March 8, 2023 • 31 mins
Carlos Alcaraz and Stefanos Tsitsipas are within striking distance of the No.1 ranking with Novak Djokovic absent from Indian Wells, but can anyone stop Daniil Medvedev and Iga Swiatek? Viv Christie and Leigh Rogers from Australian Tennis Magazine join the Round Table to discuss title contenders and players on the rise, newly crowned Acapulco champion Alex de Minaur reveals what we all should know about him but no one’s bothered to ask, and we honour the ‘Original Nine’ and their contribution to tennis on the occasion of International Women’s Day.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
The time for talking is over.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
The match clock showing.
Speaker 3 (00:04):
Four hours and twelve minutes leave it all. Loves Him.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
A short for Indian inside em Bury, the erotic what's
the smash like?
Speaker 1 (00:14):
It's good, It's got a good starts.
Speaker 4 (00:17):
It's about love, says I love lad Rada and there's
ten the.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Absolute Quest Dokavich. Heyday everyone, and welcome to the AO
Show with me. John hohovenas excitement his building as the
tours converge on Indian Wells this fortnight, but not everyone
will be there. Here's what's coming up, the big winners
from Djokovic's withdrawal from Indian Wells.
Speaker 5 (00:44):
You want your world number one to be there competing,
but it also opens up new opportunities because the world
numb one ranking is on the line again.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Ossie number one, Alex Demonor on the give and take
of professional tennis.
Speaker 6 (00:55):
It hasn't been the easy road, but a lot of
hard work and sacrifice you can do beautiful things and.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
And honoring the original nine. On the week of International
Women's Day.
Speaker 7 (01:04):
I remember alas asking each other, really like, this is
something you're really willing to think about.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
If you've never been playing again, that's all ahead.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
On the AO Show from the Middle East to Mexico.
Here are this week's headlines. Daniel Medvedev makes it three
titles on the Trot in Dubai and fourteen consecutive wins
since his Australian Open exit. Alex Demonor returns to the
world's top twenty after winning his seventh career title in Akapulco.
(01:33):
Donovekich completes her remarkable comeback with a drought breaking title
winner for Caroline Garcia in Monterey. Martin Costuak records a
breakthrough title in Texas, dedicating her win to victims of
the war in Ukraine. And Novak Djokovic withdraws from Indian
Wells unable to secure a visa exemption for unvaccinated foreigners.
Speaker 8 (01:57):
Well.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
Joining me today on the roundtable are Vivcris and Lee
Rodgers from Australian Tennis magazine. Welcome to you both, Thanks
for having us, John Well. I understand there's another edition
of the magazine in the works at the moment. What's
this one all about and when does it hit newstands?
Speaker 1 (02:11):
So yes, we are working on our April and May
edition now, so which will hit newstands in early April,
and the theme of this particular magazine is opportunity, so
there's lots of players seizing opportunities at the moment, you
would say, including Alex Dimenor, who as we know, won
his biggest career title over the weekend. Is in great form.
We were lucky enough to chat with him earlier today
(02:33):
and he'll be our cover staff for the magazine and.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Other stories you'll be covering Lee.
Speaker 5 (02:37):
We're also looking at the rise of men's tennis in China,
US college pathways and how players are really thriving and
some of the rising stars of the game, including Marta
Kostjuk and Yuri Lehetzka.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
Oh very nice. Yes, we'll be having a chat about
Marta as well here on the roundtable. But you mentioned
Alex Demenor. He's the talk of the town from an
Australian perspective. He'll actually be joining us on the AO
show shortly and he's now to Australia's number one, with
six Aussie men in the ATP Top one hundred league.
Speaker 5 (03:05):
Yeah, Alex is really flying the flag. He's back to
number one, overtaking Nick Krios this week and he becomes
only the second Australian to win an ATP five hundred
title in the last fifteen years, which is a great achievement.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
In fifteen years. That is some I mean, it's sort
of remarkable that we haven't had more in that time.
Speaker 5 (03:22):
I mean it's hard to win titles at that level.
It just shows, you know, like what Alex achieved of
the weekend is a fantastic result.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
Yeah, and such a humble athlete and is very comfortable
leading the way for Australia. Such a patriot as well.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
Yeah, he's very proud to be in that position. He
wants to be a role model to young players here
in Australia and I think that's a position that he
holds very well.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
So he took the title in Akapulco over in Dubai.
It was a player who six weeks ago was packing
his bags after a straight set exit in the third
round of the Australian Open. But since then Daniel Medvedev
has been unbeat and won now three titles in a rowly.
Speaker 5 (04:02):
It's an amazing story. Yeah, fifteen wins in a row.
He's in previous ranking from number twelve back up to
number six, and he also beat Djokovic snapping the twenty
match winning street that Novak was on. So pretty impressive
numbers and performances from Medvedev. You'd have to consider him
the favorite for Indian Wells now, even though he's never
made a past the fourth round there. But you know,
(04:23):
with no back out Nadal out Alcras under an injury cloud,
it sort of looks like Medvedev's title to lose.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
Yeah, I would agree with that statement. I think he's
almost coming in without pressure as well. He lost early
I think it was maybe second or third round to
Gael mont Feast last year, so I feel like he
will come in without any kind of feeling like he's
got any pressure on him there as well.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
So it's all starting to click, isn't it For the
AO twenty two runner up? Has he really turned a
corner now? Do you reckonlye and exercised those demons of
a year ago?
Speaker 5 (04:55):
It's hard to argue otherwise. You know, three titles in
a row and he what was I think he had
quite a few top to ten wins in there as well.
Four I think yeah, So he's playing well and he's
winning titles, he's winning finals again, so it looks like, yeah,
he definitely has turned a corner.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
I think at the Australian Open in twenty twenty two.
I mean, obviously it was a great tournament for him,
who wouldn't want to get to a final, But there
were also maybe a few demons after he lost that
final to Nadal. So you know, maybe now that he's
been back and played another Australian Open, he's sort of
putting those difficulties behind him, and yeah, can sense a
(05:34):
new chapter.
Speaker 5 (05:35):
And he's definitely showed throughout his career he's a player
that thrives with confidence and when he's winning matches, that's
when he's like at his most dangerous.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
So absolutely interesting fact about Medvedev He's won eighteen career
titles in eighteen different cities.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
Yeah, that would have to be getting up there in
terms of most tit as one without having ever replicated
Open era record, I believe.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
Yeah, that's what I understand as well. First here in Australia, So.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
Lee, you mentioned top ten wins over this incredible unbeaten
period over the past six weeks or so. He won't
actually have to worry about facing Djokovic at Indian Wells
because of the news that Novak is withdrawn from the tournament.
Speaker 5 (06:14):
Yeah, I mean it's disappointing for the sport, like you
want your World Number one to be there competing, but
it also opens up new opportunities because the World numb
One ranking is on the line again. Carlos elcraz can
regain the world No. One ranking if he wins the
Indian Wells title and Stefano sits a pass. There's also
a chance if he performs well over the next couple
of weeks as well.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
Yeah, it's kind of that feeling of you never know
who's going to step up and grab that opportunity we
as we keep talking about. We saw tailor Fritz Dowart
last year in Indian Wells and what a season he
ended up having after winning that title as well. So
I feel like there's lots of really talented men who
could step up.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Well, let's have a look at the women's now and
one player who we've been very impressed spy this year
quarterfinalists here at the Australian Open and continued her form
as Donna Vekeetch, who's claimed her first title since twenty
twenty one in Monterrey.
Speaker 5 (07:08):
Le Yeah, Donald's in an amazing form. This time last year,
she was ranked outside the top one hundred, struggling with
her confidence coming back from a knee injury, and I
think she sort of said herself like she was considering
whether she had a future in the sport. And look
at her now. She's one fourteen of her sixteen matches
this season, or only two losses that were against world
number five Arena Sabalanka in the Astraena from quarterfinals and
(07:29):
world number seven Maria Sakari in the Lynx quarterfinals. So
she's playing great tennis and she's sitting at world number
twenty three, just so I have a career high, which
she achieved back in twenty nineteen.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
Yeah, it's been an amazing turnaround for Donna, particularly in
the last few months. You know, in October last year,
she made the final of San Diego and had some
really good wins there. She beat Sachary Pliskova, Sabolenko and
to reach the final. And yeah, and at that tournament,
(08:00):
she also connected with Pam Schreiver, who has now joined
her coaching team, and something has just really clicked in
that relationship. And I think Donna is in just a
very positive place generally, and she's just writing the momentum.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
One to keep an eye on is Donna Vekch and
Lee Marta COSTYUK, who's someone we flagged off the top
and will appear in the next edition of Australian Tennis magazine.
Emotional scenes in Texas this week for Marta.
Speaker 5 (08:27):
Yeah, for sure. She was the first Ukrainian player man
or woman to win a singles title since the Russian invasion,
so lots of you know, it wasn't just her first title.
I think she's also like playing for a lot of
other people, and she dedicated the victory to her country.
So yeah, highly emotional scenes for sure.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
So that was a win over Varvara Gratscheva in straight
sets and vive at twenty years of age, there's still
so much upside to this highly watchable, highly marketable athlete.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
Yeah, she's a great player to watch. And it's funny
you mentioned her age twenty years old. You almost forget
how young she is. You know, she's done a lot
in her career already, particularly here in Australia. She was
the AO Girls Champion in twenty seventeen, then in twenty
eighteen she became the youngest woman to claim Mandraw wins
(09:15):
since Martina Hingis in nineteen ninety six, so she's kind
of got that even though she is very young. She's
also got that feel of being a very experienced player
as well, so she's got a great foundation for success.
Speaker 5 (09:26):
And it also goes to show like how much doubles
can actually help with confidence. She made this range from
semifinals in January in doubles and now she's translating that
success onto the singles court.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
So it's amazing. It feels like just yesterday. We first
got introduced to her in Melbourne as a teenager. I
think she was fifteen, is that right? So that must
have been twenty eighteen. She went the third round as
a fifteen year old. But she's really turned into a
mature player now. She doesn't seem like the teenager that
we and nor should she. But she doesn't seem like
the teenager that we first was introduced to.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
She's very comfortable in the spotlight. I think as both
a player and as a personality. I think she's kind
of yeah, she's it doesn't overwhelm her and I think
that holds her in really good stead. And we've seen
her when you know, this first title in Austin, and
I think you know that will also translate to wins
at bigger tournaments as well.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
So let's then have a think about Indian wells from
a WTA perspective.
Speaker 5 (10:20):
Oh, that's a tough question. I mean, IgA is going
to be tough to beat defending champion and obviously played
well in the Middle East, but there's also a lot
of other players playing well as well, so it's hard
to predict what could happen.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
Well if it's not eager, I would sort of my
mind goes to some of the American players who tend
to play particularly well on home soil, so Jess Bagoula,
perhaps Coco Golf. I think we could perhaps expect a
big result from Coco. Those are a couple that stand
out for me.
Speaker 5 (10:48):
Paula Badosa typically play as well Indian well. She won
the title two years ago, semi finalists last year, and
she slipped down the rankings a bit, so you know,
this might be a time for her to really sort
of step up and regain some momentum. Marias Theacury is
another one to keep an eye on. She was a
finalist last year and it'd be interesting to see how
she handles that pressure and whether she can go one
(11:09):
better this year.
Speaker 1 (11:10):
Yeah, it'd be great to see either of those women
step up and have a great result in Indian Wells.
Paul has had a tough start to the year with injury,
and Sakari I think really popular player. We'd all love
to see her breakthrough.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
Well all unfold over the next couple of weeks. We
will review our predictions at the end of it. But
viv Christy Lee Rodgers, thanks for joining us on the
AO Show.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
Thanks for having us and.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
You can read plenty of great stories in the upcoming
edition of Australian Tennis Magazine, available via Tennis dot mag
dot com dot a.
Speaker 6 (11:44):
Well.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Alex Deminor is in many ways the embodiment of all
the qualities Australians admire in their athletes. This week he's
added a seventh career title to his swag and has
moved back inside the world's top twenty players and the
twenty twenty three Acapulco Champion joined us now, Alex, welcome
back to the AO Show.
Speaker 6 (12:02):
Thank you for having me, happy to be back.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
Congratulations on behalf of well all your Australian fans, including
my wife I must say, who's fallen in love with
you over the past few months.
Speaker 6 (12:13):
Oh, well, I appreciate it. It means the world to me.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
What's been the most pleasing thing about your game lately,
particularly given the circumstances in which you won the final
and the semi.
Speaker 6 (12:25):
I think everything's sort of just clicking. You know, ultimately,
you put in a lot of hard work behind the
scenes and it's always amazing to see the results. You
don't always get them, so you have some tough weeks
here and tough weeks there, but it seems like everything's
kind of clicking. I'm having a great year and thing
(12:45):
so kind of looking up. So I'm very happy with
where my levels out and what I'm being able to
accomplish on the tennis court.
Speaker 2 (12:54):
I'll take your mind back to the start of this
summer when you came up with your new man Trait
might have even been a New Year's resolution from memory,
but we spoke in Sydney about you coming up with
your mantra. First of all, tell us what you wrote
on your bag and how has that been working out
for you as a new focus point for you.
Speaker 6 (13:12):
Yeah, so at the start of the year, I started
with a New Year's resolution, which was don't worry, be
happy a bit like exactly like the song. So I
wrote it on my bag and kind of it's something
to kind of keep on reminding me to just stay calm,
stay cool, stay collected, that that things are going to
(13:35):
go my way, that I put in the hard work
and now it's all about just enjoying the moment and
enjoying myself on.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
Court and back inside the top twenty again and also
importantly the number one Australian. What does it mean to
you to be the top player in your country and
also inside the top twenty in the world.
Speaker 6 (13:55):
Oh, it's an incredible honor to be the number one
in the country. And look, more than anything, I just
want to be someone that you know, people you know
look up to, can want to be reflected in myself
(14:16):
and can see you know that if you put in
the hard work, that you know you can get the results.
Speaker 4 (14:25):
Right.
Speaker 6 (14:27):
It hasn't been the easy road by any means, but look,
a lot of hard work and sacrifice you can do
a lot of beautiful things in this life. So I'm
very happy to be in the position that I am
right now.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
Wonderful attitude, Alex well, this episode is the first installment
of a new segment that we want to introduce. It's
called what we All Should Know About Alex Demonor, but
no one's bothered to ask yet. Okay, are you up
for a few left of field questions?
Speaker 5 (14:56):
Yes?
Speaker 6 (14:56):
Hit me?
Speaker 8 (14:56):
All right?
Speaker 2 (14:57):
So, who or what did you want to be? Before
you wanted to be a tennis player?
Speaker 6 (15:03):
I wanted to be a firefighter. But I think that's
literally every eight year old stream.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
Yeah, I think the options are firefighter, policeman, that's about it.
Speaker 6 (15:13):
Yeah, any of them. But that was that was me.
If not, then later in life, I was you know,
I loved nothing more than the TV show Suits, So
you know, I wanted to be a lawyer. I wanted
to be Hervey Specter, he called the kid around. So
(15:34):
but yeah, those are probably my two things if I
if I wasn't a tennis.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
Player, Well, fighting fires with a nickname like demon sort
of goes hand in hand. Just on that nickname. Who
is actually responsible for it? And what do you think
of that nickname?
Speaker 6 (15:48):
Well, actually responsible for it is one of my old
coaches called Ben Pine. A long time ago. It kind
of was to do with with kind of must be
a little bit. It was a play on words with
my surname. I always had a kind of a longer
surname which was hard to pronunciate and get right. So
(16:12):
it kind of worked and I went with it. Ever since.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
What can you tell us about your hometown in Spain?
What was special about it?
Speaker 6 (16:21):
What is special? I think it is one of the
most chilled out places there is. In fact, I'm pretty
sure it holds the record in Europe for being the
driest town or city in the whole of Europe because
it just never rains.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
Is that right?
Speaker 6 (16:43):
Yeah, you might have to fact check that, but I'm
pretty sure I've heard that before.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
Yeah, well, we'll get onto that. We'll get our research
and development team to have a look into that. Here's
a scenario. Layton gives you a left home from say practice,
and he turns on the stereo and puts on Hunters
and Collectors. Holy Grail, what do you do next?
Speaker 6 (17:04):
Oh? You gotta sing full blast every word of that song.
I mean, I think there's only one scenario and that's it.
You know, that's a very special song that we we
almost all know off by heart. We sing it when
(17:24):
we win to Davis Cup Tye and it's a very
special song.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
Yeah, and for our international listeners check it out Hunters
and collectors. Holy Grail a classic. What's the weirdest thing
You've ever posted on social media?
Speaker 6 (17:38):
What's the weirdest thing I've ever posted on social media? Weird?
I don't know. I think if you post something weird,
you kind of get crucified in this day and age.
So I think I've kind of restrained from that weird
weird weird. Actually, maybe a couple of years ago here
(17:59):
in a New well as I got given a demon
emoji costume and I posted a picture with me wearing that.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
So I have not seen that, but I'll be sure
to check it out.
Speaker 6 (18:09):
Yeah, make sure you scroll down the feed, you'll find it.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
Yep. Aside from tennis, what is the one skill you
could possibly make a career out of.
Speaker 6 (18:20):
I'm going to go, hey, Donna, Ah good, I'm just
doing an interview. I'll be sorry.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
Good a, Donna, thanks for joining us on the AO Show.
Speaker 6 (18:31):
Dona is a beautiful host lady here and in your world,
so we're very thankful. What is one thing I would
have to do something to do with sports? I think
being outdoors is what I love. I love any anything
to do with sports. You know, I would say golf,
(18:53):
but I'm probably kidding myself. There's there's a lot of
hours that need to go into that to get remotely
close to making it a profession. But that would be
my dream probably.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
There you go, Are there any other sports you're half decent.
Speaker 6 (19:05):
At As a kid? I used to play football, soccer,
you know, but yeah, that's probably probably about it.
Speaker 2 (19:17):
If you could have only five ingredients in your pantry
or fridge, what would they definitely be?
Speaker 6 (19:23):
Well, anything that's unhealthy. I mean, I've got a very
bad sweet too, so it's probably going to go be
You got lollies there for sure, You've got tim tams,
you got any sort of yeah, biscuit, chocolate.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
Donut, It's like all sweet things.
Speaker 6 (19:45):
Yeah, all sweet things. Yeah, just for for a rainy day.
There's nothing I think that makes you feel better then,
you know, a little cheat day.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
I shudder at what would happen to your athlete's body
if that became your sole diet exactly.
Speaker 6 (20:02):
So there's a lot of restrain that goes on every
day for me to kind of stay the way I am.
Speaker 2 (20:09):
Who is your favorite cartoon? Character as a kid.
Speaker 6 (20:12):
Oh, you know, I might have to go for the cliche.
Answers just say Speedy Gonzales.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
That's great and actually worked really well with the whole
Spanish thing too.
Speaker 6 (20:24):
Exactly.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
Give us an impression of Speedy doing his catchphrase.
Speaker 6 (20:27):
Oh, I don't think I can do it. I'm just
I'm all about the speeds.
Speaker 9 (20:31):
You know.
Speaker 6 (20:32):
That's that's where I see I resemble myself with Speedy Gonzale.
It's just a speed, isn't it?
Speaker 2 (20:36):
Something like underlay, underlay, you did it better than I did.
There you go. I don't know what it means. What's
the translation?
Speaker 6 (20:44):
Ah, well, it's basically like here we go, let's go,
like basically, I'm on my way.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
Maybe you could adopt that on court.
Speaker 6 (20:51):
Yeah, maybe maybe that should be my new catchphrase on court.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
It would be awesome, Like from a marketing perspective, let
me tell you.
Speaker 6 (20:58):
Yeah, well, look, I'll think about.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
It all right. Going back to the sweet two thing,
here's another scenario. You're at an ice cream shop ordering
a double scoop. What two flavors are you choosing?
Speaker 6 (21:10):
Very easy? Banana number one and dul said de leche
number two. Now, for those who don't know what that is.
It's very similar to caramel that flavor.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
Yeah, that works really well. It sounds like a bit
like what a Benoffi pie would be like.
Speaker 6 (21:29):
In quite similar. I think those two flavors go perfectly together.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
Hey, what's the worst fashion faux pa that you've made
in your career? Bit on court or off?
Speaker 6 (21:40):
I think one year at the next Gen Finals in Milan,
we got to go to the doll Chen Gamana store
and we decided to just put on the most outrageous
outfits that we could come by, and I think I
did a pretty good job of it and having a
(22:01):
pretty outrageous outfit. So that's actually on social media too,
so you can probably find that what did it look like?
An explosion of color? Let's just say that nice.
Speaker 2 (22:11):
I'll look that one up too. Hey, if you were
given a week off playing and training, what would you
spend your time doing?
Speaker 6 (22:19):
Depends where I am, but I would be driving my
classic cars along the beach and just taking it easy,
soaking up all the rays of sunshine that I could,
and probably spending a lot of time by.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
The ocean beautiful. Maybe have a casual game of tennis,
a match of tennis in a best of three sets
against Katie, what would be an acceptable scoreline?
Speaker 6 (22:47):
Oh, that is a great question.
Speaker 10 (22:50):
You know.
Speaker 6 (22:51):
We've actually we've hit together a couple of times, and
we play this game called targets. So essentially, we each
put like a cone on our side of the court
and we hit down the middle or cross cords and
kind of drill and see who can hit each other's
cone more often. Yeah, and I'm yet to beat her,
(23:11):
so really, yes, it's it's tough. She's pretty happy about that.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
So wow, she's a dead eye.
Speaker 6 (23:20):
Yeah, she's got she's good at targets. I'll give her that.
Speaker 2 (23:24):
But what do you reckon in a best of three
set match? What's a good scoreline?
Speaker 6 (23:28):
If I get the win, that's a good score line
right there.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
Which actor would you like to play you in a
biopic about your life?
Speaker 6 (23:36):
Oh? I got to ask that recently, and I thought
any of the Hemswarsts. Not because I particularly look like them,
but I just think, jeez, they're great actress.
Speaker 4 (23:46):
Why not?
Speaker 2 (23:47):
That's a good answer, And I'd get the accent down, Pat, I.
Speaker 6 (23:50):
Think, yeah, they might might just get it.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
Which other player on tour makes you the most nervous
to speak to.
Speaker 6 (23:58):
Oh, the most nervous to speak too. I think it
used to be Probie Roger, just because I had so
much admiration for him, and I've you know, grown up
watching him play and idolizing him. So it's always been
kind of a surreal experience to be able to engage
(24:19):
in conversations with him.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
Yeah, wonderful. And what and finally, what are you most
grateful for about being a professional tennis player.
Speaker 6 (24:28):
I'm grateful for what the sport has been able to
give me, give me my family. Also the fact that
I'm able to do what I love every every day
of my life. Essentially, you know, not a lot of
people can say that their job is their passions, so
I'm very fortunate to be able to enjoy it.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
Very considered answers that that concludes the inoral installment of
what we all should know about Alex Demenoor, But no
one's bothered to Thanks for playing.
Speaker 6 (25:01):
Along, demon, No, it was my pleasure and we'll.
Speaker 2 (25:03):
Look forward to catching up on the AO show hopefully
later in the who knows, maybe with another title or
two under your.
Speaker 6 (25:08):
Belt that would be very nice.
Speaker 2 (25:14):
In the week, the World observes International Women's Day. We
thought it fitting to honor the legacy of a group
of players who paved the way for the formation of
a women's professional tennis tour. In nineteen seventy, the original nine,
comprising Billy Jean King, Valerie Ziegenfuss, Julie Dalton, Christy Pigeon,
Jane Peaches, Barkovich, Kerry Melville Reid, Nancy Ritchie, Rosie Cassal's
(25:38):
and Julie Heldman, entered a women's only tournament in Houston,
created by Heldman's mother, Gladys, in protest of the uneven
distribution of prize money between men and women at other events.
The Virginia Slim's Invitation, as it was known, was the
genesis of what three years later would become the Women's
Tennis Association, which today comprises more than two and a
(26:01):
half thousand players from more than one hundred countries, competing
for almost one hundred and fifty million dollars in prize
money each year. This is its story.
Speaker 7 (26:12):
Another match point for Missus King.
Speaker 8 (26:22):
That's it.
Speaker 2 (26:26):
Very well deserved win from for Missus King. Beautiful tennis,
gay sentiment business King six one.
Speaker 7 (26:36):
I'd already decided I wanted to be number one long
time ago as eleven year old. But I didn't see
how it was going to happen because I didn't have
any money and multiple players were in the same boat.
We were all just barely making it. We got later,
we got fourteen dollars a day as an amateur I
mean per diem, and of course.
Speaker 3 (26:53):
I always wanted to make the sport pro.
Speaker 7 (26:58):
In nineteen sixty four, I got a all from Bob Mitchell,
who was so wonderful to me and pay for my
way down here.
Speaker 3 (27:05):
And this is back in the amateur days.
Speaker 7 (27:07):
Everyone we weren't making any money. When he asked me,
I was self thrilled because I knew all about him.
Speaker 3 (27:11):
He said, you probably don't know me.
Speaker 7 (27:13):
I said, oh, I know you. You've helped Margaret Court. And
I said, what can I do for you? Basically, I said,
I want you to come down here. I'll get Merv
Rose to coach you, and we'll get players to hit.
Don't worry, you'll stay at my place. And I was
just in shocked when I put down the phone. I
just went and told my mom and dad, I know,
screeching and running around the house to say I by
(27:34):
Mitchell called I have a chance to go to Australia.
I can't believe it. And that changed everything. It started
the dream. I could really start dreaming about being number
one in the world and helping the sport do better.
And I was just I was so exciting. We were
(27:54):
in Houston and Gladys Hellman was the publisher of World
Tennis magazine at the time, and of course because she's
the publisher, she knows all their CEOs, but she did
a terment for us in Houston got sponsorship. She said
I can't pay you. I said, well, can you pay
us a dollar each? Because it's just as binding as
a trillion dollars, isn't it.
Speaker 3 (28:13):
So she said you do it for that. I said absolutely.
We all couldn't wait. We decided that we would give
up our careers for the future generations.
Speaker 7 (28:25):
I remember all this asking each other, really like this
just something you're really willing to think about if you
never can play again, And.
Speaker 3 (28:34):
We decided we didn't care.
Speaker 8 (28:37):
I didn't really understand how hard they had to fight
and how close they came to it not happening. They
hadn't have taken that chance, and don't forget they could
have been banned from playing grandstame tournaments. I mean Billy
Jean best friends well, could have been banned from her
national association. Kerry Melville read, you know Judy Dalton to
Aussie stood up there could have been banned.
Speaker 3 (28:59):
And here are the three things that we wanted for
the future.
Speaker 7 (29:03):
Any girl born in this world, if she's good enough,
we'll have a place to compete.
Speaker 3 (29:09):
Number two, to be appreciated.
Speaker 7 (29:10):
For our accomplishments, not only our looks. And number three,
most importantly for us, was that we want to be
able to make a living and that's.
Speaker 3 (29:19):
What we wanted for the future generations.
Speaker 6 (29:34):
That was a perfect love tea from Missus King.
Speaker 11 (29:36):
She set the tone for equality in women in sport
and women in tennis, particularly for a number of years,
and she's someone that I've always looked up to. What
her and the original ninetid back years ago for equality
in our sport.
Speaker 10 (29:48):
Tennis became, you know, the top female sport worldwide, and
I think that we owe a lot to them, and
otherwise we would have been here playing this big tournaments
earning good money.
Speaker 7 (30:02):
Every time a girl or woman receives money from tennis
goes back to that day when we signed the one
dollar contract.
Speaker 9 (30:11):
Well, the original nine truly paved the way for each
and every one of us that play the sport now,
so we can only thank them and be appreciative of
the hard times and all that they sacrifice for us
to be here today.
Speaker 4 (30:24):
We are so grateful that they start this thing, and
we try to continue that as well as good as
we can, to also show how good woman's tennis is.
Speaker 12 (30:36):
The original nine fifty years ago is the reason that
we have it tour today, and I think they hold
the most significance because to be able to make such
a big leap of faith and be so confident about
it and want to not only do it for them,
but for generations and generations ahead of them. It's really
mind blowing and super inspiring.
Speaker 7 (30:56):
Every time I see a player get money or the
show big check or something, how much do yes?
Speaker 2 (31:08):
That's all for this week's episode of The AO Show.
Join me again next week for the latest tennis news,
news and interviews Before we go, Happy birthday to Marianna Luciic, Baroni,
Belinda Bencic and Coco Got three women who've made wonderful
contributions to our sport. You can get in touch with
me via oz open dot com, slash listen, or email
the Aoshow at tennis dot com dot au. Take a
(31:32):
moment to subscribe so you never miss an episode. And
if you like our content, please leave a rating and
review so more fans can discover The AO Show
The time for talking is over.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
The match clock showing.
Speaker 3 (00:04):
Four hours and twelve minutes leave it all. Loves Him.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
A short for Indian inside em Bury, the erotic what's
the smash like?
Speaker 1 (00:14):
It's good, It's got a good starts.
Speaker 4 (00:17):
It's about love, says I love lad Rada and there's
ten the.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Absolute Quest Dokavich. Heyday everyone, and welcome to the AO
Show with me. John hohovenas excitement his building as the
tours converge on Indian Wells this fortnight, but not everyone
will be there. Here's what's coming up, the big winners
from Djokovic's withdrawal from Indian Wells.
Speaker 5 (00:44):
You want your world number one to be there competing,
but it also opens up new opportunities because the world
numb one ranking is on the line again.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Ossie number one, Alex Demonor on the give and take
of professional tennis.
Speaker 6 (00:55):
It hasn't been the easy road, but a lot of
hard work and sacrifice you can do beautiful things and.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
And honoring the original nine. On the week of International
Women's Day.
Speaker 7 (01:04):
I remember alas asking each other, really like, this is
something you're really willing to think about.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
If you've never been playing again, that's all ahead.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
On the AO Show from the Middle East to Mexico.
Here are this week's headlines. Daniel Medvedev makes it three
titles on the Trot in Dubai and fourteen consecutive wins
since his Australian Open exit. Alex Demonor returns to the
world's top twenty after winning his seventh career title in Akapulco.
(01:33):
Donovekich completes her remarkable comeback with a drought breaking title
winner for Caroline Garcia in Monterey. Martin Costuak records a
breakthrough title in Texas, dedicating her win to victims of
the war in Ukraine. And Novak Djokovic withdraws from Indian
Wells unable to secure a visa exemption for unvaccinated foreigners.
Speaker 8 (01:57):
Well.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
Joining me today on the roundtable are Vivcris and Lee
Rodgers from Australian Tennis magazine. Welcome to you both, Thanks
for having us, John Well. I understand there's another edition
of the magazine in the works at the moment. What's
this one all about and when does it hit newstands?
Speaker 1 (02:11):
So yes, we are working on our April and May
edition now, so which will hit newstands in early April,
and the theme of this particular magazine is opportunity, so
there's lots of players seizing opportunities at the moment, you
would say, including Alex Dimenor, who as we know, won
his biggest career title over the weekend. Is in great form.
We were lucky enough to chat with him earlier today
(02:33):
and he'll be our cover staff for the magazine and.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Other stories you'll be covering Lee.
Speaker 5 (02:37):
We're also looking at the rise of men's tennis in China,
US college pathways and how players are really thriving and
some of the rising stars of the game, including Marta
Kostjuk and Yuri Lehetzka.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
Oh very nice. Yes, we'll be having a chat about
Marta as well here on the roundtable. But you mentioned
Alex Demenor. He's the talk of the town from an
Australian perspective. He'll actually be joining us on the AO
show shortly and he's now to Australia's number one, with
six Aussie men in the ATP Top one hundred league.
Speaker 5 (03:05):
Yeah, Alex is really flying the flag. He's back to
number one, overtaking Nick Krios this week and he becomes
only the second Australian to win an ATP five hundred
title in the last fifteen years, which is a great achievement.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
In fifteen years. That is some I mean, it's sort
of remarkable that we haven't had more in that time.
Speaker 5 (03:22):
I mean it's hard to win titles at that level.
It just shows, you know, like what Alex achieved of
the weekend is a fantastic result.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
Yeah, and such a humble athlete and is very comfortable
leading the way for Australia. Such a patriot as well.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
Yeah, he's very proud to be in that position. He
wants to be a role model to young players here
in Australia and I think that's a position that he
holds very well.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
So he took the title in Akapulco over in Dubai.
It was a player who six weeks ago was packing
his bags after a straight set exit in the third
round of the Australian Open. But since then Daniel Medvedev
has been unbeat and won now three titles in a rowly.
Speaker 5 (04:02):
It's an amazing story. Yeah, fifteen wins in a row.
He's in previous ranking from number twelve back up to
number six, and he also beat Djokovic snapping the twenty
match winning street that Novak was on. So pretty impressive
numbers and performances from Medvedev. You'd have to consider him
the favorite for Indian Wells now, even though he's never
made a past the fourth round there. But you know,
(04:23):
with no back out Nadal out Alcras under an injury cloud,
it sort of looks like Medvedev's title to lose.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
Yeah, I would agree with that statement. I think he's
almost coming in without pressure as well. He lost early
I think it was maybe second or third round to
Gael mont Feast last year, so I feel like he
will come in without any kind of feeling like he's
got any pressure on him there as well.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
So it's all starting to click, isn't it For the
AO twenty two runner up? Has he really turned a
corner now? Do you reckonlye and exercised those demons of
a year ago?
Speaker 5 (04:55):
It's hard to argue otherwise. You know, three titles in
a row and he what was I think he had
quite a few top to ten wins in there as well.
Four I think yeah, So he's playing well and he's
winning titles, he's winning finals again, so it looks like, yeah,
he definitely has turned a corner.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
I think at the Australian Open in twenty twenty two.
I mean, obviously it was a great tournament for him,
who wouldn't want to get to a final, But there
were also maybe a few demons after he lost that
final to Nadal. So you know, maybe now that he's
been back and played another Australian Open, he's sort of
putting those difficulties behind him, and yeah, can sense a
(05:34):
new chapter.
Speaker 5 (05:35):
And he's definitely showed throughout his career he's a player
that thrives with confidence and when he's winning matches, that's
when he's like at his most dangerous.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
So absolutely interesting fact about Medvedev He's won eighteen career
titles in eighteen different cities.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
Yeah, that would have to be getting up there in
terms of most tit as one without having ever replicated
Open era record, I believe.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
Yeah, that's what I understand as well. First here in Australia, So.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
Lee, you mentioned top ten wins over this incredible unbeaten
period over the past six weeks or so. He won't
actually have to worry about facing Djokovic at Indian Wells
because of the news that Novak is withdrawn from the tournament.
Speaker 5 (06:14):
Yeah, I mean it's disappointing for the sport, like you
want your World Number one to be there competing, but
it also opens up new opportunities because the World numb
One ranking is on the line again. Carlos elcraz can
regain the world No. One ranking if he wins the
Indian Wells title and Stefano sits a pass. There's also
a chance if he performs well over the next couple
of weeks as well.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
Yeah, it's kind of that feeling of you never know
who's going to step up and grab that opportunity we
as we keep talking about. We saw tailor Fritz Dowart
last year in Indian Wells and what a season he
ended up having after winning that title as well. So
I feel like there's lots of really talented men who
could step up.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Well, let's have a look at the women's now and
one player who we've been very impressed spy this year
quarterfinalists here at the Australian Open and continued her form
as Donna Vekeetch, who's claimed her first title since twenty
twenty one in Monterrey.
Speaker 5 (07:08):
Le Yeah, Donald's in an amazing form. This time last year,
she was ranked outside the top one hundred, struggling with
her confidence coming back from a knee injury, and I
think she sort of said herself like she was considering
whether she had a future in the sport. And look
at her now. She's one fourteen of her sixteen matches
this season, or only two losses that were against world
number five Arena Sabalanka in the Astraena from quarterfinals and
(07:29):
world number seven Maria Sakari in the Lynx quarterfinals. So
she's playing great tennis and she's sitting at world number
twenty three, just so I have a career high, which
she achieved back in twenty nineteen.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
Yeah, it's been an amazing turnaround for Donna, particularly in
the last few months. You know, in October last year,
she made the final of San Diego and had some
really good wins there. She beat Sachary Pliskova, Sabolenko and
to reach the final. And yeah, and at that tournament,
(08:00):
she also connected with Pam Schreiver, who has now joined
her coaching team, and something has just really clicked in
that relationship. And I think Donna is in just a
very positive place generally, and she's just writing the momentum.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
One to keep an eye on is Donna Vekch and
Lee Marta COSTYUK, who's someone we flagged off the top
and will appear in the next edition of Australian Tennis magazine.
Emotional scenes in Texas this week for Marta.
Speaker 5 (08:27):
Yeah, for sure. She was the first Ukrainian player man
or woman to win a singles title since the Russian invasion,
so lots of you know, it wasn't just her first title.
I think she's also like playing for a lot of
other people, and she dedicated the victory to her country.
So yeah, highly emotional scenes for sure.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
So that was a win over Varvara Gratscheva in straight
sets and vive at twenty years of age, there's still
so much upside to this highly watchable, highly marketable athlete.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
Yeah, she's a great player to watch. And it's funny
you mentioned her age twenty years old. You almost forget
how young she is. You know, she's done a lot
in her career already, particularly here in Australia. She was
the AO Girls Champion in twenty seventeen, then in twenty
eighteen she became the youngest woman to claim Mandraw wins
(09:15):
since Martina Hingis in nineteen ninety six, so she's kind
of got that even though she is very young. She's
also got that feel of being a very experienced player
as well, so she's got a great foundation for success.
Speaker 5 (09:26):
And it also goes to show like how much doubles
can actually help with confidence. She made this range from
semifinals in January in doubles and now she's translating that
success onto the singles court.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
So it's amazing. It feels like just yesterday. We first
got introduced to her in Melbourne as a teenager. I
think she was fifteen, is that right? So that must
have been twenty eighteen. She went the third round as
a fifteen year old. But she's really turned into a
mature player now. She doesn't seem like the teenager that
we and nor should she. But she doesn't seem like
the teenager that we first was introduced to.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
She's very comfortable in the spotlight. I think as both
a player and as a personality. I think she's kind
of yeah, she's it doesn't overwhelm her and I think
that holds her in really good stead. And we've seen
her when you know, this first title in Austin, and
I think you know that will also translate to wins
at bigger tournaments as well.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
So let's then have a think about Indian wells from
a WTA perspective.
Speaker 5 (10:20):
Oh, that's a tough question. I mean, IgA is going
to be tough to beat defending champion and obviously played
well in the Middle East, but there's also a lot
of other players playing well as well, so it's hard
to predict what could happen.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
Well if it's not eager, I would sort of my
mind goes to some of the American players who tend
to play particularly well on home soil, so Jess Bagoula,
perhaps Coco Golf. I think we could perhaps expect a
big result from Coco. Those are a couple that stand
out for me.
Speaker 5 (10:48):
Paula Badosa typically play as well Indian well. She won
the title two years ago, semi finalists last year, and
she slipped down the rankings a bit, so you know,
this might be a time for her to really sort
of step up and regain some momentum. Marias Theacury is
another one to keep an eye on. She was a
finalist last year and it'd be interesting to see how
she handles that pressure and whether she can go one
(11:09):
better this year.
Speaker 1 (11:10):
Yeah, it'd be great to see either of those women
step up and have a great result in Indian Wells.
Paul has had a tough start to the year with injury,
and Sakari I think really popular player. We'd all love
to see her breakthrough.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
Well all unfold over the next couple of weeks. We
will review our predictions at the end of it. But
viv Christy Lee Rodgers, thanks for joining us on the
AO Show.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
Thanks for having us and.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
You can read plenty of great stories in the upcoming
edition of Australian Tennis Magazine, available via Tennis dot mag
dot com dot a.
Speaker 6 (11:44):
Well.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Alex Deminor is in many ways the embodiment of all
the qualities Australians admire in their athletes. This week he's
added a seventh career title to his swag and has
moved back inside the world's top twenty players and the
twenty twenty three Acapulco Champion joined us now, Alex, welcome
back to the AO Show.
Speaker 6 (12:02):
Thank you for having me, happy to be back.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
Congratulations on behalf of well all your Australian fans, including
my wife I must say, who's fallen in love with
you over the past few months.
Speaker 6 (12:13):
Oh, well, I appreciate it. It means the world to me.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
What's been the most pleasing thing about your game lately,
particularly given the circumstances in which you won the final
and the semi.
Speaker 6 (12:25):
I think everything's sort of just clicking. You know, ultimately,
you put in a lot of hard work behind the
scenes and it's always amazing to see the results. You
don't always get them, so you have some tough weeks
here and tough weeks there, but it seems like everything's
kind of clicking. I'm having a great year and thing
(12:45):
so kind of looking up. So I'm very happy with
where my levels out and what I'm being able to
accomplish on the tennis court.
Speaker 2 (12:54):
I'll take your mind back to the start of this
summer when you came up with your new man Trait
might have even been a New Year's resolution from memory,
but we spoke in Sydney about you coming up with
your mantra. First of all, tell us what you wrote
on your bag and how has that been working out
for you as a new focus point for you.
Speaker 6 (13:12):
Yeah, so at the start of the year, I started
with a New Year's resolution, which was don't worry, be
happy a bit like exactly like the song. So I
wrote it on my bag and kind of it's something
to kind of keep on reminding me to just stay calm,
stay cool, stay collected, that that things are going to
(13:35):
go my way, that I put in the hard work
and now it's all about just enjoying the moment and
enjoying myself on.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
Court and back inside the top twenty again and also
importantly the number one Australian. What does it mean to
you to be the top player in your country and
also inside the top twenty in the world.
Speaker 6 (13:55):
Oh, it's an incredible honor to be the number one
in the country. And look, more than anything, I just
want to be someone that you know, people you know
look up to, can want to be reflected in myself
(14:16):
and can see you know that if you put in
the hard work, that you know you can get the results.
Speaker 4 (14:25):
Right.
Speaker 6 (14:27):
It hasn't been the easy road by any means, but look,
a lot of hard work and sacrifice you can do
a lot of beautiful things in this life. So I'm
very happy to be in the position that I am
right now.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
Wonderful attitude, Alex well, this episode is the first installment
of a new segment that we want to introduce. It's
called what we All Should Know About Alex Demonor, but
no one's bothered to ask yet. Okay, are you up
for a few left of field questions?
Speaker 5 (14:56):
Yes?
Speaker 6 (14:56):
Hit me?
Speaker 8 (14:56):
All right?
Speaker 2 (14:57):
So, who or what did you want to be? Before
you wanted to be a tennis player?
Speaker 6 (15:03):
I wanted to be a firefighter. But I think that's
literally every eight year old stream.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
Yeah, I think the options are firefighter, policeman, that's about it.
Speaker 6 (15:13):
Yeah, any of them. But that was that was me.
If not, then later in life, I was you know,
I loved nothing more than the TV show Suits, So
you know, I wanted to be a lawyer. I wanted
to be Hervey Specter, he called the kid around. So
(15:34):
but yeah, those are probably my two things if I
if I wasn't a tennis.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
Player, Well, fighting fires with a nickname like demon sort
of goes hand in hand. Just on that nickname. Who
is actually responsible for it? And what do you think
of that nickname?
Speaker 6 (15:48):
Well, actually responsible for it is one of my old
coaches called Ben Pine. A long time ago. It kind
of was to do with with kind of must be
a little bit. It was a play on words with
my surname. I always had a kind of a longer
surname which was hard to pronunciate and get right. So
(16:12):
it kind of worked and I went with it. Ever since.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
What can you tell us about your hometown in Spain?
What was special about it?
Speaker 6 (16:21):
What is special? I think it is one of the
most chilled out places there is. In fact, I'm pretty
sure it holds the record in Europe for being the
driest town or city in the whole of Europe because
it just never rains.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
Is that right?
Speaker 6 (16:43):
Yeah, you might have to fact check that, but I'm
pretty sure I've heard that before.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
Yeah, well, we'll get onto that. We'll get our research
and development team to have a look into that. Here's
a scenario. Layton gives you a left home from say practice,
and he turns on the stereo and puts on Hunters
and Collectors. Holy Grail, what do you do next?
Speaker 6 (17:04):
Oh? You gotta sing full blast every word of that song.
I mean, I think there's only one scenario and that's it.
You know, that's a very special song that we we
almost all know off by heart. We sing it when
(17:24):
we win to Davis Cup Tye and it's a very
special song.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
Yeah, and for our international listeners check it out Hunters
and collectors. Holy Grail a classic. What's the weirdest thing
You've ever posted on social media?
Speaker 6 (17:38):
What's the weirdest thing I've ever posted on social media? Weird?
I don't know. I think if you post something weird,
you kind of get crucified in this day and age.
So I think I've kind of restrained from that weird
weird weird. Actually, maybe a couple of years ago here
(17:59):
in a New well as I got given a demon
emoji costume and I posted a picture with me wearing that.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
So I have not seen that, but I'll be sure
to check it out.
Speaker 6 (18:09):
Yeah, make sure you scroll down the feed, you'll find it.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
Yep. Aside from tennis, what is the one skill you
could possibly make a career out of.
Speaker 6 (18:20):
I'm going to go, hey, Donna, Ah good, I'm just
doing an interview. I'll be sorry.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
Good a, Donna, thanks for joining us on the AO Show.
Speaker 6 (18:31):
Dona is a beautiful host lady here and in your world,
so we're very thankful. What is one thing I would
have to do something to do with sports? I think
being outdoors is what I love. I love any anything
to do with sports. You know, I would say golf,
(18:53):
but I'm probably kidding myself. There's there's a lot of
hours that need to go into that to get remotely
close to making it a profession. But that would be
my dream probably.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
There you go, Are there any other sports you're half decent.
Speaker 6 (19:05):
At As a kid? I used to play football, soccer,
you know, but yeah, that's probably probably about it.
Speaker 2 (19:17):
If you could have only five ingredients in your pantry
or fridge, what would they definitely be?
Speaker 6 (19:23):
Well, anything that's unhealthy. I mean, I've got a very
bad sweet too, so it's probably going to go be
You got lollies there for sure, You've got tim tams,
you got any sort of yeah, biscuit, chocolate.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
Donut, It's like all sweet things.
Speaker 6 (19:45):
Yeah, all sweet things. Yeah, just for for a rainy day.
There's nothing I think that makes you feel better then,
you know, a little cheat day.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
I shudder at what would happen to your athlete's body
if that became your sole diet exactly.
Speaker 6 (20:02):
So there's a lot of restrain that goes on every
day for me to kind of stay the way I am.
Speaker 2 (20:09):
Who is your favorite cartoon? Character as a kid.
Speaker 6 (20:12):
Oh, you know, I might have to go for the cliche.
Answers just say Speedy Gonzales.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
That's great and actually worked really well with the whole
Spanish thing too.
Speaker 6 (20:24):
Exactly.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
Give us an impression of Speedy doing his catchphrase.
Speaker 6 (20:27):
Oh, I don't think I can do it. I'm just
I'm all about the speeds.
Speaker 9 (20:31):
You know.
Speaker 6 (20:32):
That's that's where I see I resemble myself with Speedy Gonzale.
It's just a speed, isn't it?
Speaker 2 (20:36):
Something like underlay, underlay, you did it better than I did.
There you go. I don't know what it means. What's
the translation?
Speaker 6 (20:44):
Ah, well, it's basically like here we go, let's go,
like basically, I'm on my way.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
Maybe you could adopt that on court.
Speaker 6 (20:51):
Yeah, maybe maybe that should be my new catchphrase on court.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
It would be awesome, Like from a marketing perspective, let
me tell you.
Speaker 6 (20:58):
Yeah, well, look, I'll think about.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
It all right. Going back to the sweet two thing,
here's another scenario. You're at an ice cream shop ordering
a double scoop. What two flavors are you choosing?
Speaker 6 (21:10):
Very easy? Banana number one and dul said de leche
number two. Now, for those who don't know what that is.
It's very similar to caramel that flavor.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
Yeah, that works really well. It sounds like a bit
like what a Benoffi pie would be like.
Speaker 6 (21:29):
In quite similar. I think those two flavors go perfectly together.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
Hey, what's the worst fashion faux pa that you've made
in your career? Bit on court or off?
Speaker 6 (21:40):
I think one year at the next Gen Finals in Milan,
we got to go to the doll Chen Gamana store
and we decided to just put on the most outrageous
outfits that we could come by, and I think I
did a pretty good job of it and having a
(22:01):
pretty outrageous outfit. So that's actually on social media too,
so you can probably find that what did it look like?
An explosion of color? Let's just say that nice.
Speaker 2 (22:11):
I'll look that one up too. Hey, if you were
given a week off playing and training, what would you
spend your time doing?
Speaker 6 (22:19):
Depends where I am, but I would be driving my
classic cars along the beach and just taking it easy,
soaking up all the rays of sunshine that I could,
and probably spending a lot of time by.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
The ocean beautiful. Maybe have a casual game of tennis,
a match of tennis in a best of three sets
against Katie, what would be an acceptable scoreline?
Speaker 6 (22:47):
Oh, that is a great question.
Speaker 10 (22:50):
You know.
Speaker 6 (22:51):
We've actually we've hit together a couple of times, and
we play this game called targets. So essentially, we each
put like a cone on our side of the court
and we hit down the middle or cross cords and
kind of drill and see who can hit each other's
cone more often. Yeah, and I'm yet to beat her,
(23:11):
so really, yes, it's it's tough. She's pretty happy about that.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
So wow, she's a dead eye.
Speaker 6 (23:20):
Yeah, she's got she's good at targets. I'll give her that.
Speaker 2 (23:24):
But what do you reckon in a best of three
set match? What's a good scoreline?
Speaker 6 (23:28):
If I get the win, that's a good score line
right there.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
Which actor would you like to play you in a
biopic about your life?
Speaker 6 (23:36):
Oh? I got to ask that recently, and I thought
any of the Hemswarsts. Not because I particularly look like them,
but I just think, jeez, they're great actress.
Speaker 4 (23:46):
Why not?
Speaker 2 (23:47):
That's a good answer, And I'd get the accent down, Pat, I.
Speaker 6 (23:50):
Think, yeah, they might might just get it.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
Which other player on tour makes you the most nervous
to speak to.
Speaker 6 (23:58):
Oh, the most nervous to speak too. I think it
used to be Probie Roger, just because I had so
much admiration for him, and I've you know, grown up
watching him play and idolizing him. So it's always been
kind of a surreal experience to be able to engage
(24:19):
in conversations with him.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
Yeah, wonderful. And what and finally, what are you most
grateful for about being a professional tennis player.
Speaker 6 (24:28):
I'm grateful for what the sport has been able to
give me, give me my family. Also the fact that
I'm able to do what I love every every day
of my life. Essentially, you know, not a lot of
people can say that their job is their passions, so
I'm very fortunate to be able to enjoy it.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
Very considered answers that that concludes the inoral installment of
what we all should know about Alex Demenoor, But no
one's bothered to Thanks for playing.
Speaker 6 (25:01):
Along, demon, No, it was my pleasure and we'll.
Speaker 2 (25:03):
Look forward to catching up on the AO show hopefully
later in the who knows, maybe with another title or
two under your.
Speaker 6 (25:08):
Belt that would be very nice.
Speaker 2 (25:14):
In the week, the World observes International Women's Day. We
thought it fitting to honor the legacy of a group
of players who paved the way for the formation of
a women's professional tennis tour. In nineteen seventy, the original nine,
comprising Billy Jean King, Valerie Ziegenfuss, Julie Dalton, Christy Pigeon,
Jane Peaches, Barkovich, Kerry Melville Reid, Nancy Ritchie, Rosie Cassal's
(25:38):
and Julie Heldman, entered a women's only tournament in Houston,
created by Heldman's mother, Gladys, in protest of the uneven
distribution of prize money between men and women at other events.
The Virginia Slim's Invitation, as it was known, was the
genesis of what three years later would become the Women's
Tennis Association, which today comprises more than two and a
(26:01):
half thousand players from more than one hundred countries, competing
for almost one hundred and fifty million dollars in prize
money each year. This is its story.
Speaker 7 (26:12):
Another match point for Missus King.
Speaker 8 (26:22):
That's it.
Speaker 2 (26:26):
Very well deserved win from for Missus King. Beautiful tennis,
gay sentiment business King six one.
Speaker 7 (26:36):
I'd already decided I wanted to be number one long
time ago as eleven year old. But I didn't see
how it was going to happen because I didn't have
any money and multiple players were in the same boat.
We were all just barely making it. We got later,
we got fourteen dollars a day as an amateur I
mean per diem, and of course.
Speaker 3 (26:53):
I always wanted to make the sport pro.
Speaker 7 (26:58):
In nineteen sixty four, I got a all from Bob Mitchell,
who was so wonderful to me and pay for my
way down here.
Speaker 3 (27:05):
And this is back in the amateur days.
Speaker 7 (27:07):
Everyone we weren't making any money. When he asked me,
I was self thrilled because I knew all about him.
Speaker 3 (27:11):
He said, you probably don't know me.
Speaker 7 (27:13):
I said, oh, I know you. You've helped Margaret Court. And
I said, what can I do for you? Basically, I said,
I want you to come down here. I'll get Merv
Rose to coach you, and we'll get players to hit.
Don't worry, you'll stay at my place. And I was
just in shocked when I put down the phone. I
just went and told my mom and dad, I know,
screeching and running around the house to say I by
(27:34):
Mitchell called I have a chance to go to Australia.
I can't believe it. And that changed everything. It started
the dream. I could really start dreaming about being number
one in the world and helping the sport do better.
And I was just I was so exciting. We were
(27:54):
in Houston and Gladys Hellman was the publisher of World
Tennis magazine at the time, and of course because she's
the publisher, she knows all their CEOs, but she did
a terment for us in Houston got sponsorship. She said
I can't pay you. I said, well, can you pay
us a dollar each? Because it's just as binding as
a trillion dollars, isn't it.
Speaker 3 (28:13):
So she said you do it for that. I said absolutely.
We all couldn't wait. We decided that we would give
up our careers for the future generations.
Speaker 7 (28:25):
I remember all this asking each other, really like this
just something you're really willing to think about if you
never can play again, And.
Speaker 3 (28:34):
We decided we didn't care.
Speaker 8 (28:37):
I didn't really understand how hard they had to fight
and how close they came to it not happening. They
hadn't have taken that chance, and don't forget they could
have been banned from playing grandstame tournaments. I mean Billy
Jean best friends well, could have been banned from her
national association. Kerry Melville read, you know Judy Dalton to
Aussie stood up there could have been banned.
Speaker 3 (28:59):
And here are the three things that we wanted for
the future.
Speaker 7 (29:03):
Any girl born in this world, if she's good enough,
we'll have a place to compete.
Speaker 3 (29:09):
Number two, to be appreciated.
Speaker 7 (29:10):
For our accomplishments, not only our looks. And number three,
most importantly for us, was that we want to be
able to make a living and that's.
Speaker 3 (29:19):
What we wanted for the future generations.
Speaker 6 (29:34):
That was a perfect love tea from Missus King.
Speaker 11 (29:36):
She set the tone for equality in women in sport
and women in tennis, particularly for a number of years,
and she's someone that I've always looked up to. What
her and the original ninetid back years ago for equality
in our sport.
Speaker 10 (29:48):
Tennis became, you know, the top female sport worldwide, and
I think that we owe a lot to them, and
otherwise we would have been here playing this big tournaments
earning good money.
Speaker 7 (30:02):
Every time a girl or woman receives money from tennis
goes back to that day when we signed the one
dollar contract.
Speaker 9 (30:11):
Well, the original nine truly paved the way for each
and every one of us that play the sport now,
so we can only thank them and be appreciative of
the hard times and all that they sacrifice for us
to be here today.
Speaker 4 (30:24):
We are so grateful that they start this thing, and
we try to continue that as well as good as
we can, to also show how good woman's tennis is.
Speaker 12 (30:36):
The original nine fifty years ago is the reason that
we have it tour today, and I think they hold
the most significance because to be able to make such
a big leap of faith and be so confident about
it and want to not only do it for them,
but for generations and generations ahead of them. It's really
mind blowing and super inspiring.
Speaker 7 (30:56):
Every time I see a player get money or the
show big check or something, how much do yes?
Speaker 2 (31:08):
That's all for this week's episode of The AO Show.
Join me again next week for the latest tennis news,
news and interviews Before we go, Happy birthday to Marianna Luciic, Baroni,
Belinda Bencic and Coco Got three women who've made wonderful
contributions to our sport. You can get in touch with
me via oz open dot com, slash listen, or email
the Aoshow at tennis dot com dot au. Take a
(31:32):
moment to subscribe so you never miss an episode. And
if you like our content, please leave a rating and
review so more fans can discover The AO Show
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