The 2026 Australian Open has wrapped! Join 4-time Grand Slam Champion Kim Clijsters and tennis reporter Blair Henley as they give their takes on Elena Rybakina’s second Grand Slam title and the “cameras everywhere” privacy controversy following Coco Gauff’s exit. They also discuss Emma Raducanu’s search for her 10th coach, the modernization of Slam rules like best-of-five sets for women, and the rumors of a Serena Williams return.
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⏰ TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 Welcome to Love All
1:33 The Australian Open vibe: Festival atmosphere & fan experience
4:44 Rybakina Wins Second Grand Slam Title
6:22 Rybakina’s growth: New agency & coaching dynamics with Stefano Vukov
10:05 Sabalenka’s Final Losses and Mental Pressure
12:27 Alcaraz & Graf “Golden Slam” comparison
15:13 Elise Mertens: Doubles dominance and career earnings
17:38 Wheelchair tennis: Niels Vink & Tokito Oda
18:57 Naomi Osaka vs. Sorana Cîrstea: The “self-talk” controversy
22:58 Coco Gauff’s tunnel frustration & player privacy
29:13 Craig Tiley rule change debate: No warm-ups & Best of Five for women?
38:30 Emma Raducanu fires her 9th coach
42:20 Serena Williams comeback rumors
45:04 Kim’s comeback stories
50:30 Future of the Williams sisters: Doubles, the Hall of Fame, and “Significant Factors”
52:51 Looking ahead: Dallas Open & closing thoughts
#LoveAllPodcast #KimClijsters #BlairHenley #AustralianOpen #AO2026 #ElenaRybakina #CocoGauff #CarlosAlcaraz #NaomiOsaka #ArynaSabalenka #SteffiGraf #EliseMertens #NielsVink #EmmaRaducanu #SerenaWilliams #VenusWilliams #WTA #ATP #TennisPodcast #TennisNews #RodLaverArena #GrandSlam #TennisLife #TennisFans #TheHappySlam
44 Comments
Thanks for being so organized and for covering all the WTA issues. I really enjoy listening and find your conversation fun, yet on target and productive!
Was very surprised about Kim disagreeing about getting rid of warmups more than best-of-five… love this show!
I can't concentrate past those gorg-teefs
So fun listening to your perspectives! And thanks for mentioning Steffi’s achievement alongside the great feat of Carlos. I‘d love to explore the 5 sets from quarters onward; equally for men and women 🤌🏼
heres a thought for best out of 5, if a player wins 2 sets in a row the match is over.
Really loving the podcast😊❤
She brought this pod back. Give her a raise already
Would you want to see the Women play best-of-five?!
Coco could go off on a nice run in a 3 out of 5 format for sure
Your podcast is informative and fun, congratulations.
There is one thing perhaps one of you could help me with, because I can't seem to find what is the difference between playing a club, 250 tournament, 500 tournament, 1000 tournament or a "grand slam", when it comes to the number of sets the ladies need to play to win a match? 🤔🤔🎾🎾
Thank you!
I'd love Bo5 at the latter rounds, maybe start of 2nd week so 4r or just qfs like he said. Frankly for the men and women, but I don't think they'd ever take away the men's 5setters lol
I definitely support women playing best of five in majors. However, it’s not because I don’t think they should be payed the same unless this requirement is fulfilled. That’s foolishness. At majors, the WTA brings in the revenue, the sponsors, they’re putting in the work, etc—they deserve the money. But playing best of five is special and unique to the majors, it is one of those things that makes the majors special, and I think the women deserve to enjoy that special task as well. That said, I agree that the scheduling is important to consider as well. If anything, maybe one day it should be everyone going back to best of three (maybe just best of five for both men and women for the finals, and we can reignite that tradition for the Masters tournaments as well).
Serena has ABSOLUTELY NO CHANCE
Great insight 🎾👍
Great job, ladies!!! Informative and fun!
Spoiled brats
yawnnnn
Isn't it strange when tennis players benefit from the simple desire to "just play tennis"?
Mad. Totally unexpected.
Kim's comeback year is now in tennis legend. What a comeback it was.
Formula 1 gives a trophy to the winning driver AND a member of the team, usually an engineer. AO may have been inspired by that.
Casual watcher here. Almost sure this has been brought up (not necessarily here) in the past but how about Sabalenka and her screaming when hitting a ball? For me its off the chart annoying, volume for the match gets turned off if I watch her. I don't understand how its not a problem for other players. I'm assuming it doesn't get much press 'cause she is at the top of the "list" in women's tennis. Enjoying the channel Kim.
If Alcaraz wins the next two, that’s a true Grand Slam in my eyes. Call it whatever. Equivalent to a “real” GS. A calendar GS.
Just like Serena’s consecutive 4 is a Grand Slam imho.
Whether you win four in a row in a designated order or out of order, imho it’s just as hard. If your 4 starts with French and ends with AO, how much more harder is it to win AO to USO? Same if you ask me.
It’s actually harder to come back cold after a break.
Pretty good episode guys. But what was cute about seeing Serena hitting a tennis ball?
As a huge fan, when I first saw the bts live stream at the AO, it was the greatest thing to me since the wheel was invented! WE LOVE IT! RTA has many floors and side rooms, so there are plenty of places to go for privacy. Coco is judge more harshly and more scrutinized than any other player in the world (along with Raducanu), so I understand Coco's snetiments. But she and the other players are going to have to get over it. God forbid we get to see them run on the exercise bike and interact with one another. Craig Tiley is a genius, and many places have followed suit. Look at all the vlogs and podcasts that have emerged since the AO bts started.
It's appalling the way the AO uses camera footage. I am disgusted. The players are entitled to some privacy. Many argue that players are being paid. They are paid for what they do on court, not off-court. Coco specifically looked for an area to vent her frustrations but away from the public. She was trying to get some privacy and she was entitled to that. Craig Tiley is frankly a publicity and money hungry hound. The way he has increased costs for the public to access the facility is completely ridiculous. It's so expensive to attend the AO. He has exploited both players and fans for a while now and it is getting very apparent that his greed is going to cause long term problems for the tournament.
This is great, terrific discussion ladies! Just discovered and immediately subbed. Also I'm a novelist and my next book is about a perfectly ambidextrous, Mexican American pro tennis player so I'll consider this "research" 😁 ❤ Would LOVE to connect with Henley if possible, maybe I could get a contact email? Thanks either way!
Love this podcast, great insight and knowledge!
Serena is a legend, but I think she will get murdered out there now by a level/class of tennis she played a major role in breeding. Her legacy will remain intact either way, but no one wants to see her get hurt.
Any thought on Novak going doubles?
Dude I hate that so many people are defending Naomi. She hasn't done anything worth defending. Its unsportsmanlike conduct. It should technically be fined.
Its despicable, and about as far from the 'higher ground' Naomi was trying to adopt as it can get.
Crazy to hear 68° described as winter!? That's t-shirt, shorts, and sandals weather!
It’s very nice to see and hear this podcast embrace publicly, the fact that Elena Rybakina’s Coach was rewarded for his efforts in helping her win the Championship in Australia. I had previously listened to The Tennis Podcast with those 3 Brits, who were aghast that Vukov had received the award. What bloody snobs they are to be sure! Simply insufferable!
We are all aware that Vukov had received a suspension last year, which he had appealed, and it was shortened. Nobody condones his past behaviour. He seems to have leaned his lesson. She is thriving again, because her health has improved, and she trusts him. That’s all that we need to know at this point. Why continue with this harsh judgement as to whether he should have been rewarded?
Rybakina and her team should be celebrated because she has achieved an important milestone. She is now recognized as a multiple GS winner. Hope there are many more in her future.
Comparing Grafs career grand slam to what Carlito has accomplished? Really? 😂
Great Pod guys!
IMHO 5 Sets from QF onwards is a No Brainer…
– SCHEDULING: Only final 7 Matches would move to 5 Set Format (first 140 remain 3 Sets).
Historically, only 1/5 Men’s Matches go to 5 Sets so even if you Doubled that for Women re point about Serve being less of a weapon, that would be still be only 2-3 matches ALL TOURNAMENT going to 5 Sets
– FITNESS: Whilst the Strength differences between Men + Women have long been established (esp. for Upper Body), multiple studies have shown Top Female Athletes are typically only 10% less VO2 Max vs Men… so we’d see the same evolution in the women’s game where the ability to get around the court would become increasingly important, which obviously makes for better rallies…
Sinner talked about practicing sliding on Grass last year before Wimbledon because he said it wasn’t enough to ‘Control’ Points from the Baseline.
– TV / FANS: Would enable more Female Night Matches. If you recall, Mauresmo responded to criticism of the French Open having so few Women’s Matches at night by citing ‘Value for Money’ and the inability to guarantee a certain length of Playtime
41:32 I love Blair's laugh in this moment 😂😂
Ким, ты лучшая. Твое возвращение в Тур после рождения ребенка и перерыв почти полтора года до сих пор лучший камбэк "мамочки" теннисистки. Ни Элина ни Белинда да и вряд ли кто сможет повторить твой успех. До сих пор скучаю по твоему комбинационному теннису, по твоим ударам, которые ты делала садясь практически на полный шпагат. Ким ты лучшая, уверен что ты в твои 25-28 сейчас просто снесла бы весь топ 10 женского Тура с корта.
Извини что на русском, английским владею плохо, надеюсь переводчик ютуба поможет, если вдруг ты прочтешь этот комментарий.
Fully agree I respect women’s Tennis a lot but if they want equal prize money they should play best of five sets in my opinion.The time on court difference compared to the men is ridiculous.
Serena… I hope its just hype. Doubles? Yes she may have a chance. Singles? No way she can go toe to toe with these younger ladies out here now. Can't reverse father time, no matter how healthy and fit one may be or become.
It's an amazing podcast guys! Loved hearing your thoughts😊🎉❤ hoping for more content soon!
Coaches award was first awarded last year. Nice to see that they cleaned up the awarding of it after last year.
Totally disagree about dubs taking away from singles. I think playing dubs makes you better as a singles player. Tennis as a pro is a short time and if you can play both it should be encouraged.
I love Kim ❤️ soo much. I miss those splits. Only Kim and Serena did that.
Hey Kim, say hi to Thibault, he is the best 😉
I'm all for 3 out of 5 for women Grand Slam. That would definitely add extra gold value to a grand slam title. Sabalenka could have come back against Rybakina if given the 4th and 5th set to compete. Serena could have won even more grand slams during an era when no other women players possess the same physicality and skill set as her.