January 29, 2023 • 32 mins
Novak Djokovic caps an extraordinary campaign by winning his 10th Australian Open title and drawing level with Rafael Nadal on 22 major titles — our Round Table experts break down the Serb’s straight-sets win over Stefanos Tsitsipas and discuss his potential for the rest of 2023 and beyond, celebrations continue for Aryna Sabalenka following her championship win, Czech pair Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova defend their title in the women’s doubles, we find out what it takes to be a ‘Top Gun’ ballkid at the Australian Open, and Josh Martin goes backstage with Flight Facilities at the AO Finals Festival.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Doc Richell.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
The tea boorhand from Citzi pass is deep. Working now
to the backhand of Cinzipaz backhand and backhand both players
and now Doc Mitchell willing to one up the line.
Speaker 3 (00:09):
He's just made it block backrop simatic and it is
ten Ablo pest. Doc events he owns his cords and
he is back in style.
Speaker 4 (00:30):
Hello and welcome to the AO Show. For Day fourteen
of the Australian Open. John Hoovenar's with you on the
grounds of Melbourne Park for a final chapter to this
incredible tournament. Here's what's coming up on the show. Dominant
Djokovic does it again. Novak notes title ten in Melbourne.
Speaker 5 (00:46):
This probably is the I would say biggest victory in
my life, considering the circumstances.
Speaker 4 (00:52):
Coronation celebrations for Queen Arena continue as follow.
Speaker 6 (00:56):
I'm on another planet trying to understand what's this happened?
Speaker 4 (00:59):
Back to back Checkmates claimed the women's doubles again.
Speaker 7 (01:03):
They are trained to be the best ones and vo
quite successful, so I'm really happy of it.
Speaker 4 (01:08):
That and Rock on Flight facilities take the stage at
the AO Finals Festival.
Speaker 8 (01:13):
I had most wins in the under sixteen.
Speaker 4 (01:15):
So that's all ahead on the AO Show. Novak Djokovic
is the Australian Open champion for the tenth time. He's
fourth in a row. In a night to forget for
Stefanos Citzipas, the Greek found himself on the back foot early,
(01:35):
having to fend off two break points in his opening
service game. Two games later, he was unable to repeat
the effort, double faulting to gift wrap the first break
of serve to Djokovic.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Second serve Djokovic up near the baseline for this one,
and this it's a double fives. He's given the break
to Djokovic's early advantage. For the four seeds, it's three
to one opening sets.
Speaker 4 (01:56):
The crowd support was strong for Citzipas, but he's had
the scalpel out and was wielding it with surgical precision,
Djokovic cruising to the first set in just thirty six minutes.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Set point Djokovic the serve out why big stretch cross
cord four.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
He goes long from sis a pass.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
The opening set goes away at Novak Djokovic's.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
A nine time champion.
Speaker 4 (02:18):
Sinzipass built his confidence in the second set, holding serve
to love and forcing errors to take Djokovic to love thirty.
He started to push his opponent to the corners of
the court.
Speaker 9 (02:28):
Back from sispass, cross court Djokovic with a two hundred
into the net, and Djokovic has fallen. I think he's okay.
I think he just stumbles. Yeah, he's up on his
feet and he's fine. I think he just stumbles as
he went over.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
He's walking fine, already walking around the court.
Speaker 4 (02:43):
The third seed found the line to pull out a
massive hold from the Djokovic stone.
Speaker 9 (02:48):
Four hun from sixty pass four hundred. Djokovic sits pasill
head backand cross Kurt Jokovic is there with his two
hundred sliced by Sizy pass with a lot of air
four Hundredkovich goes back to the back end SiZ pass
defensive back and a lot of air four un from
Dkokovic reads this low volley from Jokovic is going live.
Han Ssipas hold Honey, punches the air.
Speaker 4 (03:05):
Honey looks up for the Greek.
Speaker 9 (03:07):
Fans and says, come on, we're in this together.
Speaker 4 (03:10):
Titsipas's first break point opportunity was timely, coming at five
to four for set point, but Djokovic showed his pedigree,
firing and down the line fourhand winner to save it.
Speaker 9 (03:20):
Sits Apass with sat point second serve from Djokovic back
on from SETSI pass up the middle four un Djokovic
back on from Sisipass lofty deep to the fornd of
Djokovic four and sets to Pas up the middle four
Hundkovich into out backun sits Pas up the line four
Hundokovich to the find of Sitsipass, both playing a little
conservatively back on Sitsipass four un Djokovic back on Sitsipass
is lofted foun Djokovic down the fine wing as a
(03:41):
wind up.
Speaker 4 (03:43):
The second set rolled into a chaotic tie breaker with
six points one against the serve. The Greek was on
his knees down four to one, but managed to grind
his way back to four all on the back of
errors and a rare double fault from the Serb. But
errors from his own racket proved toxic for Sinzipas. With
the set on the.
Speaker 9 (04:02):
Line, Djokovic six four second set tiebreak serving done the
four hunt wings internet out from zeptive pass the four
four hundred hour of promstive.
Speaker 4 (04:12):
Bath, Djokovic left the court for a bathroom break for
nearly eight minutes between sets. The hiatus seemed to benefit Sitzipas,
who was the beneficiary of another Djokovic double fault to
notch two break point chances, the second of which he converted.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
It's a pass level with the Melbourne sign for this
first serve, which he takes as a slice backhand shortball
back that way from Jockowich.
Speaker 10 (04:31):
He's missed an early breaker serve, but to step it
off six to.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Pass and he.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
Does get the better off that opening.
Speaker 4 (04:38):
Game, but the man with the longest winning streak in
Australian Open history was lurking just around the corner. He
broke right back with a fiery backhand winner and a
forced error break point.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
The serve here from Sincipass backhand, full stretch from Djokovic
into the deuce court go sitzbas great angle from Jockwitch's
foehand short ball from Sinzbas He's push a wide break.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
Back immediately for Jock.
Speaker 4 (05:00):
With the championship on the line, Sitzipas lifted his intensity
in the third set, hitting harder, flatter balls and throwing
in some incredible drop shots. The Greek kept his level
to force a third set tiebreak, but in the blink
of an eye he trailed five love. Some unforced errors
by Djokovic allowed Sitzipass back in the door momentarily, and
(05:21):
a twenty six shot rally had the crowd on their feet.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
The serve out why Locke sliced backhand from Sitzbass lends
in the corner of the eight court. He now plays
a four and up the line of the juice called
cross called foehand from Jokich, dug out by Sitzipas, coross
cart backhand out from Jockwitch match by Sitzipas up the
line from Djokovic. Cross fourhand is deep from Sitsabas, match
by Djokovic four and to foy in. He's hit the
sideliners Cinebasis backed that way. Jokovich just leans him one
(05:44):
up the line. Cross caught backhand from Sitsabas, backhand to
back end, sliced again from Citinzipas, top swim backhand from
Jokovich up the line goes Cinza bas full stretch on
the cross foehand. He's Djokovic four and to four and
they go crucial rally. The shorter ball from Sinzebas Jokovic
coming in cross court. Now he's gonna play the low
back boy, but he puts it into the nets.
Speaker 11 (06:02):
Well done again.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
He's hanging up by his fingernails.
Speaker 4 (06:05):
But it would be all but the final gasp from Cinzipass, who,
despite fending off two of three championship points, couldn't hold
back the damn wall.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
To extend the history that he's created at Melbourne Park.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
Championship point.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Djokovic down the tee fourhand from city pass is deep,
working now to the backhand of Sitsypass, backhand to backhand,
both players and now jockovitchill willing to win up the line.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
He's just made it.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
Lock back from Sintebasi goes long.
Speaker 4 (06:31):
And it is ten of.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
The absolute best to go back Jokovic. He owns this
cords and he is back in style.
Speaker 4 (06:42):
With the title secure, Djokovic climbed into his player box
and collapsed in heaving sobs.
Speaker 5 (06:48):
I have to say that this has been one of
the most challenging tournaments I've ever played in my life,
considering the circumstances, not playing last year, coming back this year,
and I want to thank I want to thank all
the people that made me feel welcome, made me feel
comfortable to be Melbourne, to be in Australia. Only the
(07:12):
team and the family knows what we've been through in
the last four or five weeks and this probably is
the I would say biggest victory in my life.
Speaker 4 (07:21):
Considering the circumstances for city pass forty two eras to
twenty ultimately proved he's undoing.
Speaker 12 (07:29):
There's nothing that I didn't use to my advantage or
there's nothing that I could have extracted more for today.
I did everything possible. You know, Novoceez is a player
that pushes you to your limits. And I don't see
this as a curse. I don't see this as like
something annoying. This is very good for the sport to
have competitors like him, to have champions like him. It's
(07:51):
very important for us that want to get to his
point one day and getting our you know, ass kid,
This for sure a very good lesson. Every single time
he has made me a much perer player. He has
made my levels of concentration get higher and hire every
single time I get to play him.
Speaker 4 (08:11):
Similar to Jokovic's twenty twenty one title, an injury that
jeopardized his campaign was ultimately not enough to stop the juggernaut.
His coach Goran Ivanizovitch, praising Djokovic's resilience.
Speaker 13 (08:22):
I don't say one hundred percent, but ninety seven percent
of the players. If on Saturday when you get the
results of the MRI, you go straight to the referee
office and pull out of the tournament, But not him.
He is from other space.
Speaker 4 (08:39):
Not only does the twenty two time Grand Slam champion
draw level with Rafael Nadal on major titles, the pair
are now the only two men to reach double digits
at a single Grand Slam event.
Speaker 14 (08:51):
Of course, I am motivated to win as many Slams
as possible, you know, and this stage of my career,
thisrophees are the biggest motivational factor of why I still compete.
So that's the case, without a doubt. Let's let's see
how far it takes me. I really don't want to
stop here. I don't have intention to stop here. I
(09:13):
feel great about my tennis. I know that when I'm
feeling good physically, mentally present, that I have a chance
to win any Slam against anybody.
Speaker 4 (09:25):
A tenth Australian Open title for Djokovic, twenty two Grand
Slams overall and to dissect everything, the match itself and
the history making moments are Peter Mikado commentator and gig
analyst Simon Ray. Gentlemen, what did you make of that match?
Speaker 2 (09:40):
Novak Djokovic outstanding, an outstanding tournament and outstanding final. We
knew that he was going to be a force to
be reckoned with, and he absolutely showed that. Whatever Steven
or Sizypass tried during that final, he tried absolutely.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
Everything he could.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
He could not get through Novak Djokovic. The thing that
astonishes me he won his first to the ten back
in two thousand and eight. He is still the favorite
for the title in twenty twenty three. He still rolled
through the event, only dropping one set. I bet your
Enzo Quaco is feeling pretty good about himself, just quietly,
and it's re established himself at the top of the
men's game as the number one player in the world.
(10:17):
He continues to push the boundaries of where tennis can go,
and he just showed that again right from the start
of this tournament to the end. It was personal for
him this year, and that's why we saw the outpouring
of emotion at the end. And he showed that he's a
man on a mission and just unstoppable.
Speaker 11 (10:33):
It's mind boggling stuff, isn't it. The numbers that you
throw around John and we all do, and they're just numbers.
But to actually give some thought to behind to behind
the scenes, what's going on to accumulate those numbers over
a journey, you know, whether it's Rapper at Roland Garriss
or Novak, Karen Melbourne and twenty two a piece, it's extraordinary.
(10:55):
Like just to think back and kind of think how
difficult one of these things is to win seven to
five set matches against dog hungry opponents every second day,
and to do that twenty it's just it's beyond belief.
I don't have any words.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
It's the privilege of being able to watch the very
best at the top of their game, and we are
ultimately privileged. I've been doing Australian Open Radio for seventeen
years so living through and calling this era of tennis
and it's just extraordinary. And it just continues on and on.
We think, oh, where the next challenge is going to
come up, that it's going to get closer and closer
now that we're without Roger Federer and the question mark's
(11:30):
having Nadal, but joy Djokovic just established himself. He's got
to be favored again next year too. But the other
good thing was it showed that Melbourne was back. Djokovic
was back, Melbourne was back, the Australian Open was back,
and it was wonderful to see.
Speaker 4 (11:43):
All Right, Simon, let's dig a little deeper into the
numbers from tonight's three set win.
Speaker 11 (11:47):
Well, we spoke about it last night and we've felt
that Sitzapas had to start well if he was going
to be competitive in this thing. I've always felt like
it was going to be a long roadback if he
trails early. And we spoke about Novak's early converted number.
So if he breaks serve in the first four games,
goes on to win that set ninety six percent of
the time. So trouble with the capital t And sure enough,
(12:08):
what happened early. Novak breaks early and goes on to
seal the deal. So and it starts with serve and
return for me, and I think it's an area that
we probably under sell Novak in as the serve. So
let's just dive into the serve and set one. So
Novak serves at seventy two percent, and set one, in
terms of those points that where he's made the first
serve seventy two percent of the time, goes on to
(12:29):
win ninety four percent of those points in set one,
So it's borderline untouchable, not going to get broken in
the set of ten. Is serving with those types of numbers. Stefanos,
by contrast, and Set one serves at sixty six percent
and wins seventy on first serve, fifty seven on second.
So it's the pressure that Novak's able to build on
his own service game, and then we'll get to the
return in a second, but he sets the tone for
(12:50):
the match breaks early outstanding serving performance. Then we saw
a little bit of volatility in set two, but really
the tone was set early.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
Peter absolutely, and I think the thing too the serving
of Djokovic. The plan very clear against Stephano Sitsipass stay
away from the forehand, so pretty much every single serve
was directed out to that backhand wing, and he was
under so much pressure with that one hander just to
maintain a presence there. And every time Sitsipaz you thought
was going to get a strangle. He's winning points he's
having to play nine, ten to eleven shot rallies just
(13:18):
to win a point and just to keep himself in
the contest. Very few service games he could cycle through
very quickly, whereas Djokovic, yes he had he struggles at times.
He was broken in that second set, but there were
a lot of service games that he was holding to
love or that he was holding to fifteen, and that
just keeps that pressure, constant pressure on Sitsipaz. He knows
how to play these finals, not just Tear but around
the world so so well, and it's a skill in itself.
Speaker 11 (13:40):
An outstanding point. So we talk about pressure points on surf,
so thirty all juice. Obviously a break point or any
point that can lead to a break point. I don't
think our listeners are bit surprised when I tell them
Novak Djokovic in the first set didn't face a single
pressure point on his surf and Stefano Sitsipas is trying
to fight off eight, ten, twelve pressure points on his
(14:00):
service camp. So that's the difference in the first set.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
And then you're all into the second set, and he
was able to keep that pressure on. But at Sitsipas,
he was able to rise to that level. But it's
also that thing of the wearing effect that it has.
So even if Sitsipas was able to win that second set,
and he did fall away late both in the second
and the third set tiebreaks, but even if he was
alder to win that the physical exertion required to actually
take a set off Djokovic in a tiebreaker, and yet
(14:23):
Djokovic would sit there and go, well, I can keep
going for another three sets. What have you got Stepanos?
With the hard work that he has to do, it
just has that wearing effect. So even if he managed
to scrape a set, he was still going to be
in trouble the way Jokovic was playing.
Speaker 11 (14:36):
Yeah, and the second set for me is where it
got really interesting. So we know Sitsabas already behind the
eight balling. We knew he needed to start really strongly.
He didn't get that done. So in the second set
he does start to find some of his better tennis
though he does come out with a renewed sense of
purpose and intent. And Novak, we know that volatility is
there in Novak. That's the human side of Novak. We
don't see it in many other categories. It's superhuman. It's
(14:57):
stuff that we've never seen before. Times in terms of
giving gore on a spray and directing a bit of
traffic at the player's box. Sometimes you do see the
human element come out. So the second set got interesting
when you going in the sits A pass fourhand. Had
to have a night out. I felt like he had
to dominate with that shot. So just the serve wasn't
going to be enough. Had to have a great servy
night goes without saying, had to back it up with
(15:18):
the forehand on the forehand side, and when it mattered
most in that second set tie break. Keep in mind
the second set total points one differential is only one
point in this forty one to Djokovic, forty to Sids
a pass, And it was the sits A pass four
hand that went missing when it mattered the most in
that second set.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
Absolutely, when you've got that traffic being directed ad court
ad court ad court the whole time and he's trying
to run around and play those off four hands, it
did fall away because the other thing that Djokovic managed
to do is forced sit to pass away from the baseline,
away from that attacking position. The further away he got
from the baseline the herder. It was for him to
keep the ball in play. And the other thing that
Djokovic did employ was a low slice, sometimes dropping in short,
(15:56):
sometimes long. We underestimate and I wonder you would probably
have this, and I reckon Hawkey'll be in on this too.
The shape of the Djokovic ball in a rally, notaballs
are the same. He's throwing in moon balls, he's slicing,
he's hitting flat, he's got deep top spin, he's working
the corners of the court. It's just really fascinating to
watch how he constructs a point with all those different shots.
(16:18):
The variety is just off the scale it was.
Speaker 11 (16:20):
And I think the other thing that from a step
on our sits APAs perspective really was found wanting and
only in a handful of moments. But again we know
the margins are so fine, so slim at this level
was the sits a pass net game and the execution
of that net game. And there are a couple of
really costly misses after he'd constructed really quality points where
he didn't finish. And again it's another difference maker. It's
(16:42):
a really small difference maker, but it's another difference maker
in the sun.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
It shows the margins that they play with at this level.
And you go into the third set and it was
pretty much more of the same. And if you felt that, okay, Djokovic,
he's serving and he's cycling through that game where you
thought that Citzipas might make her only got to thirty
and we go, ooh, he's an opportunity. He saves his
way out of trouble again, has another love service game.
After that, the pressure back on Sinzipas. We went to
(17:05):
the tie break and exactly the same thing. Djokovic maintained
or increased his level. Sitsipas has dropped.
Speaker 11 (17:12):
Yeah, and so now Novak two sets the love up
and in pursuit of number twenty two. Now he starts
to get rolling. So we've spoken about the serve, spoke
about a little bit of the shakiness of the sitsip
pass four, had a net game and set two. How
about some of these numbers on return now and the
contrast that these numbers provide. So in terms of first
serve return points one in set three, just set three alone,
Novak's winning thirty eight percent against the Citsipas first serve.
(17:35):
That's a big number against a huge first server and
from a second serve perspective, also, thirty eight percent of
second serve points one. Not such a huge number, but
a significant number. Now, let's contrast that sits Apass twenty
six percent of his return points one against the Djokovic
first serve. But wait for this one against the Djokovic
second serve in set three, Sitsipass goes at eight percent. Yeah,
(17:57):
that's the number, that's the match.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
And that's the pressure that you have to put on
that he feels like he has to go for so
much more on that second serve to really assert some
sort of authority, and you're going to miss more than
you make. I think when you're under that sort of pressure.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
Yeah.
Speaker 11 (18:09):
Absolutely. And the last thing I'll say, and kind of
summing all of that up, so serve and return, what
does it lead to? I don't think you necessarily see
that come out in the wash in the short rally
points one what we call points decided within four shots,
but you can still trace back medium rally points one,
so that's points decided with a count of between five
and eight shots. You can still trace that back to
(18:30):
what's going on in the serve department. And what's going
on in the return department. So in terms of medium
points one across the night, twenty one to eight in
Novak Djokovic's favor, that's a trouncing. It's pretty even at
short rally points one. It's nine all at long rally
points one. So once it gets out beyond that, servant
return factor kind of comes down once you get to
nine shots plus. But medium points one, medium length points one,
(18:52):
twenty one eight, it's a trouncing.
Speaker 15 (18:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
And we saw at the end of the match too, John,
the emotion from Jokovic. He'd been pretty calm throughout mentioned
you know, he likes to talk at his playerbox, and
there was a little bit about not as much as
what we've seen in the lead up to this. It
was once he won the title and he was cool,
come and collected. He did his usual stuff on the
court when he went to his team. I've never seen
that level of emotion from Djokovic at all after winning
(19:16):
a major final like this. It just all came pouring out.
We heard it in the speeches as well, and obviously
he said, you know, this is the best win that
he's had in his career in a major and you
could see all of it pouring out. It was personal
this year, and he's proven that he was a man
on a mission and got the job done.
Speaker 11 (19:32):
And I think the scary thing is, from my perspective anyway,
there's no end in sight. So this looks like a
guy that's in full flight right now. And I know
we talk about the age, but why not twenty five,
twenty six, twenty seven, twenty I don't see an end
in sight. Peter may disagree. This is it's frightening stuff.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
He goes in his favorite Roland Garross too, which is
saying something because Ndale will be there as well, and
you know Wimbledon and then you go to US Open again.
I mean, al Karaz could potentially be a threat there
when he's back out on the tour and some of
the younger guys. But you've got to be able to
do it best two out of three. They can do
it best two out of three, it's three out of five.
That is the dynamic that they haven't cracked that code
yet and that the Djokovic riddle continues to remain unsolved.
Speaker 4 (20:14):
He has stated emphatically once again that he is the
greatest player currently in the world and has a bright
future which sounds ridiculous ahead of him. Gentlemen, thank you
so much for your time on the roundtable tonight and
right throughout the tournament. You've brought some wonderful insights to
the AO show and we thank you for your time.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
Love your work, Johns, Peter cheers.
Speaker 4 (20:37):
Arena Sablenka is still getting used to her new Monica
Grand Slam champion a day after her victory over Elena Rebaikana.
This morning, the twenty four year old took a cruise
in a wooden punt around Ornamental Lake in Melbourne's Royal
Botanic Gardens, showing off the Daphne Ackers Memorial trophy from
the night before. But it seems the championship is still
(20:57):
taking a while to sink in.
Speaker 6 (20:59):
I think more days to realize. I mean, I'm still
I still following. I'm on another planet trying to understand
what just happened.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
And how about all this this morning? You seem to
be a natural in front of the cameras. Are you
enjoying it?
Speaker 16 (21:11):
You know?
Speaker 6 (21:11):
I like to post, especially when your grand's Lam champion,
and yeah, it's it's I think it's the best morning
of my life.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
It's so beautiful.
Speaker 15 (21:21):
What about celebrations last night?
Speaker 1 (21:22):
What happened after the match?
Speaker 6 (21:25):
It was it was funny night. Everyone was everyone was
just too happy. Some some of us didn't make it
today because it was too much last night. But yeah,
we celebrate with my team and a little bit, as
I said, a little bit of pizza, a little bit
of so it's a little bit of some pain.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
It was a little bit of everything last night.
Speaker 17 (21:46):
And what's the rest of the day hold for you now?
Speaker 4 (21:47):
Like how do you take this feeling away?
Speaker 6 (21:50):
Another good restaurant of course, and then I need to
buck back my bags.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
It's not so much time to enjoy what's.
Speaker 8 (21:58):
Next on your schedule now because the next tournament you
go into, you know it's going to be crazy.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
As a Grand Slam champion.
Speaker 6 (22:04):
Yeah, it's going to be different. That's why I think
I'm going to play on ludle Y, because I need
some time to to rest, to realize, to just calm
down from everything will happen and start over again.
Speaker 17 (22:19):
She Bahara serves backhand from Siniakiva is really good, but
from Sbahara into the net on the back end, and
the screams are from the Czechs Babora Kretchikova and Katharina
Sineakiva have won a second Australian Open title and confirmed
their status as the pre eminent pairing in women's doubles.
Speaker 4 (22:42):
Babora Kritchikova and Katerina Sineakiva have gone back to back
in the women's doubles final, winning their second consecutive title
in Melbourne. The all Czech team defeated the tenth seed
pairing of Shuku Ayayama and Shibahara six four sixty three.
The number one seeds haven't lost a doubles match together
since twenty twenty one, winning every major they can tested
(23:04):
in twenty twenty two. Kritikova and Sineakova have also now
won their last twenty one of twenty three matches at
Melbourne Park, after being runners up and semi finalists in
twenty twenty one and twenty twenty respectively.
Speaker 7 (23:17):
I have to say it's really there's a lot of
hard work behind it. Yeah, so many practices, you know,
so many So I remember many many matches, you know
that we got really close a couple of times. We're
here to the semifinals or other slams and we just didn't,
you know, we just weren't able to get through. And
I think with the experience and with everything that as
(23:42):
the teams are changing, some teams are you know, not
playing anymore or they're retiring, so just the generation is
changing as well. And I mean, I'm really happy that,
you know, us part of this tennis generation.
Speaker 6 (23:57):
We are.
Speaker 7 (23:59):
We are we are trying to be the best ones
and we we are quite successful. So I'm really happy
with that and I'm honored.
Speaker 4 (24:12):
As everyone knows, the second weekend of the AO always
means we're down to the best performers of the tournament.
And it's not just true for the players, but the
ball kids as well. Beginning with three hundred and ninety
four boys and girls a fortnight ago, just the top
twenty two were selected for the women's and men's singles finals.
So what does it take to be a top ball
(24:32):
kid at the AO? Josh Martin went down to the
ball kid hut to find.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
Out to be a ball kid is quite a physical challenge.
Speaker 7 (24:40):
You need to be fast than your fee, have good
energy all the time, rolling, servicing, and a lot of running.
Speaker 11 (24:47):
You are also athletes, so we really need to keep
you healthy too, making sure that you know they're always
at the chip, top condition, ready to go.
Speaker 16 (24:57):
I'm Macy Peterson. I'm here because i want Top Gun
for Bulkids.
Speaker 15 (25:02):
I'm Charlie Meadows and nineties Dakes. I won the top
Gun for the boys.
Speaker 16 (25:06):
We found out yesterday.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
Do you now lack Bulky Party?
Speaker 16 (25:10):
Which is pretty cool?
Speaker 9 (25:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 15 (25:11):
So the part is lots of videos, a lot of fun.
Everyone everyone you know is there, so yeah, it's a
good way to get together as a group.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
What have you learned you now in your fourth and
final year as bull Kids? What do you know now?
You've got a few years under your belt.
Speaker 16 (25:30):
Everything, like all the basics of tennis, you know everything
of walkid needs to know. Really you're very experienced with
like the techniques and stuff like that.
Speaker 15 (25:40):
As a bulkid you probably learn like lots of like
skills that come out like on the outside world. So
lots of integrity, dedication, everything that you like, you need
to know it in here and out there. So lots
of life skills.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
And is there a prize for being top bul Kids?
Speaker 15 (25:55):
As top Guns? This year we get to do both
the men's and women's final, so we'll both be on tonight.
Speaker 10 (26:01):
So what's different about doing the men's and women's finals, Like,
obviously they're massive matches, a lot of people around the
world watches them.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
What's the protocol as a ball kit for a big
match like.
Speaker 15 (26:09):
That, so you see, it's just the same as if
you're on an outside court, but obviously the course a
lot longer, a bit more expectation, crowd's bigger, everyone's watching.
But yeah, just you've got to try and enjoy it
as well as much as stress about what's going on.
Speaker 10 (26:23):
What's been your favorite moment through this journey because you
get to be up close and personal with a lot
of very very famous players and people in the court.
Speaker 16 (26:31):
This ao like favorite match I've done this time was
probably the arena showdown with Novak and Nick Curious. That
was a lot of fun, very funny to watch, and
like bulk it as well. Overall, I don't know if
I could just pick one moment. I got to speak
to Ash Barty one time, which is pretty cool because
you just like walked past.
Speaker 15 (26:51):
As much as Bull Kids is about meeting the players,
just the connections you make with other bull Kids, so
it's like kind of another family that you go to.
So yeah, making this connection to meet new people.
Speaker 16 (27:02):
I was thinking about it the other day. When I'm
like down there Vulcany, it's just like an outside court,
like Charlie said before, but when you're up in the stands,
it's like so different to when like where we are,
which is pretty cool. Do you get nervous at the start, yes,
but like once I like you ease into it. It's fine.
It's just fun.
Speaker 6 (27:21):
Really.
Speaker 15 (27:21):
I feel like as much of its nerves, it's also excitement.
So yeah, just being really excited for especially these big games.
Make sure that excitement comes as well.
Speaker 1 (27:29):
That's good.
Speaker 10 (27:30):
And finally, if you have any advice for any budding
ball kids that are younger than you two, what would
it be.
Speaker 16 (27:37):
Don't stress, don't stress out too much. I guess you've
got the supervisors watching you. But really when you like
relax and everything, it's fine. And talk to people, hang
out with new people, don't stay in just one little
group like expand socialize with everyone. It'll be fun.
Speaker 15 (27:55):
Mine's probably just enjoy yourself because four years ago is
really quickly when you have it, like when you're doing
something you love, so yeah, just enjoy yourself.
Speaker 11 (28:02):
It's there.
Speaker 4 (28:07):
As Novak Djokovic and Stefanostitzipas prepared to walk out onto
the big stage for the final. Another duo was backstage
at Kia Arena preparing to put on a different kind
of show. Josh Martin found his way into the green
room of electronic duo Flight Facilities before their appearance on
the finals festival stage.
Speaker 18 (28:26):
Hi, I'm Jimmy and I'm Hugo and we are from
a band called Flight Facilities.
Speaker 8 (28:31):
The guy we used to work in a studio next
door to would refer to us as white Soul, so
I thought that was.
Speaker 1 (28:38):
I'll take that. That's an honorary slap in the face.
No one's ever given a better description. I think I'll
take it.
Speaker 10 (28:46):
Yeah, you guys actually dress up sometimes as aviators on stage.
Where does this aviation theme begin?
Speaker 8 (28:53):
That was my grandfather back in the seventies or eighties.
He had a company called Flight Facilities which was in
New South Wales and it used to operate between Marimbula
and Sydney, and so they just kind of do charter flights.
And his company was caught Flight Facilities and it had
the same logo. So I just took everything. Did you
ever want to be a pilot yourself. I did desperately
at the age of five, and then like, after a
(29:14):
few bad flights, he used to have this small cess
of three ten and it was it was affectionately known
as the vomit comet. So after a few of those,
being a pilot wasn't that appealing after that?
Speaker 18 (29:25):
How do you think that Lowie would feel about us
doing this with the logo and the name.
Speaker 8 (29:29):
Now, yeah, he probably would have killed me. But like
if I could have had five years grace, I reckon,
then he would have been like, oh, that's okay. But
like watching the building stage was painful enough for our parents.
Speaker 1 (29:41):
See, I don't know how he would have reacted.
Speaker 10 (29:43):
Yeah, we know you can perform on international stages, but
if you guys get on the tennis court, how do
you go.
Speaker 1 (29:49):
I'm not terrible at tennis. I played.
Speaker 8 (29:51):
I played at school, so like, I consider myself half decent.
But like then you watch this and you go, I'm
I'm garbage.
Speaker 18 (29:57):
So I won most Improved Time when I was really young,
and I'm convinced it's just because I stopped being a
little third in the training camp at like summer training camp.
Speaker 1 (30:07):
But I was pretty tough with that.
Speaker 18 (30:08):
So I actually really got into tennis for a little while.
But I'm shiitth house now.
Speaker 1 (30:13):
Oh, actually I.
Speaker 8 (30:14):
Had I had most wins in the under sixteens.
Speaker 1 (30:18):
I got very impressive.
Speaker 8 (30:19):
I was about to ask, actually I have I had
a They gave me a little metal for it and everything.
Speaker 1 (30:23):
It was nice. So that's where my career started to finish.
I think, what's it? What's your weapon on the court?
Is you serve your forehand?
Speaker 8 (30:31):
Your backhand used to be volleys for me, and then
I was short at school and then I got really tall,
so so I didn't realize I could serve until like
five years after puberty, which which was last year, which
was somewhere in my early thirties.
Speaker 1 (30:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 18 (30:47):
I really liked a good foehand straight down the line,
and I loved a good serve. I really tried to
perfect myself. Usually it was the second one or anybody.
Speaker 10 (30:56):
If you guys had to be a doubles team and
you couldn't be called flight for so it is what
would you want your nickname to be?
Speaker 8 (31:03):
That is a good question. What are the best answers
you've heard so far?
Speaker 10 (31:07):
Well, I mean we're still working on Jason Koobler and
Rinking Hijakata's nickname, although I hear they want to be
called ice Cube and ice Rink, so they're like the
Ice brothers. So I don't know if there's like some
last name combinations you could go after.
Speaker 8 (31:22):
Awkward We got some awkward last names to com got
Lyle and.
Speaker 1 (31:25):
Gruzman, which is pretty just want to be cruel rule, Well,
it's all.
Speaker 18 (31:30):
It's close to a really big artist or what's the other.
Speaker 13 (31:35):
Way to work that out?
Speaker 1 (31:37):
Loseman?
Speaker 8 (31:38):
Yea, that is actually great. The losemen, Yeah, the loseman's
will be I think we'll stay true out here.
Speaker 4 (31:48):
And so the curtains are drawn on AO twenty three
with new champions and enduring legends. I hope you've enjoyed
our coverage of the Australian Open, all made possible by
the efforts of the AO Show team editor Ed Denton,
producer Josh Martin, box pop producer Ari Pavera, gig analyst
Simon Ray and bonus episode producer Sam Kozlowski, plus all
(32:11):
of our contributors from OZ open dot Com, AO Radio
and Tennis Australia's host broadcast who've lent their voices to
every episode and I'm John hoovenas thanking you for joining
me and the team over the past month. If you
haven't already, be sure to subscribe to receive notifications of
new episodes down the track. And if you've enjoyed our
coverage of the Australian Summer of tennis, please consider leaving
(32:34):
a rating and a comment so more fans can enjoy
the AO Show.
Doc Richell.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
The tea boorhand from Citzi pass is deep. Working now
to the backhand of Cinzipaz backhand and backhand both players
and now Doc Mitchell willing to one up the line.
Speaker 3 (00:09):
He's just made it block backrop simatic and it is
ten Ablo pest. Doc events he owns his cords and
he is back in style.
Speaker 4 (00:30):
Hello and welcome to the AO Show. For Day fourteen
of the Australian Open. John Hoovenar's with you on the
grounds of Melbourne Park for a final chapter to this
incredible tournament. Here's what's coming up on the show. Dominant
Djokovic does it again. Novak notes title ten in Melbourne.
Speaker 5 (00:46):
This probably is the I would say biggest victory in
my life, considering the circumstances.
Speaker 4 (00:52):
Coronation celebrations for Queen Arena continue as follow.
Speaker 6 (00:56):
I'm on another planet trying to understand what's this happened?
Speaker 4 (00:59):
Back to back Checkmates claimed the women's doubles again.
Speaker 7 (01:03):
They are trained to be the best ones and vo
quite successful, so I'm really happy of it.
Speaker 4 (01:08):
That and Rock on Flight facilities take the stage at
the AO Finals Festival.
Speaker 8 (01:13):
I had most wins in the under sixteen.
Speaker 4 (01:15):
So that's all ahead on the AO Show. Novak Djokovic
is the Australian Open champion for the tenth time. He's
fourth in a row. In a night to forget for
Stefanos Citzipas, the Greek found himself on the back foot early,
(01:35):
having to fend off two break points in his opening
service game. Two games later, he was unable to repeat
the effort, double faulting to gift wrap the first break
of serve to Djokovic.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Second serve Djokovic up near the baseline for this one,
and this it's a double fives. He's given the break
to Djokovic's early advantage. For the four seeds, it's three
to one opening sets.
Speaker 4 (01:56):
The crowd support was strong for Citzipas, but he's had
the scalpel out and was wielding it with surgical precision,
Djokovic cruising to the first set in just thirty six minutes.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Set point Djokovic the serve out why big stretch cross
cord four.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
He goes long from sis a pass.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
The opening set goes away at Novak Djokovic's.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
A nine time champion.
Speaker 4 (02:18):
Sinzipass built his confidence in the second set, holding serve
to love and forcing errors to take Djokovic to love thirty.
He started to push his opponent to the corners of
the court.
Speaker 9 (02:28):
Back from sispass, cross court Djokovic with a two hundred
into the net, and Djokovic has fallen. I think he's okay.
I think he just stumbles. Yeah, he's up on his
feet and he's fine. I think he just stumbles as
he went over.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
He's walking fine, already walking around the court.
Speaker 4 (02:43):
The third seed found the line to pull out a
massive hold from the Djokovic stone.
Speaker 9 (02:48):
Four hun from sixty pass four hundred. Djokovic sits pasill
head backand cross Kurt Jokovic is there with his two
hundred sliced by Sizy pass with a lot of air
four Hundredkovich goes back to the back end SiZ pass
defensive back and a lot of air four un from
Dkokovic reads this low volley from Jokovic is going live.
Han Ssipas hold Honey, punches the air.
Speaker 4 (03:05):
Honey looks up for the Greek.
Speaker 9 (03:07):
Fans and says, come on, we're in this together.
Speaker 4 (03:10):
Titsipas's first break point opportunity was timely, coming at five
to four for set point, but Djokovic showed his pedigree,
firing and down the line fourhand winner to save it.
Speaker 9 (03:20):
Sits Apass with sat point second serve from Djokovic back
on from SETSI pass up the middle four un Djokovic
back on from Sisipass lofty deep to the fornd of
Djokovic four and sets to Pas up the middle four
Hundkovich into out backun sits Pas up the line four
Hundokovich to the find of Sitsipass, both playing a little
conservatively back on Sitsipass four un Djokovic back on Sitsipass
is lofted foun Djokovic down the fine wing as a
(03:41):
wind up.
Speaker 4 (03:43):
The second set rolled into a chaotic tie breaker with
six points one against the serve. The Greek was on
his knees down four to one, but managed to grind
his way back to four all on the back of
errors and a rare double fault from the Serb. But
errors from his own racket proved toxic for Sinzipas. With
the set on the.
Speaker 9 (04:02):
Line, Djokovic six four second set tiebreak serving done the
four hunt wings internet out from zeptive pass the four
four hundred hour of promstive.
Speaker 4 (04:12):
Bath, Djokovic left the court for a bathroom break for
nearly eight minutes between sets. The hiatus seemed to benefit Sitzipas,
who was the beneficiary of another Djokovic double fault to
notch two break point chances, the second of which he converted.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
It's a pass level with the Melbourne sign for this
first serve, which he takes as a slice backhand shortball
back that way from Jockowich.
Speaker 10 (04:31):
He's missed an early breaker serve, but to step it
off six to.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Pass and he.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
Does get the better off that opening.
Speaker 4 (04:38):
Game, but the man with the longest winning streak in
Australian Open history was lurking just around the corner. He
broke right back with a fiery backhand winner and a
forced error break point.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
The serve here from Sincipass backhand, full stretch from Djokovic
into the deuce court go sitzbas great angle from Jockwitch's
foehand short ball from Sinzbas He's push a wide break.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
Back immediately for Jock.
Speaker 4 (05:00):
With the championship on the line, Sitzipas lifted his intensity
in the third set, hitting harder, flatter balls and throwing
in some incredible drop shots. The Greek kept his level
to force a third set tiebreak, but in the blink
of an eye he trailed five love. Some unforced errors
by Djokovic allowed Sitzipass back in the door momentarily, and
(05:21):
a twenty six shot rally had the crowd on their feet.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
The serve out why Locke sliced backhand from Sitzbass lends
in the corner of the eight court. He now plays
a four and up the line of the juice called
cross called foehand from Jokich, dug out by Sitzipas, coross
cart backhand out from Jockwitch match by Sitzipas up the
line from Djokovic. Cross fourhand is deep from Sitsabas, match
by Djokovic four and to foy in. He's hit the
sideliners Cinebasis backed that way. Jokovich just leans him one
(05:44):
up the line. Cross caught backhand from Sitsabas, backhand to
back end, sliced again from Citinzipas, top swim backhand from
Jokovich up the line goes Cinza bas full stretch on
the cross foehand. He's Djokovic four and to four and
they go crucial rally. The shorter ball from Sinzebas Jokovic
coming in cross court. Now he's gonna play the low
back boy, but he puts it into the nets.
Speaker 11 (06:02):
Well done again.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
He's hanging up by his fingernails.
Speaker 4 (06:05):
But it would be all but the final gasp from Cinzipass, who,
despite fending off two of three championship points, couldn't hold
back the damn wall.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
To extend the history that he's created at Melbourne Park.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
Championship point.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Djokovic down the tee fourhand from city pass is deep,
working now to the backhand of Sitsypass, backhand to backhand,
both players and now jockovitchill willing to win up the line.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
He's just made it.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
Lock back from Sintebasi goes long.
Speaker 4 (06:31):
And it is ten of.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
The absolute best to go back Jokovic. He owns this
cords and he is back in style.
Speaker 4 (06:42):
With the title secure, Djokovic climbed into his player box
and collapsed in heaving sobs.
Speaker 5 (06:48):
I have to say that this has been one of
the most challenging tournaments I've ever played in my life,
considering the circumstances, not playing last year, coming back this year,
and I want to thank I want to thank all
the people that made me feel welcome, made me feel
comfortable to be Melbourne, to be in Australia. Only the
(07:12):
team and the family knows what we've been through in
the last four or five weeks and this probably is
the I would say biggest victory in my life.
Speaker 4 (07:21):
Considering the circumstances for city pass forty two eras to
twenty ultimately proved he's undoing.
Speaker 12 (07:29):
There's nothing that I didn't use to my advantage or
there's nothing that I could have extracted more for today.
I did everything possible. You know, Novoceez is a player
that pushes you to your limits. And I don't see
this as a curse. I don't see this as like
something annoying. This is very good for the sport to
have competitors like him, to have champions like him. It's
(07:51):
very important for us that want to get to his
point one day and getting our you know, ass kid,
This for sure a very good lesson. Every single time
he has made me a much perer player. He has
made my levels of concentration get higher and hire every
single time I get to play him.
Speaker 4 (08:11):
Similar to Jokovic's twenty twenty one title, an injury that
jeopardized his campaign was ultimately not enough to stop the juggernaut.
His coach Goran Ivanizovitch, praising Djokovic's resilience.
Speaker 13 (08:22):
I don't say one hundred percent, but ninety seven percent
of the players. If on Saturday when you get the
results of the MRI, you go straight to the referee
office and pull out of the tournament, But not him.
He is from other space.
Speaker 4 (08:39):
Not only does the twenty two time Grand Slam champion
draw level with Rafael Nadal on major titles, the pair
are now the only two men to reach double digits
at a single Grand Slam event.
Speaker 14 (08:51):
Of course, I am motivated to win as many Slams
as possible, you know, and this stage of my career,
thisrophees are the biggest motivational factor of why I still compete.
So that's the case, without a doubt. Let's let's see
how far it takes me. I really don't want to
stop here. I don't have intention to stop here. I
(09:13):
feel great about my tennis. I know that when I'm
feeling good physically, mentally present, that I have a chance
to win any Slam against anybody.
Speaker 4 (09:25):
A tenth Australian Open title for Djokovic, twenty two Grand
Slams overall and to dissect everything, the match itself and
the history making moments are Peter Mikado commentator and gig
analyst Simon Ray. Gentlemen, what did you make of that match?
Speaker 2 (09:40):
Novak Djokovic outstanding, an outstanding tournament and outstanding final. We
knew that he was going to be a force to
be reckoned with, and he absolutely showed that. Whatever Steven
or Sizypass tried during that final, he tried absolutely.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
Everything he could.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
He could not get through Novak Djokovic. The thing that
astonishes me he won his first to the ten back
in two thousand and eight. He is still the favorite
for the title in twenty twenty three. He still rolled
through the event, only dropping one set. I bet your
Enzo Quaco is feeling pretty good about himself, just quietly,
and it's re established himself at the top of the
men's game as the number one player in the world.
(10:17):
He continues to push the boundaries of where tennis can go,
and he just showed that again right from the start
of this tournament to the end. It was personal for
him this year, and that's why we saw the outpouring
of emotion at the end. And he showed that he's a
man on a mission and just unstoppable.
Speaker 11 (10:33):
It's mind boggling stuff, isn't it. The numbers that you
throw around John and we all do, and they're just numbers.
But to actually give some thought to behind to behind
the scenes, what's going on to accumulate those numbers over
a journey, you know, whether it's Rapper at Roland Garriss
or Novak, Karen Melbourne and twenty two a piece, it's extraordinary.
(10:55):
Like just to think back and kind of think how
difficult one of these things is to win seven to
five set matches against dog hungry opponents every second day,
and to do that twenty it's just it's beyond belief.
I don't have any words.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
It's the privilege of being able to watch the very
best at the top of their game, and we are
ultimately privileged. I've been doing Australian Open Radio for seventeen
years so living through and calling this era of tennis
and it's just extraordinary. And it just continues on and on.
We think, oh, where the next challenge is going to
come up, that it's going to get closer and closer
now that we're without Roger Federer and the question mark's
(11:30):
having Nadal, but joy Djokovic just established himself. He's got
to be favored again next year too. But the other
good thing was it showed that Melbourne was back. Djokovic
was back, Melbourne was back, the Australian Open was back,
and it was wonderful to see.
Speaker 4 (11:43):
All Right, Simon, let's dig a little deeper into the
numbers from tonight's three set win.
Speaker 11 (11:47):
Well, we spoke about it last night and we've felt
that Sitzapas had to start well if he was going
to be competitive in this thing. I've always felt like
it was going to be a long roadback if he
trails early. And we spoke about Novak's early converted number.
So if he breaks serve in the first four games,
goes on to win that set ninety six percent of
the time. So trouble with the capital t And sure enough,
(12:08):
what happened early. Novak breaks early and goes on to
seal the deal. So and it starts with serve and
return for me, and I think it's an area that
we probably under sell Novak in as the serve. So
let's just dive into the serve and set one. So
Novak serves at seventy two percent, and set one, in
terms of those points that where he's made the first
serve seventy two percent of the time, goes on to
(12:29):
win ninety four percent of those points in set one,
So it's borderline untouchable, not going to get broken in
the set of ten. Is serving with those types of numbers. Stefanos,
by contrast, and Set one serves at sixty six percent
and wins seventy on first serve, fifty seven on second.
So it's the pressure that Novak's able to build on
his own service game, and then we'll get to the
return in a second, but he sets the tone for
(12:50):
the match breaks early outstanding serving performance. Then we saw
a little bit of volatility in set two, but really
the tone was set early.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
Peter absolutely, and I think the thing too the serving
of Djokovic. The plan very clear against Stephano Sitsipass stay
away from the forehand, so pretty much every single serve
was directed out to that backhand wing, and he was
under so much pressure with that one hander just to
maintain a presence there. And every time Sitsipaz you thought
was going to get a strangle. He's winning points he's
having to play nine, ten to eleven shot rallies just
(13:18):
to win a point and just to keep himself in
the contest. Very few service games he could cycle through
very quickly, whereas Djokovic, yes he had he struggles at times.
He was broken in that second set, but there were
a lot of service games that he was holding to
love or that he was holding to fifteen, and that
just keeps that pressure, constant pressure on Sitsipaz. He knows
how to play these finals, not just Tear but around
the world so so well, and it's a skill in itself.
Speaker 11 (13:40):
An outstanding point. So we talk about pressure points on surf,
so thirty all juice. Obviously a break point or any
point that can lead to a break point. I don't
think our listeners are bit surprised when I tell them
Novak Djokovic in the first set didn't face a single
pressure point on his surf and Stefano Sitsipas is trying
to fight off eight, ten, twelve pressure points on his
(14:00):
service camp. So that's the difference in the first set.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
And then you're all into the second set, and he
was able to keep that pressure on. But at Sitsipas,
he was able to rise to that level. But it's
also that thing of the wearing effect that it has.
So even if Sitsipas was able to win that second set,
and he did fall away late both in the second
and the third set tiebreaks, but even if he was
alder to win that the physical exertion required to actually
take a set off Djokovic in a tiebreaker, and yet
(14:23):
Djokovic would sit there and go, well, I can keep
going for another three sets. What have you got Stepanos?
With the hard work that he has to do, it
just has that wearing effect. So even if he managed
to scrape a set, he was still going to be
in trouble the way Jokovic was playing.
Speaker 11 (14:36):
Yeah, and the second set for me is where it
got really interesting. So we know Sitsabas already behind the
eight balling. We knew he needed to start really strongly.
He didn't get that done. So in the second set
he does start to find some of his better tennis
though he does come out with a renewed sense of
purpose and intent. And Novak, we know that volatility is
there in Novak. That's the human side of Novak. We
don't see it in many other categories. It's superhuman. It's
(14:57):
stuff that we've never seen before. Times in terms of
giving gore on a spray and directing a bit of
traffic at the player's box. Sometimes you do see the
human element come out. So the second set got interesting
when you going in the sits A pass fourhand. Had
to have a night out. I felt like he had
to dominate with that shot. So just the serve wasn't
going to be enough. Had to have a great servy
night goes without saying, had to back it up with
(15:18):
the forehand on the forehand side, and when it mattered
most in that second set tie break. Keep in mind
the second set total points one differential is only one
point in this forty one to Djokovic, forty to Sids
a pass, And it was the sits A pass four
hand that went missing when it mattered the most in
that second set.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
Absolutely, when you've got that traffic being directed ad court
ad court ad court the whole time and he's trying
to run around and play those off four hands, it
did fall away because the other thing that Djokovic managed
to do is forced sit to pass away from the baseline,
away from that attacking position. The further away he got
from the baseline the herder. It was for him to
keep the ball in play. And the other thing that
Djokovic did employ was a low slice, sometimes dropping in short,
(15:56):
sometimes long. We underestimate and I wonder you would probably
have this, and I reckon Hawkey'll be in on this too.
The shape of the Djokovic ball in a rally, notaballs
are the same. He's throwing in moon balls, he's slicing,
he's hitting flat, he's got deep top spin, he's working
the corners of the court. It's just really fascinating to
watch how he constructs a point with all those different shots.
(16:18):
The variety is just off the scale it was.
Speaker 11 (16:20):
And I think the other thing that from a step
on our sits APAs perspective really was found wanting and
only in a handful of moments. But again we know
the margins are so fine, so slim at this level
was the sits a pass net game and the execution
of that net game. And there are a couple of
really costly misses after he'd constructed really quality points where
he didn't finish. And again it's another difference maker. It's
(16:42):
a really small difference maker, but it's another difference maker
in the sun.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
It shows the margins that they play with at this level.
And you go into the third set and it was
pretty much more of the same. And if you felt that, okay, Djokovic,
he's serving and he's cycling through that game where you
thought that Citzipas might make her only got to thirty
and we go, ooh, he's an opportunity. He saves his
way out of trouble again, has another love service game.
After that, the pressure back on Sinzipas. We went to
(17:05):
the tie break and exactly the same thing. Djokovic maintained
or increased his level. Sitsipas has dropped.
Speaker 11 (17:12):
Yeah, and so now Novak two sets the love up
and in pursuit of number twenty two. Now he starts
to get rolling. So we've spoken about the serve, spoke
about a little bit of the shakiness of the sitsip
pass four, had a net game and set two. How
about some of these numbers on return now and the
contrast that these numbers provide. So in terms of first
serve return points one in set three, just set three alone,
Novak's winning thirty eight percent against the Citsipas first serve.
(17:35):
That's a big number against a huge first server and
from a second serve perspective, also, thirty eight percent of
second serve points one. Not such a huge number, but
a significant number. Now, let's contrast that sits Apass twenty
six percent of his return points one against the Djokovic
first serve. But wait for this one against the Djokovic
second serve in set three, Sitsipass goes at eight percent. Yeah,
(17:57):
that's the number, that's the match.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
And that's the pressure that you have to put on
that he feels like he has to go for so
much more on that second serve to really assert some
sort of authority, and you're going to miss more than
you make. I think when you're under that sort of pressure.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
Yeah.
Speaker 11 (18:09):
Absolutely. And the last thing I'll say, and kind of
summing all of that up, so serve and return, what
does it lead to? I don't think you necessarily see
that come out in the wash in the short rally
points one what we call points decided within four shots,
but you can still trace back medium rally points one,
so that's points decided with a count of between five
and eight shots. You can still trace that back to
(18:30):
what's going on in the serve department. And what's going
on in the return department. So in terms of medium
points one across the night, twenty one to eight in
Novak Djokovic's favor, that's a trouncing. It's pretty even at
short rally points one. It's nine all at long rally
points one. So once it gets out beyond that, servant
return factor kind of comes down once you get to
nine shots plus. But medium points one, medium length points one,
(18:52):
twenty one eight, it's a trouncing.
Speaker 15 (18:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
And we saw at the end of the match too, John,
the emotion from Jokovic. He'd been pretty calm throughout mentioned
you know, he likes to talk at his playerbox, and
there was a little bit about not as much as
what we've seen in the lead up to this. It
was once he won the title and he was cool,
come and collected. He did his usual stuff on the
court when he went to his team. I've never seen
that level of emotion from Djokovic at all after winning
(19:16):
a major final like this. It just all came pouring out.
We heard it in the speeches as well, and obviously
he said, you know, this is the best win that
he's had in his career in a major and you
could see all of it pouring out. It was personal
this year, and he's proven that he was a man
on a mission and got the job done.
Speaker 11 (19:32):
And I think the scary thing is, from my perspective anyway,
there's no end in sight. So this looks like a
guy that's in full flight right now. And I know
we talk about the age, but why not twenty five,
twenty six, twenty seven, twenty I don't see an end
in sight. Peter may disagree. This is it's frightening stuff.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
He goes in his favorite Roland Garross too, which is
saying something because Ndale will be there as well, and
you know Wimbledon and then you go to US Open again.
I mean, al Karaz could potentially be a threat there
when he's back out on the tour and some of
the younger guys. But you've got to be able to
do it best two out of three. They can do
it best two out of three, it's three out of five.
That is the dynamic that they haven't cracked that code
yet and that the Djokovic riddle continues to remain unsolved.
Speaker 4 (20:14):
He has stated emphatically once again that he is the
greatest player currently in the world and has a bright
future which sounds ridiculous ahead of him. Gentlemen, thank you
so much for your time on the roundtable tonight and
right throughout the tournament. You've brought some wonderful insights to
the AO show and we thank you for your time.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
Love your work, Johns, Peter cheers.
Speaker 4 (20:37):
Arena Sablenka is still getting used to her new Monica
Grand Slam champion a day after her victory over Elena Rebaikana.
This morning, the twenty four year old took a cruise
in a wooden punt around Ornamental Lake in Melbourne's Royal
Botanic Gardens, showing off the Daphne Ackers Memorial trophy from
the night before. But it seems the championship is still
(20:57):
taking a while to sink in.
Speaker 6 (20:59):
I think more days to realize. I mean, I'm still
I still following. I'm on another planet trying to understand
what just happened.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
And how about all this this morning? You seem to
be a natural in front of the cameras. Are you
enjoying it?
Speaker 16 (21:11):
You know?
Speaker 6 (21:11):
I like to post, especially when your grand's Lam champion,
and yeah, it's it's I think it's the best morning
of my life.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
It's so beautiful.
Speaker 15 (21:21):
What about celebrations last night?
Speaker 1 (21:22):
What happened after the match?
Speaker 6 (21:25):
It was it was funny night. Everyone was everyone was
just too happy. Some some of us didn't make it
today because it was too much last night. But yeah,
we celebrate with my team and a little bit, as
I said, a little bit of pizza, a little bit
of so it's a little bit of some pain.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
It was a little bit of everything last night.
Speaker 17 (21:46):
And what's the rest of the day hold for you now?
Speaker 4 (21:47):
Like how do you take this feeling away?
Speaker 6 (21:50):
Another good restaurant of course, and then I need to
buck back my bags.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
It's not so much time to enjoy what's.
Speaker 8 (21:58):
Next on your schedule now because the next tournament you
go into, you know it's going to be crazy.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
As a Grand Slam champion.
Speaker 6 (22:04):
Yeah, it's going to be different. That's why I think
I'm going to play on ludle Y, because I need
some time to to rest, to realize, to just calm
down from everything will happen and start over again.
Speaker 17 (22:19):
She Bahara serves backhand from Siniakiva is really good, but
from Sbahara into the net on the back end, and
the screams are from the Czechs Babora Kretchikova and Katharina
Sineakiva have won a second Australian Open title and confirmed
their status as the pre eminent pairing in women's doubles.
Speaker 4 (22:42):
Babora Kritchikova and Katerina Sineakiva have gone back to back
in the women's doubles final, winning their second consecutive title
in Melbourne. The all Czech team defeated the tenth seed
pairing of Shuku Ayayama and Shibahara six four sixty three.
The number one seeds haven't lost a doubles match together
since twenty twenty one, winning every major they can tested
(23:04):
in twenty twenty two. Kritikova and Sineakova have also now
won their last twenty one of twenty three matches at
Melbourne Park, after being runners up and semi finalists in
twenty twenty one and twenty twenty respectively.
Speaker 7 (23:17):
I have to say it's really there's a lot of
hard work behind it. Yeah, so many practices, you know,
so many So I remember many many matches, you know
that we got really close a couple of times. We're
here to the semifinals or other slams and we just didn't,
you know, we just weren't able to get through. And
I think with the experience and with everything that as
(23:42):
the teams are changing, some teams are you know, not
playing anymore or they're retiring, so just the generation is
changing as well. And I mean, I'm really happy that,
you know, us part of this tennis generation.
Speaker 6 (23:57):
We are.
Speaker 7 (23:59):
We are we are trying to be the best ones
and we we are quite successful. So I'm really happy
with that and I'm honored.
Speaker 4 (24:12):
As everyone knows, the second weekend of the AO always
means we're down to the best performers of the tournament.
And it's not just true for the players, but the
ball kids as well. Beginning with three hundred and ninety
four boys and girls a fortnight ago, just the top
twenty two were selected for the women's and men's singles finals.
So what does it take to be a top ball
(24:32):
kid at the AO? Josh Martin went down to the
ball kid hut to find.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
Out to be a ball kid is quite a physical challenge.
Speaker 7 (24:40):
You need to be fast than your fee, have good
energy all the time, rolling, servicing, and a lot of running.
Speaker 11 (24:47):
You are also athletes, so we really need to keep
you healthy too, making sure that you know they're always
at the chip, top condition, ready to go.
Speaker 16 (24:57):
I'm Macy Peterson. I'm here because i want Top Gun
for Bulkids.
Speaker 15 (25:02):
I'm Charlie Meadows and nineties Dakes. I won the top
Gun for the boys.
Speaker 16 (25:06):
We found out yesterday.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
Do you now lack Bulky Party?
Speaker 16 (25:10):
Which is pretty cool?
Speaker 9 (25:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 15 (25:11):
So the part is lots of videos, a lot of fun.
Everyone everyone you know is there, so yeah, it's a
good way to get together as a group.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
What have you learned you now in your fourth and
final year as bull Kids? What do you know now?
You've got a few years under your belt.
Speaker 16 (25:30):
Everything, like all the basics of tennis, you know everything
of walkid needs to know. Really you're very experienced with
like the techniques and stuff like that.
Speaker 15 (25:40):
As a bulkid you probably learn like lots of like
skills that come out like on the outside world. So
lots of integrity, dedication, everything that you like, you need
to know it in here and out there. So lots
of life skills.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
And is there a prize for being top bul Kids?
Speaker 15 (25:55):
As top Guns? This year we get to do both
the men's and women's final, so we'll both be on tonight.
Speaker 10 (26:01):
So what's different about doing the men's and women's finals, Like,
obviously they're massive matches, a lot of people around the
world watches them.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
What's the protocol as a ball kit for a big
match like.
Speaker 15 (26:09):
That, so you see, it's just the same as if
you're on an outside court, but obviously the course a
lot longer, a bit more expectation, crowd's bigger, everyone's watching.
But yeah, just you've got to try and enjoy it
as well as much as stress about what's going on.
Speaker 10 (26:23):
What's been your favorite moment through this journey because you
get to be up close and personal with a lot
of very very famous players and people in the court.
Speaker 16 (26:31):
This ao like favorite match I've done this time was
probably the arena showdown with Novak and Nick Curious. That
was a lot of fun, very funny to watch, and
like bulk it as well. Overall, I don't know if
I could just pick one moment. I got to speak
to Ash Barty one time, which is pretty cool because
you just like walked past.
Speaker 15 (26:51):
As much as Bull Kids is about meeting the players,
just the connections you make with other bull Kids, so
it's like kind of another family that you go to.
So yeah, making this connection to meet new people.
Speaker 16 (27:02):
I was thinking about it the other day. When I'm
like down there Vulcany, it's just like an outside court,
like Charlie said before, but when you're up in the stands,
it's like so different to when like where we are,
which is pretty cool. Do you get nervous at the start, yes,
but like once I like you ease into it. It's fine.
It's just fun.
Speaker 6 (27:21):
Really.
Speaker 15 (27:21):
I feel like as much of its nerves, it's also excitement.
So yeah, just being really excited for especially these big games.
Make sure that excitement comes as well.
Speaker 1 (27:29):
That's good.
Speaker 10 (27:30):
And finally, if you have any advice for any budding
ball kids that are younger than you two, what would
it be.
Speaker 16 (27:37):
Don't stress, don't stress out too much. I guess you've
got the supervisors watching you. But really when you like
relax and everything, it's fine. And talk to people, hang
out with new people, don't stay in just one little
group like expand socialize with everyone. It'll be fun.
Speaker 15 (27:55):
Mine's probably just enjoy yourself because four years ago is
really quickly when you have it, like when you're doing
something you love, so yeah, just enjoy yourself.
Speaker 11 (28:02):
It's there.
Speaker 4 (28:07):
As Novak Djokovic and Stefanostitzipas prepared to walk out onto
the big stage for the final. Another duo was backstage
at Kia Arena preparing to put on a different kind
of show. Josh Martin found his way into the green
room of electronic duo Flight Facilities before their appearance on
the finals festival stage.
Speaker 18 (28:26):
Hi, I'm Jimmy and I'm Hugo and we are from
a band called Flight Facilities.
Speaker 8 (28:31):
The guy we used to work in a studio next
door to would refer to us as white Soul, so
I thought that was.
Speaker 1 (28:38):
I'll take that. That's an honorary slap in the face.
No one's ever given a better description. I think I'll
take it.
Speaker 10 (28:46):
Yeah, you guys actually dress up sometimes as aviators on stage.
Where does this aviation theme begin?
Speaker 8 (28:53):
That was my grandfather back in the seventies or eighties.
He had a company called Flight Facilities which was in
New South Wales and it used to operate between Marimbula
and Sydney, and so they just kind of do charter flights.
And his company was caught Flight Facilities and it had
the same logo. So I just took everything. Did you
ever want to be a pilot yourself. I did desperately
at the age of five, and then like, after a
(29:14):
few bad flights, he used to have this small cess
of three ten and it was it was affectionately known
as the vomit comet. So after a few of those,
being a pilot wasn't that appealing after that?
Speaker 18 (29:25):
How do you think that Lowie would feel about us
doing this with the logo and the name.
Speaker 8 (29:29):
Now, yeah, he probably would have killed me. But like
if I could have had five years grace, I reckon,
then he would have been like, oh, that's okay. But
like watching the building stage was painful enough for our parents.
Speaker 1 (29:41):
See, I don't know how he would have reacted.
Speaker 10 (29:43):
Yeah, we know you can perform on international stages, but
if you guys get on the tennis court, how do
you go.
Speaker 1 (29:49):
I'm not terrible at tennis. I played.
Speaker 8 (29:51):
I played at school, so like, I consider myself half decent.
But like then you watch this and you go, I'm
I'm garbage.
Speaker 18 (29:57):
So I won most Improved Time when I was really young,
and I'm convinced it's just because I stopped being a
little third in the training camp at like summer training camp.
Speaker 1 (30:07):
But I was pretty tough with that.
Speaker 18 (30:08):
So I actually really got into tennis for a little while.
But I'm shiitth house now.
Speaker 1 (30:13):
Oh, actually I.
Speaker 8 (30:14):
Had I had most wins in the under sixteens.
Speaker 1 (30:18):
I got very impressive.
Speaker 8 (30:19):
I was about to ask, actually I have I had
a They gave me a little metal for it and everything.
Speaker 1 (30:23):
It was nice. So that's where my career started to finish.
I think, what's it? What's your weapon on the court?
Is you serve your forehand?
Speaker 8 (30:31):
Your backhand used to be volleys for me, and then
I was short at school and then I got really tall,
so so I didn't realize I could serve until like
five years after puberty, which which was last year, which
was somewhere in my early thirties.
Speaker 1 (30:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 18 (30:47):
I really liked a good foehand straight down the line,
and I loved a good serve. I really tried to
perfect myself. Usually it was the second one or anybody.
Speaker 10 (30:56):
If you guys had to be a doubles team and
you couldn't be called flight for so it is what
would you want your nickname to be?
Speaker 8 (31:03):
That is a good question. What are the best answers
you've heard so far?
Speaker 10 (31:07):
Well, I mean we're still working on Jason Koobler and
Rinking Hijakata's nickname, although I hear they want to be
called ice Cube and ice Rink, so they're like the
Ice brothers. So I don't know if there's like some
last name combinations you could go after.
Speaker 8 (31:22):
Awkward We got some awkward last names to com got
Lyle and.
Speaker 1 (31:25):
Gruzman, which is pretty just want to be cruel rule, Well,
it's all.
Speaker 18 (31:30):
It's close to a really big artist or what's the other.
Speaker 13 (31:35):
Way to work that out?
Speaker 1 (31:37):
Loseman?
Speaker 8 (31:38):
Yea, that is actually great. The losemen, Yeah, the loseman's
will be I think we'll stay true out here.
Speaker 4 (31:48):
And so the curtains are drawn on AO twenty three
with new champions and enduring legends. I hope you've enjoyed
our coverage of the Australian Open, all made possible by
the efforts of the AO Show team editor Ed Denton,
producer Josh Martin, box pop producer Ari Pavera, gig analyst
Simon Ray and bonus episode producer Sam Kozlowski, plus all
(32:11):
of our contributors from OZ open dot Com, AO Radio
and Tennis Australia's host broadcast who've lent their voices to
every episode and I'm John hoovenas thanking you for joining
me and the team over the past month. If you
haven't already, be sure to subscribe to receive notifications of
new episodes down the track. And if you've enjoyed our
coverage of the Australian Summer of tennis, please consider leaving
(32:34):
a rating and a comment so more fans can enjoy
the AO Show.
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