And just like that… it’s time for the Australian Open draws! The Tennis Weekly trio are back in double quick time to assess the men’s and women’s singles draws Down Under, offer up their predictions (Joel goes very rogue with one) plus reveal the latest Collect-A-Set player picks where listeners have a chance to win the coveted Tennis Weekly mug.
Is Djokovic set for even more history in Melbourne? How tough is Iga Swiatek’s draw really? What can we expect from the Brits including Emma Raducanu’s return? And just why did we have to have Naomi Osaka vs. Caroline Garcia in Round One. It’s all up for discussion so join us as we gear up for the first slam of the year!
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Please take your seats quickly ladies and gentlemen thank you hello ladies and gentlemen welcome to tennis weekly of Joel Kim and Chris on today’s Australian Open preview jovic looks to create even more history down under Shion Tech draws a former champion in round one and Asaka and rakano get ready for their grand
Slam return Kim Chris today is the 11th of January and we are here to catch up on the Australian Open draws at tennis weekly HQ the men’s and ladies singles draws they came out overnight we were fast asleep and I don’t know about you guys I was very excited to wake up this morning
Check my phone and just see see the madness and the chaos of a round one grand slam draw the first one one of 2024 it caught me by surprise to be honest cuz I was trying to look at the results and then I saw all of Twitter
Was reacting to some of these kind of mouthwatering you mean you didn’t wake up at 3:00 a.m. to watch it live have I done that before yes but when your faves draw someone really awful then it doesn’t make that sort of like loss of sleep worthwhile yeah you just want to
Go back to sleep I woke up to a a WhatsApp saying Caroline Garcia was drawn against Naomi Sara what what a nightmare draw for for Garcia well potentially for both of them yeah I mean hopefully you know now that we have her as an enemy with a podcast no misaka
Comes through that one Garcia is dead to me she’s dead to me now that she’s created her own podcast unless she comes on the podcast and then obviously everything’s fine yeah if she comes on Garcia we we love you once again but uh at the moment yeah not in my best books
Oh She’ll always be the Renaissance to me don’t worry well before we get into looking at the draws as well as uh unveiling our collector set player pi as well we just want to do a crowdfund update for everyone we are just £47 away from hitting our Target of
£2,000 we are currently at £ 1,953 and uh we want to say a big thank you to everyone who has donated um especially over the last couple of days but everyone who has managed to reach into their pockets to support us please help us get over the line we are so
Close we put the GoFundMe link in the description if you can help us out um but yeah massive massive thank you for everyone already also in the description is the link to vote for us to win the best tennis and Racket podcast at the SP Sports podcast Awards last year we
Finished runner up and we’d love to go one better so please do vote for us if you’d like us to win and do get those votes in before the deadline of the 28th of January I think that now brings us on to well actually before we get into Australian Open
Draw the suspense the we do have yeah we lied when um we said that this would be the next time you heard from us because Avid uh listeners who follow everything will well they may already have listened to uh Chris you uh had a an interview
With a certain someone the other day yes we had uh Ben Rothenberg came on the podcast to talk about his new book about Naomi Saka so it’s a very good timing for that and there are some great um opinions great insight there lots of great stories from the Asaka family
Including kind of the sister the relationship with her s of family at large and I learned an awful lot from that and looking ahead of the Australian Open I think it would be very interesting to see what the next chapter is so I think that’s well worth a listen
If you’re a fan of nasaka um and I think there’ll be everyone will be surprised by what you’ll hear there’s some very interesting things in that one yeah it’s a great episode um thanks Chris for uh for going solo on that and bringing that to all of managing the time difference
Kim yeah Copenhagen to Melbourne I think that’s our um the internet right we we were giving the delay yeah we were putting the the Wi-Fi into overdrive weren’t we we were the dial at Broadband eagle-eyed uh listeners as well may have also spotted Us in the first episode of
The recently released breakpoint uh Series 2 uh we we both all have little little Cameo uh audio pieces don’t we a very exciting for Kim had a solo performance and we’re in a very tense moment of the breakpoint curse and then we have this Crescendo and it’s tennis
Weekly taking us to it has to be a thing right I think it’s surreal it’s so surreal isn’t it hearing your voice on Netflix but uh it’s amazing it’s amazing at the same time to consider you know where where the Pod has has started and now where it is we’re on we’re on
Netflix we need to get a subscription I wonder if they’ll thr throw that in for um for free for us so we can watch it yeah so so do check out break point if you haven’t already uh started binge watching it uh because yeah we’ve got
Six episodes um to you know wet your appetite before the Australian Open starts on Sunday and talking of the Australian Open we do have two draws to um you know analyze and make predictions from so let’s start with a men’s draw where we’ve got Novak jovic as defending
Champion and top seed uh his opening quarter I mean he’s got I would say quite a nice draw um I mean it’s I feel like we say this kind of every time because it’s no about jovic and you know even if he had tougher elements to his
Draw we’d still be predicting him to come through I’m quite sure but Joel what do you make of jovic’s quter we it is a projected quarterfinal with Stephanos sitp pass if the seeding goes to plan isn’t it I don’t think we’re going to get that I think Stephanos
Cipas I saw earlier taking a medical time out during an exhibition in Melbourne which was not a good kid day or Jo fun good yeah I know medical timeouts in exhibitions that is not something you want to see so I’m not sure how uh fighting fit he is and
That’s a worry because you he was finalist here last year uh lots of points to defend and he’s got bertini in the first round who has also had very good memories uh recently of of playing in Melbourne so that could be a very interesting encounter but yeah for jovic
Quite an easy draw I’m sort of hoping we get jovic Ben Shelton in round four uh because we could see the I think that could be a spicy encounter given the the hooa we had last year we could get the Ben Shelton the return maybe of the uh
The the dial me in hand gesture well it’s been hung up that call right now so someone needs to dial back in to pick up the phone um so hopefully that story will will play out but I mean that would be a very interesting clash and I think
It’s always nice when we get to see some of the older sort of generation versus the new generation and see how they’re sort of Performing I mean the older generation are just all in around jovic aren’t they because you got jovic you got Andy Murray you got Gman F Stan
Vinka is lurking about here manarino like it’s like the old gen in the in the top of the first quarter also in there as well yeah it’s a battle of the the Young Guns and some of the should we say more mature participants of the tour Taylor Fritz also kind of
Flying around in this section but I mean do you think that Ben Sheldon is maybe the only one that has a chance to even beat Novak I mean apart from Novak’s wrist perhaps that will be the bigger threat to Novak if there is an injury oh
I’ve got to be honest it’s really hard to think that someone’s going to come through this section of the draw apart from jovic I mean we always say that but when you look at kind of the the full section we have here I mean sit pass is
Probably your pick of the top eight seeds um given some of the injury concerns that you’ve mentioned Joel and there are there are some kind of strong players in here but they aren’t those sort of players that you wouldn’t want to see in your quarter um when it comes
To people being like a a really big threat and inspired someone you know he might might take a set off um jokovic in the first few rounds you know that could be like a poer in might have a fantastic tiebreak set against him he does like to
Lose a set in the opening rounds of a tournament before he kind of brushes away the number two seed so for me I mean this has had jovic coming through all over it and Andy Murray opens against Thomas uh eter could face second written all over it Kim it does seem
That way doesn’t it I mean potential third round with novat jovic Joel are we going to get that match do you think we I don’t think we can look that that far ahead and actually even before that I would love to see Murray versus gbon
Feast I think that would be a real fun entertaining uh show that would you know no doubt pack out Stadium but um I think you got to take it one match at a time and ET a very 30th seed I I think that’s a very tough opener could be a very
Attritional battle I think that could go very very deep and um you know Murray obviously you know he’s had he’s had good performances but he hasn’t had the wins to start that he would have liked you know at the very start of 2024 so um
Yeah we’ll have to see but um I’m hoping we can get some of those more entertaining matches if he can come through that first one against AER it’s just such a shame isn’t it I was talking last time about what we need for Murray
Is a good draw and I’d say I mean having at round one round two potentially gon and then round three novat jovic I wouldn’t say that this quarter is really opening up for Andy Murray at this stage which is a shame so I think it would be
About as you say going going round to round here but I mean there are some other returning players here I mean I’ve got my eye on Marin chillit I think he showed some good tennis even though I did say that maybe he going to lose from
Like seven match is he going to lose from Seven match points off I just think it’s the five sets thing some of these players aren’t able to get it done you know in three so when you’re coming back to the tour it could it could be tough
But I mean is there anyone else who catches your ey Kim well I was about to say Fabi and marish Shan who marich is scheduled to play I might I think he might yeah go on a bit of a I would say a bit of a run but he might get a few
Wins under his belt he’s my prediction already Kim yeah that’s got caught my eye but let’s have a look at the second bit of the draw because Yanik sinner is residing in this bit so we would have potentially a yanx in a Novak jovic semifinal um yeah semi-final sorry I had
To do the math I was thinking hang on one plus two plus three plus four I know um and we do also have Andre rublev as the fifth seed in this section so potentially C rublev quarter Chris who are you looking at in this little section of the men’s draw well I mean
Diar is definitely a big big talking point this tournament it’s really tearing himself up um almost kind of in a way that there hasn’t been that sort of pressure on an Australian player playing in Australia for such a long time who has been um a male player obviously there’s always a lot of
Attention around kios and what he can do um but it just seems like there’s sort of like this um real expectation hype um around dear that this might be his time but it’s a tough first round um I think it’s a tough draw R potentially yeah
Them potentially ondi um Jarry is he had some good results I mean he was playing um in the united cup and they were able to Spring a few surprises here and there so it is a tough draw for dear and you have to think that the pressure could
Get to players we’ve seen that with Sam stoer in the past that when there is this expectation is so hard to put it together especially in such a sporting Nation like Australia where this will be Front Page News whatever happens um in the absence of kind of a a female story
Of quite the same level um it will be tricky tricky to see like how he’s is going to come through some of these clashes but will he live up to the weight of expectation Kim I think he will actually I think he’s going to come
Through I mean he’s in the top 10 now first time in his career so I guess he may be feeling that extra pressure but I think he’s just seemed to have stepped up a slight Notch of late and I I think I think he’s going to come through and
Play yanx Inner in the quarterfinal that that’s what I’m envisaging I think I well I think he might get the better of rublev he got a positive head to head against him he has having um lost their most recent encounter in Paris in three sets but he has actually
Won three of the last four that they played prior to that so it’s not a bad matchup for him Joel do you think yanika is going to come through this section easily I think so I mean we’ve not obviously seen much of him um you know
He didn’t play in the the first week of of editions exactly we’ve been talking more about him in that I mean what is your thoughts on that advert very very it’s very Italian but very Italian yeah I kind of love it but um you know the
Idea of kind of seeing sin and all those different looks is very different to how we normally see him on the court so I mean tricky I guess one player in you know in or around him is Karen katanov um who seems to always Peak whenever he
Plays uh in in grand slams and again another player who’s got good memories of playing at the you know the Australian Open but I still think with cner the momentum he’s on um I think we’re going to be ending up with potential yeah c c jovic coming through into the
Into the semi-finals I just can’t see him you flaking in in this in this part of the draw really I I agree I think that’s looking likely let’s look at the bottom half of the draw um the third quarter specifically where we’ve got Danel meev as the third seed now he’s
Been a two-time finalist here so he’s going to be hoping he can you know go one better and lift the trophy uh but we’ve also got hogar Runa in this section we’ve got recent Brisbane Champion grigor dimitrov as well uh and Hubbert herkes who you know almost won
The United cup for Poland um Joel who is catching your eye from the third quarter here well I think it’s actually hogar Runa at the at the top of the draw um you he had that great run um to the final in in Brisbane where he played dimitrov and I’m actually looking at
Both of those finalists to see you know how they do because um you know they’ve been playing so well and and dimitro is a player who carried on that momentum from the end of last year and yeah I think if you’re Daniel meddev yes you
Might have a few easy openers and a few easy settlers but I think it’d be a very fascinating contest if we did get to round four and we had a dimitrov meddev match up because um I just think dimitrov’s he’s on a new lease of Life
At the moment on the on the tennis court Chris do you think dimitrov’s getting there is he going to continue his his run of form it’s it’s a tricky one because we do get I do get excited about dimitro and I always think you know he’s
Going to be able to put it together in the slams and then it doesn’t quite happen that way and um everyone in the slams is really going to be playing some of their best tennis and he has kind of been known to make it a bit harder for
Himself but having said that he did win the last encounter in Paris that they had in a very tight three Setter um but apart from that it’s been pretty pretty dominated by medv so I am worried he has got fuvi in round one and I just see
Exit that’s just not a nice round one draw is it he’s a very experienced player at Grand Sams and he always I feel like he’s always like a a keen player who likes to upset upset the apple cart yeah and I mean it’s going to be interesting to see and we just have
To hope that kind of this is grigor 2.0 in the sense that he’s able to you know keep building on that and keep a level head in the big tournaments because I mean it’s one thing obviously getting to the final of a 250 and a final of a
1,000 but if you really want to push on and get back in the top 10 you’ve got to put it together um in the slams which is something he hasn’t necessarily done that much of lately um but in terms of hogga I was going to ask the question do
You think that people could trouble him on a path to a potential quarterfinal hi him uh only either herh or Poss make aash pick didn’t you at the end of last season you do like to predict a good result for him well i’ I’d like the best
For him I you know I quite like watching B few but her Kash and I feel like he deserves a really good solid um you know run at Aslam I know he did well at Wimbledon a few years back but I’d love to see him you know going deep um also
In this section of the draw Felix OJ Ali is up against Dominic team in the first round that caught my eye you know Felix is not doing well is he he’s I think Dominic team could win that one and you know perhaps get a few wins under his
Belt I mean that’s quite an open Match I think um obviously two two big names so one player uh Chris I wanted to throw your way uh was I’m probably going to say his surname wrong but ARA Fe ARA Fe um indeed he is in this he is in this uh
Quarter of the draw I mean you have had big hopes for him this season uh you know with this Australian Open draw that he’s been dealt do you feel like this could be a a coming out moment for him potentially on the Grand Slam stage yeah
I mean I really do think that there’s going to be some great results for him um he’s had a great start to the season he pushed kind of uh Andre rublev all the way in the quarterfinal in Hong Kong that was a very closely fought match he
Actually took a set 6-1 against Andre ruo which doesn’t happen that often um he doesn’t often go that much off the boil in matches he always normally stays quite competitive and he’s actually headed into the semi-finals um in ockland so he’s in some good form he’s
Got some good matches under his belt and I mean his ball striking I do think is so impressive he’s physically very strong I think he can go five sets and we’ve seen being at some um kind of big tournaments he has almost gone kind of five sets in multiple matches and got
His way through so I think physically he’s there and if it does become kind of a battle of um attrition I actually do think he’s probably more capable of going five sets than maybe hogar Runa um at this point because we have seen some injuries last season and I think the
Conditioning um of FEA not playing too much coming into this probably does let you I mean last season into this season does kind of let you prepare yourself a bit better someone who’s relentlessly tennising are either of you as sad as I am about the fact that Dennis shapovalov
Is unseeded which was he unseeded at Grand sa draws last season I don’t know I’m just seeing that and it feels it feels unfamiliar it feels unfamiliar and I don’t I don’t like it and you know the the the kind of talk around shaav valov
And and Felix oim it died a lot didn’t it last season or the momentum really stopped and they sort of gone backwards for different reasons um whether that’s injuries or or form or a mixture of the two and uh you know I think shaav valov in this draw and where
He is you know he’s opening up against a qualifier or lucky loser he I think comes into draw thinking I’ve got a point to prove here and with potentially Hubert her in the second round that might be you know that might be an opportunity for him he does seem to me
Kind of over time he’s someone who does need a lot of match practice because he does not always make the best decisions or play the sort of the percentage tennis at times he has returned for the first time since wien last week um where he actually lost very well very straightforward result
For ofner 64 62 so that’s not necessarily indicative of kind of a great result or great kind of um run here but yeah it is very strange I was going to say it’s also quite strange in the previous section seeing kind of Bor chich unseeded as well and there’s a lot
Of these sort of players who have kind of moved up and then they’ve kind of regressed a little bit um in that sort of mid mid 20s Mark so worry we’re going to get another Roman saulin Peak run to a quarterfinal of grand a semifinalist in Australia who does something really
Rogue well I think that in the fourth quarter we could have a surprise uh quarterfinalist um this final quarter of the draw does feature Carlos alarz it also features Sasha verev uh Casper Roode Tommy Paul got basically all the Brits apart from Andy Murray in here as
Well with Jack Draper Cameron Nori um and Dan Evans I was trying to think who the third Brit was for a minute all the Brits is that too sorry Dan um yeah this this this bit of the draw I mean Carlos alcarez I really don’t know what to
Expect from him am I right to be tentative about um him at the AO he didn’t play it last year he was out injured Joel what do you think of alcaras I mean it feels like we haven’t seen the best of him of late I think injuries have have hampered him and
That’s never never a great sign when you’re going into you know best of five set environment and you know looking at his draw I mean he’s got gase in the first round and I think that that’s a nice kind of loosener for him but the fact that he could have either Evans or
Sono in the second round and then maybe even Buck um in the third round who’s you know on some great form this week I think he’s into semi-finals in in Adelaide and he’s playing Jack Draper he’s not got an easy draw I don’t think to start off with and I think given you
Know what he’s been through over the last you know few months or so I definitely think he’s more vulnerable than than at other times you know he has been you know last last season where it felt like he was all conquering um you know going to semi-finals and finals I think yeah this
If there is a shock moment for a top seed I think there’s some certainly some vulnerability there he’s an unknown quantity isn’t he I would say and looking at the draw if you were him Tommy Paul as well I mean Tommy Paul had his number didn’t he in the the American
Hardcourt swing last season well exactly and hopefully kind of um they do get to well actually maybe not hopefully with so many Brits in that sort of section that we would hope that they maybe don’t necessarily beat but um that maybe he can get his revenge there but Tommy Paul
Not not been in fantastic form he did go down to Jack Draper in quite impressive star and that’s a name that I want to throw throw in here because could be a repeat it could be a repeat and I think it’s um it’s definitely showing that the
UTS Jack Draper we saw has definitely brought that form into 2024 and I was thinking if you’re a seed you really don’t want to see Jack drop’s name next to you and the seeds have managed to dodge him so at least they won’t be playing him in round one but he is high
On confidence having kind of had a great week um into the last four um on the ATB tour this week is there any concern over the fact that he is playing the tournament uh the immediate week before the Grand Slam and that he could have peaked you know too too early um in
Terms of you know going into this and it might be a bit I don’t know might be a bit too much or do we think he’s he he’s going to be able to kind of ride it through well would he rather be in the fight for his first ATP title or you
Know make a run at the AO at this stage of your career I don’t know maybe you’d go for the F the for the former actually but I mean if he does lose this semi-final one positive is that you know you can get to Melbourne quicker and
Prepare for your open like who didn’t really turn up against Alexandra I think she’ already booked her flight and needed to kind of check in for that yeah it can work both ways I Know Dan Evans in the past has spoken about you know he’s done really well I think the
Week prior to the AO titles and then it just ruined him for the AO so he you know spoke about managing his schedule better that’s why personally I would play in the tournament you know two weeks prior but not not immediately before but you know it’s such a young
Age and stage of your career that’s you’re learning aren’t you with with regards to the schedule and what you can tolerate so I think um you know I think it’s you know positive positive though he’s that he’s got off to such a good start of the season and who knows in a
Couple of slams time maybe he will be seated himself I mean you’d have to think it’s looking that way and a player who is currently still seated is Cam Nory um who hasn’t kind of had the the best run of form and he’s starting to pick up a little bit now and getting
Some some match practice in um he could potentially face uh Norwegian Casper Roode in the third round which is also quite interesting because they’re both players who have put together some really great results at slams previously and it’d be interesting to see who’s going to be the person who steps up from
That section because there’s a lot of players who would love to make the quarters and semi-finals here Z as well who who you know he had a great you know he’s had the great tournament at the United cup um a name maybe maybe quite unfancied at the moment but again I
Think in this quarter um yeah there are definitely opportunities there um to make inroads because of I think the vulnerability of the the top seed you know as I say kind of alcr and and the people he’s got to go through I think particularly people in that section
Around Zev they’ve got the opportunity to have a nice run potentially to fourth round quarterfinal and um you maybe some of the favorites are out by that point I also think zov is vulnerable though at slams you know he he gets embroiled in into long matches we’ve seen some quite
Ugly tennis from him at time so I think he’s still you give him this draw though I think on a plate I mean looking at it it’s a really nice draw I think for him to to kind of continue where he left to continue where he left off in uh the
United cup I think yeah there might be a surprise package in there who knows we’ll see can’t get complacent can’t get complacent H well no one can you know at their Peril um let’s make some predictions then for who we think’s reaching each quarter we’ll go quarter by quarter um so quarter one
That’s jovic’s quarter who are we predicting uh for for our quarterfinal matchups Joel jovic Fritz Chris jovic chillit oh chillit okay Haven evention him so far sorry sorry Fritz I was going to say Fritz that’s Rogue Joel I’ve gone for jovic sit pass I’ve gone a bit oh that’s even more Rogue
Come on he’s last year’s finalist why would I not uh he has good retired the facial expressions he was not giving ear we’re not dear BET’s going to win it now after all of this quarter two uh Chris I have gone for sinner and then ADM ADM Alex Deo
I’ve gone for exactly the same and Joel sin rublev okay I think I think rev rublev’s gonna do his classic get to a quarterfinal and and then check out always the brides made guess he’s not making your semi-final then Jo sorry yeah spoiler alert so quarter three Joel Runa
Meddev oh I’ve gone for exactly the same same we’ve all gone for that I think yeah same ah interesting okay and qu quarter four Joel I am completely aware I’ve bigged up Zev for the last five minutes I’ve actually gone alcaraz rude I also downplayed alcaraz as well I
Didn’t know where I’ve gone I don’t know where I’ve got this from but I’m going alarz versus rude uh Chris um I just had to double check that I did put this but I have gone for Rude versus Draper I think dra’s going to take out alcaraz well you know we have had
British uh British success here before with KL Edmund getting to the it’s time for a British semi-finalist again you know oh is that alluding to what you’re going for further down I’ve gone for um alarz versus Yi leka for this of course you have Kim what’s the thinking there Kim
Surprise package well I think yeah exactly I like M Che players to to Spring a surprise and I really early before they hit Peak he is due a sort of Slam breakthrough I think um okay I think so yeah that’s my the H is due a slam quarterfinal it’s
His time I’ve I’ve got to go for someone Rogue I think it’s just you know it’s got Seb C for you that you quite like I’m over him now so uh semifinal one Joel jovic S scab be yeah same for me Chris same I’ve gone for the same as
Well we’re unanimous on that and semi-final two Joel I’ve gone Runa alarz okay oh you’re a big Runa fan I think you might taken over from me as the number one R nor Chris predicts him I’ve gone for um medev against alcaras and I’ve G medev Draper because I
Wow okay and the final then Joel who’s your final and Champion I’ve gone I’ve gone jovic alarz and I’ve got to go no I’ve got to go no that jovic I’ve got to go noat jovic I know it’s boring I know it’s lame but I just hope it wouldn’t be a boring final
Though I just can’t I just can’t go against and the seeds and it’s Novak jovic winning the Australian Open Joel is also predicting now shont sabalenka we as well just skip to that but spoiler I went oh you want to go Kim oh well I’ve just I’ve gone for jovic medf so
I’ve gone a bit more you know what we had a few years back um I’ve been n a you finals here was alcaraz you know we don’t know what to expect from him down under so that’s me and and jovic to win of course Kim that is so boring I mean
Your your predictions they are so I I actually think that’s a very good prediction I think it’s solid but it’s not the one and two that they’re definitely not as boring as mine medv hasn’t had a final there for a couple of years you know that’s why I threw in Yi
Leka to counter balance the the standard final yeah guess you threw in Fritz making a quarterfinal so I guess that’s sort of Rojo but um I went for the upset of all upsets because I think I’ve gone the most Rogue with predic grand Sam Champion I didn’t do that because of
Kim’s rule if you predict the raer to win and he does it then you’ve jinxed it so it doesn’t happen it doesn’t happen so I went for sinner stating the upset of all upset against nov jovic in the semi-final really stepping in to kind of the Limelight there and against meddev
And I’ve gone for sin winning um first time Champion I said it to Ben uh when we spoke to him yesterday um he said only an idiot wouldn’t predict jovic and I told him I predicted cner and he said well you’re an idiot then Chris yes so I had to
Stick with it now well well well listeners what do you think uh do tell us all of your predictions on our social channels we’d love to know what you think think and but we’ll be taking a quick break now but do join us in the second half where we’ll be looking at
The women’s draw and also revealing our collector set player picks so do not go Anywhere welcome back to the tennis weekly podcast and now we’re going to move on to look at the women’s draw uh where we’ve got uh eish fantech at the top of the draw as the number one seed she’s not won this title she is um I
She’s not going to win it I can tell you that now it’s an absolute horror draw it is um a nightmare draw really um I mean she opens against the champion here from four years ago and then she could face another previous champion in the second
Round um Joel do you want to talk us through her her nightmare draw I mean shch Kenan Collins Kerber there’s only one player there who hasn’t reached an Australian Open final and it’s eion it’s not a very kind draw I think to open with and I’m almost glad she had all
That that practice at the United cup because um you know she’s going to need to be battle ready I think from from the first round it’s not going to be easy for her and I think what’s so hard is that with someone like sfia Kenan she I
Think has the capacity to have some really really good results but we’ve also seen that she has the capacity to have some really really bad results so it might it might be up it might be up to whether you know what what stuff Sophia Kenan steps out on the court but
I mean beyond that you potentially also have um you know I mean Nosa spit Alina in in round four as well it’s just a very tricky draw for someone um who is looking and probably is you know is the favorite wait so who’s going to win that
Joel then so Kenan against Coco go that was an a fantastic performance in terms of stepping up against a player who was much more in form um than she was at at the time she’s taken out sabalenka in the offseason and last season is this a sort of opportunity that Kenan relishes
In or would this be such a good opportunity if it wasn’t world number one eager Shon Tech I’m still backing Shon Tech but I think it’s going to be a battle I mean it’s great for round one I was at the Kenan golf match at Wimbledon
And it was just Kenan was just amazing and if she brings that level but I mean she’s a big game player isn’t she she is but font’s also be in fantastic form you know on this wind wi streak but then you know all wi streaks have to come you got
To hit her off the court though and does Kenan have the Firepower would be my question I mean that’s a previous Grand Slam final actually isn’t it that is a grand slam final from yeah uh the 2020 French Open which is yes that’s true I mean if Shion gets through those early
Rounds her possible qu to final opponent would be yena ostapenko who she has never managed to beat so if you know if it doesn’t get bad at the beginning gets far worse the further she goes along not Marquetta Von jufer Kim oh yeah maretta Von jufer on the seeding yes but or
Even having some good wins so far this year as aena two-time former Champion I mean it’s just peppered with with solid um players and and Grand Slam champions I mean even Marie Busa you know could spring a surprise there’s just no one really in this draw that um you know
There’s a whole host of top top names that could I think you know I think she has said this year she’s going to try something different she’s going to be more aggressive is what she said in in an oncore interview and I’m not sure that’s actually humanly possible but
Yeah I’m not sure what the margin for error would be like but she she’s really you know she’s putting it together she’ll be back in the top 10 um come Monday unless I think another player does make the final or win the title so she’s really put it back together having
Not been in the top 10 for a number of years now and high on confidence she’s swinging freely she did lose to Azarenka in Brisbane so that could be a really entertaining Clash but azarenka’s got a lot of points to defend last year’s semi-finalist um this kind of has that
Sort of bottom section of this draw has kind of a story written all over it that there will be someone who does something a bit magic in could that be Australia’s Isa tomanovich what about Emon Navaro I mean I was sort of reading um up on her the
Other day she her dad is some top um billionaire or or something um so I mean not that that’s relevant to this but I just you know through the draw can she buy the WTA is that possible well maybe her dad could yeah get involved help the prize money situation J’s
Dad but um yeah I was just you know she’s not one that I’ve seen an awful lot of yet she’s seeded here so perhaps this time for her to be a dark course U and come through the draw a bit but I mean it’s you know it’s very
Is so surprising for me because I think she’s a little bit of a Maya Sharif here because she’s kind of one of the the least known seeds out there because we’ve talked about her a little bit but I mean she’s only had 16 tall level main
Draw wins um and that is six wins this year so she’s kind of done it on the 125 tour and sort of the the lower level tours to get to this spot and you know she’s obviously put together some really consistent results and played a lot of
Weeks to get there and she played pretty consistently in the offseason um but I’d argue that’s probably quite a good seed to get really because it’s such Uncharted Territory for them playing as a seed and having not really played on the big stage that much yeah you can fly
Under the radar a bit can’t you but yeah it did surprise me that she seeded that’s why I sort of had to uh you know did a bit of research um but let’s look at the second bit of the draw because here we have got Elena reaka as the
Third seed also Jesse Pula as the fifth seed um they are the sort of two standout names so also got uh kazakina Jim Wen Jang um she often Springs a surprise taana Maria Stevens Chris’s favorite um but really my eye here was drawn to the reaka Pisha opener um Chris
What your thoughts on that what what can we expect from that one I think we’re going to expect some absolute bombs of serving in that I think that’s going to be maybe the ace record better watch out especially if that goes long um I mean
Reaka I think she did as I said I think she didn’t really commit to that match that she was playing having won the title in the first week of the season I think she she wanted to be in Melbourne we’ve seen some great things from plisk
As well um she played so well against Naomi but I mean the question is can she do that when it’s not someone who is you know playing very well has she is she able to back that up because she went out to sakova in a whimper 62 61 and you
Have to think you know what Poli is going to turn up and and I think Rebeca at her best and is basically aisk but better in this in this sense so I think reaka is going to be a player to watch out for and it’s not a great draw but at
The same time um Rebecca has been putting together some of the tennis against big hitters like sabalenka I mean that is scary good so I can’t see that being too much of a problem you would assume she would come through that especially if blish like
You said is having an off day which is you know frequent to do um Joel there are two notable Brits in this section of the draw KY Bolter and Emma ranu actually quite close together in the draw but they they do avoid I think potentially meeting I think until the
Third round but um what are your thoughts on both of their prospects I mean they’ve both got winnable I think first round ties um I mean it’s just great to be honest to see radak kanu’s name in the first round um of a grand slam main draw um I’m still a little bit
Nervous because she’s pulled out of of two exhibitions in the buildup but I was reading today that um you know she she she plans to step onto the court and um you know Shelby Rogers you know she’s had great moments in the past um you
Know on the Grand Slam stage and uh not play Wimbledon did Radu beat Rogers on the way to the US Open title absolutely destroyed her two one yes so ex I think that there’s you know there’s a nice um a nice story there exactly so I mean
Maybe Rogers will be out for for Revenge a little bit I think both of them will see that as a winnable tie but um I think for radak I’m just excited to see her back there and I think she’s landed in quite a nice part of the draw you
Know she could have cast afterwards and then I’d love to see her ranu Chim Wang third round because she’s another player I feel like we talk a lot about and uh again I’m sort of waiting whether you know for a moment whether she can go
Deeper at a grand slam but she also had that big win against Christa and Wimbledon on that Wimbledon fourth round run that was the biggest win that she had um well one of the biggest wins that she had as well as vusa on that very impressive and yeah I mean quen hasn’t
Kind of gone that deep in some of the slams yet so a lot of talk I think last season people thought that she would push on a bit more during the season and then she really had a great end to the season um she’s reunited um with the
Coach that she split with who actually was working with Coco go when she won the US Open so the team has been reunited and I think that that’s going to lead to a really solid season for her with her camp in order um having lost her coach um when facette back to nomia
Saka so it’s all been Cho and change and now hopefully she has sort of the the team and the backing that she needs to really make a deep run here because you know on a good day I mean she can do anything on a tennis court I mean what
Do you think about Jesse Pula because you know she’s in that Andrew rublev position of when’s it going to happen for me at a grand slam I’m so consistent on the tour but it it’s not quite happened yet with this draw that she has is the Australian Open 2024 her her time
To to push on I mean it could be yes and no I mean ironically she’s the fifth seed I think so is riev but I do think you know I yes it could be rebeccaa Pula quarterfinal but I think you know if rebeccaa brings it she’s winning that so
I still think there’s a ceiling for Pula that I’m not see she’s going to surpass this tournament necessarily she’s playing better prove me wrong though all Ive me WR she improved from um the United cup where I think she was quite frustrated with her form at times um and
Now she’s into I believe the semi-finals over in Adelaide so that is positive for her that she’s putting the form together um but I mean it’s a pretty good draw for her you have to admit I mean if head the fourth round it probably couldn’t be
A better draw before you meet a player that’s really dangerous because the 29th seed is that’s a pretty favorable draw we haven’t talked about kakina or Stevens here um they’ve Fallen a part of the draw which could give them the chance to play again for back that would
Be in the fourth round um but there’s a few openings you know in the middle of this section where I think we might see some a little bit surprising making a fourth round appearance we’ll see let’s look at the third quarter now uh where we do have
Koko US Open Champion um we’ve also got the return of Naomi Asaka who opens against Caroline Garcia um Caroline wasi as well former Champion uh as a world card here over against Magda Lynette um and Maria sakur who I think you know just hasn’t really been on the radar for
A while now uh still the eighth seed of course um so be a Miss to kind of Overlook her Chris what are you thinking um for this quarter who who’s catching your eye here well I mean it has to be that Garcia Asaka Clash we did talk
About that earlier um Garcia this season is she’s probably got about one and a half good sets in her it would seem um where she just plays Incredible tennis but it’s not not always that way I mean against um AA Peno she had a Fant that
Was a fantastic match and adelade uh did you did you see on Instagram she like retweeted the stats and said how did I lose this match yeah I mean you have to ask the question because I mean people have been hitting such well there have been so many match we’ve seen the winner
Counts so High um and so I think that’s going to be one where maybe the fact that karolan Garcia spent so much time playing matches at the United cup and obviously playing eager on te she knows that she has the level whereas Nomis Saka is obviously a little bit more
Unknown in what she can do on the tennis court and in those clutch moments she had a lot of break points against plisk she actually played better tennis in that match but didn’t win it so this might be a little bit too early in the Asaka comeback and Garcia might be a
Little bit too much um to handle initially is what my thinking might be but I’m also looking at Players like Lea Fernandez who started to put something together Billy Jin King cup at the end of last year um her and Coco golf playing would be something that I think
Would be really nice for a third round Clash if you had a ticket for that I think you’d really enjoy it and I have to pass over to you here Joel because goat net she’s there Magda goet the last year’s surprise package ranked number well seeded number 20 here I mean
No one is talking about her no one is talking about her but I mean are you about to I’m going to but I I actually think there’s another player who’s a surprise package around her that I think we should be talking more about um Rez
Tomo no it’s not s it’s Linda ver uh another a cck teenager who I’ve got my eye on cuz I think she’s been she had a very she’s she’s been racking up the match wins you know on the ITF circuit you know last season and um I think
There’s potential here for an upset in the first round against against haded me I personally would not be surprised um but we shall see truly nuts that you’ve both gone for some crazy checked predictions both of you because i’ say I think honestly if there’s going to be
One what makes you think that this is the upset you’re going to go with Joel I think it’s like it’s something telling is in your gut it’s I there’s just a there’s a thing there’s a thing inside me that thinks there’s going to be a Breakout by you know um a teenager here
We’ve you know we’ve seen that you know we’ve seen that before and I think that fra has the talent and I think she has the the confidence and the belief to cause top top players problems and I think she’s going to cause admire problems and I think again this is a
Nice part of the draw to be in so um I’ve I’m yeah I’m looking out for fette for vua I don’t really know what to expect from from sakur um you know at the very top of the draw I think this is quite an open section to who potentially
Could meet someone like Coco go I think in the in the quarterfinals I I do love sorry but I do love your optimism though because you did only get two games at the US Open against Danielle Collins um so maybe that’s kind of she got out uh
The problems there and she’s going to step up to the season it’s a new season but I mean the sakur sakur Merton Mertens has been playing very well at the start of the Season no um she’s no longer a double spe specialist is she Joel no she might be a singles a single
Specialist um given the fact that her and shayy way didn’t get off to the the best start at the start of this year but um I mean who’s going to who’s who’s coming through this for you Joel do you think out of not who’s coming through
But who think we might see play each other in the fourth or fourth round H I think for I say I’m I’m I’ve got my arm kind of I’m really pushing forver um I just think it’s very very it could be anyone I think he might think she’s NOS
That’s my big Theory I did look see where Nosa was but she’s in that Linda complex yeah Linda Linda’s going to make it I don’t think I honestly don’t think it really matters cuz I think in this quarter Coco goof she’s playing the best tennis I think of anyone in in this in
This quarter and yeah Leila Fernandez could pose a few problems I think she seems to have rediscovered a form over the last you know few months or so but um I think Coco Goff is she she is ready and I think she believes and I think she
Can go very very deep in this competition well let’s take a look at the final quarter of the draw which does have uh onore uh and defending Champion Arena sabalenka um looking at sabala’s draw here I think she’s got a very very reasonable draw um Chris what do you
Think about the prospect of saena defending her title or at least making it through to the L sages without harm I mean I I haven’t said that she’s going to get particularly far and I’m starting to think why have I said that I’m looking at the draw trying to figure it
Out but um she’s playing well she obviously had a very a very bad loss in that final quite humbling loss against probably kind of the perfect tennis of reaka of that day so I think she she does need a good draw here just to kind
Of get herself um back on track and kind of write the ship um there’s a few sort of tricky players in here but Sam Sono and veic are both out of form serenko has not been playing particularly well so it’s probably the easiest draw she could have asked for an B again someone
Who hasn’t been playing much on the tennis court um and I think it it’s hers it’s hers not to make but I have my eye on a few a few players here I think we could get a good run from G OFA if she’s able to kind of ReDiscover some of that
Form that she’s been missing um but we do have some Brits who I think um could do well a Brit that I think could have a a good a good run given the fact that she has got um tomara cor patch in the first round that’s Jodie barage um she’s
Here by right not through qualifying and you know Kika as I’ve said she could ReDiscover some form but if she doesn’t um I think that section is actually quite nice for her to maybe win a win a match at a grand slam potentially you know head to a third round so that could
Be interesting how is Kika still the ninth seed um she won Dubai last year which was a 1,000 yeah that was a long time ago though isn’t it it is I mean I want to just I want to throw out a couple of unseeded players in this
Quarter we’ve got merera Andria who a lot of a lot of people are talking about as a very good Prospect um I mean Matt futan from the athletic reckons he she’s going to get to a grand s final this season um that’s how think highly
Regarded she is um but also paa BSA is in the draw as well she’s got Taylor townend in the first round she’s back um after what is it back was it back injuries issues with her back is yeah she had a lot of back injuries last time
She played she won around at Wimbledon and then she pulled out and then she started back this season had a good sort of thre set contest but um I mean when when she was playing her best she was really good do you think BSA can go on a
Similar trajectory that Spina sort of went on you know coming back to the tour and and you know impressing people in terms of the form that she brought back so quickly or or where do you see kind of this BSA return going she was a very
Solid top 20 um who got that standout result in Indian Wales um and that result did stay a bit longer than I think because of the rankings and the time that that was out of season I think Indian Wales um I think she kind of sort
Of shot up the rankings at that point and then she had some solid results but never really kind of made the break through due to the the injury issues so it’s a bit different from Spina where she was kind of very much at the top of
Her game and then the war broke out with Ukraine I think that caused her you know a lot of um very difficult sort of mental um issues to deal with with that going on at home and she took the time out um and then she’s come back having
Had maternity leave within kind of very sort of extreme um focus and desire and determination um partly because of becoming a mother but also she feels like she’s playing for her country whereas you got to feel that b is just trying to not let the haters be right
Here in terms of saying that she’s not going to do something again and um there’s that expectation that she has to kind of get back up to there rather than kind of do sort of a team which she could be a bit of a risk to and start
Kind of dropping down the rankings and not getting spots in Slam so she’s at a Crossroads and I think it would be great to see her regularly on the tour but as we talked about it’s what her body would allow her for yes and I mean and is Sova
Also um unseeded here you know we know previously she’s had some excellent performances at slams and Sam son as well 13th seed perhaps not one to uh underestimate I did once predict her to win Wimbledon though so um perhaps the best the less said about that the better
Still waiting um so let’s make some predictions for our quarter finals onwards uh let’s go quarter by quarter again quarter one Chris I’m coming to you first who have you got well I’ve actually this is my rogus predic I think I’ve gone for Spina oreno I think Spina
Might get the better of sh on Tech once again wow well I have still stuck with my prediction that I made on Monday uh which is Shon I’ve got her up against osta Peno Joel Shon costeno as well and second quarter I’ve gone for Rebeca versus uh Quinn W Jen actually as
Perhaps perhaps a bit of a surprise quarterfinalist perhaps not uh Chris who have you got I’ve done the same oh okay love it when we’re sort of likeminded uh Joel Rebeca jpeg Jessie jpeg you believe in the jpeg uh quarter three Joel start us
Off on this one here we go this is when I feel everyone’s going to be like what what did Joel just say Coco goof versus Linda for verver there I said it come on Lind SM when this actually happens amazing well I’ve gone for Caroline wasaki against Coco go uh and they did
Play at the US Open come on that’s even more ludicrous than that’s even more ludicrous than Linda f didn’t they play in the fourth round the four of the last grand slam and wasak is a former Champion so we’ll see uh Chris I mean I’m looking at this and I I
Did kind of look at this today and F this in but I’m not really reson with my predictions at all at this point I’ve gone for sakur and gof and I’m a bit surprised by that but I’m I’m going to say sakur so we’ve all gone for golf but the
Others uh differ and then the final quarter Joel who have you got uh I’m going merera Anda versus Arena sabalenka I have gone for exactly the same as you there and Chris alexandraa versus pav jenova I think Pav’s come back and she’s playing some great tennis so you’re not
You’re not going for sabalenka at all so semi lineup uh Joel what who are your semi-finalists I’ve got ostapenko reaka goth sabalenka so you’re going for ostapenko to beat Shon there um Chris who have you got I’ve gone for Spina reaker and then I’ve on for go pav Chen righty her
Wellen in the Australian Open 24 semi-finals she did make that final yeah exactly okay Shion versus Jen and then gof sabalenka so I think Coco goof is the only one that we are still predicting uh across the board and okay final and Champion Chris Spina go with
Spina the champion the Oakland fin final has was the preview of the Australian Open final ah well who knows perhaps so and Joel you’re not convinced K like ah no Rebeca goth and I’m going Coco go as my Australian Open Champion two slams in a row for gol that’s kind of interesting
Yeah I can see that but I’ve gone for shant sabalenka with Shion to win but I just I don’t know my heart I believe that really but I thought I’m going to go for paper and you know just she’s got to win it one day hasn’t she surely so why not in 2024
Um sticking with my prediction from the other other day yeah to good not to there we go um so that does bring us to a close for the draw previews we do have one final thing to reveal which is our collect a set player picks for this
Rendition of collector set uh for those of you listeners who have not played it before uh essentially it’s our little prediction challenge uh where we give you six players and you have to tell us what round you think they will get to or you know if they’re going to win the the
Whole shebang um the prize is a very special tennis weekly prize uh which will be sent to you after if you uh are the lucky winner so um drum roll please I think we are going to reveal Australian Open 202 that’s very cryptic Kim isn’t it well the prize I was trying
To keep the prize you know exciting and secret but Joel you’ve just said said it’s a mug but yes it is a mug but it’s a very special mug isn’t it it’s it’s beautiful uh yeah tennis weekly mug for our winner and as Kim said we’ve got six
Picks uh I’m going to let Kim and Chris you can do the honors in unveiling who the players are Kim do you want to do you want to do the I’ll do the drum roll and you reveal the three the three male picks so drum roll o the collector set male picks
Are grigor dimitrov Jack Draper Alex De Manor it’s a good bunch of uh male names there I think get get some uh get your thinking caps onal and the female picks are we have Naomi Asaka Emma ranu and Elina spit Alina so a few uh Brits in there and a few returning
Players uh home hope as well and some with recent form so do tell us what round you think they’re all going to get to um or if you think they’re going to be Champion or if you’re going to think if you think they’re going to get to the
Final make sure you specify whether they’re winning and the champion or whether they’re just the runner up um please do let us know before the start of play on Sunday I need to get rid of the slam spoon of shames as well I believe I think I still have them I
Think I had them the whole of last season actually if I’m honest they just stayed with me I think my dad won the last um round of collector set so um yeah that sounds like it’s nepotistic is not he genuinely did win yeah but we’ll be revealing our
Um collect stud on the next uh rendition of the podcast um but yes that’s your six pick so get get predicting get them into us on social media before play starts on Sunday it’s a Sunday start this year so don’t forget yes we will be revealing our collector set play play er
Pick predictions next week get them in before play starts on Sunday we’re going to wrap up our draw preview episode here remember there’s still time to donate to the tennis weekly crowd fund the link is in the description and also vote for us in the sports podcast Awards which also
Can be done in the description as well but in the meantime listeners I hope you’ve enjoyed our latest episode of the tennis weekly podcast remember to subscribe to us to say up up to date on all the action from Melbourne park over the next couple of weeks we are on Apple
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Can follow us on social media or email the show we’re on Facebook Instagram Twitter Tik Tok and YouTube @ tennis weekly pod is the handle you can purchase tennis weekly merch at this at the link etsy.com shoptennis wigly podcast you can email the show tennis wigly pod gmail.com or check out our
Website tennis weekly. co.uk and we will be back on Tuesday at tennis weekly HQ for our round one Australian Open catchup so I hope you can join us for that but in the meantime it’s goodbye from Kim goodbye it’s goodbye from Chris goodbye and it’s goodbye from me we’ll see you again soon Yeah
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