Australian Open 2025 Preview and the first week of the 2025 season

In this episode, Anastasia and Nick celebrate the New Year and discuss the upcoming Australian Open, reflecting on the United Cup and its significance in the tennis calendar.

We then jump into our Australian Open preview with the help of tennis content creator Jess Adjua. Just is a resident of Sydney, Australia and has been attending the Australian Open in Melbourne for years. She gives us her tips and tricks and what to look forward to at the tournament.

Transcript

Anastasia (00:00)

Happy New Year, Happy New Year, Nick.

Nick (00:04)

you talking about Anastasia it's been new year for like over a week now or does your do you not start new year on December the 27th?

Anastasia (00:12)

You know, apparently that is when the new year starts in the tennis calendar, at least.

Nick (00:22)

I mean, by the way, again, back in the day, the Australian Oprah did sometimes take place over Christmas and New Year. Can you imagine watching a grand slam during that kind of break?

Anastasia (00:33)

No,

no, absolutely not. think that would be like this was as early as I think it could have been.

And looking at the calendar, like looking ahead a little bit for the calendar for next year, things do go back to starting in January. I think they've already said the United Cup will start in January next year. I think I saw that somewhere. So hopefully things will push, you know, where the new season starts in the-

New year, tennis, you can do it. I believe in you. But this is the new year for us because we haven't recorded recently. If you've been listening to the podcast over the last three weeks, I would say, all of those recordings were done in like November. So this is the freshest, this is fresh and new on Anastasia and Nick.

Nick (01:26)

which is why we got super excited by United Cup matches that never happened.

Anastasia (01:32)

Let's not talk about it. You know what? I was listening back to the edit and I was really proud of us by saying, barring any injury or barring any withdrawals.

Nick (01:34)

But.

To be fair, we'll probably talk about it a little bit, like some of the stuff we talked about, like the Zheng Qinwen Beatriz Haddad Maia match that didn't happen. We actually got quite the replacement for it, so. Happy enough.

Anastasia   (01:56)

We will get to

that for sure. But everyone, welcome. Happy New Year, ground passers.

Welcome. This is actually episode two of season two, and we already explained why, why that is. But welcome. This episode, we will be talking about Australian Open Preview. The Australian Open starts in a week. Qualifying for the Australian Open

starts.

Tomorrow, if you're Nick and Anastasia, or tonight, right? It starts, wow, it starts tonight.

Nick (02:24)

tonight.

It starts

in like two hours, I think.

Anastasia   (02:33)

What is time? Time is just a concept.

Nick (02:35)

At this point for us, yeah, time is very wibbly wobbly. Normally it's in one of our time zones or close enough, if it's by CET, like an hour different for me. But when it's a completely different time zone for both Anastasia and I, nobody knows who's awake at whatever point.

Anastasia   (02:59)

No, not at all. But before we go into

our Australian Open preview, which we have a special guest for, I'm very excited for this new segment that we're going to do, because obviously Nick and I haven't been to the Australian Open. One day, Nick, we will be. So we brought in the big guns. We brought in someone who's actually been to the Australian Open to help us out with our preview. But before that, there's been a lot of tennis going on in 2025 slash

end of 2024. And we want to talk about it because it has been a fun time. So what have we been loving so far? Can we start? Can we start with the United Cup? Because I feel like that's really, that's really it.

Nick (03:45)

Yeah, United Cup is where it's been at. I mean, I've enjoyed watching Brisbane and Auckland and Hong Kong, but for me, United Cup has been where it's at. I mean, it looks like the Australian Open, it feels like the Australian Open with the size of the stadiums and everything. You've got the, like, the stars all out. And I was saying this to someone else earlier was because it's now, it was a 10-day competition, it felt like a slammer or a 1000 event.

especially again with like all the great matches we were getting all the way through. Yeah, United Cup was the thing that held my attention and it's a team event and it actually has all the fun elements of a team event and I have noticed from speaking to you, Anastasia, that you are loving every single aspect of how much of a team event it is.

Anastasia   (04:36)

Just every, so if you haven't watched the United Cup, please, please, please make it a part of your tennis schedule next year. Just take a few minutes to watch it. But it's a team event kind of like Davis Cup, Billie Jean King Cup. In fact, in our little like social media blob, was like, it's as if they, know, Davis Cup and Billie Jean Cup had a baby and it became the United

Cup. But they have a team bench, which is right off the court.

And the entire team is there. The team captain is there as well, which usually the team captain is either one of the coaches of one of the top players on the team or in Canada's case, it was Felix Auger-Aliassime

He was their team captain and also played on the team, but it was mic'd up. The team captains are mic'd up so you could hear all the conversations and

everyone, not everyone was vocal. I remember there are,

of Lara Sigismund who played for Germany. She did not want anyone to hear her. She always like covered her mouth or she like backed away from the mic. She didn't want anyone hearing her secrets. Taylor Fritz was just a radio. He just talks nonstop. He was like breaking down stuff. was,

I especially loved, there was one segment he did where he was playing doubles with Coco. And it was so insightful listening to

him break things down and why he was doing certain things and he was serving in a specific way because he didn't want to affect Coco and then she was like, no, it's fine. You serve the way you want. I'll be out of the way. It was, that was fun. But I think the prize goes to the Argentinian team captain who is a mix between, and I have to pull it up right

now because I forgot to pull it up before.

Nick (06:32)

What's his

name?

Anastasia   (06:33)

Yeah, I forgot to pull it up before we started this United Cup Argentinian. Or leave it in so you can just like, you know, enjoy it with us. But the team captain for Argentina who I'm going to find in a second, I swear. Or not. Maybe it will take me longer to find his name. So.

Nick (06:38)

Well, this is getting cut out the podcast.

Anastasia   (07:02)

Please hold color while I look up the Argentinian team captain.

Nick (07:07)

Do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do

Anastasia   (07:25)

I'm leaving this in, Nick.

Nick (07:30)

Or just put it as an uptake.

Anastasia   (07:31)

I

think I'm literally going to keep this in. Let me make sure this is him. At like elevator music.

Nick (07:38)

You want to keep Nick Carter's attempt at lift music and not even Nick Carter

and the Backstreet Boys who could actually sing.

Anastasia   (07:50)

Ooh, should have called him in instead. Wonder if he's interested in doing a tennis podcast

Anyway, finally found it. His name is Horacio De la Pena. He is a former player. He used to play back in the day. He doesn't play anymore. And he was the Argentinian team captain. And he was the mix between a loving father, a

coach, a motivational speaker, just a loving parent. He was everything. And I remember I was watching a match with Tomas

Etcheverry and he really wasn't playing well. You know when you watch a player and you're like, he can do better. So he could, and Horacio was just like, he would interject with sort of like, forehand this or serve this or whatever, but mostly it was just, you're the best, you're better, you're a higher ranked than the person across the net.

You should be able to beat him. Just believe in yourself. I was so taken with him. It got me, it helped me practice my Spanish because they were only speaking in Spanish. But I was like, I just want to record this and just wake up every morning and play it. I just want him to tell me that I am the best, that I can do it. And I am better than the person across the net because Tomas he won the match. He was playing so badly. He was going to lose it.

and he ended up winning

that match. Yes, that was the match with Billy Harris. He kept being like, El Flaco across the net is not as highly ranked as you. And I was like, Billy Harris isn't that skinny, but okay.

Nick (09:25)

We'll start the match with Billy Harris.

Anastasia   (09:42)

It was entertaining. It was very, very entertaining. So if the United Cup is not part of your schedule, it really needs to be. Because I mean, Nick, felt like, when you said it felt like a grand slam, it really did. The matchups that we got were out of this world, especially on the WTA side.

Nick (10:06)

Yeah, well, you had most of the WTA top 10 there. And when we say it's like, early on, you were getting early clashes between like Fernandez and Sakkari and, not Sakkari, wrong play. Fernandez and Gauff

Anastasia   (10:22)

I think she played Coco too. Yeah.

Nick (10:26)

And then who was the other team in that group? Anyway.

it was Croatia. Yeah, Vekic in the mix. Like, yeah, you've there were so many really, really good players. And then basically, if you if the semifinals of the United Cup were like the semifinals of a slam or the semifinals of a 1000, you would be very, very happy with the lineup on the WTA side. Like that would be like, that's almost perfect. Really, to

Anastasia   (10:33)

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, yeah, right.

Nick (11:01)

Yeah, that was the level that we were kind of getting with. I do think that, you know, the ATP side, although the big star didn't turn up, I think they did produce some interesting tennis. But actually, you know, it helped, think Alex, Alex De Minaur get to be a top eight seed at the Australian Open, which I think that the last time the Australians had a top eight seed was Lleyton

Hewitt.

Anastasia   (11:26)

Yep. Yeah, he's really, I don't know, they showed some photos of him and he has really put on some weight, like some good weight and is looking so much stronger. you know, going into the Australian Open, you want to see things like it. And that's why I think, you know, there is something about a team event that I feel like there isn't that much

pressure, even though I feel there were some players who really put the pressure on themselves because when they do play for their country, it means a lot. But

I think that team event kind of created a really great warmup for the, you know, for the Australian Open. And I'm really excited going into the Australian Open to see who carries on this level, who maybe levels up a bit. Because for example, you were talking about Alex De Minaur Australia didn't make it into the later rounds of the United Cup, but he looked

good. He looked really good. So it would be nice to see.

Nick (12:22)

He did everything he could.

It wasn't, yeah, he did his part. By the way, how disappointed were you that he did not get to play against Katie Boulter in the mixed doubles?

Anastasia   (12:35)

You know, I think I wasn't as disappointed because she had kind of previewed it a little bit. I think she was asked in one of their early press conference, like maybe like a pre thing with Great Britain. And they were like, ooh, are you, how are you feeling about playing across the net from Alex De Minaur? And she immediately, she was like, no, I'm not doing that.

Nick (12:56)

She won't.

Anastasia   (12:57)

That's fair,

that's fair. I would have loved to see it. I would have enjoyed it to see that. I think it's all about bragging rights, right? Like, who's gonna win the doubles in this household? And if you guys are wondering what we're talking about, Alex De Minaur proposed over the holiday break to Katie Boulter, who is his longtime girlfriend. I think they've been together for a while, but they're getting married. mean, was definitely, love was in the air on the ATP side.

over the Christmas break, think everyone and everyone got engaged. So many engagements. And I really actually felt bad for Stefano Tsitsipas because again, during one of the, like the pre, the pre, you know what I'm talking about. During the like, yeah.

Nick (13:30)

no many engagements or weddings.

Yeah, because there's human sakari who are not together,

by the way. But one of them asked, oh, which one of you is going to get engaged first type things? Like sakari's in a relationship with something else. Stuff like that is obviously in a relationship with Paula Badosa And they were both trying to skirt around things as much as possible.

Anastasia   (13:57)

Yeah.

They were trying to point the finger at each other. They were like, nope, you're, you're going to do it. And Stefanos was like, stay away from me. Take that question away.

Nick (14:05)

Yeah.

I mean, also, how long has it been a thing? Like, less than a year?

Anastasia   (14:16)

less than a year, which in the middle of it, they already had like a massive Instagram breakup. anyway, now we're, yeah.

Nick (14:22)

Yeah, no, way too soon for anyone. Don't, don't... Take your

time, please.

Anastasia   (14:29)

Children, you have time. It's okay. You have a lot of time. So yeah, mean, okay. Super exciting United Cup. Please watch. It'll be great. there were three other tournaments happening and a challenger, I think, during this whole, yeah. So the other tournaments that happened, there was Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Open, which is an ATP 250. We had the Auckland Classic.

Nick (14:33)

still young.

Anastasia   (14:58)

which the ATP are now gonna go play there this week, but it was on the WTA. That's a 500 level event, right? Or is it 250? That's a 250 as well. Okay, so Brisbane was the one that was a 500. Yes. And with Brisbane, the ATP were also playing, but for them it was a 250. I like the joint events, like joint events forever. Just do that. So I have to say for the first few days of all those tournaments,

Nick (15:06)

No 250.

with the 500. Yes.

Anastasia   (15:28)

I really didn't watch it at all. I was too focused on the United Cup and I was trying to prioritize sleep because the Australian Open is coming and I don't want to be burnt out before it's even here. But there were definitely some moments that I would love to touch on. First and foremost, I want to say, because I think a lot of our audience anyway, at least some people have actually come up to me.

or kind of like, where is Emma? And from Emma, mean, Emma Raducanu. And she had to pull out of Auckland. Yeah. It was a back injury. Yeah. you

Nick (16:04)

It was Auckland and was a back injury I think.

Anastasia   (16:10)

with Emma, it's just like, that run to the US Open was one of just the grandest stories ever. And I think everyone just kind of is rooting her on to, not replicated, obviously, because that was a once in a lifetime thing, but.

wanting to see her more at the top of the game. You we see Leylah Fernandez, for example, all the time. So you kind of want to have Emma back and she's working her way back. I know they talked about she now has a new fitness coach. So I'm hoping everything improves, but it's just a bummer every time we start a new tournament and I get excited for her like in the draw. And it's like, no, actually it's like, she's not going to be in the tournament this time around. So.

I think the next time we're due to see her is the Australian Open,

Nick (16:55)

I mean.

Anastasia   (16:57)

actually. Yeah.

Nick (16:58)

Yeah, she lost training open. Yeah,

pretty much. I mean, to be fair, Auckland was a crazy tournament because we, if you're an American fan, that was one of the tournaments to watch. Like, so many young Americans, but that tournament ended up becoming about a different Grand Slam champion, Naomi Osaka.

Anastasia   (17:10)

It felt like a home event. was like, is this in America? I feel like it's in America.

Yes, it did. Mm-hmm.

Nick (17:27)

which, yeah, she, like everyone was so excited about.

actually didn't watch any of her matches because Auckland was the worst time zone of all to try and follow. It's 13 hour difference from me. That is the level of craziness. Like the matches there started at like 10 PM my time as like the day session and it was finishing in the mid, like the final started at 4 AM. I wasn't going to make that, but from what I heard Osaka looked good.

Anastasia   (17:35)

It... Yeah.

Nick (17:56)

And she was, I've got back into writing again and wrote a piece about player expectations on the WTA side and like what their minimum expectation should be and what maybe they should do to try and push themselves. Kind of as a, let's try and actually do something to measure good or bad year rather than throw darts at a dart board. That kind of thing.

Anastasia   (18:01)

Mm-hmm.

Nick (18:24)

And I said, okay, so Naomi Osaka's minimum expectation should be finish the year ranked in the top 50. And because that's about where she's at, but like would like to be a little better. then stretch goal would be actually win a trophy of any sort on the WTA side. And she almost did that within one

week.

Anastasia   (18:48)

She was like, I see you Nick with your goals and I'm gonna hit those.

Nick (18:55)

I think her girls are probably higher than mine. I was being nice.

Anastasia   (18:58)

But I really like your article. We'll link it below if anyone wants to get into the nitty gritty. But I liked your approach to it because I think what I've seen a lot around, which I've actually been trying to avoid weirdly, just, don't like, because I feel like it affects my thoughts a little bit more where people are being like, who are gonna be the top 10 at the end of 2025? I'm like, I don't know. That is such.

a crazy prediction to just try and do on like January 1st, you know, decide who at the end of the year will be top 10. I think Jasmine Paolini should be your reason why you shouldn't try and do that. But I

Nick (19:39)

Yes.

Anastasia   (19:42)

your approach where it was sort of like goal or like what sort of goals do you think these people should at the level they're at where they should be hitting? And I thought that was like really cool. So we'll link it below if you want to check it out because you did the top 25, right?

Nick (19:56)

No, I did the top eight and then I did an additional seven players that you may, that you will probably like see mentioned a few times. So Emma and Naomi, I mentioned them, they're like outside the top 50, but obviously they're gonna wanna have some kind of goal for it.

Anastasia   (20:00)

Eight, okay.

Awesome.

Nick (20:16)

That's kind of approach I have. yeah, I think it's when you can actually say, it was a good year or a bad year. Because I'm the same as you. Like you've got no data to predict off. And I don't like just making random guesses off gut instinct or personal preference. I could probably tell you based on the article about six players who I think will probably stay in the top 10 in the WTA side. But the other four will be completely random. And I think that's half the joy of it, to be honest.

Anastasia   (20:41)

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, no, exactly.

the way you can't really

predict these things is take the Brisbane WTA 500 event and guess who gets to the final? mean, Aryna Sabalenka who got to the final last year, she got to the final this year. I think the form she's in, she's the number one player in the world. You kind of expect it. If she didn't get there, it would have been an upset. But the person who got there that I, I'm like, I do not want to fall down a Kudermetova hole again.

Nick (21:16)

Yeah.

Anastasia   (21:24)

If you've been listening to this podcast long enough, you know that Veronika Kudermetova during the Madrid Open 2023 just stole my attention. was like, who is this player? Never seen her before. I loved the way she played and she made a really, really big run. And I was all in. I was like, she's going to be a Grand Slam winner. She's gonna win all the titles and like all this stuff. And then she promptly...

disappeared. I was like, what? What happened? Why are you doing this to me, Kudermetova? Well, her sister, she has a sister. She has a sister who made it to the final of

Brisbane, Polina Kudermetova. I don't know who she is. Nick, do you?

Nick (22:14)

Well, other than the fact that Veronika Kutumatova's younger sister, which has been primarily established,

Polina was actually someone who kind of came on my radar towards the end of last year because she started winning a lot of stuff at Challenger and ITF level. like she was, I wasn't watching those matches, but I could see her rising up the rankings and like there was some noise around, Veronika's sister's doing really well.

Anastasia   (22:29)

Okay.

Nick (22:42)

and yeah, she qualified for Brisbane and then got to the final and had a really good run out of it and like made the most of the opportunities that she got. And there is definitely now some fuss around her. She's 21. So she's breaking through at an age, pretty slightly, not much older, but slightly older than you would expect for a WTA player. There's probably reasons for that. but yeah, Polina is now making a big fuss. However,

She broke top 100 as a result. She's now top 60. Too late to be automatically in Australia Open Tour. She's playing qualifying this week.

So she's going to be the highest ranked player in qualifying by quite some margin. But she... Yeah, it is tough. But the same thing happened to Linda Nosková two years ago. She got to the Open Final, although we've been Adelaide at the time.

Anastasia   (23:26)

Wow, tennis is tough.

Right.

Nick (23:36)

and same thing she had to do qualifying because it was slightly too low but like we'll see Polina getting into main draws of slams and things like that more often I think is a name in tennis that you will see more

often and also fun fact Polina is now higher ranked than Veronika as a result of her Brisbane run she's overtaken her sister already

Anastasia   (23:57)

Whoops!

Nick (23:59)

Although it seems to be noticeable in sport generally, but particularly tennis, if you have siblings, the younger one does tend to outperform the older one. Yeah.

Anastasia   (24:11)

You are correct. Mirra Andrava

being one of those. She is the younger of the Andrava sisters. So don't have a younger sibling and play tennis is what Nick is trying to say.

Nick (24:23)

Don't let

your younger sibling play the same sport as you.

Anastasia   (24:26)

Exactly, they should pick a different sport. my goodness, that just reminds me of, if you haven't already, you should check out our YouTube channel. And we had a little mini documentary about challengers. And at that challenger that I went to, I got to talk to Eliot Spizzirri who is a new up and coming American player. actually won a doubles tournament at Canberra the challenger that also happened.

Nick (24:29)

You Coke, my brothers?

Anastasia   (24:55)

among the other things that happened this week. And he has a twin. He has a twin brother, but who plays squash instead of tennis. Very smart move. I was like, there you go. A twin brother that doesn't play. Cause I think there's another American twin duo, but they both play tennis. Can't remember the name now, but when I do, I'll put it below. Cause I think he went far in the junior tournament at the US Open this past year. I think he has a twin

Nick (25:05)

Smart move.

Just checking you're not thinking

of the Bryan Brothers.

Anastasia   (25:25)

No, not the Bryan Brothers.

No, no, no. This is like a junior player. I will find it. I will put it in our show notes. What else? mean, Nick, this was for the first week of a season. It was a lot. Is there anything else? I know, but maybe I just forget.

Nick (25:41)

It's the same every year.

And like, you know, if we didn't have United Cup, it would still be like a slam because everyone's playing and wanting to get that court time in to start the year right, even if they're spread across multiple locations. Honestly, the only thing this week was missing was Sincaraz action.

Anastasia   (25:52)

Yes.

Correct. Yeah. I was actually just going to say the two players who chose to, where they did it last year and they're doing it again this year, they're not playing any warmup events to the Australian Open. So they're going straight into practice at Melbourne, in Melbourne right now. But I mean, we didn't even talk about the Novak of it all or, know, but do you, oh, well, here's one we should bring up because I feel like you have it in here and we should probably just mention it.

Kei Nishikori

is all of a sudden a factor, which if you're a new fan to tennis you might be thinking who, but if you've been here while, he is a legend.

Nick (26:45)

I mean, if you're an American fan, you might remember that he got to the US Open final over 10 years ago, about 10 years

ago, 2014, lost to Marin Cilic he beat Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals very famously. Does tend to perform well at the US Open actually, because he also beat Andy Murray in the quarters two years after that, in a very memorable match. yeah, Kei Nishikori is...

a real fighter. But he's starting to become, I think, it's weird to me to think of Kei Nishikori as a veteran, because when I was in like my suit, my kind of following tennis in my university days and like following from that, Nishikori was one of the next, was one of the next gen that everyone was going crazy for, along with Grigor Dimitrov and Milos Raonic

And now Kei and Grigor are like the old men of the talk when I'm like, what happened? What happened guys? Time can be cruel.

Anastasia   (27:38)

The old man.

Nick, think they're trying to tell you, you are old too. No, we're not. We're not old. We're young at heart.

Nick (27:52)

Yeah, guys, I'm, yeah, I mean, it's been true for like, for a lot of recording this podcast, but I no longer have a two in front of my age.

Anastasia   (28:04)

Oh, shucks. But yeah, so, you know, he's back. He was playing in Hong Kong, got to the finals. You know, he's been away from injury for so long. So it's nice to see him back and playing well. Another person returning into the scene who we will talk about more, I think, when we get to Player of the Fortnite, but Riley Opelka, who has also been out for a couple of years due to injury, all of a sudden makes the finals of

And when I say all of a sudden, like I know he was coming back, but he was not a factor in my mind. I didn't even really think about Riley Opelka Yeah. So for him to play the way he did, he beat Novak Djokovic to get to the finals. Like that was an impressive run that for me came out of nowhere.

Nick (28:40)

man's barely played in the last two years.

Which are you more impressed by, the he beat Novak Djokovic or the he beat Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard

Anastasia   (29:04)

that he beat Novak Djokovic because the only reason why I say that is because I don't know if they were hitting, if both he and Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard were hitting on all cylinders during their match.

It was an okay match. It was fun. It was fine. I put a little post on social media because there's always a discussion about the serve bot and is tall tennis boring tennis because all they're doing is serving each other out and you know.

you're not really getting any sort of rally play or anything like that. But I put a little like, how do you call those things? Poll, I put a poll out on thread saying how many serves do you think are gonna be hit in this match? I put under 30, I put between 30 and 50, and then I put over 50. And everyone went for either 30, 50 or more than 50.

And it was 22 aces. It was 22 aces in that match. And I think it just goes to show like those two players, especially Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard I haven't seen Riley play enough, especially now in this recent time, but I've been watching Giovanni for a bit and he's he's more than his serve. think if he was just his serve, he wouldn't be doing as well as he's doing. He's gonna be seeded He's gonna be seeded.

at the Australian Open. and thank God to all those top players, he's gonna be seeded. because i think that would be very problematic for them if he

wasn't.

Nick (30:36)

he's been dangerous for one surprise. He hasn't run into a top seed slam yet. Yeah, he's going to be a problem.

Anastasia   (30:41)

Yeah.

Nick (30:44)

Interestingly, I think one of my colleagues on the Talking Tennis YouTube channel, I think it was Damian Kust I might be wrong, but he said that basically, yeah, same thing of like, know, tall guys can move and Reilly Opelka was one of the first players to...

to do that and like have a bit more to the game than just the serve, although that is their main weapon. And Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard has come along and taken that and taken that to another level. So in any case, Mpetshi Perricard on paper, to him anyway, is Reilly Opelka 2.0.

Anastasia   (31:22)

for sure. So if you're going to the Australian Open, those are two players that for sure you're gonna be able to see on a ground pass. I can almost guarantee you that.

And with that, we are going to move on to our review or preview, preview of the Australian Open. So the Australian Open, it's happening, I mean, it starts today. What is time?

Nick (31:53)

Okay, for... there's a joke listeners, the Australian Open has not happened. Do not panic and frantically turn on your televisions in the hope of seeing tennis. I mean, you will still see tennis because there's tennis going on in the right time zones as well. But you are not missing a grand slam. Unless you want to watch Qualies which are still worth watching.

Anastasia   (32:02)

Don't do it.

No. Qualies

are very much worth watching and we would suggest it. In fact, if you happen to be in Melbourne where the Australian Open is held, you can go and watch the qualies kind of like you can do that during the US Open Fan Week. think Wimbledon's a little different because it's in a different location. Apparently not for long, but we will talk about that when Wimbledon comes around. For now, we're focusing on the Australian Open.

but you can go watch Qualis in person. So we're gonna jump in and start talking about our Australian Open preview, the tournament, what it's like. And you might be thinking, well, I wanna hear from someone who knows, not Nick and Anastasia who haven't been to Melbourne, let alone the Australian Open. So we have asked a lovely, lovely content creator in the tennis space, Jess Adjua, to help us out.

She lives in Sydney, Australia, and she has been to the Australian Open numerous times. So we thought, who better than to help us, help our listeners learn more about the Australian Open and what tickets are like and where to go than listening to Jess. And we're gonna do a little fun game, I always make Nick do these games and he's always like, meh, I don't know.

You indulge me, Nick, which is nice.

Nick (33:35)

I'm not...

I do indulge you. I am not necessarily a follower of these young trends who so wish to follow. There's multiple reasons why that's what I'm doing to Anastasia.

Anastasia   (33:48)

Listener, it might

not seem like it, but I am older than Nick, but I get it. It doesn't seem like it at all. But no, Nick indulges my little fun games. if you listened to, there was a podcast called Love It or Leave It. It's really far away from tennis. It's a political podcast. You might not, there might not be that crossover between our listeners and the listeners of Love It or Leave It, but he had a really cool segment.

which was called Okay Stop. And when Jess sent in her video, was very much, every time she would say something, I would just intuitively just be like, no, no, no, okay, stop. me tell you about it. So we're going to try it out. So if the technology works, which I think it will, we practiced and everything, it should work. And I hope you enjoy this little segment. It's like a little different way to talk about the tennis. And I think it's fun.

So let's give it a shot. So I'm gonna pull up Jess's video. And if you're watching this on YouTube, hello. Hello. Welcome to our, the video virgin. my goodness guys, it's Jess. There she is. Happy to have you on the podcast. So what we're gonna do, I'm gonna play the video and Nick and I will react to the video as we go.

Nick (34:58)

Hello.

I guess I still have to do the podcast.

Anastasia   (35:16)

along. So here we go.

Okay stop.

Nick (36:06)

Yeah, we're going to go at the same time there.

Anastasia   (36:06)

Okay.

We're gonna, well, maybe we'll signal, we'll learn something. But I wanted to stop there because isn't the first week the best time to go to a Grand Slam?

Nick (36:20)

Absolutely and I don't want to Jess's thunder because she goes into the reasons exactly why But yeah, absolutely like that is my favorite time to go For multiple reasons like there's so much more tennis going on the fans are just so everywhere and so lovely to talk to and find great atmosphere especially as a grand pass level and As you know, I am going to be that person. It's cheaper to go

Just saying.

Anastasia   (36:52)

You know what? Let's let Jess talk about it.

Nick (37:41)

Okay Stop

Anastasia when did you first go to the US Open?

Anastasia   (37:48)

Ooh, that's a good one. When did I first go to the US Open?

It had to be.

either 2006 or 2008, I think it had to be one of those. I wasn't even, I started out as a very, very casual tennis fan. I just wanted to see Serena Williams. That was kind of it. That was why.

Nick (38:06)

Okay.

So

Jess apparently.

Anastasia   (38:26)

I was Jess, I just wanted to see Serena Williams. Before I got into the Roger and Rafa of it all, that was my thing. So the first chance I got, I remember getting a ticket and this was of course, before you learned about the little ways, before I knew that it was probably better for me to have gotten a ground pass. I remember getting a really expensive ticket, used every penny I had saved to go to one day.

at Arthur Ashe and I act, you know, we know tennis now, there was no schedule. You just had to cross your fingers and hope. And not only did I get to see Serena on that day, I also got to see Venus from like the high up nosebleeds and I was just the most excited ever. But yeah, I think it had to be 2008 if I remember, it's been a while. But ever since then I've gone every year.

Nick (39:19)

Yeah.

Yeah, and it sounds very similar to Jess's story. I obviously depends on... Clearly, it wasn't necessarily a dream for you to go to the US Open but that wasn't this thing that you grew up with that you really wanted to do. That really resonates with me. That was my experience with Wimbledon, going for death the first time. So I went for the first time when I was 21.

Anastasia   (39:37)

Yeah.

Nick (39:45)

And that was a, I'm in London, let's see if I can get in type thing. And, it was something that I've grown up with on the telly my whole life. So the fact that like it very, like what Jess has just said, very much resonates with me as a, yeah, that's was this thing that I've dreamed to go to. And I got to do that. And what has been amazing is, is that like, I got to take mum eventually after that, which was a couple of times and like,

Anastasia   (39:55)

Right.

Yeah.

Nick (40:14)

that she'd never been before and you know, I got there before her, but she was so jealous the first time I went. And now it's very much like I was so happy the first time I got to take her and show her around and she finally got to be there. So some people wait longer than others to finally get to the thing, to a grand slam when they've always wanted to. But yeah, maybe this is one for us hardcore fans who've fallen in love with the sport a little bit, but you never forget.

Anastasia   (40:20)

Yeah.

Nick (40:43)

forget the first time you go to a Grand Slam.

Anastasia   (40:45)

No, you never really do. And I think it's a bucket list for a lot of people. So it's really an experience to have, but let's continue on.

Okay Stop, Jess and I are actually the same person. It's fine. It's okay. It's me. It's just, it's fine. I'm moving on.

Nick (42:14)

Okay Stop

Yeah, really interesting insight from Jess there about going second round rather than first round. I can see why because the players are a bit more warmed up as well. I mean, that's probably a good general thought to think about for the slams. Although having said that, first round is a very close to it. I'd say either is fine. But also what she's saying here about, you know, taking kids who are excited to see certain players, you know, it's not something we've talked about on the podcast before, because I think in my mind, when I'm

Anastasia   (42:23)

Yeah.

Nick (42:47)

thinking of casual fans, I'm generally thinking of people who are kind of going on their own as like under a theme. But I guess I've never thought of doing this as a family day out to go to the tennis. And what Jess raises here is something that's worth thinking about. So yeah, if you are parents listening to this, hey, maybe it might be fun, for any grand slam, but particularly if you are around Melbourne.

Anastasia   (42:54)

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, no, I'm with you. I never really think of it as, people taking their kids and stuff, but it's very possible. People discover tennis at whatever age and then they wanna go. And it is a fun thing for kids. I saw a lot of kids at the US Open almost fall, seeing a kid fall in love with tennis is one of the cutest things ever. It's definitely a moment. It's almost like you.

You're like, will I see you on a court one day and then they'll be playing back this video of you dancing around, AKA Coco Gauff But anyway, let's go.

Okay, stop. So before we go on, I actually want to touch on this point that Jess makes about tickets and when to get them. Because if you know from listening to the podcast, I am a risk taker and I like to get my tickets at the last possible second so that I can see who I want to see. I mean, usually these days I just get a ground pass anyway. I just get a ground pass and go with it. But

I wanna say in the last two years, especially in the US Open, it gets really crowded. It gets really crowded. And there's some arenas and stadiums where there are ground pass level seats that gets you a seat in there. But because it's so crowded, the lines are forever long. So you do wanna get a seat at a court, be it...

Rod Laver like she said or anywhere else, but then also wander the ground. So I think that's just a thing now where people get seats at these courts, but then spend time on the grounds and actually go from court to court and stuff and see what's happening, which like she said, I highly suggest don't just go to your court and sit there. Cause there's so much happening around the grounds.

Nick (47:10)

It's what Mum

and I did at Wimbledon last year. We got court two tickets, which is the equivalent of grandstand at the US Open or John Kane Arena at the Australian Open. But we didn't stay there the whole day. There were a couple of matches we weren't bothered about. So we went and wandered around the grounds. And I think, yeah, that's something that I think a lot of people do. So yeah, definitely consider that as an option.

Anastasia   (47:20)

Mm-hmm.

Nick (47:39)

if you are willing to fight your way through the business.

Anastasia   (47:42)

Yes. Yeah. I have to say, so there was another point because in the U S what we deal with are resale tickets that are prohibitively expensive. Like they just, they sell for two times, three times, four times as much as they actually cost. And I was thinking about this because if there's someone listening to this, for example, who happens to be in Melbourne, either lives in Melbourne or is nearby and wants to go.

you know, we're recording this on the fifth here, but it's the sixth over there. So the tournament starting with qualifying and stuff. So tickets have already been sold. And I asked Jess, I messaged her and I said, you know, what is the resale situation like in Australia? And right now I looked up the prices and stuff and tickets. There's still tickets available. So there are not every day, but there's some tickets available to go. But also she says that in Australia, the resale prices are not

they capped so you can't go above a certain crazy level, which here we just don't have that. You could put a ticket down for a million dollars and if there's someone willing to pay you that for the ticket, good for you. So it was nice to hear that, that even if you do wanna get a resale for a match or something that's sold out, it might not be the end of the world. We continue.

Nick (49:41)

Okay Stop are you sure she's the same person as you on Nostalgia?

Anastasia   (49:46)

Actually, I take it back, we're different people.

Nick (51:15)

Okay, stop. This is just a silly thing. So I don't think you and I talk about like big courts or stadiums as arenas. We don't call it that. I don't know if it's an Australian thing. Whenever she's arena, I keep thinking she means Aryna Sabalenka

Anastasia   (51:25)

No we don't.

Nick (51:35)

Sorry Jess. She just follows Aryna around everywhere.

Anastasia   (51:36)

Kia Arena.

John King Arena!

Aw, man. Okay, onwards.

Okay, stop. So just to double down on her point, it's so like the first week of a slam, first of all, you just never know. I think United Cup was such a not refreshing maybe is the word, but we already knew the first six days what matches we were going to get. So you just don't get that in Grand Slams or other tournaments and things like that. But so

with the lower because the first week is so packed. What is it? What is it Nick 128 player draw?

Nick (54:05)

128 player draws on both men and women's. That's first couple of days of the slam. I mean, if you're thinking about that, that's 64, that's 128 matches total. So 64 per day in the first two days. And that's the singles. And it does the same thing again, days three and four when the second round starts and the doubles starts.

Anastasia   (54:10)

Exactly.

Yeah.

two days. Yeah.

and the double starts. it's very possible. I remember the first time I saw Iga playing, it was not at Arthur Ashe, it was on Louis Armstrong. I saw her play for the first time in person and she was currently number one in the world. So you never know where you might see a top player in those first two days and you'd be surprised. You would be very lucky and you might see a very, very top player play on a smaller.

Arena!

Nick (55:04)

Yes, and gosh, what have I done? I would also like to point out that

the yeah, there's also a sense of like the rules of the odds of it when you go and get a ground pass or something like that on whatever Grand Slam you go to because Anastasia and I talking very generically here like if you want to know about the Australian Open listen to Jess but you know if you think about it like Wimbledon in particular when they have so few matches on the main courts but even the US Open right it's 10 matches on the main two stadiums the main two arenas same thing for

Anastasia   (55:42)

Mm-hmm.

Nick (55:45)

Australian Open. Actually, no, it's less than that because as an ash like two matches in the day and two matches at night. So eight or nine. So realistically, that's what as you split that 50 50, that's four ish matches per, four or five matches per side of the men to women singles draw. it's going to be the same. And like that, when you think about how many matches there are,

Anastasia   (55:51)

Yep. Yep.

Yeah.

Nick (56:13)

and how many top players there are, yeah, there's a good chance you're gonna see some big names, whatever you get.

Anastasia   (56:19)

Definitely.

Okay, stop. Just briefly on this, I cannot stress enough, especially in the first week, first few days of a Grand Slam, plan ahead. Plan ahead. Have a list. Once the schedule does come out, which they come out the day before, so if you know you want to go on a Tuesday or whatever, the schedule will be out by Monday afternoon. Take a look at the schedule. Look at the matches you want to see.

look at where they're being played and just make a little itinerary for yourself. Yes, be flexible that you can change things around because we all know it's tennis. A match is going to go five hours and one's going to go an hour and a half. You they'll have different timing, but just have a loose schedule because it does. And I think this is something Jess mentioned earlier in the video. It gets really hectic. It gets very busy. There are tons of people around. There's food, there's

games, there's stuff, you can get pretty overwhelmed, I have to say.

Nick (58:14)

Yeah, I would agree with that, especially when there's like, there's always gonna be a player that's slightly more popular or there's a match that's sort of by word of mouth, suddenly that everyone knows that's gonna be really, really good. Yeah, you've got to really plan your day around, like you wanna make sure you get to that match. And I would say even make a schedule like.

underline some matches that you really want to see. Like if you want to say like I do not mind if I miss some of these matches but I want to see this one and plan your day around that one or two or three that you really really want to make sure that you get to see. And I think you've got less chance of being disappointed you can be a more tactical with how you make your way around.

Okay, stop. Yeah, this is something we've not talked about before as a fan, like planning around, thinking about the sun and kind of, again, it's one of those things you need to be particularly mindful of when you've got kids. I remember like Wimbledon's interesting because I'd say like the best seats in the house are like...

Anastasia   (1:01:02)

No, no, yeah.

Nick (1:01:22)

out in the open, like even like obviously there's no shelter when you're on a ground pass like any of the courts. It's only court center court and court one that have any kind of shaded areas. When I went this year to center court, I was in a shaded area and it was freezing because British summers are very different to Australian summers. However, if I'd been out of the shaded area, it would have been boiling hot. The first time I was on center court back in 2019, I got sunburned.

Anastasia   (1:01:50)

Ooh.

Nick (1:01:51)

because I was an idiot and did not wear sun protection. So, you know, don't feel sorry for me, Anastasia. I brought this upon myself. But yeah, if you go to watch the tennis, it's always hot, wear sunscreen, even on a night session. No. So with that, I think it's something we've never really talked about before, but like brief thing on Wimbledon, that's something that you need to prepare for.

Anastasia   (1:02:01)

Wear sunscreen, everyone.

Nick (1:02:20)

Australia's even more hot like Wimbledon you if you are if it's a British heatwave You will get mid 20 degrees centigrade. I Don't know Fahrenheit because we don't use it Whereas because I saw you know I was gonna about to ask you like is she about right with her Fahrenheit conversion and you were nodding along and saying yes but

What's the hottest you've ever experienced in a US Open? Because I think US Open is more of a humid heat, whereas the Australian summer is much more dry.

Anastasia   (1:02:52)

So this year was pretty good. This was fine. But if everyone, when I say this year, sorry, I 2024, still at that time where I'm deciding what year it is. But if everyone remembers, there was a match between Medvedev and Rublev in 2023, where I was afraid for their safety. It was unbearable. I was sitting, it was one of the times where I got,

In fact, weirdly, so that was 2023, that was the last time I've actually been in Arthur Ashe, but it was so hot as a spectator not moving. I could not even imagine what it was like playing, but it was awful. think it definitely hit the 90s. So it hit the 90s, but it felt like over 100.

Nick (1:03:46)

That's higher than Australia.

Anastasia   (1:03:49)

That's higher to Australia.

And here's the thing, it's with humidity. On the East Coast, it's just so humid. So you just feel like you are in a boiling pot that's just slowly boiling. It was the most uncomfortable I've ever felt ever, ever watching tennis. Like to the point where I remember being there thinking they should call it. We should not be playing tennis. We should stop.

So, yeah.

Nick (1:04:20)

Okay,

we've done US Open. I don't want to go labor too long at this point, but I'm curious about this. You've now done all of the US 1000s. Now you've done Miami multiple times. You've done Indian Wells once and Cincinnati once. What's kind of the situation with those? Because like Miami is also like humid heat. And I don't know what it's like on March. And Indian Wells is in the desert. So I would imagine that could be hot all the time.

Anastasia   (1:04:32)

Yes.

So, yes.

Yes, so weirdly because Miami and Indian Wells are in the spring, the temperatures don't go as high, but Miami is very similar to the US Open as in it's humid. So you get that sort of sticky, not nice feeling. California Indian Wells is a dream because it's dry. you don't, it got hot, but it was fun.

It was, you you were wearing shorts and you're walking around and it was glorious. Wear sunscreen, definitely. I think that's also why a lot of tournaments, they hand out sunscreen at the entrance. Like there are a lot of free samples of sunscreen. that would, Cincinnati was, the temperature last year where I went to Cincinnati, it wasn't that bad, but I would expect it to be more on the humid side if it got really, really hot.

I do have to say being in California and having it be in the dry heat is helpful. I do know for sure though that the reason why they have it in the spring is that in the summer at Indian Wells, it's a no-go. We do not play tennis outside because it really is the heat of the desert. So even though it's dry heat, it gets even hotter. I think last year at Indian Wells, I think it hit like 105.

in that sort of Indian Wells desert area. So definitely not playable.

Nick (1:06:20)

No, definitely not which is why they have it in March but the I guess there's the last thing on that point about what Jess is talking about with finding tickets with shade Wimbledon you have no choice pretty much you get the ticket you get the ticket and you get no shade on a ground pass pretty much Unless you get very specific you're on a very specific area of one specific court that just happens to have it

Anastasia   (1:06:36)

Mmm.

Yeah.

Nick (1:06:50)

I'm about other British events and again, they are makeshift temporary stadiums. They don't put covers over for like Queen's Club or anything like that. I would imagine US Open, you do have that choice, but I don't know what the design of Ashe or Armstrong is. And I think from my scene of the 1000s, they are much more open air stadiums.

Anastasia   (1:06:56)

Right.

Yes. So 1000s in, it depends actually, I feel like the main stadium at Indian Wells and actually Miami, they do have a bit of a lip. So they are areas of covering in both Cincinnati, not so much Cincinnati was more all open, but going to the Grand Slams, the US Open works exactly the same as the Australian Open in this case where

If you go and you buy a ticket, shows you, you can see how the shade works throughout the day. And I wouldn't say it's more expensive actually. It's just they sell out quicker. you know, so if you, if you ever, once the tickets go on sale and you open it, it's almost like those sections just go immediately. So it's not a different price, but they, definitely sell out immediately. And then the other, the only things left are the direct sun, which can be brutal.

Nick (1:08:08)

I guess this is where you can feed into this shared experience because I don't have that option for the tournament I've been in the UK. I guess, is it something that you think about?

Anastasia   (1:08:14)

Yeah.

But you have to think of weather

in a different way really with the rain. Yeah, bring a coat and an umbrella.

Nick (1:08:22)

Bring a coat. Bring a coat. Always.

Especially when you're at Wimbledon and you have to give you queue, you are there over 12 hours. So the weather can change quite dramatically, not just in terms of rain, but also temperature. So yeah, you do have to prep very differently. But I guess is, and like...

Yeah, you don't know until the day before what you're going to need. Like British summer is very, very different. But is shade something that you've ever thought about or you know other people who've thought about? Yeah.

Anastasia   (1:08:57)

100%, 100%. If you are in the sun in New York when it's a hot day, it's just not even fun anymore. Like she mentioned, it's not, all you're thinking about is how uncomfortable you are. So it is something I think about a lot. And sometimes you can't it. You're just like, well, these are the tickets that are available and I do really want to see this match. So that's when it comes down to prepping where it's sunscreen. Make sure you have a hat, make sure you have water.

You know, I so and I think this is I think this is just normal now in most slams, but you can bring an empty reusable bottle. And a lot of times what I do is I bring an empty reusable bottle. I go to a stand and like just fill this with ice, please. And they're usually very accommodating. And I just live on that when you're in the sun, because at least you'll have that sort of cooling sensation at least once in a while. But that, think, comes with all the planning that she's talking about. So if you can't.

avoid being in the sun or in the Australian open case where it's more expensive to be in the shade and you don't want to pay that much. You just have to, you just have to prepare, be prepared, be a boy scout. Anyway, or girl guide back to the tennis.

Nick (1:11:36)

Yeah, again, Jess raises something here that we've never talked about on the podcast, but when she's talking, she's mentioned it here and it's made me think, yeah, we can't assume that new tennis fans are gonna be okay with crowds and maybe you need to think about that. And I think any slam or any big tennis event, this is gonna be the case. The Friday, Saturday, Sunday is always gonna be pretty busy. Weirdly Wimbledon Monday's also pretty popular.

Anastasia   (1:11:37)

Yeah.

Yeah.

Nick (1:12:03)

I don't know what our is in other countries, we're more willing, but it's much easier to take time off in the UK.

Anastasia   (1:12:04)

Mmm.

Well, it's

actually similar at the US Open because guess what? That middle weekend always falls on Labor Day weekend and the Monday is off. So those four days pass.

Nick (1:12:16)

Labor Day. And

actually, that's a good point because something Jess didn't mention was Australia also falls on a public holiday in Australia, Australia Day. So that's also really busy when that's all going on and like everyone's off. yeah, that's one of these things that yeah, maybe think about what day, if you can go mid week.

it's a little bit, when it might be a little bit common. It does depend on maybe who's playing. Like, I don't know about like other slams at Wimbledon. If Murray is playing, there's more people on ground. I don't know, like maybe that might happen if you get another big US star, like with Coco's playing or Serena, back when Serena was playing, like where there's just more people milling around. You've talked a lot about how the US Open is

Anastasia   (1:13:00)

Yeah.

Nick (1:13:16)

sold out anyway and there's just so much people moving around. Sounds like Australia is pretty similar and like it's just busy in general but I guess it's one of those things that yeah maybe we should have warned people before but maybe it's like yeah be prepared for being in crowds because yeah I'm similar to Jess I don't like crowds if I could avoid being in a crowd of people I absolutely would that is

probably where my claustrophobia kicks in.

Anastasia   (1:13:48)

Yeah, yeah, no, I completely agree that it is something we've never brought up, but probably should have because those weekends are, they're pretty packed for sure. Okay, last bit.

Nick (1:16:07)

Jess, you should not apologize for going on too long because we made it three times as long and in fact we took half an hour before we even got to talking to you. yeah, you have not made this long. We are forever talkers, Anastasia and I. So believe me, you have talked the least after the three of us.

Anastasia   (1:16:27)

Thank you so much to Jess Adjua I am going to put a link to all of her social media because she is going to be at the Australian Open for all three weeks. She gets there at the beginning for qualifying and then she stays through the tournament and she's gonna be producing videos and things about the Australian Open. So please follow her and thank you so much Jess for joining.

us, even if it was just by video.

So we're back. That was fun. I actually enjoyed that talking through it with you because we both watched this video separately, but talking through it with you, was like, my goodness, you're so right. We never really talk about the crowds or the weather or anything like that. And those are such important things to talk about if you're going to a tournament for the first time. Like she said, the first time her family went to the Australian open, they didn't even think about the sun and then they're stuck in the sun. And it can be really...

uncomfortable. So I think there were so many great tips there. I like how she ended with you can just be on a ground pass and watch on the big screen like most Grand Slams have these seated areas that are actually really well set up and you know, the chairs are reclining and things like that. And it can be actually like a really nice break from either being in in an arena.

Nick (1:17:52)

Unless you're at Wimbledon where they make you bring coats or picnic blankets to sit on, chairs are a luxury.

Anastasia   (1:18:00)

Chairs are too much, but it's Henman Hill.

Nick (1:18:02)

for the riff raff, we don't have that much just.

Anastasia   (1:18:05)

man, that was, no, that was actually really, really fun. I enjoyed that, but we have, know, we've yapped on forever and ever, but it's the Australian Open. It's almost a grand slam. So let us wrap up with, as always, our players of the Fortnite. And I will do a better job this year, of keeping track of...

the players that we have every single episode so that we don't lose track or anything like that. But if you're, yeah, yeah.

Nick (1:18:38)

We were talking about this before. I know we're recording. Can

I propose an idea? We're obviously talking about, we want to try and avoid saying people we've said before? Can I make this easier on ourselves that you're allowed to the same play you've had the previous season once? You're allowed to do that.

Anastasia   (1:18:45)

Yes?

Yes, yes.

Nick (1:19:02)

Obviously, you've got to be very careful when you use it, but then it just means you don't need to worry about it. Obviously, if you've... So we can use any... We can say another Season 1 player again, but once we've said our Season 2 player, a player during Season 2, that's it until the end of the year.

Anastasia   (1:19:16)

That's it.

That's it. So if you're listening to the podcast for the first time and you're like, what are they talking about? Player of the Fortnite for Nick and I is the player who over the two weeks has impressed us that we think you should follow along with usually a new player who you can watch on a ground pass at a tournament. So

If you're here for us to pick Sincaraz or Iga every single week, we already did that and we're not doing that anymore. That was like our first few episodes, but no, Player of the Fortnite is someone who you can watch in a grand pass, is up and coming, and we really think is worth your time to follow and pay attention to and watch their matches. So I will start. This is almost on a theme of...

the Challenger documentary we did and maybe because I have met him and spoken to

him. My player of the Fortnite, the first one of the season is Ethan Quinn. Ethan Quinn is a young, I think he's 21 or 20, yeah, 21 or 22 around that age, really young player from the United States. He won the NCAA singles championship

a year ago and decided to go pro. It was a rocky start for him. So he didn't, you know, it wasn't almost a Ben Shelton kind of run where it's like he joined the pro tour and was, you know, hitting his stride. So it's definitely been a little bit of a rocky road, but he ended last year really well. He was playing really well. He won that champagne challenger that I was at and he has started this year pretty well. He got to the finals of the Canberra.

Challenger, which was Go... Canberra? Canberra? Okay, great. The Canberra Challenger in Australia. And he got to the finals and he played against Joao Fonseca, who is on fire at the moment. But I wanted to give this moment to Ethan Quinn, because I think he's doing really well. I was watching some of his videos from the off season and it looks like he was working super hard over the off season. And I think it's just a new young American to...

Nick (1:21:06)

Canberra. Yeah, Canberra.

Anastasia   (1:21:34)

follow along, I got to talk to his coach as well and I was asking them, know, like, is he gonna go for the Australian Open? You know, it like, what is his plans? And they've taken the slow and steady approach. So they're willing to just grind it out in the challenger

circuit and just have him get better at playing tennis. And I think that is such a measured.

smart way of doing things. So you might not see him at the Australian Open, but follow him on the Challenger Tour. You can watch his matches for free on ATP Challenger TV, which I'll put a link in our description. But Ethan Quinn is my first player of the Fortnite this season.

Nick (1:22:17)

Well, Ethan, you've got a lot to live up to. It's going to be very frustrating for if when he breaks out on tour, he gets a big result and you're like, I already picked him. For a challenger, no less. I was spoiled for choice, I think, this week. Polina Kudermetova we mentioned earlier, would be the obvious choice in some ways. Young breakout player doing really, really well.

Anastasia   (1:22:36)

Mm-hmm.

Nick (1:22:41)

getting a set of Aryna Sabalenka in a final. mean, not many people can say they've done that, especially in the country of Australia.

I also wanted to say, although she's not eligible, Iga Swiatek brought all the entertainment at the United Cup. She played four consecutive matches that everyone on Twitter is now debating over, which is better, because it was just, and she didn't win all of them, but.

Anastasia   (1:22:47)

Yeah.

Yeah.

Nick (1:23:08)

She but it was just like, She brought the entertainment. But the play of the fortnight, I'm actually going to take you all the way back almost to the start of the United Cup. And to something we referenced right at the top of the show. The match between China and Brazil was notable for the fact that we were expecting this to be a clash between Zheng Qinwen and then Beatriz Haddad-Maia Zheng Qinwen then pulled out and

in her place was um substituted and I think I'm getting her name pronunciation right but if there's any Chinese um Mandarin speakers who can correct me please do um Gao Xinyu um um she was ranked 175 she was China's second best player and I expect her to walk out on court against Beatriz Haddad-Maia and get crushed I'm gonna be honest especially since Haddad-Maia has a reputation for

basically exhausting people and you've got to be really hardy to hang with her. Not only did Gao hang with her, she beat her. She outlasted Beatriz Haddad-Maia and got a valuable point for China. And then she did it again in their next match, which I, in her next match, who was she

Who was in that group? But the Haddad-Maia one is the one that's kind of really stuck with me because that was also another epic three setter.

Anastasia   (1:24:34)

Yeah. I want to say it was Laura Siegmund? Was it?

Nick (1:24:35)

And

Yeah, that's like the... yeah, it

was a of sequence. Similar kind of player.

Anastasia   (1:24:42)

Yeah.

Nick (1:24:44)

And she... and that meant that, you know, that her efforts basically meant China qualified for the quarterfinals. And I think she must have burned herself out because then Zhang Shuai took over. A much more experienced player. But she... but Gao Xinyu was like...

This is my stage. I play against the top players in the world. A really experienced, big stadium. First time most people had heard of her. And she came out and she crushed it. I don't know if she's in Australian Open Qualies. If she is, go see her. But yeah, that was her breakout moment. And I certainly think there's a possibility that you could see her name at a ground pass near you. And that is why I am naming her as Player of the

Remember the name.

Anastasia   (1:25:34)

No, I mean, I think we talked about when we were previewing the United Cup in that episode, that one of the things that we love about the United Cup is you get to see these players that you usually don't see on tour. The joke is you only see them come up during the United Cup because they're like, they're the third, fourth player of their country, but they're maybe ranked 700 in the world or something like that. And again, like you said, when...

Qinwen was subbed out. thought, well, that's it. And Beatriz had done my, you know, check her off of the win already. I was wrong. I love being wrong like that because Gao was such a joy to watch. Just seeing her fight, which was what she was doing. She was like, I am going to fight for this win. And she got China to, I think she really, without her, they wouldn't have gone, you know, into the quarterfinals.

Nick (1:26:29)

No, and again,

it's one of those things that United Cup can bring out this thing where like these players can become MVPs for their country and they're not even the leading name for their country. And yeah, that's one of these things, one of the great things that comes out from it. We've seen that time again, I think the close equivalent maybe for the Czech team would be Tomas Mahac who is much higher ranked, like he's top 30, but...

Anastasia   (1:26:40)

Correct. Yeah.

Nick (1:26:58)

Everyone was talking about Karolina Muckova and he kept on getting put against top 10 or former top 10 ATP players and he acquitted himself really, really well.

Anastasia   (1:27:08)

Yeah, yes he did. Man, this was a long one, Nick, but I actually had a lot of fun doing it. I'm happy. I'm excited for the new year. I love when we start off a new season like this where you're just like, can't wait to get to the next tournament because you just kind of want to see where these players are at and what's happening.

Nick (1:27:15)

you

Anastasia   (1:27:30)

So really exciting times ahead. Stay tuned.

follow us on social media, we will be posting as much as possible. And here's the thing, guys. I started doing something on our social media, which I called a ground pass rundown, which is basically me the next day, waking up and watching the matches and then like commenting on what I thought was fun or what a lot of people were talking about, because we just cannot watch the matches live in Australia.

We can't watch all of them live. Some of them we will, but all of them is a no.

Nick (1:28:09)

think if we were to tag team this and then let me see if I can get this right for you Anastasia so like for me the day sessions in Australian Open start bang on midnight whereas for you they would start about 7 p.m. so you can watch the beginning of the day session and a lot of the day session but at some point like when it gets to night session that's just a no-go I wake up when the night session starts so and I

Anastasia   (1:28:36)

which is, I don't know which I

prefer. I don't know if I would prefer to just wake up with the night session, you know, that might be actually cool, but yeah, it's just, it's really tough. And I think, you know, we'll just wake up. We'll comment on what we can, but follow, you know, follow us on social media. We will have all the updates there. We'll be back with you next week, either with a mini pod or a full pod. will see.

Nick (1:28:40)

Yeah.

Yeah. Cheeky thing. I know maybe we shouldn't plug someone else's stuff. If Jess is going, follow Jess. She'll keep you up to date.

Anastasia   (1:29:05)

And huh?

No,

follow Jess 100%. Again, I will have all of her social. She will keep you up to date. She will be there. It'll be great. So definitely follow Jess. It was really nice having her on. Maybe she'll join us some other time on the podcast. But for now, thank you. Thank you for joining us. Thank you for everyone who's listening. And we will see you on the next episode. Bye, guys.