October 14, 2024 • 20 mins
Rising Australian star Talia Gibson joins The Sit-Down to discuss her sizzling form, which has seen her scoop three consecutive ITF titles on the Australian Pro Tour and build a 14-match winning streak. The 20-year-old now sits at a career-high world No.128 and has her sights set on bigger goals, such as direct entry to Grand Slams and an elite top-100 ranking. Born in Perth but now based in Brisbane, Gibson has been honing her game under the watchful eye of Codie George, an emerging Australian female coach whom she credits for several valuable tennis lessons that are helping her now. Gibson, who reached the final round of Wimbledon and US Open qualifying in 2024, is one of several young Aussie players trending upwards and hopes to maintain her stellar form on the Pro Tour in the build-up to the Australian Summer of Tennis in 2025.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hi everyone, and welcome to another episode of The Sitdown.
I'm Matt Troloka, writer for oz open dot Com and
I am.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Breeched you it from the AO Show.
Speaker 3 (00:10):
So Matt, you set down with Talia Gibson, tell me
a little bit about why.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Yeah, good timing actually, because just today she hit a
career high ranking of world number one hundred and twenty eight.
We chatted to her because she's been tearing up the
Australian Pro Tour. She's won three titles and she's on
a fourteen match winning streak, so we wanted to kind
of check in with her and see what was clicking
as she makes a big push towards the end of
the season ahead of the Australian Summer of Tennis.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
How exciting. Let's go.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Talie at Gibson, thanks so much for joining us today
on the sit Down.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Thank you very much for having me. It's good to
be here.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Yeah, it's great to see you. Where in the world
do we find you right now? And what are you doing?
Speaker 4 (00:50):
I'm currently is in Brisbane at the moment, just off
the back of coming back from Cans and come back
here to Brisbane to train for a couple weeks before
heading off to play for it for.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
The next tournament.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Okay, awesome, Well, I kind of wanted to start the
interview there a bit, and because you're kind of a
bit of a woman of the moment in Australian tenets.
You're on a fourteen match winning streak on the pro too.
You've won three consecutive titles cans, as you mentioned, and
there were two in perfect I believe what's clicking so
well in your game that's allowed you to have such
good form.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
That's a good question.
Speaker 4 (01:22):
I mean, I'm not sure that I can really say,
you know, there's something that's been clicking in particular, but
I think just over the past you know, a few months,
been working really hard on and off the court, and
I think these last few weeks I've really been seeing
(01:43):
a lot of that work sort of paying off, which
is I think it's a really rewarding feeling. And I
have to, you know, pay a huge thanks to my
team and you know, everyone behind me who's supporting me,
because I think, you know, without them, I certainly wouldn't
be where I am and have had the success that
I have in the past few weeks.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
Tennis is such an interesting. One thing that you've got
so many options when it comes to your schedule. There's
so many places you could be. There's always tournaments happening,
So you've chosen to compete on the Aussie Pro Tour.
What are you enjoying about this particular circuit of tournaments
and why why is that your schedule?
Speaker 3 (02:20):
Oh?
Speaker 4 (02:20):
I think, you know, from early in the year, sort
of a few months ago, we were probably planning.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
To, you know, stick to the Aussie Swing.
Speaker 4 (02:29):
I think, you know, it's always so comforting to be
able to play at home play and I think we're
really lucky to have such a schedule that we do
in Australia. So I think, you know, you know, spend
all year traveling around the world, and I think it's
just nice sometimes to be able to just come home
and you know, play a couple of tournaments and lucky
(02:50):
enough for me, I was able to play a couple
of tournaments at home. But yeah, I think just being
in the in the comfort of your own country, you know,
it's really great.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
Yeah, for sure. And I guess with a bit of
an eye towards like December, in January, when the international
circuit comes to Australia. It's good to have been preparing
there when's Playford.
Speaker 4 (03:08):
So Playford is it'll be starting not next week but
the week after for me, okay, so pretty much the
start of the week that's when I'll be starting in Playford.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
So yeah, really looking forward to that.
Speaker 4 (03:20):
I'm excited to see, you know, what I'm able to
bring to the court that week and hopefully these couple
of weeks here in Brisbane putting a lot of work
in on the practice s cord and hopefully I'm able
to see some results of that in Playford.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
And what does is Playford your last tournament for the
year or do you have any more on your schedule?
How does the rest of your year look?
Speaker 4 (03:41):
So Playford's not the last tournament that I'll be playing.
I'll be planning on playing Playford at Sydney, so those
two are back to back. Then I believe there's a
week break and then there's going to be three tournaments
in Queensland. There's going to be one in Brisbane at
the Queensland Tennis Center, then there's going to be tournament
in Cloundra, and then there's going to be one of
(04:02):
the Gold Coast.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
So I'm planning on playing all those at the moment.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
Okay, wow, I guess preparing for this interview and kind
of looking at what you've achieved lately on tour. There's
quite a lot of impressive stats that you've got, and
I just wondered if I was to read a couple too,
I want to know which one you like. The sound
of bears. So this year you've improved your ranking by
more than one hundred places. In the last twelve months,
(04:25):
you've won more than fifty matches on the IF circuit,
and in the past three seasons you've reached fifteen it
of singles finals and you've won more of them than
you've lost. So when you hear all of those great achievements,
what are you most proud of? I mean, it's or
is it somebody else that I've forgotten?
Speaker 4 (04:44):
Honestly, you know, it's funny to hear that, because it's
not often that you sort of just take a moment
to actually look back at what you have achieved.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
I think so so.
Speaker 4 (04:52):
Often you're looking forward to you know, what's next, what's
the next tournament that I'm playing, And it's not often
that you know, person, I really look back and take
a look at some of those stats. So it's actually
thank you for saying that, because it's actually really interesting
to hear. But yeah, I think, you know, just honestly
really proud of the progress that I've made, you know,
(05:14):
like you said, the progress that I've made through the rankings,
you know, the amount of finals that I've made in
the last year. I think it's yeah, like I said before,
so it's a really rewarding feeling. And you know, setting
myself goals all the time of what I want to achieve.
When I think looking back now, I can, you know,
tick off a lot of goals that you know, I
(05:35):
wanted to achieve. So I think it's yeah, it's really exciting,
and I'm super happy with how this year's gone. You know,
I've had so many really exciting experiences.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
You know.
Speaker 4 (05:48):
Now I can say that I've played all of the
Grand Slams, which has been you know, a dream of
mine since I was young, and now to have been
able to do that is just really really awesome.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Couldn't be happier.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
I was going to ask you about that. Actually, those
stats I guess we were talking about is predominantly it
relates to the I TA circuit. But yeah, you have
had that higher level success in at Wimbledon and the
US Open. You got within a round of the main draw,
you want to rounds of qualifying, and I wondered what
that particular experience was like, playing on side like in
that kind of Grand Slam environment and doing as well
(06:20):
as you did. What did that do for your tennis?
Speaker 4 (06:23):
Yeah, that was that was definitely something that I really
learned a lot from.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
I think, you know, up.
Speaker 4 (06:33):
Until this year, I'd competed at the AO a couple
of times, but once you move to the Grand Slams
out of Australia, I think, you know, it can be
quite different because you know, at Australia, at your home
Grand Slam, you have you know, so many people there,
you know, supporting the Australian so and then moving on
(06:53):
to the different Grand Slams it was really exciting to see,
you know, what that environment, you know, how.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
It differs and everything.
Speaker 4 (07:00):
And then I think, you know, really trying to learn
from you know, everything that you experience. You know in
the matches, you know what it feels like to be,
you know, in those sorts of places. So there was
definitely a lot of things that I learned and will
definitely take into next year and hopefully bring out, you know,
(07:21):
better performances.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
You may have mentioned of goals before, and it sounds
like you're quite goal oriented and that it's been rewarding
hitting those steps you've made for yourself. Do you share
the goals or do you kind of keep them close
to your chest in private and then you talk about
them like after the fact.
Speaker 4 (07:35):
I think it's definitely something that I share. I think,
you know, everyone has probably their own little goals that
you know, they might keep to themselves, but I think,
you know, my goals are they're not only my goals,
but they're you know, my team's goals. You know everyone
around me who's supporting me, you know, those are the
things that you know, they know what I want to achieve,
(07:56):
and I think it's really important for me to be
communicating those goal so that we can do everything that
we can to try and reach them.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
So what do you want to achieve?
Speaker 4 (08:07):
I really want to achieve, you know, being the best
that I can be. I would say that I don't
really like to put you know, Anne more on that
or anything, but I think, you know, just trying to
be the best person that I can be and you know,
be the best player that I can be, is you
know the end goal for me.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
Nice, that's good. Not everyone that's listening to this chat
might have actually ever seen you play. How would you
describe your playing style and your and your approach to tennis.
Speaker 4 (08:35):
I would say that I have a very aggressive game,
and I think everyone would agree with that. I think
it's pretty obvious, you know, how I play. But yeah,
I know that's something that I'm continually working on, trying
to add, you know, more dimensions to my game. I've
always been quite an aggressive player, you know, from the baseline,
(08:56):
but yeah, and the last few is really trying to
improve on that and you know, add aspects that are
really going to compliment compliment that down the track.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
Nice And did you always have that style when you started?
Speaker 4 (09:10):
Since I can remember, Yeah, I can't remember playing any different,
but yeah, it's always been my game, Silence, It's just yeah,
how I grew up playing?
Speaker 1 (09:19):
Really? And how did you get into the game, and
like where did you first discover it? And then obviously
you loved it enough to keep pursuing it.
Speaker 4 (09:25):
Yeah. Absolutely, Well, I started playing tennis when I was
five years old. My family does have a little bit
of background in tennis. Both my parents did play a
little bit of tennis, sort of just socially, and so
they thought that, you know, tennis was going to be
a good sport to sort of get me into. You know,
(09:45):
it has a great social aspect, and yeah, from as
soon as I started playing, I just really enjoyed it,
and yeah, it just took off from there.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
Nice.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
It's interesting talking to a lot of players. It's kind
of a bit of a mixed bag as to like
how many of them will like massive tennis fans when
they were growing up and continue to watch it even
like in their career, or some of them are like,
I actually don't watch that much tennis, Like I didn't
have idols growing up and I need to get away
from it. Like did you have inspirations? Where do you
sit on that spectrum?
Speaker 2 (10:13):
I think just honestly having a love for the game.
Speaker 4 (10:16):
Really, you know, I wouldn't say there was anyone in
particular who really was the person who you know, inspired
me or anything, but yeah, just watching the variety of
players on tour and you know what they bring to
the game, and you know, I think tennis is such
an amazing sport. You know, where I'm from there was
(10:37):
a massive tennis community, so it was just always something
that you know, I love to watch and I love
to play and was always really involved with.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
Was it the Australian Open or were you one of
the people that also sat up like I remember my
tennis experience I've got, you know, sitting up at two
or three in the morning watching the franchive in Wimbledon.
Were you one of those people too.
Speaker 4 (10:57):
I think definitely to an extent, Yeah, I always love
watching the Grand Slams on TV. That was always, you know,
a great time of the year when when one of
those came around. So yeah, I definitely grew up watching
you know a lot of those a lot of those
matches on television, and I think, yeah, I mean, watching tennis,
(11:17):
there's so much to learn, So I think that was
definitely something that I really loved about about watching those
Grand Slam matches.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
A bit of homework as well as entertainment, which is good.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
Yes, definitely.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
I wanted to talk to you about your coach, Cody George,
because in tennis, in proteatus, it's actually comparatively rare to
have a female coach, particularly on the men's side, but
on the women's side too. Yeah, they're not they're not
super common. What's it like working with her and what
she brought to your game?
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Yeah, it's really awesome to be working with Cody.
Speaker 4 (11:47):
I've known her for quite a few years now, met
her a few years ago when she was working with
TA and Yeah, it was really exciting to find out
that I was going to be able to with her.
She's such an amazing coach. You know, she's put so much,
so much time into working with me, you know, traveling
(12:10):
with me pretty much. I don't think she could have
traveled with me really anymore, you know, in the last
couple of years since I started working with her.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
So just super super grateful for that.
Speaker 4 (12:21):
And you know, I've learned so many things from her,
and I really look forward to, you know, continuing to
work with her, you know, as long as possible.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
Well, she speaks really glowingly of you as well. One
of our colleagues, Lee Rodgers, spoke to her at the
Billie Jean Kin Cup tie in April in Brisbane, and
she said in that article that Talia has made a
conscious effort to step up her physicality, intensity and intent
and in doing so it has made lots of improvements.
So I wondered that I found that really interesting. What
prompted this conscious effort from you? And why why were
(12:51):
those things you'll focus?
Speaker 4 (12:53):
Yeah, I think it definitely was a big part of
that was from Cody. Okay, there's you know, been a
lot of a lot of lessons that I've had to
learn in those things, and she was definitely the biggest
voice that was driving me to improve all of those things.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
We've obviously talked a lot about you as a tennis
player and your relationship with the game and what you've
been achieving. What would you like people to know about
you more as a person off the court.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
That's a good question. I would say that I'm a
pretty pretty easy go home person to be honest.
Speaker 4 (13:28):
You know, I love spending time with family and friends,
love going.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
To the beach, you know.
Speaker 4 (13:34):
I yeah, nothing really out of the ordinary. I'd say
that people don't really know about me, but yeah, you know,
I just when I can. I think that's that's my
biggest love is here just spending times with friends of
holily because you know, sometimes on tour, you know, it
can be a little bit lonely. At times you're not
always with them. So yeah, when I get those chances,
(13:56):
I definitely take them.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
How do Yeah, now that you're kind of transitioning to
a pro career and you're spending more time traveling overseas,
how are you kind of cap you only lots of
plays talk about that. So what are your kind of
strategies and things that you do to help you help
you on those big chunks of time on the road.
Speaker 4 (14:12):
I think one of the things is keeping like in
contact with everybody, you know, like all the time. I
think it can be sometimes, you know, a little bit
overwhelming with you know, how busy the schedule can be.
But when I have the downtime, really trying to keep
connecting with everyone who isn't there with me. But also
(14:35):
I think sometimes it's nice to have a bit of downtime,
you know, to yourself. You spend a lot of time
at the courts around a lot of people sometimes, so
I know, for myself, I like to sort of just
have some quiet time sometimes.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
Oh yeah, I totally understand that I would do that too.
I be like, yeah, I've been interactive people enough. I
need I need my own time. Oh and when when
you're in Australia, so you're obviously training in Brisbane at
the moment, but you're from Perth. Are you based in
Brisbane or Perth.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
I'm based in Brisbane.
Speaker 4 (15:03):
Yeah, I've been training at the National Tennis Academy in
Brisbane for the last couple of years, which has been
really awesome.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
But yes, I am from Perth. That is my home,
but Brisbane is my home away from my home.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
So have you liked Brisbane, like getting there and getting
to know an new city.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
Yeah, it's been souper awesome.
Speaker 4 (15:20):
I think, you know, the environment that Tennis Australia has
created in Brisbane is really really awesome. There's so many
people working to create a really supportive environment. I think that,
you know, it's I always have such such a great
time when I'm.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
In Brisbane awesome. Yeah, it's a great city. I enjoy
visiting there too. Yeah, I've just got a couple more talia.
I've noticed in the Live rankings you're back inside the
top one p thirty, so I'm not sure how official
that it has been. I know your career high rankings
one twenty nine, but being in that area of the
rankings kind of puts you not that far away from
direct entry into the Australian Open, And so is that
(15:56):
a goal thinking ahead to the upcoming Aussie summer, you know,
and entry deadline being December.
Speaker 4 (16:02):
Yes, I think direct entry into a Grand Slam is
probably one of my biggest goals.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
I think it's definitely a milestone.
Speaker 4 (16:12):
But I think at the moment, you know, having just
played all of the Grand Slams this year and having
gotten into them off of my own ranking, I think
that was already a huge step forward for me and
something that was really exciting. So I think moving forward,
you know, it can be hard to break that top
one hundred, But for the moment, I think, you know,
(16:34):
really focusing on my game and really trying to progress
as much as possible, and I think the results can come,
and you know, I think the result the rankings.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
Is obviously a result of that. So yeah, I would
say that it's.
Speaker 4 (16:46):
Exciting to see where I am in the rankings right now,
but that's probably not something that I'm really really focusing on.
I think sometimes it can get a little bit distracting,
but at the end of the day, yeah, you know,
something like that would be so amazing to achieve, is.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
It helpful at all that quite a few young assie
girls around you are doing similar. So we've just seen
a Decky break into the top one hundred. You've got
my joint just ahead of you, Dashes just outside. Kim
Berrel's not is similar ranking to you. You're there, everyone's
kind of inching closest. So when you're in a group
of five or six, do you take inspiration from that
or kind of does that help pull you all along?
Speaker 2 (17:24):
Absolutely?
Speaker 4 (17:25):
I think it's really uplifting, you know, when you see
so many of your friends and fellow Aussie's doing so well. Yeah,
I think a lot of us really take a lot
of encouragement from that. And I think we're all super
super supportive of each other as well, which I think
plays a huge part in that.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
And I've got one last one for you, slightly abstract,
but say we were doing this podcast interview at the
same time next year, we're talking twelve months away, and
I asked you what would make a successful twenty twenty five?
What might you say?
Speaker 4 (17:56):
I think probably the first thing I'd say is to
qualify in the Grand Slam would be a massive achievement
and something that you know, I was quite close to
doing in Wimbledon and the US Open, So I think, yeah,
definitely that and then also yeah, I mean top hundred
(18:16):
is is you know, such a top goal for me,
So something like that also, But you know, at the
end of the day, if it's this time next year
and I look back and I've grown so much as
a person but also progressed develop.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
My game, you know a huge amount as well, I'm
going to be so happy with that.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
Yeah, and then obviously the rest can take care of itself.
Yes it Ken, Well, that's amazing. Thanks so much for
chatting to us, Tally. I really appreciate it. I'm glad
we got you in a little bit of downtime between
your busy tournament schedule. It sounds like there's some more
exciting tournaments coming up for you. And yeah, congratulations on
everything you've done this year. It's been really cool to
watch your progress. And well, yeah, look forward to seeing
(18:57):
you here in Melbourne January. I guess, yes, thank.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
You very much for having me. I really appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (19:06):
Matt, what an amazing young athlete do here. You rattle
off those stats to her, which sounded like she didn't
know or have heard them before, but fifteen if singles
finals and she's one more than she's lost, what's next
for her? She sounds like she's a powerhouse.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
She does, and she sounds like someone that was really
goal oriented. I kind of that came across in the chat,
and I guess yeah. We talked about it. With her
being in this ranking bracket now inside the top one thirty,
she's you know, twenty or thirty spots out of being
in that like main draw cutoff for Grand Slams, and
it sounds like that's very much a goal for her,
that ranking bracket or cut off, and that top one
(19:44):
hundred ranking very achievable and very much in her sights
going into twenty twenty five.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
It looks like it.
Speaker 3 (19:49):
Looking at her rankings today, it looks like potentially some
Grand Slams are very much in her future. But what
an amazing chat that was.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
Oh thank you enjoyed it. I did. We're going to
have another episode next week of the sit Down, and
we'll be bringing you a chat that we had with
Jaslyn Hewitt. So looking forward to bringing you back. And
in the meantime, we can listen to you and John
and the team on the Aoshow weekly. This Thursday. Details
for how to contact us on the sit down or
in the show notes below, and as we always ask,
please subscribe, rate, and review. VIV will be back with
(20:20):
us next Monday, but for the time being, we'll see
you soon.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
Bret, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (20:24):
See you later.
Hi everyone, and welcome to another episode of The Sitdown.
I'm Matt Troloka, writer for oz open dot Com and
I am.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Breeched you it from the AO Show.
Speaker 3 (00:10):
So Matt, you set down with Talia Gibson, tell me
a little bit about why.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Yeah, good timing actually, because just today she hit a
career high ranking of world number one hundred and twenty eight.
We chatted to her because she's been tearing up the
Australian Pro Tour. She's won three titles and she's on
a fourteen match winning streak, so we wanted to kind
of check in with her and see what was clicking
as she makes a big push towards the end of
the season ahead of the Australian Summer of Tennis.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
How exciting. Let's go.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Talie at Gibson, thanks so much for joining us today
on the sit Down.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Thank you very much for having me. It's good to
be here.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Yeah, it's great to see you. Where in the world
do we find you right now? And what are you doing?
Speaker 4 (00:50):
I'm currently is in Brisbane at the moment, just off
the back of coming back from Cans and come back
here to Brisbane to train for a couple weeks before
heading off to play for it for.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
The next tournament.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Okay, awesome, Well, I kind of wanted to start the
interview there a bit, and because you're kind of a
bit of a woman of the moment in Australian tenets.
You're on a fourteen match winning streak on the pro too.
You've won three consecutive titles cans, as you mentioned, and
there were two in perfect I believe what's clicking so
well in your game that's allowed you to have such
good form.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
That's a good question.
Speaker 4 (01:22):
I mean, I'm not sure that I can really say,
you know, there's something that's been clicking in particular, but
I think just over the past you know, a few months,
been working really hard on and off the court, and
I think these last few weeks I've really been seeing
(01:43):
a lot of that work sort of paying off, which
is I think it's a really rewarding feeling. And I
have to, you know, pay a huge thanks to my
team and you know, everyone behind me who's supporting me,
because I think, you know, without them, I certainly wouldn't
be where I am and have had the success that
I have in the past few weeks.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
Tennis is such an interesting. One thing that you've got
so many options when it comes to your schedule. There's
so many places you could be. There's always tournaments happening,
So you've chosen to compete on the Aussie Pro Tour.
What are you enjoying about this particular circuit of tournaments
and why why is that your schedule?
Speaker 3 (02:20):
Oh?
Speaker 4 (02:20):
I think, you know, from early in the year, sort
of a few months ago, we were probably planning.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
To, you know, stick to the Aussie Swing.
Speaker 4 (02:29):
I think, you know, it's always so comforting to be
able to play at home play and I think we're
really lucky to have such a schedule that we do
in Australia. So I think, you know, you know, spend
all year traveling around the world, and I think it's
just nice sometimes to be able to just come home
and you know, play a couple of tournaments and lucky
(02:50):
enough for me, I was able to play a couple
of tournaments at home. But yeah, I think just being
in the in the comfort of your own country, you know,
it's really great.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
Yeah, for sure. And I guess with a bit of
an eye towards like December, in January, when the international
circuit comes to Australia. It's good to have been preparing
there when's Playford.
Speaker 4 (03:08):
So Playford is it'll be starting not next week but
the week after for me, okay, so pretty much the
start of the week that's when I'll be starting in Playford.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
So yeah, really looking forward to that.
Speaker 4 (03:20):
I'm excited to see, you know, what I'm able to
bring to the court that week and hopefully these couple
of weeks here in Brisbane putting a lot of work
in on the practice s cord and hopefully I'm able
to see some results of that in Playford.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
And what does is Playford your last tournament for the
year or do you have any more on your schedule?
How does the rest of your year look?
Speaker 4 (03:41):
So Playford's not the last tournament that I'll be playing.
I'll be planning on playing Playford at Sydney, so those
two are back to back. Then I believe there's a
week break and then there's going to be three tournaments
in Queensland. There's going to be one in Brisbane at
the Queensland Tennis Center, then there's going to be tournament
in Cloundra, and then there's going to be one of
(04:02):
the Gold Coast.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
So I'm planning on playing all those at the moment.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
Okay, wow, I guess preparing for this interview and kind
of looking at what you've achieved lately on tour. There's
quite a lot of impressive stats that you've got, and
I just wondered if I was to read a couple too,
I want to know which one you like. The sound
of bears. So this year you've improved your ranking by
more than one hundred places. In the last twelve months,
(04:25):
you've won more than fifty matches on the IF circuit,
and in the past three seasons you've reached fifteen it
of singles finals and you've won more of them than
you've lost. So when you hear all of those great achievements,
what are you most proud of? I mean, it's or
is it somebody else that I've forgotten?
Speaker 4 (04:44):
Honestly, you know, it's funny to hear that, because it's
not often that you sort of just take a moment
to actually look back at what you have achieved.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
I think so so.
Speaker 4 (04:52):
Often you're looking forward to you know, what's next, what's
the next tournament that I'm playing, And it's not often
that you know, person, I really look back and take
a look at some of those stats. So it's actually
thank you for saying that, because it's actually really interesting
to hear. But yeah, I think, you know, just honestly
really proud of the progress that I've made, you know,
(05:14):
like you said, the progress that I've made through the rankings,
you know, the amount of finals that I've made in
the last year. I think it's yeah, like I said before,
so it's a really rewarding feeling. And you know, setting
myself goals all the time of what I want to achieve.
When I think looking back now, I can, you know,
tick off a lot of goals that you know, I
(05:35):
wanted to achieve. So I think it's yeah, it's really exciting,
and I'm super happy with how this year's gone. You know,
I've had so many really exciting experiences.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
You know.
Speaker 4 (05:48):
Now I can say that I've played all of the
Grand Slams, which has been you know, a dream of
mine since I was young, and now to have been
able to do that is just really really awesome.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Couldn't be happier.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
I was going to ask you about that. Actually, those
stats I guess we were talking about is predominantly it
relates to the I TA circuit. But yeah, you have
had that higher level success in at Wimbledon and the
US Open. You got within a round of the main draw,
you want to rounds of qualifying, and I wondered what
that particular experience was like, playing on side like in
that kind of Grand Slam environment and doing as well
(06:20):
as you did. What did that do for your tennis?
Speaker 4 (06:23):
Yeah, that was that was definitely something that I really
learned a lot from.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
I think, you know, up.
Speaker 4 (06:33):
Until this year, I'd competed at the AO a couple
of times, but once you move to the Grand Slams
out of Australia, I think, you know, it can be
quite different because you know, at Australia, at your home
Grand Slam, you have you know, so many people there,
you know, supporting the Australian so and then moving on
(06:53):
to the different Grand Slams it was really exciting to see,
you know, what that environment, you know, how.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
It differs and everything.
Speaker 4 (07:00):
And then I think, you know, really trying to learn
from you know, everything that you experience. You know in
the matches, you know what it feels like to be,
you know, in those sorts of places. So there was
definitely a lot of things that I learned and will
definitely take into next year and hopefully bring out, you know,
(07:21):
better performances.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
You may have mentioned of goals before, and it sounds
like you're quite goal oriented and that it's been rewarding
hitting those steps you've made for yourself. Do you share
the goals or do you kind of keep them close
to your chest in private and then you talk about
them like after the fact.
Speaker 4 (07:35):
I think it's definitely something that I share. I think,
you know, everyone has probably their own little goals that
you know, they might keep to themselves, but I think,
you know, my goals are they're not only my goals,
but they're you know, my team's goals. You know everyone
around me who's supporting me, you know, those are the
things that you know, they know what I want to achieve,
(07:56):
and I think it's really important for me to be
communicating those goal so that we can do everything that
we can to try and reach them.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
So what do you want to achieve?
Speaker 4 (08:07):
I really want to achieve, you know, being the best
that I can be. I would say that I don't
really like to put you know, Anne more on that
or anything, but I think, you know, just trying to
be the best person that I can be and you know,
be the best player that I can be, is you
know the end goal for me.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
Nice, that's good. Not everyone that's listening to this chat
might have actually ever seen you play. How would you
describe your playing style and your and your approach to tennis.
Speaker 4 (08:35):
I would say that I have a very aggressive game,
and I think everyone would agree with that. I think
it's pretty obvious, you know, how I play. But yeah,
I know that's something that I'm continually working on, trying
to add, you know, more dimensions to my game. I've
always been quite an aggressive player, you know, from the baseline,
(08:56):
but yeah, and the last few is really trying to
improve on that and you know, add aspects that are
really going to compliment compliment that down the track.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
Nice And did you always have that style when you started?
Speaker 4 (09:10):
Since I can remember, Yeah, I can't remember playing any different,
but yeah, it's always been my game, Silence, It's just yeah,
how I grew up playing?
Speaker 1 (09:19):
Really? And how did you get into the game, and
like where did you first discover it? And then obviously
you loved it enough to keep pursuing it.
Speaker 4 (09:25):
Yeah. Absolutely, Well, I started playing tennis when I was
five years old. My family does have a little bit
of background in tennis. Both my parents did play a
little bit of tennis, sort of just socially, and so
they thought that, you know, tennis was going to be
a good sport to sort of get me into. You know,
(09:45):
it has a great social aspect, and yeah, from as
soon as I started playing, I just really enjoyed it,
and yeah, it just took off from there.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
Nice.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
It's interesting talking to a lot of players. It's kind
of a bit of a mixed bag as to like
how many of them will like massive tennis fans when
they were growing up and continue to watch it even
like in their career, or some of them are like,
I actually don't watch that much tennis, Like I didn't
have idols growing up and I need to get away
from it. Like did you have inspirations? Where do you
sit on that spectrum?
Speaker 2 (10:13):
I think just honestly having a love for the game.
Speaker 4 (10:16):
Really, you know, I wouldn't say there was anyone in
particular who really was the person who you know, inspired
me or anything, but yeah, just watching the variety of
players on tour and you know what they bring to
the game, and you know, I think tennis is such
an amazing sport. You know, where I'm from there was
(10:37):
a massive tennis community, so it was just always something
that you know, I love to watch and I love
to play and was always really involved with.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
Was it the Australian Open or were you one of
the people that also sat up like I remember my
tennis experience I've got, you know, sitting up at two
or three in the morning watching the franchive in Wimbledon.
Were you one of those people too.
Speaker 4 (10:57):
I think definitely to an extent, Yeah, I always love
watching the Grand Slams on TV. That was always, you know,
a great time of the year when when one of
those came around. So yeah, I definitely grew up watching
you know a lot of those a lot of those
matches on television, and I think, yeah, I mean, watching tennis,
(11:17):
there's so much to learn, So I think that was
definitely something that I really loved about about watching those
Grand Slam matches.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
A bit of homework as well as entertainment, which is good.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
Yes, definitely.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
I wanted to talk to you about your coach, Cody George,
because in tennis, in proteatus, it's actually comparatively rare to
have a female coach, particularly on the men's side, but
on the women's side too. Yeah, they're not they're not
super common. What's it like working with her and what
she brought to your game?
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Yeah, it's really awesome to be working with Cody.
Speaker 4 (11:47):
I've known her for quite a few years now, met
her a few years ago when she was working with
TA and Yeah, it was really exciting to find out
that I was going to be able to with her.
She's such an amazing coach. You know, she's put so much,
so much time into working with me, you know, traveling
(12:10):
with me pretty much. I don't think she could have
traveled with me really anymore, you know, in the last
couple of years since I started working with her.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
So just super super grateful for that.
Speaker 4 (12:21):
And you know, I've learned so many things from her,
and I really look forward to, you know, continuing to
work with her, you know, as long as possible.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
Well, she speaks really glowingly of you as well. One
of our colleagues, Lee Rodgers, spoke to her at the
Billie Jean Kin Cup tie in April in Brisbane, and
she said in that article that Talia has made a
conscious effort to step up her physicality, intensity and intent
and in doing so it has made lots of improvements.
So I wondered that I found that really interesting. What
prompted this conscious effort from you? And why why were
(12:51):
those things you'll focus?
Speaker 4 (12:53):
Yeah, I think it definitely was a big part of
that was from Cody. Okay, there's you know, been a
lot of a lot of lessons that I've had to
learn in those things, and she was definitely the biggest
voice that was driving me to improve all of those things.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
We've obviously talked a lot about you as a tennis
player and your relationship with the game and what you've
been achieving. What would you like people to know about
you more as a person off the court.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
That's a good question. I would say that I'm a
pretty pretty easy go home person to be honest.
Speaker 4 (13:28):
You know, I love spending time with family and friends,
love going.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
To the beach, you know.
Speaker 4 (13:34):
I yeah, nothing really out of the ordinary. I'd say
that people don't really know about me, but yeah, you know,
I just when I can. I think that's that's my
biggest love is here just spending times with friends of
holily because you know, sometimes on tour, you know, it
can be a little bit lonely. At times you're not
always with them. So yeah, when I get those chances,
(13:56):
I definitely take them.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
How do Yeah, now that you're kind of transitioning to
a pro career and you're spending more time traveling overseas,
how are you kind of cap you only lots of
plays talk about that. So what are your kind of
strategies and things that you do to help you help
you on those big chunks of time on the road.
Speaker 4 (14:12):
I think one of the things is keeping like in
contact with everybody, you know, like all the time. I
think it can be sometimes, you know, a little bit
overwhelming with you know, how busy the schedule can be.
But when I have the downtime, really trying to keep
connecting with everyone who isn't there with me. But also
(14:35):
I think sometimes it's nice to have a bit of downtime,
you know, to yourself. You spend a lot of time
at the courts around a lot of people sometimes, so
I know, for myself, I like to sort of just
have some quiet time sometimes.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
Oh yeah, I totally understand that I would do that too.
I be like, yeah, I've been interactive people enough. I
need I need my own time. Oh and when when
you're in Australia, so you're obviously training in Brisbane at
the moment, but you're from Perth. Are you based in
Brisbane or Perth.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
I'm based in Brisbane.
Speaker 4 (15:03):
Yeah, I've been training at the National Tennis Academy in
Brisbane for the last couple of years, which has been
really awesome.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
But yes, I am from Perth. That is my home,
but Brisbane is my home away from my home.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
So have you liked Brisbane, like getting there and getting
to know an new city.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
Yeah, it's been souper awesome.
Speaker 4 (15:20):
I think, you know, the environment that Tennis Australia has
created in Brisbane is really really awesome. There's so many
people working to create a really supportive environment. I think that,
you know, it's I always have such such a great
time when I'm.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
In Brisbane awesome. Yeah, it's a great city. I enjoy
visiting there too. Yeah, I've just got a couple more talia.
I've noticed in the Live rankings you're back inside the
top one p thirty, so I'm not sure how official
that it has been. I know your career high rankings
one twenty nine, but being in that area of the
rankings kind of puts you not that far away from
direct entry into the Australian Open, And so is that
(15:56):
a goal thinking ahead to the upcoming Aussie summer, you know,
and entry deadline being December.
Speaker 4 (16:02):
Yes, I think direct entry into a Grand Slam is
probably one of my biggest goals.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
I think it's definitely a milestone.
Speaker 4 (16:12):
But I think at the moment, you know, having just
played all of the Grand Slams this year and having
gotten into them off of my own ranking, I think
that was already a huge step forward for me and
something that was really exciting. So I think moving forward,
you know, it can be hard to break that top
one hundred, But for the moment, I think, you know,
(16:34):
really focusing on my game and really trying to progress
as much as possible, and I think the results can come,
and you know, I think the result the rankings.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
Is obviously a result of that. So yeah, I would
say that it's.
Speaker 4 (16:46):
Exciting to see where I am in the rankings right now,
but that's probably not something that I'm really really focusing on.
I think sometimes it can get a little bit distracting,
but at the end of the day, yeah, you know,
something like that would be so amazing to achieve, is.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
It helpful at all that quite a few young assie
girls around you are doing similar. So we've just seen
a Decky break into the top one hundred. You've got
my joint just ahead of you, Dashes just outside. Kim
Berrel's not is similar ranking to you. You're there, everyone's
kind of inching closest. So when you're in a group
of five or six, do you take inspiration from that
or kind of does that help pull you all along?
Speaker 2 (17:24):
Absolutely?
Speaker 4 (17:25):
I think it's really uplifting, you know, when you see
so many of your friends and fellow Aussie's doing so well. Yeah,
I think a lot of us really take a lot
of encouragement from that. And I think we're all super
super supportive of each other as well, which I think
plays a huge part in that.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
And I've got one last one for you, slightly abstract,
but say we were doing this podcast interview at the
same time next year, we're talking twelve months away, and
I asked you what would make a successful twenty twenty five?
What might you say?
Speaker 4 (17:56):
I think probably the first thing I'd say is to
qualify in the Grand Slam would be a massive achievement
and something that you know, I was quite close to
doing in Wimbledon and the US Open, So I think, yeah,
definitely that and then also yeah, I mean top hundred
(18:16):
is is you know, such a top goal for me,
So something like that also, But you know, at the
end of the day, if it's this time next year
and I look back and I've grown so much as
a person but also progressed develop.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
My game, you know a huge amount as well, I'm
going to be so happy with that.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
Yeah, and then obviously the rest can take care of itself.
Yes it Ken, Well, that's amazing. Thanks so much for
chatting to us, Tally. I really appreciate it. I'm glad
we got you in a little bit of downtime between
your busy tournament schedule. It sounds like there's some more
exciting tournaments coming up for you. And yeah, congratulations on
everything you've done this year. It's been really cool to
watch your progress. And well, yeah, look forward to seeing
(18:57):
you here in Melbourne January. I guess, yes, thank.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
You very much for having me. I really appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (19:06):
Matt, what an amazing young athlete do here. You rattle
off those stats to her, which sounded like she didn't
know or have heard them before, but fifteen if singles
finals and she's one more than she's lost, what's next
for her? She sounds like she's a powerhouse.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
She does, and she sounds like someone that was really
goal oriented. I kind of that came across in the chat,
and I guess yeah. We talked about it. With her
being in this ranking bracket now inside the top one thirty,
she's you know, twenty or thirty spots out of being
in that like main draw cutoff for Grand Slams, and
it sounds like that's very much a goal for her,
that ranking bracket or cut off, and that top one
(19:44):
hundred ranking very achievable and very much in her sights
going into twenty twenty five.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
It looks like it.
Speaker 3 (19:49):
Looking at her rankings today, it looks like potentially some
Grand Slams are very much in her future. But what
an amazing chat that was.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
Oh thank you enjoyed it. I did. We're going to
have another episode next week of the sit Down, and
we'll be bringing you a chat that we had with
Jaslyn Hewitt. So looking forward to bringing you back. And
in the meantime, we can listen to you and John
and the team on the Aoshow weekly. This Thursday. Details
for how to contact us on the sit down or
in the show notes below, and as we always ask,
please subscribe, rate, and review. VIV will be back with
(20:20):
us next Monday, but for the time being, we'll see
you soon.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
Bret, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (20:24):
See you later.
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