Sascha Zverev dispatching Carlos Alcaraz with a serving masterclass, Daniil Medvedev triumphing (and not on a plane home!) in 5 over Hubert Hurkacz, and Novak Djokovic finally winning a break point to send Taylor Fritz packing, and Jannik Sinner continuing his seamless run through the draw against Andrey Rublev we have our Final 4 players lined up to battle it out come Friday.
Meanwhile, Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff will meet again for the second Grand Slam in a row, albeit coming through their respective semi finals over Barbora Krejickova and Marta Kostuyk in very different fashions. The winner of that tie will await a First Time Slam Finalist of 12th seed Qinwen Zheng or qualifier Dayana Yastremska who continued their deep runs with wins over Anna Kalinskaya and Linda Noskova.
Joel and Kim also commend Rohan Bopanna on reaching World No.1 in the Men’s Doubles rankings for the first time at the ripe old age of 43, a new record for the sport plus promising signs for Rafael Nadal returning to the tour in Doha next month.
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Please take your seats quickly ladies and gentlemen thank you hello ladies and gentlemen welcome to tennis weekly Joe Kim and Chris on today’s Australian Open quarterfinals catch up Zev stuns alaras to make the semis sabalenka sets up a golf encounter and Rohan bapana becomes the oldest tennis world number One Kim today is the 24th of January and we are here to catch up on the quarterfinals of the Australian Open at tennis weekly HQ our singles semifinalists are set in the ladies and men’s competitions noat jovic Yanik sinner Daniel meddev sash as verev Diana yrsa chin Wen Jun Coco go and Arena
Sabalenka that is your lineup some familiar names in there some not so familiar names in there how are we feeling I’m feeling quite confident and positive about the predictions I made prior to the AO starting actually Joel because bar yka and Zev I’ve I’ve got all of that lineup that you just well
Done um just alcar and Shion have let me down uh they are not to be seen but um yeah we’ll obviously be getting into how this lineup got there their quarterfinal action that we’ve seen over the past two days and I think you know it’s it’s quite nice that especially on the
Women’s side we have some surprise semi-finalists it’s it makes for a an intriguing um semi-final tomorrow it’s so open and it means I can still use uh the phrase doing a radican new because ymsa is coming through qualifying I didn’t realize how close she was going out in qualifying all her matches uh
Were in like three sets she was really battling away um but yeah she’s she’s still in here and um I think I I was reading radani who’s got to this stage as a qualifier yka has got to this stage as a qualifier to Grand Slam and you
Know the other other qualifier to to get to this stage um semi-final of grand slam since the year 2000 I do actually Joel uh I’m not going to let you beat me on this one it’s Nadia poosa at French Open completely forgot completely forgot about her yeah so um yeah so so some
Some some names there yeah so it’s been very kind of surprising on that women’s side and and almost very familiar I think on the men’s side because we were very very close weren’t we to having all top four seeds make the semi-finals which I don’t think has happened in
Quite a few years yeah it would have been uh top four if alcaras had made it but ver if serve had something to say about that so uh yeah that was uh well a highlight to to watch that this morning uh well this morning UK time it
Obviously went on quite late yet again uh down under um but Joel I hear that there’s been some Veggie might chat the other day I was listening into to you and Chris and I I enjoyed particularly your mention of Veggie might and I’m a bit worried though about the um the the
Task you’re you’re setting for us well I I wanted to get your opinion I wanted to get your opinion before we get into this episode because I put it to Chris um whether we should do a taste test of vegim Might um in honor of Taylor Fritz making the the quarterfinals
And uh so so I was all excited thinking about that and then I didn’t actually realize we we don’t think we can get vegim might in the UK I’m not sure actually as a non Mite Vite sort of fan I I’ve never actively looked for it but
For the purpose this all the reason I want you to want you to to try it I’d be willing to do it for the purposes of the Pod and our listeners to do a live taste test um on the Pod so yeah I’ll do it
For the purposes of the Pod be the world food a I would imagine so but we don’t get tim tams here which and I would love for them to be available so maybe veggie might also isn’t available I don’t know there’s supposed to be a trade deal of
Australia but I’m not sure if that means we get veggie Mite or not uh we’ll see we’ll keep you posted uh to see if we get some come Sunday um and we’ll see who we get come Sunday for the men’s final as well because uh the semi-final lineup is now
Set as you said Joe and today we had two of the quarterfinals we had sasev against Carlos alcarez and we had Hubert herat against Daniel medev let’s start with that um late night match with Zev and alcaraz Zev won this in four sets and for the most part he looked very
Comfortable Joel which I don’t think many people were expecting I think we either thought it was going to be much much closer or or that alarz was going to be the one if any who would look more comfortable um what do you think was the
The story of this of this match and this win for for Zev I mean it was his his serve I don’t think I’ve seen him serve particularly his first serve performs so well on on such a stage as well because he’s got a shocking record against top
10 opponents um at Grand Slams and as a result everyone was sort of writing him off against Carlos alarz but he came into this match and just he just blew alcaraz away in those first two sets um the percentages is his first serving was at was incredible 89% in set 1 90% in
Set 2 it did drop off a little bit in set three at 78% but then it rose again to 88% in set 4 and it just meant that alcaraz just was not getting a strangle hold at all in any of Zero’s service games and it meant that there was just a
Lot of pressure applied to when alcarez was was serving um was serving um you know in his service game so I would say it was a lot down to that and it was scary at times I was I was like is this who is this verev because we don’t we
Don’t typically see these performances from him at this stage um of a grand slam yeah we’ve um we’ve seen him crack out you know the massive serve with the high percentages before but like not consistently and not at this stage of a grand slam I think that the last time we
Saw him playing really well at a grand slam was that match against Nadal at the French you know where he had that awful accident and really like this was I guess similar in terms of his performance but it’s actually yeah was his first ever win over a top five
Opponent at at a grand slam uh you know he has been to a grand slam final back at the US Open a couple of years back but you know even getting there he he didn’t beat any top five players to get there so it’s actually quite a you know
New territory really for for him to get this win over alcarez today but he certainly deserved it with the way that he served and you know he’s just got to make sure he keeps those serving percentages up uh if he’s going to have you know a chance to to come through the
Semis and then you know fight for Fight For the Win um and obviously as you said that that third set his serving dropped off slightly alcra was able to to kind of get back you know got a little tie went to a tie break Al upped his energy
Upped his level but when it came to that fourth set you know they were kind of neck and neck and then Z of just really um you know pushed it up another level yet again when he needed it most and he did well to make sure that that kind of
Blip at the end of the third set wasn’t um letting him you know letting it letting him um letting it affect him as the match wore on I I know and uh I’ve I’ve got to admit Kim first of all I actually went out to lunch with Zev 52
Up in that third set and you given up on alarz I given up on alcaraz yes exactly and I came home and the match was still going on and it was in a fourth set and I was wondering ut oh what’s happening here because is um Zev has lost you know
He lost the US Open Grand Slam final from from two sets up and I’m sure that might have been entering his brain uh going into that fourth set and just wondering you know Carlos alra the athlete that he is was he just getting going and you was he going to come and
Steal this in five and um I think that g was so impressive from zarev in terms of just mentally yes he did have a dip um but he didn’t let that affect the result and he was able to say get it done in in four sets and uh I think you know the
Fact that he’s played so much tennis just to get to this point more tennis and more hours on the court than than Carlos ALR I do wonder if that you know almost kind of simplified his strategy in the sense of well I’ve played a lot
Of tennis I’m going to need to do these things very very well to keep the points short to put as much pressure on my opponent as possible and he just knew I think that having a very good service game and a service day was going to put
All that pressure on alcaras yeah and I was thinking actually in hindsight you know s came through against cam Nori and that that close five set match last set tie break cam you know in retrospect given how well Z you know has seemed to have been kind of playing his waying
Improving as as the tournament’s gone on you know Nori did really really well um especially considering that loss so I think positives for for cam nor as well but the only thing with with ver that um you know he did have a medical timeout uh at the end of that third set should
We be worried about a potential you know foot injury he was having some treatment or do you think that was more of a I just need a bit of a a rest maybe I need to regroup I’m I’m not sure I mean he was asked that by Jim cuier in the on
Court presentation afterwards and he was like I’m fine I’m fine I felt CUA was like digging trying to dig deeper in a story that wasn’t really there and uh I even think before the match as I say he he played a lot of of tennis um you know
To get here and that was was a line of of questioning um in in his press conference um and he said you know he said he’s fine he felt confident and um you know maybe you know maybe he he’s he’s I say he feels like this is his
Moment you know he had that bad injury at the French Open this is his time when you know he’s he’s worked his way back he’s worked very very hard and now he’s reaping the rewards of it and you know he’s putting I think putting right one of those statistics that we always talk
About his his you know when it comes to the men’s Grand Hand is that record against top 10 opponents because it’s up there I feel with you know talking about Andrew rublev’s um you know lack of wins at the quarterfinal stages of grand slams uh which we’re going to get on to
In in the second half but you know the fact that he’s can put that right now and hopefully build on that I think it’s a very very exciting time for him in this season and moving on and I think conversely with Carlos alarz after Wimbledon I think he’s only reached one
One tour level Final in in Cincinnati not won any other trophy since I mean that that wasn’t something I think that was kind of written or that we were expecting because I think we were just expecting from that Wimbledon victory that he would just kick on is it fair to
Say that he hasn’t done that I think it’s fair to say it’s it’s it’s very difficult you know he’s still very young he’s growing and developing and yet he’s you know he’s already got two grand Sam titles so it’s fantastic what he’s already done and maybe our expectations
Were raised so he set the bar so high for himself perhaps too high you know he beat jovic in an epic Wim and final surprised you know many people and we thought gosh he’s he’s a miracle you know what this this has you know no end
To it but I think it’s he’s probably just in that kind of natural down down part of the cycle that follows such a kind of momentous win and I’m sure he’ll get back up there it’s just a matter of time uh but yeah it does seem that you
Know rather than alcas it’s kind of Sinner that’s been the man of the last six months and I think that’s part of the es and flows of of the sport um to be to be honest I think we’ll definitely get back up there no no no doubt about
It I mean it was very surprising I say that first set um you know really uncharacteristic errors from alcarez particularly on the forehand side I think that’s been um a weakness actually of his over the last few months just kind of it being a bit erratic at times
And um he just didn’t really get going until that third set when he was down and he needed I think to be more more aggressive early on yes I understand that there are times where your opponent’s just serving too well and you can’t do much about it but you just want
To kind of stay close to them and he wasn’t he wasn’t able to do that and um yeah I think it’s it’s sort of you know I don’t want to say back to the drawing board but um there’s certainly things there I think that he can prove and it
Does feel at the moment that we have alarz he’s a grand s Sam Champion but you know in terms of the teams we’re talking more I think about Yanik sner who’s not a grand Sam Champion as a bigger threat to to the players around him including Novak jovic and I don’t
Feel like we’re we’re there with with ALR where we were with him after he defeated jokovic at Wimbledon yeah it was a little uh too little too late I think today for for alarz and yep I think certainly go away he’s got a lot of work to do and hopefully this will
Only motivate him to go back and do that because he’ll see that there was a golf today in performance and he was by far you know not not the better player at all um but he’s too good a player not to kind of put that work in and you know
He’s got possibly you know another 15 16 years on the tour so I think we’ll give him the time and space to uh to do that uh in the meantime and will enjoy that the tennis that we do still have to be played in this tournament I mean talking
About Zev kind of fighting his way through with some you know tiredness perhaps you know how how fresh is he he’s up against Daniel midev in the semifinal Daniel Mev has openly said he’s not fresh uh he said uh after his win over Hubert herat that he was just
Destroyed um he’s just he was feeling it really really tough physically very tired he was thinking about like his flight home because he I think he just thought he wasn’t going to be able to get the job done I did enjoy that Insight I did really enjoy that Insight
From him when he was talking about uh well I think it was like Rus ofori when he was was two sets down and he was uh he was plotting his fight flight path home um he’s probably an airline pilot is actually like plotting the exact route well well
Kim actually all the all the all the storms at the moment in the UK we’re seeing some crazy diversions I feel uh so maybe maybe maybe he he’s he’s getting ahead of the game there yeah or maybe it’s better that he just stays foot in Australia uh because you know
The the the World Travel Is Not Great at the moment uh but yeah 64 in the fifth over Hubert herat uh I you guys did say the other day that you know if it’s going five her catch is not winning it uh he’s got to get the
Job done you know in three or four you know make the most of of his serve but yeah it did go deep it did go late and uh Mev came out on top uh I feel like as well you know with meev he was saying how you know he’s feeling very very
Tired he just the match was going on and on and he was kind of started coming into the net just stepping up a bit starting to serve and vol because he just thought well you know if I if I’m if I’m out of here I’m you know flying
Home I’ll just go for it should he not just play like that from the off maybe Joel is there an argument that he’s just why get to this stage just have that as your tactic from the off maybe you’re going to be more efficient more effective you know uh and you’ll stop
Yourself getting embroiled in in these long matches you know he spent 16 hours on court so far and he’s just um you know does he have anything left yeah I think it’s I think it’s tough I think I would say that you know when when you are feeling say lethargic and tired and
Out of gas then it does force you to think differently and maybe at the start you know maybe there was like some relative freshness there and he was like right I’m just going to go in with my normal strategy that I go in you know against someone like a a very good you
Very good server like Huber her catch but um the more it went on I think there’s a there’s an argument to say that the less energy you have you know the more you have to think about okay what are the most efficient strategies I am good at on a tennis court that can
Get me points um and get me points quickly with short rallies and and as you saw with meddev he decided to come to the net and I think with her catch the more and more I was I was kind of watching it especially in that fifth set
He just became a bit too passive for me and it felt like he didn’t really want it and that was where to me that the experience of meddev you know getting to to Grand Sam finals going further than this stage um I think really kind of
Came to the four and it I think it just showed that maybe he he wanted it more and he was willing to adapt and I think her catch on the other side of the net was just sort of you know just playing the way he does and hoping that that me
The devil was going to falter yeah I think her catch you know he said afterwards that he was disappointed uh that he couldn’t have done any more and I think he he needs to go away and do a bit of um development work doesn’t he because in those situations in those fif
Fifth sets he’s got to really step it up and frustratingly for him you know he had um quite a number of break points but most of them were saves he just wasn’t able to to get those opportunities when he had them and so it wasn’t that he wasn’t generating them it
Was just uh not kind of converting and uh but you know he he did well to to kind of uh to go to go I guess five sets but with the surve that her catch has got you you know you’re just waiting for him to kind of put it together fully and
Kind of make that grand slam final because he I think he can do it he just needs that little extra it’s it’s a weird one isn’t it because I think you know there’s an argument to say that some people look at him and think he’s just the server but actually he’s got a
Lot more weapons than than justce serve you know he’s great he’s got great touch at the net he moves very well for quite a tall fell on the tennis court it looks like it’s all there but it’s just like coming to these moments particularly I
Say in that fifth set when it comes down to like fine margins small percentages it seems to go to to his opponent and um you know I certainly think that there’s you know there’s going to be opportunities there in the future but I just think yeah today it just slightly
Went you know the the other way and I think again he’ll learn that he can’t just sort of let these moments kind of pass him by I think he needs to be you know a bit more aggressive you know we we spoke about that with with Cam Nori
And how he’s developed that that mindset and and you know look look where that took him it it pushed verev it um dumped out Casper Roode and I wonder if her catch needs to be even more aggressive than um you know than at times we saw um in that match against
Medev yeah I think so and so well meddev is through uh to another U US Open Australian Open semifinal it’s a hardore it’s a hardcore it’s a hardcore you know um it’s actually his eighth Grand Slam semi-final his his third in you know in the AO uh we’ve seen him at this stage
Yeah many times now and I mean we’ve seen him in the Australian Open final two times before and he’s you know he’s lost both of them so if he does get the win over Zev he uh he’s going to be hoping for Third Time Lucky I mean he
Does have a winning head-to-head over Zev uh 11 to7 so they’ve played quite a number of times uh Mev has won the majority of their kind of recent encounters they actually did play quite a few times last year um meev kind of came out on top in the last two which
Were both on Hardcore I mean who are you going with um do you think meev is finally going to run out of steam do you think ver is that little bit fresher if he’s going to serve like he did today you going Zev perhaps what I find interesting about
This Kim is that although they’ve played lots and lots of times I think they’ve played 18 times in total they’ve never played at a grand slam before this is going to be their first ever encounter um in in best of five at a grand slam and I’m not going to lie the
More you know I think before the tournament I would have you know backed Daniel Mev you know hard courts are his home he’s got an incredible record you know on them um the titles he’s won etc etc but that serving I just can’t get out of my head that serving performance
From Zev against alarz if he can keep that up I think he’s going to have a very very good chance um of coming through particularly because meddev I think will still be feeling the effects of of that match against her catch I wonder if if Zev as
I say he’ll want to make sure that he has a very good serving performance but I think on on the meddev game as well he just wants to keep the rallies going as long as possible maybe even bring in some Drop shots just make sure he makes
Meddev move across the court and I think he did that very well against alcaraz particularly with his volley game thought that was you know very very very strong but yeah I do think against yeah meev I’m giving the slight Edge to to Zev based on what I’ve seen in the uh in
The quarters yeah I would agree I think based on this the verev serve if he can keep keep it up and he hasn’t you know Peak just in that one match uh then I would give him the edge but I think it we could see well we could quite well
See another you know five set match and actually uh we’ve actually had the open ERA record for most five set contests at the Australian Open in this tournament it doesn’t surprise me 33 so far uh meev and herat being the 33rd and yeah so it’s it’s like we were talking about I
Think last week you know we were seeing a lot in the earlier rounds especially just these groeling draining long encounters seem to be just you know increasing um year on year why do you think that is do you think it’s just an outlier for the Australian Open or do
You think there’s specific reasons we’ve seen so many in the men’s singles draw yeah I think you know the balls the the the weather conditions the the style of play is evolving and I just I think it’s kind of culminated um and you know perhaps there
Is a slight luck of the draw element you just you know you just have kind of more matchups that are more equal and like got really can’t you know can’t find um you know a deciding factor between two players but yeah it’s certainly not great for the schedule when there’s
Loads of five set matches uh especially on the show courts you know pushing things late and you know arguably yes a five set can be exciting could be thrilling full of roller coasters ups and downs but you know just because it’s a long match doesn’t mean
It’s always good quality so you know is longer you know more dramatic tennis necessarily what we want to see increasing where are we going to maybe go for that conversation of should we play five sets it’s come up in the past is that going to bring that argument
Back I don’t know maybe I personally don’t think that’s an award you want um or should be maybe even celebrated because it justes just feels like that’s that’s too many and because there are so many I feel like there must be reasons for it and as you as you pointed out I
Do think it’s to do with the conditions um a combination of things but yeah the conditions the balls um the atmosphere and all all that um it it can be it could be to do with you know the players and actually it’s just very competitive and you know low ranked players are are
Closing that gap on on the higher ranked players but yeah I think there’s things at play here that I think needs to be sorted out so this number actually comes down because the exertions that is putting on on players who you know ultimately one person is going to have
To go win seven matches to win this Grand Slam I think it’s I think it’s too much and uh yeah I think that number needs to come down or you know they need to alter conditions or whatever it is to give themselves the best chance to stop
That and I think it actually will make a better tournament because I say scheduling becomes less of an issue players are more happy fans don’t have to stay at 2 a.m. you won’t see your empty stadiums with like five people in their seats because it’s so late Etc so
I would look at that as a statistic that I’m like okay let’s try and bring that down next year well there are three men’s matches left in the tournament if they all go five sets then they would beat the uh U uh the US Open 1983 record
Of 35 uh five set matches so we’ll see if that happens uh on the women’s side today we had two quarterfinals we had chin Wen Jung against Ali um Anna Kalen sky this went three sets uh Jun battling back from a set down to win uh get into
Her very first Grand Slam semifinal it was 67 63 61 so as the match wore on she just kind of started running away with it winning the the 10 of the last 11 games of the match after dropping that first set Joel uh J now you know joins
The likes of lar and and xen XI in reaching a semi-final for for Chinese you know women’s tennis what did you make of her performance today it was actually a bit of a strange one I thought I did watch this match and um I do think one of the reasons she ran away
With it was just simply that that Kalen Sky her body broke down on her you know she was having treatment on her leg um at the start of the third set and it looked like it was impacting her movement and actually in that first set
She she played a great set of tennis um you know went to a tie break and and she took it and I and I wondered oh are we on for are we on for yet another upset you know in that in that top half of the
Draw and um I do think with Jun you know her serving could have been better it wasn’t the most complete performance I think we’ve we’ve seen from her but certainly I think that you know she would you know seiz the opportunity um you know since there was an opening from
Her opponent and and took it and um you know and and just you know has now got to a you has now got to a grand Sam semi-final for the first time um but yeah that first set for me was very kind of up and down and um I did wonder if we
Were you know if we were gonna be talking about Ken Sky being in the semi-finals yeah which you know wouldn’t have surprised me I mean Jun is the you know the 12th Siege is by far the the higher ranked of the of you know of the
Two of them but you know Jun to get to this stage she’s played well but she hasn’t actually had to face a top 50 opponent so and obviously Ken sky is outside the top 50 so it it is difficult to necessarily uh you know compare players against you know the the higher
Ranked echelons when they haven’t you know placed up against them and it sort of gets to the stage anyone’s for the taking isn’t it but I think after dropping that first set I was imp impressed with how she she handled it you know she she didn’t face a single
Break point in in the second and third set she was you know quite clean and just as it went on just really kind of in in full swing I think there maybe were a little bit of of sign of nerves and tension in that first set because I
Say that you it’s almost like she’s the favorite now you know in in this top half of the draw there’s this expectation from nowhere really um that that she’s you know she’s she’s now expected to get to you know the the ladies final from that top half and I
Did wonder if that you know that that facted on her to begin with and she was sort of you know finding her feet and um yeah and I don’t know as say Ken Sky I thought she played a very very very solid match I mean she was she certainly
I don’t think was kind of impacted by any sort of nerves and um it sort of felt like Jung was was chasing Ken Sky to to begin with and then it sort of flipped I think and um yeah Jun kind of took all the the momentum away yeah and
She is now a top 10 player as well she will be in at number 10 in the rankings when the tournament finishes she didn’t even know that she was in the in press afterwards there on court that she was saying her team don’t tell her anything
And she was like oh I didn’t know I’m in the top 10 for the first time probably better that way if it’s going to make he think about the you know the expectation and the pressure maybe it’s better not to know uh just focus on your tennis and
And getting the win in that particular match but and she’s still super young you know she’s born in 2002 so she’s she’s got you know big bright future ahead of her so uh definitely one that you know has been on the radar she reached the quarters at the US Open last
Year so you know me and Chris did actually predict that she would go quite deep at this tournament uh because she was looking at the draw it seemed like she really could have that pathway coming through this section and she’s she’s gone and done that and let’s see
If she can go that one step further and you know she as you said she is the uh the favorite to do that you know she’s up against Justa next uh in the semi-final so you know Jen is the higher ranked player she’s you know she’s a seeded player so
All eyes will be on her and you know she’s going to have millions of people back in China uh you know watching and tuning in so she’s got you know the weight of of of her Nation upon her I mean as as wema you know obviously playing for Ukraine so um um obviously
Both very passionate I’m sure to uh to progress through to their first final I mean let’s talk about y strema because she came through against Linda Nosa in the uh the earlier of the quarterfinals today again a completely unseeded uh quarterfinal this one is uh 63 64
Straight sets y strema through her her dream run doing a rajic Caro it’s still on Joel uh what did you make of her today straight sets over nosca I think this was more NOS her not playing not playing as well as we we’ve seen her this tournament she was just nowhere
Near the heights that that she played against eion and at at this stage of her careit nosova does give you that she gives you that she gives you that match she is a little bit inconsistent and your strer took she just took full advantage of it she hit 19 winners she
Was very very solid on serve took the big moments and um yeah she now now into the semi-finals it’s it’s been very impressive Rive from her as I said the way she started this journey she was fighting for her life in in the qualifiers but you know she’s gone from
Strength to strength I feel in in the main draw and um you know nosca she’ll be disappointed you saw that in her body language I think and I I do Wonder almost her body language I think was too negative on the court it wasn’t um it didn’t give me like any sort of
Positivity around all right I can actually I can actually do this you know she she didn’t shake the hand of the UNP at the end of the match and um yeah I think she will be disappointed with she just didn’t bring her just didn’t bring the game that she knows that she is
Capable of playing and uh I think that was what what that was one that was one of the main reasons that your strer came out with the win a big learning curve for Nosa you know she is she was the younger of of the two they’re both both
Young but she she is much more inexperienced you know your Str has has been on the tour a couple of years longer she you know she has been 21 in the world you know she’s down at 93 at the moment but she has been up at the
The higher end of the ranking so she does have that that bit more experience albeit not a quarterfinal of a grand slam stage um but yeah I think yema you know she took that moment she took that opportunity she’s she’s actually the first qualifier to have made the
Semi-finals here since 1978 so this doesn’t happen very often like you said it’s only been radano and podos have done it uh in the last couple of years so uh she’s making making history uh um which is you know fantastic and I think looking back you know she’s had some
She’s beaten some Grand samam Champions hasn’t she Von juus as a ranker um she’s beaten some top players obviously Nosa had beaten Shion but um I feel like yemer yeah perhaps also you know Nosa had had that Spina walk pretty much a walkover played three games and then
Selina retired that’s going to disrupt your your flow and your Rhythm a bit as well and I wonder if that made a slightly kind of uh Rusty maybe coming into the match as well yeah I think so and it’s interesting because you think that um you know Jun hasn’t played
Anyone you know near the the top of the rankings to get to this stage well y sha as you said it’s taken out Von drusa taken out Azarenka yes she did step on court with Felina but um I feel like she is she is like battle tested with those
Qualified victories as well whereas you’ve got Jung who’s not really been tested and and has had lower ranked competition and you feel like she’s going to be in for a much different test when it comes to that semi-final yeah I do wonder if yema just having played a
Slightly higher uh rank of opponent maybe yeah like you said more more more battle tested um ready to to go but we will see we’ll get on to previewing a bit of the women’s semis later on just another um news story from today Joel some lovely delightful news made sure I
Put this in the uh in the script well he has appeared on our podcast previously this is Rohan bana he has become the men’s doubles world number one or he will become uh the men’s doubles world number one once the Australian Open has finished uh he’s officially the oldest
World number one ever of any I think uh main discipline in tennis bar um bar the quad wheelchair rankings but for um for men’s doubles he has by far exceeded um yeah the previous record Age 41 yeah Mike Bryan age 41 Rohan ban age 43 and
330 days old world number one um I don’t I feel like by saying that I’m just making him sound like I’m just like rubbing his age into it but that’s not that’s not what we’re doing we’re just celebrating the fact that he’s he’s still going going strong you know it’s
It’s amazing and he’s credited his Physio and yoga for helping with that so I’ve to keep my Daily Yoga Yoga yes his yoga he said he thinks it makes him calmer um on the tennis court so maybe maybe I should get involved in some yoga
Kim yeah I think you’ve done a bit in the past I remember you saying that you have dabbled in it I don’t know if you want the listeners to I don’t have the flexib I certainly have lost that that flexibility that I did get from my few
Yoga sessions that I did uh over lockdown yeah yeah but I mean yeah so fantastic for um for Rohan there and I think you know he’s also M Matthew Ebon who’s who he’s playing with also kind of has the same number of points but Ebon has played more tournaments
Than bana hence bana edges him in the rankings that’s that’s how they sort of calculate it they’ve just got to go and and cap it off now and and win the men’s doubles trophy I feel like I mean it’s it really is an incredible achievement I think from from him in terms of
Longevity you know he’s not he’s not done that much um sorry he’s not if you look at his his titles his Grand Slam titles in in doubles and mixed tumbles I think he’s got one solitary mixed doubles Crown which he won with debrowski um quite a few years ago and I think you
Know at the time everyone was a little bit like oh I’m glad he got his trophy before his Grand Sam trophy before you know he he retires and little did we know I think you know these these so these years on that um he’s reached the
Top of the tree and it just shows I think with tennis generally that you’re getting these amazing athletes perform into ages that we did not think were possible you know we’re seeing that you know with Novak jovic at the very top of the singles rankings we’ve got Rafa
Coming back as well and we’re seeing it also in in doubles and um it’s just an impressive it’s just such an impressive feat I think I think what’s the most impressive thing is that he’s becoming it for the first time you know it’s it’s whereas Mike Bryan you know he was 41
When he was number one but that wasn’t when he first got to the ranking so that’s the kind of the also the key difference it’s like you know he could have retired but he’s he’s still still going strong and you know doing the best that he’s ever done so I hope he does
Get the the double Sider that would be a really uh you know the cherry on the on the cake but let’s take a very short break now do join us in the second half where we’ll be looking back on all the quarterfinal action from day 10 at
Melbourne Park and we’ll also be looking ahead to the semi-finals so do not go Anywhere welcome back to the tennis weekly podcast now we’re going to look back at the quarterfinals that we saw uh on Tuesday at the on Monday sorry at the Australian Open uh and that was Koko go against Marta kostuk as well as Babor Kika against sabalenka jovic against
Fritz and C rublev uh let’s start with the ladies Quarters here Coco go coming through against Mar cuk uh 76 6762 uh Coco golf battl through here uh she didn’t have it easy this was ugly Kim this was ugly yeah is this the ugly match she just needed to get out the way
Joel or you concerned that she’s not playing her where she needs to play I mean she’s got sabalenka next she cannot play sabalenka the way she played this match I think she hit 57 uh sorry 51 unforced errors in this match Alone um which was quite surprising actually because I
Think she she’s hit that similar number um colle effectively in her four first four rounds so you know for this to happen was a little bit of surprise but I think this was just a case of just getting the W just coming through it and um you know her coach brag Gilbert he’s
Got a fantastic book called winning ugly and I think this certainly epitomized it and uh I feel like if that that book can get republished anytime soon then this match maybe deserves a mention because I think this this certainly embodied it um from Coco go point of view yeah she was
51 down in that first set saved to set points uh you know clinched it on on a tie break uh but it you know she shouldn’t have had to have fought needed to fought back from from 5-1 down if she wants to win this title she can’t afford
To play like she did in this quarterfinal um but like you said like it is just about getting the job done getting that win you know she’ll step on court maybe against zalena in the semi and you we won’t see this sort of performance so uh it you know doesn’t
Give perhaps the the most confidence but you know we know what she is capable of doing so I think the most important thing is is that she got through got through the match against kostuk who you know is a can be a very tough tricky opponent uh when she’s playing well
Certainly you hope it’s just one of those you can just like come through not have to think about it and yeah Arena sabalenka I mean she’s going to be a completely different proposition to Mar kuk so I don’t feel like you know it’s there’s going to be any sort of Hangover
I think from from this match because it’s just going to be a completely different matchup and it’s going to require completely different strategy when when Koko steps onto the tennis court I mean KL does have a winning head-to-head over sabalenka you know should beat her in the US Open final so
They have played quite recently but sabalenka has looked so far so good you know coming through all her matches in straight set she beat Kika I mean she’s looked the best I think she’s looked the best um in in the tournament and you know sorry in the
Lady singles and against Kika who I thought Kika was going to give her some some is you know some troubles she’s had some very good runs you know in the past at the Australian Open she likes to play on this court but when she came up against sabalenka sabalenka just had too
Much Firepower she had too much variety and she just had too much control because it was such a ultimately it was such a stroll in the park in the end for for sabalenka and um you know to do that against a a former Grand Sam Champion I
Think that was a real statement Victory I mean you can’t bet against arena sabalenka in a grand slam quarterfinal she’s played eight she’s won all of them in straight sets so she loves Grand Slam quarterfinal good good record uh perfect record in fact and you know for the last
Six Majors she has reached the semi-finals all gone better so she’s really building this kind of grand slam consistent streak which is fantastic is she Unstoppable well I mean she is in the sense she hasn’t won the last six slams but she is Unstoppable at the moment she’s Unstoppable but she you
Know she doesn’t want to kind of keep getting to these places and losing you know she wants that streak to to to matter more uh interestingly Serena Williams is the the the only the last person who reached uh six or more semi-finals in a row she actually got 10
Uh in a row so we’ll see if SA can go further the rest of the season but yeah she’ll be up against Koka goof who does lead the head to head 42 so I mean you’ve got to think both of them they know what an opportunity this
Draw is with with you know Jun and ymar on the other side they’ve both surely got to be thinking if I can get through this I’m I I’m you the strong favorite in the final do you think they will be treating this as the ladies the ladies
Final I mean at their Peril I think that would be you know uh wrong to do so because you can’t take anything for granted and you know the iron is you might you know win win your semi and then you know kind of stroll into the final thinking you know I’ve got this
And then you know some a surprise is sprung on you but I think yeah like deep down I think most of the tennis community would certainly be thinking yeah surely the winners coming from go sabalenka they’re both Grand Slam champions they’re both really in in good
Form we’ve seen we have seen some great tennis from both of them especially sabalenka this fortnite and you know she does look like the the hot favorite I think I mean weirdly I feel like the only times we’ve seen sabba lener in in trouble was in that critique of a match
When she’s so far ahead that she almost has I think a little bit of a lapse in concentration and there is that opportunity for her opponent to come back in because you know she was a well I think she was a double break up and um
You know let Kika retrieve one of those breaks so I think from her point of view she just wants to just keep on it and um you know keep on it until the until the handshake and not let your your opponent back in but regardless of I think that
That head-to-head I’m sort of leaning towards sabalenka given as I say not not not necessarily the the history of the two but more in the here and now the tennis I have seen over the last couple of weeks it’s hard not to think Sabal lener at the moment yeah I I agree with
You there and um yeah I think yeah it was only a bit of complacency against Kika you she lost her serve in each of the sets but at that point she was you know a double break up both times so if you’re going to lose your serve and drop
It at any point it’s you know kind of a for two when you when you’re a double break up and she obviously stopped Kik from getting any sort of momentum and cloring her way back in each of those sets so so far it seems like she’s playing Champion tennis we’ll see if
That continues let’s just quickly look back at the men’s quarterfinals as well from Monday because we did have Novak jovic in action against Taylor Fritz uh jovic coming through in four sets uh 76 46 62 63 uh the score line kind of um I think doesn’t really tell the full story
Of the match the the first two sets took a very very long time long time two and a half hours we need to talk about the scheduling at some point Kim because this was one of the I mean the the golf match went on for for three hours and
Yeah this match also in the day session those first two sets I was wondering are we on for a crazy crazy possibly even record late finish in the night session just because of um yeah like the the just going on the first two sets of this because Taylor Fritz and his his defense
Was very very impressive particularly how he played the the big points because I don’t think I can remember this but Novak jovic in those first two sets he was 0 and 15 at one point on breakpoint conversion so it just shows I think how well Fritz was playing
In those big moments and um yeah he was he was frustrating jovic that’s not a startat you hear very often is he no I don’t ever heard that it’s it’s it’s uh I mean it’s obviously incredibly wasteful but I don’t think you know this
This was down to to jovic it was down to Fritz and just the the way he played those points and you he really went for it and um you know he got his due rewards when that second set you know that went to him you know he battled and
Battled to stay in stay in and then got the opportunity and grabbed his moment and grabbed the second set absolutely and and you know tayor Fritz that that opening game alone was like 16 minutes so that was a sign what we were in for I
Know um and I think really you know at two sets you after two sets it was a set each we were thinking oh God what’s what’s going to happen now but then that’s when jovic you know really stepped it up that those those last two sets just um you know coming through the
Champion mentality 62 63 um you much more kind of standard inevitability then set in didn’t it yes the the fun and games were over for Taylor Fritz you know he he fought on obviously not saying he gave up but um jokovic yeah found that kind of extra bit to to get
The job done and uh yeah certainly started capitalizing on break points there and uh you know stepping up his serve as well uh but you know Taylor Fritz I think compared to where he he has been in some of the slams recently he’ll be pleased I think to have got to
The quarters because you know anyone who’s you know watched break point recently will know how gussed he was to to lose early you know this time last year so I think you know this is a positive um generally getting to the the final eight and he’ll be pleased with
With that and it’s no shame losing to jovic in four sets is it on this court in particular uh jovic will of course face Yanik sinner in the semi-final cner coming through in straight sets against rublev uh rublev now now zero uh for 10 uh quarterfinals at Grand Slams he he
Cannot get over that line Joel um no what could he have done differently in this match to to maybe achieve that because it it seemed like he was up against it win that second set tie break I think is is one of them is one of them
Things from uh from 51 up um that was really when that you know the writing was on the wall when you know C fled his his way back and and nabbed to that tie break really from rublev um yeah the third set was really just kind of a to
Me anyway was just a little bit of a forone conclusion and uh you know Yanik sinner I know we’ve seen at times ominous tennis from Novak jovic but I’ve got to say Yanik sin this tournament I think he’s played the most he’s played consistently the best tennis in the men’s draw and
Rublev unfortunately I just think he was a little bit powerless kind of to do anything about it he put up a good fight it was close he probably should have got a set but similar story I think to to how you know the Taylor Fritz match kind
Of panned out um against Novak jovic I think in the end we were going to feel some sort of AEL inevitability that given the the the wave of momentum that sinner is on it was always going to end up with him in the semi-finals yeah I think that second set
Tie break just kind of the main Crux of this match you know sin coming back like like you said from 15 down in that tie break to to clinch the set and I loved what C was saying about um that kind of tie break after you know he said you
Know it was it was tight but he he loves to to play that those pressure points you know he practices for that he he enjoys it he says it’s exciting I think that’s such a a nice healthy attitude to those moments you know rather than stress and panic it’s it’s excitement
It’s it’s what you’re there for so I love his at it’s not an excitement I don’t think for for rublev who you know he was doing his classic banging his racket on on his on his leg getting frustrated um I I still think it’s going
To come at some point it it just can’t not but at the moment he is in that sort of perfect I’m a top eight player in that bracket of of maybe five to eight am I in that top four no uh especially you know he had he had breakpoint
Chances he didn’t take any of them um so you got to take your chances you got to you got to maximize has a 5-1 lead in a tie break you can’t afford to do that against the you know the the very very elite players and yanx is playing like
One of them at the moment uh very very elite players and he will be up against you know the most elite player of all uh novat jokovic in the semi-finals we’ve got that semi that I guess we all wanted because we really want to see what yanx
Can can bring to the court against jovic at a grand slam um you know they they did play at Wimbledon uh the semis last year they played in the ATP finals final twice at that event they played at the Davis Cup Davis Cup we were there for it
We were there for that we saw sin save match points and win that one uh they were two piece last year uh jokovic has you know overall a better head-to-head against sinner but where are you thinking going into that one do you think do you think cner can can do the
Unthinkable Joel oh it’s tough It’s very very tough and I think you know I I’ve just said on on the sabalenka kind of reasoning of I think she’s played the best tennis in the in the ladies draw so I think she’s going to defeat Coco off
Although I think that about Yanik Sina I still have to go I think with with Novak jovic just because of because of the history yes I know that that sinner has played well and has defeated jokovic recently and there may be some some Scar Tissue there but Melbourne is jovic’s
Home Rod La arena is his home he has got an incredible spell on on this court and it’s going to be it’s very difficult to see I think you know past that but I do think we’re going to be in for an absolute treat given the tennis that
We’ve seen from them and uh you know what’s what’s at stake as well yeah I think I’m hoping it’s going to be a classic uh I’d love to see C get the win but I can’t bet against noat jovic 10 time Champion semi-finals of a grand
Slam very different to dare I say even you know Davis Cup best of three match uh so I’m I’m going jovic as well uh listeners let us know I mean Chris must be believing in sinner still because he’s got him as his Champion overall I
Think that was a very I mean that might have felt like a little bit of an out there prediction but it looks like it could be very very good um but it’s hard not to it’s hard not to think about Novak jovic I mean Kim just before we
Get on to looking at day 12 we just need to talk about the scheduling for this day because there was there was so much tennis crammed into you know one day the night session started very very late I mean they were almost probably breathing a sigh of relief that the C rublev match
Was straight sets but regardless of that it finished well well well after you know midnight and um it’s again we’re just in this situation of I hate I hate we’re talking about the scheduling but you know we have to and and do you think they handled it right in terms of
Holding their nerve and just keeping with it because you know there was talk of potentially moving you know one of the one of the night matches to to another court that ultimately didn’t come to fruition do you think they were right to hold their nerve despite the
Night session starting so late I mean the day session started at 1 rather than 11: which didn’t help so they were already 2 hours down uh and you know I get once you get to the latter stages you might think oh yeah we could start slightly later but when you have having
That kind of Gap you got to get one set of crowd out one set of crowd in and the matches go go long and late it’s just you you’re asking for for these these late night finishes and yeah I just think just TV and money
Is is is is ruling it isn’t it it’s they’re at the hands of the the TV schedule and the spons do you think the tournament organizers actually like realistically actually care because they’re thinking they’re thinking about the audiences and the numbers that are watching it and how good it is for you
Know the rest of the world you know in Europe where it’s on in our daytime they’re thinking about the the end product the the consumer who’s tuning in all around the world and but when that starts to interfere with with player welfare and you know it’s it’s it’s a
Tricky one and that’s why we do keep bringing it up because it’s it’s fundamentally something that you know I am a bit at odds with as as are many of us it just doesn’t seem natural to you know Force someone to play tennis at 3 a.m. in the morning and unfortunately
That’s become pretty common uh throughout the the history of this tournament and even you know as we’ve seen in in other tournaments so um we’ll have to see the effect of the new you know rules that are coming in uh what what they will be obviously this
Tournament unaffected by by them at the moment so uh well let let’s see but yeah it’s important to kind of bring it up because it you know in what other world would you kind of force someone to yeah kind of an elite level athl com on you’ve chosen to a night shift yeah
Exactly it’s uh it’s a bit it’s a bit silly and I think this is one of the the biggest talking with we’re going to take away I think from this Australian Open is is in terms of because of or or I think one of the reasons is is because
Of just how long some of the matches we are we are having it’s it’s just having these issues with the scheduling and if you want to split you know these matches over two sessions get one crowd in one crowd out make as much money as possible you’re going to run into these problems
And uh yeah it just doesn’t feel right for an for elite level tennis and the product it’s not a good look no I mean let’s have a look at tomorrow’s schedule because the ladies you know it is a semi-finals day they’re both in the night session so they are um starting
From 8:30 like GMT uh 7:30 I think local time in Australia uh gol sabalenka is up first and then Yun so uh yeah interesting they they’re making the both night sessions but obviously they they will have that that day in between you know before the the final and the final
I believe is is always a ninth session anyway um prior to that in the day we do have uh the men’s double semi-finals uh where we’ve got Rohan bapana you know new world number one in action with his partner Matthew epton so the obviously the home uh fans will be loving that
With e only seeds left being Australian they are the only seeds left in the men’s doubles they’re up against machak and Jang ble vavasori hman and kurer in the other men’s uh doubles semi women this cup semi-final isn’t it Italy versus an all all Italian pair versus an
All German pair a pair absolutely absolutely uh Alfie H and Gordon Reed also in action uh on Margaret Court in the men’s wheelchair doubles semi so we wish them well um and they are also Alfa hu in the semis of the singles as well so um Good Luck to Alfie and Gordon um
But for the lady semis who have you got Joel uh who have you got winning and how many sets well Coco go Arena saen I’m going sabalenka in two I’m going straight sets and yasta Jung oh it’s tough it’s tough I’m gonna go I’m gonna go Y shka in
Three oh okay nice y I agree with you to some extent I’m going to go Sabal lener in too as well I think uh she’s just playing that extra uh not sharp at the moment from Goff uh but I think Jen yasta that’s that’s again where I’m a
Bit like more on the fence maybe I think Jun in three I’m going to go for Jun okay let’s I think that sort of yeah I think her sort of higher level is going to be you know on its day better than yema even though she hasn’t played a top
50 player I think she’s going to get the job done but it probably might be quite a messy uh up and down match I think we’ll see I’m going to probably regret that prediction but you know it’ be uh it’ be fun to see them both uh tomorrow
In our morning uh Australia’s night session and then you know of course we will have the men’s semis on Friday and we’ll be back uh to round all the semifinal action up on Friday before we go though Joel some other news not Australian Open related but rafh and AD
Doll related which is very exciting for me especially looks like he’s going to be returning soon than we thought to the tour uh he’s going to be playing in Doha in February at the 250 this caught me off guard yeah there was some reports because Laura Robson sort of spoke about
This and I think a lot of people sort of laughed it off because we just feel like we naturally associate injury and Nadal equals at least six months out or whatever but uh yeah very promising signs the fact that he’s going to be on the the player entry list anyway for for
Doha which I mean looking at it it’s a it could be a very very stacked draw for a 250 yeah Dan meev Andre rev also Andy Mur going to be there Andy Murray and Rafa who is yes still down at 446 in the rankings which sounds so strange to say
But yeah hopefully he will be back um and hopefully that’s that’s good news that he’s feeling good and the injury he sustained in Australia you know perhaps was wasn’t as um as bad and he’s just like wanting to get back out on the tour
So let’s let’s see we we wait in Hope um but yeah we’ll well myself and Chris are G to be back on Friday I’m off to find some Veggie M uh in all the local markets Jo the Quest for veggie Mite begins yes I’m I’m going to do the same
Let’s see let’s see what we do and uh let’s see if we can come up with with some but uh listeners I hope you’ve enjoyed our latest episode of the tennis weekly podcast remember to subscribe to us to stay up toate on all the actions still to come from the Australian Open
We’re on Apple podcast Spotify and all major podcasting platforms out there and if you like what you’re hearing then make sure to leave us a rating and review on Apple podcast or Spotify you can also follow us on social media or email the show we’re on Facebook
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Weekly HQ for our semifinals AO catchup so I hope you can join us for that but in the meantime it’s goodbye from Kim goodbye and it’s goodbye from me we’ll see you again Soon
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