know, when you serve that hard in
that well, you're going to win most of your points
and you're going to be hard to break. Like that's
not even rocket science, that's that's just something she has
to get. That's something she has to accept. But at
the same time, she didn't do the job on her
(14:24):
side of the court.
Speaker 16 (14:25):
Yeah, I think absolutely. When you're only winning twenty percent
on the return of a first serve is going to
be a long day for you. She just really didn't
vary up her return position at all. Whereas Robbie Cannon
was always able to get a good raad on the
Swinetech second serve, and she hit every return on the
ad court from within about half a meter of her
starting position. So she obviously had that sorted.
Speaker 15 (14:44):
And the thing is now they are allowed to have coaching.
So if she was not picking up on the things
that you're mentioning, which is kind of the job, and
not passing that along to her, there's one of two things.
Either he was not noticing that or paying attention, or
she wasn't paying any attention to him, and either one
is possible.
Speaker 8 (15:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
The other thing we wanted to speak about was the
length of points.
Speaker 16 (15:06):
Yeah, so any any rally that was under four shots,
the total count was forty three thirty two in Rabbi
Kana's favor. So that just shows a real dominance in
getting in control of that rally. Early when Igor was
able to extend the rally, she was having more success,
but that just wasn't the case today.
Speaker 15 (15:20):
Well, she's a much better defender anyway. She moves a
lot better, i mean exponentially better than Rabbi Kina does.
She has to make her points exactly the way, you know,
as you pointed out the way that she did.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
But Shantek can.
Speaker 15 (15:32):
I mean, she can do that, you know, she just
didn't really do it very well today. She didn't do
much of anything particularly well today. And if you'd ask
me before the tournament if I would pick Shantek or
I would pick the field, I would have picked the
field because I just figure so many things can happen
during the course of a Grand Slam, and so many
things went right for her in Grand slams last year.
I feel like somehow these things even out somewhere, and
(15:55):
this tournament particularly has been so wacky, and in saying
that this would be the place that would.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
Happen, maybe the ranking points flat to her somewhat, particularly
because her opponent missed out on the Wimbledon points potentially
wouldn't have actually met at this stage of the Slam
if she had.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
Well, I heard.
Speaker 15 (16:09):
I've heard that a lot over the last little while,
and my counter argument to that is, Okay, yes, she
didn't get those points, she would have been in much
better shape for.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
The rest of the year. But you know what, she
didn't make any other points either.
Speaker 15 (16:22):
She's basically the same spot that she was before Wimbledon
and hasn't made any progress, you know, throughout the rest
of the season, so part of that is on her
as well. But again, what comes first, chicken or the egg.
If she has better seating positions, maybe she gets better
draws and maybe she does do better. I mean, look,
she was a little bit hard done by by that,
but life. Whoever said life was fair?
Speaker 8 (16:53):
Into the quarter finals, she goes and Aftapanco.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
The seventeenth seed goes through. Coco Cough exits pre tournament
fancy Coco Goff has joined the seeds exodus after former
French Open champion Ylena Ostapenko blitzed the seventh seed in
straight sets. Gough came undone in the face of Ostapenko's
aggressive style of play, with the Latvian blasting nine more
(17:19):
winners than her opponent. She came up clutch in pressure
moments too, converting all three of her break points and
saving seven of the eight that she faced. Josh Martin
joins me now and Josh she had the pleasure of
speaking with Elena after her win.
Speaker 11 (17:33):
Yeah, so it was her best AO result ever, her
best result at a hard court slam ever. But most importantly,
it's also the first time that she's made a quarter
final since Wimbledon twenty eighteen, just after a French Open success,
and she told me how much she's changed since then.
Speaker 17 (17:49):
I'm probably more mature now because I needed a couple
of years to get used to the French Open win,
because the life completely changed and everybody expected so much
from you and attention from everywhere. So now I feel
like I'm more mature and I'm playing well this week
and hopefully I can keep it up, and of course
it feels great to be here.
Speaker 11 (18:08):
Do you think that burden of that early success has
now lifted.
Speaker 17 (18:12):
Yeah, I feel like I really have nothing to lose
time just trying to enjoy myself more on the court,
and I was working a lot in pre seasons, so
I think it pays off.
Speaker 11 (18:24):
What kind of work were you doing in that pre sison, Yeah, I.
Speaker 17 (18:28):
Was working more on my consistency on everything, just feeling
my shots, movement, fitness level, a lot of things. So
and of course it gives me kind of confidence. But
it's always hard to come back after like two months
with not playing matches, so you really need a little
bit of time to get used to the playing matches.
Speaker 11 (18:49):
You're dominating with that aggressive style that you're known for.
How do you think that's going to hold up against
someone like Rebecca the next round, who's known for her
big serve. Do you think he can still work like
that eating those aggressive winners.
Speaker 17 (19:02):
Of course, she's a good player and it's gonna be
a tough match. But I feel like I just have
to focus more on myself and just to play aggressive
and make it hard for her.
Speaker 11 (19:14):
And today you came out really in the clutch. You
convoted three of your break points, all three of your
break points, and you saved seven of eight. What's helping
you mentally on the court at the moment.
Speaker 17 (19:26):
I'm just trying to enjoy myself more and just to
focus on the game and try to not see or
hear anything outside the court, just to be in the
game and try to be as consistent as possible.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
Goth exits Melbourne in the fourth round for the second time,
unable to match Ostapenko's power.
Speaker 18 (19:45):
There's bas I was hitting deep and she was hitting
them like on the line and hitting them back deep
multiple over and over again.
Speaker 2 (19:51):
So it's just one of those days.
Speaker 18 (19:53):
I just didn't go my way and went her way.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
Come on, hotch K has extended his career best result
at the Australian Open double bageling Yoshi Hito Nishioka in
a straight sets annihilation. The Japanese thirty first seed had
no answers for the big serving Russian in the first
two sets, winning just two points in the second set alone.
Honor was on the line in a third set tiebreak,
but it was too little, too late, as Kutchanov went
(20:22):
on to win six love, six love, seven to six
in under two hours.
Speaker 12 (20:26):
Tough to see what's happening. Obviously I played well, maybe
he didn in some situations, you know, but it's it's tennis,
you know, And I remember myself in that situation. Was weird.
Also last year in Rome, I won first set against
Titsipas six y four, and then suddenly I was losing
zero three zero, and I'm like, Hawaii cannot win one game.
I mean, with my serve and everything.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
Women's number three seed Jessica Pogula has ousted former world
number two bubb or A Kratsikova in straight sets to
reach the quarter finals for the third straight year. The
American could have been even more efficient, converting only two
of her thirteen break point chances in the first set.
Pagoula is now the highest remaining seed in both singles draws.
Speaker 19 (21:07):
I still don't really feel like that because I mean
I look at the draw and there's still girls that
I mean, today, she won you know, French Open, you
have Rabikino who won Wimbledon last year. You have Ico
who does really well here. You Caroline won the championship.
So like, it doesn't really feel like I'm the highest left.
Even though that's I guess a cool stat it feels
(21:29):
like there's still a long ways to go, to be honest.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
Her next opponent is Victoria Azarenka, who fought back from
a shaky start to end the charm run of China's Julian.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
I feel so relieved.
Speaker 20 (21:40):
It was, you know, two hours forty of complete pressure,
point by point, you know, momentum shift. There was everything
in this match, and I'm just so happy I was
able to manage. The beginning of the year, I had
a lot of a couple of very close matches that
they didn't turn my way. So I'm just very happy that,
you know, it took my chances.
Speaker 2 (21:59):
I really went for it.
Speaker 20 (22:00):
That was down fifteen forty and I was like, okay,
you have to take it.
Speaker 2 (22:03):
Nobody's going to give it to you.
Speaker 20 (22:05):
So yeah, I'm I'm just very proud of myself for
doing that.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
Ju leaves Melbourne having recorded her best Grand Slam result
in nine years on the tour.
Speaker 21 (22:14):
Yeah, I mean this obviously gave me a lot of confidence,
like make me believe in myself I can play like
a better tennis But I need to get more chance
to play against player like this to be able to
beat them. So yeah, I for sure I will play
more big tournament And yeah, let's see.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
Let's have a look at some matches tomorrow, Day eight,
the continuation of the fourth round, and we'll start Steph
with Arena Sabalanca, the fifth seed, taking on Belinda Bencic.
Speaker 2 (22:49):
I kind of like that matchup quite a bit.
Speaker 15 (22:51):
They're both pretty fiery, they're both capable of everything and nothing,
and it could very very easily be.
Speaker 2 (22:59):
A final, you know.
Speaker 15 (23:00):
I The thing about Benchit that's sort of tricky is
that she's she's a grown up now, she's an adult player.
She's she's she's been higher than she is now. She's
probably not necessarily played better tennis than she is right now.
She's got a new coach in Dimitri Tersenoff, who coached
Seblenka for a number of years and and he knew
(23:21):
her pretty well, and so he's going to have a
lot of insight about how she could potentially get into
her head. You know, that's the one thing and the
other thing with with Seblanka, she proved a lot of
things to herself.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
Last year.
Speaker 15 (23:36):
She had terrible serving was starting at the beginning of
the season and basically running through the whole season and
the way I think she may have had some help
with this, but she came to terms with it in
the sense that she realized that she's actually a darn
good tennis player and that the serve isn't the only
thing that weapon that she has that allows her to
win mattress because she still managed to have a pretty
(23:57):
decent season despite that.
Speaker 16 (23:59):
And just on your point about the serve, you know,
the big difference this year at the Open, sabalank is
winning eighty five percent of points on her first serve,
which is insanely high. But for me, this game will
be decided by the how benchit can control. The sabalancafoehand.
Sabalalanka has got nearly ten kilometers above the women's average
in terms of pace on that groundstroke. So it's just
going to be a matter of cam Benshit's handle that
(24:19):
difference that she wouldn't have seen coming into this match.
Speaker 15 (24:22):
Benchi is just pretty good at handling piece. I mean,
she's used to it. That's pretty much most of what
they face most of the time. And she takes the
ball very early. But that's really the key there because
because that's hard to do.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
The third career meeting for those two a first career
meeting for our next match focus Alex Demenor taking on
Novak Djokovic and a few years ago, demon Or had
a third round matchup with rough On Nadal here on
Rod Labor Arena and the place was electric. If you
think that was big, this bodes for one hell of
a contest.
Speaker 15 (24:52):
I think he's going to have the crowd. I think
that's really helpful. I would say, you know, many years ago,
that might have been something that affected Djokovic, but he's
so used to not having the crowd on his side
that he's figured out a way a long time ago
to use that. So and he's so experienced, he's been
at this so long that.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
That's not going to phase him.
Speaker 15 (25:13):
What the only thing I can see that would really
would phase him is if Demonor is able to get
him on the move enough to test out that hamstring.
Speaker 16 (25:22):
Demona has to try and keep the point short. You know,
Djokovic is going at nearly seventy percent points one for
the tournament in rallies over eight shots. That's going to
be really difficult for Demonar because he's also incredibly high
in that in that area. But you know, he's going
up against one of the best returners that the game's
ever seen, So he's going to have to try and
keep those points really short, which is uncomfortable for him.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
Yeah, it's not even it's not even his game.
Speaker 15 (25:41):
I mean, that's not how he makes his money, and
so it's going to be very difficult under the circumstances
with the crowd going wild at home at a home
slamming its Novak Djokovic to all of a sudden do
with three point sixty on basically the way.
Speaker 2 (25:53):
He's played tennis his whole life.
Speaker 15 (25:55):
You know, I mean, I think the odds of that,
even if it even comes to mind, or if he
even tries it, I think the odds of success.
Speaker 2 (26:00):
On that or well, maybe not zero but pretty close.
Speaker 1 (26:03):
Do you think if he takes him to a fourth
or fifth set, his chances increase.
Speaker 15 (26:07):
Demino, Yeah, assuming that the more pressure you put on
that hamstring, the more the possibility comes. And I don't
wish this on him, but when you have a hamstring strand,
it can go from a grade one to a Grade
two with one false move, so maybe it increases the
odds of that happening. At the same time, one of
the reasons why nobody, almost nobody has been able to
win a major title in the Djokovic, Nadal, Federer era
(26:30):
is because they know how to manage five set matches
better than anybody else, in part because they've played more
of them than anybody else, but they they they know
what to do, and so often we see it with
the younger players, even Demino are still young, but he's
he's not a kid anymore. That they're the ones who
end up pooping out physically before thirty five year old
Djokovic does.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
And I mean his game does that to people.
Speaker 15 (26:54):
And also there's the stress of oh my god, am
I really going to beat one of these guys, And
so there are so many factors that are in the
favor of the big three type of guys. So yes,
if it's a physical thing, no, if it's a tennis thing.
Speaker 16 (27:07):
When we look at the physical battle stats we have,
Djokovic is just going as well as he always is.
All of his numbers are above, he's hitting his sprints,
he's above his average number of sprints, high intensity changes,
and then total distance that he's covered in the last
two games. So yeah, I'm not saying the hampshiing's not there,
but maybe he's just hiding it really well.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
From Barattini's forehand to Barty's slice, backhand and Curios's kick serve,
there are so many iconic weapons in players arsenal, but
which players attributes with the fans most like to have.
Speaker 10 (27:39):
I love the Federal players out Federal fan, so I
think they'll be his finash or how delicate he is
in front of the board.
Speaker 11 (27:47):
I love that Djokovic's passion, love his passion.
Speaker 1 (27:51):
Murray serving d speed and.
Speaker 11 (27:55):
Good guy go Refa's arms.
Speaker 8 (27:57):
Nick Kurios is rage for the tennis game, Nick Currios's temper.
Speaker 16 (28:01):
Curios going through a billion dollars worth of rackets in a.
Speaker 11 (28:04):
Day, probably ash Barty's back and slice.
Speaker 3 (28:07):
I think that'd be good.
Speaker 2 (28:08):
She tends to get her opponents with that quite a bit.
Speaker 4 (28:11):
I'm here for the experience, so I think every player counts.
That's what I think about the great experience. That what
Ausraia Open. Yeah, I'm not into someone. I'm just like
experience of what it is, what's happening right.
Speaker 1 (28:21):
Now, wonderful stuff. I'd quite like to have Seb Carter's
wingspan myself. He's got more reach than Inspector Gadget's home WiFi.
Speaker 11 (28:30):
That bloke.
Speaker 1 (28:31):
Anyway. That's all from a cracking Day seven from the
Australian Open. Join me again tomorrow for Day eight and
the completion of the fourth round, including the big one,
Demon versus Joker. In the meantime, be sure to subscribe,
and if you like what you're hear, please rate and
review so more fans can enjoy the AO show.
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