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Summary

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Transcript

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[Jon Stewart]

Jon Stewart is back at the Daily show, and he's bringing his signature wit and insight straight to your ears with the Daily Show Ears Edition podcast. Dive into John's unique take on the biggest topics in politics, entertainment, sports, and more. Joined by the sharp voices of the show's correspondents and contributors, and with extended interviews and exclusive weekly headline roundups, we this podcast gives you content you won't find anywhere else. Ready to laugh and stay informed? Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Tomer Cohen]

I'm Tomer Cohen, LinkedIn's chief product officer. If you're just as curious as I.

[Andrea Petkovic]

Am about the way things are built.

[Tomer Cohen]

Then tune in to my podcast, Building One. I speak with some of the best product builders out there.

[Erica]

I've always been inspired by frustration. It came back to my own, so.

[Tomer Cohen]

We had to go out to farmers and convince them. Following that curiosity is a superpower. You have to be obsessed with the human condition. Listen to Building One on the iHeartRadio app, Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Mila]

The OGs of uncensored motherhood are back and badder than ever. I'm Erica. And I'm Mila, and we're the hosts of the Good Moms Bad Choices Podcast, brought to you by the Black Effect Podcast Network every Wednesday. Yeah, we're moms, but not your mommy. Historically, men talk too much and women have questions. Quietly listen. And all that stops here. If you like witty women, then this is your try. Listen to the Good Moms Bad Choices podcast every Wednesday on the Black Effect podcast network, the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you go to find your podcast.

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[Tomer Cohen]

Okay. Hi, everybody. Welcome to the Renee Slopes Tennis Podcast. We are bringing you live, literally live and in person here with my great friend, Andrea Pekovic. Hi, mate.

[Andrea Petkovic]

Hi. Nice to see you. We are on floor four of the players.

[Tomer Cohen]

Yeah, don't whisper, though.

[Andrea Petkovic]

I don't want to bother people who are trying to eat. Actually, I wanted to say the players restaurant, but it's kind of players restaurants here at the Australian Open.

[Tomer Cohen]

We're on the top floor. We are sitting rather close to the Spanish contingent who was sitting over there. So if you hear the names and the voices in the background, that is who it is. But yeah, anyway, let's get into it. So we started Sunday, had a lot of rain, and so we. A lot of matches were canceled. But give me your first thoughts on just overall the start of the tournament.

[Andrea Petkovic]

Okay, so let's start with the two matches I did and then maybe the ones you did. So I did ankatodoni, the qualifier, 20 years old, against Chinwen Zhang. It was a fantastic first set. I mean, considering in the second week we will see better matches. But considering it's the first round of. Of a grand slam tournament, I thought it was really good tennis. Anka Todoni is playing well. I think she can do really well this year. She had kind of a meteoric rise through the challenges last year and qualified here, qualified in Brisbane. So she's been doing really well, has won six. How old is she already? 20 years old.

[Tomer Cohen]

Okay, so, you know, it's funny when you think, OK, huge, huge, huge opportunity there, right, at 21, 20 years of age. And then you think Coco Goth's 20 years of age as well.

[Andrea Petkovic]

Yeah, that's crazy. Okay. But this, she's like an alien. You can. Yes.

[Tomer Cohen]

An alien.

[Andrea Petkovic]

Well, like from another world. I always say that about player. Like immortals, you know, who do things that normal people can. They're from another world sent to this earth to pleasure us with their tennis.

[Tomer Cohen]

Yes, indeed. And she went.

[Andrea Petkovic]

I thought she looked. Actually, she looked fully in control. She was 5, 3, 5, 4. Serving for the match.

[Tomer Cohen]

40 love. Yeah, but she was down three set points in the first set.

[Andrea Petkovic]

Well, that's the thing. She was serving for the set. 5, 4, 40, love. And then got a little bit tight, just pulled back. And I have to give credit to Todoni because she could have Just as easy. Gotten an unforced errors, and Todoni just didn't miss. She just went for her shots. Chinwen's speed of ground strokes dropped a little, didn't make it first serves, and all of a sudden it was five, six. And the other girl had 1540 to set points. And I will say, man, Chinwen is good under pressure. Yeah, she is good under pressure.

[Tomer Cohen]

Do you think that she's getting better or do you think she's always been.

[Andrea Petkovic]

Like, no, I think she's getting better. I think she's always. She was always good in sort of hiding her emotions. I think a lot is going on underneath, but she's good in hiding it. But I think the hiding of it is transferring into what she's actually feeling because she couldn't find a first serve for a couple of games. 15, 40. Boom. Through first serves.

[Tomer Cohen]

Yeah.

[Andrea Petkovic]

And then in the tie break, the same made all first serves. And then it's so easy because her first serve is so good. And then once she found her rhythm, and it has to be said, this was her first match of the season, she up. She pulled out of United cup, didn't play since the WTA Finals. So she's had quite a break compared to other players. And I thought she did well in the first set and then very well in the second set.

[Tomer Cohen]

Yeah. So Sabalenka last night was. How would you describe that? Did you watch the match? Because I thought it was a little patchy. I didn't think it was. Like I said in the coverage with Patrick McEnroe and Mary Jo Fernandez, I said, I don't think she'll be ultra happy about this, the way she played. And then Mary Jo said, no, I think she'll be happy that she's gotten through. And, you know, it wasn't an easy, you know, name matchup. She's playing against Sloane Stevens, and, you know, it's, It's. It's tough to see Sloane not playing well because, you know, we know what she's capable of doing, but you can see just the lack of confidence in her. That's nine matches in a row that she's lost in the first round. And I don't know how many matches you've lost in a row, but it.

[Andrea Petkovic]

Starts to 5, 4.

[Tomer Cohen]

Yeah. Mentally, it starts to really hurt you. And I think that loss at the US Open when she was up a set in three, love Sloane, and then ended up losing that first round against devastated her. I can't even remember. It was just so unbelievable that she ended up Losing, but, but to see Sloane, you know, pull. Pulling off a shots, not committing to them. Yeah, and it was just a shit draw, let's face it. I mean, the one person you really didn't want to play in the first round was probably Sabalenka, just because she comes in with so much confidence after winning Queensland in Brisbane. So anyway, I thought she. She did. She played well enough, Sabalenka. But I think that she'll be happy to get through the first round, but I think she'll be looking to improve on a few things like just very scratchy. There's certain shots that she shouldn't be scratchy on. Be one thing like if she was, you know, Chinwin coming in, not having a lot of matches at all this year, she's had a lot of matches. So look, she got through the match and I think as we all know, first rounds are a nightmare. They're very nerve wracking. And so she got through them and.

[Andrea Petkovic]

Well, just to, just to underline what you just said, I think that really broke her because it was against Clara Burel and she was not only upset and 3, 0, she was up 603 0. So she was up 9 0.

[Tomer Cohen]

Yeah.

[Andrea Petkovic]

And then lost the match 75 in the third. So that'll do it. Honestly, I just watched the match until 40 in the first set and I thought Sabalenka looked like she had never.

[Tomer Cohen]

I thought at three love it was going to be love and love.

[Andrea Petkovic]

Yes, she was so.

[Tomer Cohen]

And then she went. That's the point. That's what I'm talking about.

[Andrea Petkovic]

The patchiness.

[Tomer Cohen]

She just went off for like all of a sudden like two or three games. It was just horrendous tennis from her. So those are the things that I feel like if she's going to win the tournament, which she's the favorite to do, she needs to cut down on those errors when there was really no pressure on her. You know what I mean?

[Andrea Petkovic]

One question I wanted to ask you because I did see that Sloan almost played only slices on the backhand or a lot of slices. And she doesn't usually do that now, granted, I haven't seen her since the US Open. Do you think there was a tactical choice by them or do you think she's just trying to hit more slices?

[Tomer Cohen]

I think it was a combination. She was a little bit, you know her, she. Her footwork wasn't great to it and so she's kind of a little bit not, I wouldn't say lazy. She's a bit late to it, but also tact. It's a good tactic against Sabalenka. You don't really want to give her pace, she's going to kill you. So I think it was a choice of hers to hit the slice and try and mix it up. And in the end it got elicited a lot of errors. But look, overall Sabalanka is still the player to beat for sure.

[Andrea Petkovic]

Yeah, nice. So what the match I did was the Paula Badosa match against. Oh yeah, Wang Jinyu there was a fantastic.

[Tomer Cohen]

I did that match as well.

[Andrea Petkovic]

Yeah, that was really. You had to probably leave at one point.

[Tomer Cohen]

I was leaving. I left after the first set in a bit and Wong was like very successful coming into the net.

[Andrea Petkovic]

Oh my God. And it was so funny because I met Goran, he's her. She has a Serbian coach who's moved to China five years ago and has been working with her and I've met him an hour before the match and I asked him what did you guys work on? And he said to me, well, she's a really good doubles players because she won the Olen Garros. Exactly. In doubles. So we want her to come to the net more often. And I mentioned it in the broadcast and then she came to the the net 17 times and won 16 points and guess what?

[Tomer Cohen]

She didn't win match point.

[Andrea Petkovic]

Yeah, that was, that was really sad that she rushed that one a little bit. But it was funny cuz I worked on plenty of things in off seasons and they didn't work so well right off the bat coming into the first Grand Slam of the year. So that was really impressive. But I thought she played, man, she had stretches of play where she looked like the best player in the world. It was incredible. And Badosa, I felt she played a really good conservative match. She didn't go for too much, she had big targets, moved well, really extended the rallies long and nicely when she needed to and won all the important points. So I think for her for a first round this was a very solid, good performance. I think she can definitely play more aggressive in the future, but it wasn't easy because as we just mentioned, Wang came out firing on all cylinders. That was a tough first round for Paula, I thought.

[Tomer Cohen]

Yeah, yeah, it was good. It was a good match for her because also Wang was one of the players just outside of being seated. So that was one of the toughest first rounds I want to get into. Let's talk about a couple of matches from today and then looks, look at the big picture of the tournament because we Are going to, you know.

[Andrea Petkovic]

So you did Coco.

[Tomer Cohen]

So I did Coco today. Did you happen to see any of the match?

[Andrea Petkovic]

No, I was doing another match at the same.

[Tomer Cohen]

So I think it's a match that Coco, look, you know, she did admit after the match, because I did interview her after the match for ESPN and she said, look, I was very, very nervous. It's a matchup that's not been good for her. She's lost out of the three times they've played, she's lost to Sophia Kennan twice.

[Andrea Petkovic]

And both are now on Grand Slam.

[Tomer Cohen]

Level and both at Grand Slam level and once here in the quarterfinals when Sophia Kennan won the tournament. Clearly, Coco Gauff is a much better player than she was back then and older and more mature and stronger. I think she was 16, but, I mean, that's pretty young, but, you know, outrageously young, let's put it that way. But, you know, you could tell that she was a little nervous. A bunch of double faults today. I think seven or eight at least. A lot of it had to do with the sun from that end of the court.

[Andrea Petkovic]

You made such a great point earlier when we just talked briefly before we started recording. She has only played indoors since she has that change. Both Wuhan and Beijing have. They don't have the full cover.

[Tomer Cohen]

And Perth.

[Andrea Petkovic]

Yes. And Sydney, they are completely covered even. But both Beijing and Wuhan have like this half kind of thing where you feel protected from the wind. They always played at night. They tend to play at night, so you don't have the sun. And then, of course, the WTA finals, which you won, was completely indoors. So that was a really. And you think that's the difference, the conditions and the weather coming into play?

[Tomer Cohen]

Yeah. Well, what I said at the start of the match today was the one thing I'm interested in seeing from Coco is how the serve is going to handle the pressure outdoors. Because she hasn't played outdoors. She hasn't had a lot of conditions to deal with sun and wind. And we saw what happened today. There was a seven or eight double faults. A lot of it came down the end with the sun. I get it. But if you have a. If you have a mechanically sound serve, you will find a way to throw the ball, toss up anyway to get it in the court. And she had a struggle with that today. So that's a little concerning. Will she play?

[Andrea Petkovic]

Sorry, I don't know these words. Mechanically sound, sir.

[Tomer Cohen]

Yeah.

[Andrea Petkovic]

Can you explain more in depth? I don't know what these words mean.

[Tomer Cohen]

Next to each other, it Would have been nice, right?

[Capital One]

As a founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports, Capital One wants to help you hear more about today's top female athletes, learn more about your favorite teams, and keep more money in your wallet. With no fees or minimums on checking accounts and no overdraft fees. Just ask the Capital One bank guy. It's pretty much all he talks about in a good way. Capital One what's in your wallet? Terms apply. See capital1.combank for details. Capital One NA member FDIC Jon Stewart.

[Jon Stewart]

Is back at the Daily show, and he's bringing his signature wit and insight straight to your ears with the Daily Show Ears Edition podcast. Dive into John's unique take on the biggest topics in politics, entertainment, sports, and more. Joined by the sharp voices of the show's correspondents and contributors, and with extended interviews and exclusive weekly headline roundups, this podcast gives you content you won't find anywhere else. Ready to laugh and stay informed, listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Tomer Cohen]

But, you know, mechanically sound serve, meaning, like, my, my look, I'm not comparing myself to Coco. She's a greater tennis player than I could ever be, but I had a mechanically sound serve. So if the serve, if the sun was in my eyes, I could throw the ball toss all the way to the right and still hit it in because I could just hit a slider serve, you know, and so you have to be able to, you know, Serena was famous of throwing that ball toss, like, randomly here at the Australian Open and just getting it in the court. Right.

[Andrea Petkovic]

She did it to me that one time.

[Tomer Cohen]

Yeah.

[Andrea Petkovic]

Every time I thought, oh, she's serving a slice. She won tea. When she threw it for a kid kick, she went slice. That was so tough to read.

[Tomer Cohen]

Yeah. And I mean, so mechanically sound is important when you're nervous and when you're dealing with surroundings like sun and wind and various things. So she struggled with it.

[Andrea Petkovic]

I just want to say, David Ferrer, the Spanish contagion that you mentioned, they are sitting here and drinking beer. And I appreciate that so much. It's 5pm it's 5pm somewhere.

[Tomer Cohen]

Yeah. And listen, 5pm 5pm in Australia is like, is like midnight. Okay. All right. So let's just get that straight. I'm happy for this, this Spanish contingent. Clearly their players won, I hope, and they're.

[Andrea Petkovic]

They're celebrating, still about to play.

[Tomer Cohen]

That is true.

[Andrea Petkovic]

That is drunk.

[Tomer Cohen]

Yes. Well, good for them. So that's a little bit of a concern. The forehand was okay. It wasn't great, but it was okay. I thought Sophia Cannon played a tactic tactically, which is unusual for her because she's pretty good tactically. I thought she played a tactical poor match today. I thought she didn't go after the forehand enough and she had a lot of opportunities. But Coco got through it, admitted that she was nervous, and this court is quick, so going further in the tournament. But interestingly enough, Coco said that she gets less nervous as the tournament goes on.

[Andrea Petkovic]

I had the same thing. I mean, again, I think most players do, but I always try to explain this to people. When journalists would ask you before a quarters, before a semis, aren't you. Aren't you so nervous now that you're playing semis? And I was like, I'm in the semis. I know I'm playing well. You know, I won like five matches. Of course I'm playing well. It's much worse in the first round. You haven't played in the conditions. Anything can happen.

[Tomer Cohen]

No one wants to lose in the.

[Andrea Petkovic]

First round, especially on Sundays now that they have the Sunday start. The worst thing that can happen to you is lose at 11am on a Sunday. The tournament hasn't even started and you're already on the plane back, especially from Europe, because the planes leave at midnight. So you're like, already, like waving from across the ocean to the players that haven't even. So that's a terrible feeling to have. And. And I agree. But you could also tell with her last year here, she was scratchy at times in the first week and then played a really great match against Arena Sabalenka in the semi finals. And she's going. And that's what the top players do, right? They get better with. With the tournament when it progresses.

[Tomer Cohen]

Yeah, I think it's hard for people to understand that because they think, well, the first round should be easier because you're playing a better. Like a lesser player.

[Andrea Petkovic]

Yeah.

[Tomer Cohen]

But it's not because you feel comfortable now.

[Andrea Petkovic]

You.

[Tomer Cohen]

You've prepared for these big matches. I was the same way. First round, you're shitting yourself. Quarterfinal, semifinals. You're like, let's go. Yes. So. So it was good to hear that from her. So I did say to her, and I find I'm gonna see what you thought about this. But I said, leading into this match, for the last three or four days, when you knew the schedule, you knew who you were playing in the first round, did you focus on playing against Kenan or did you focus on what you were doing? And for the tournament. And she said for the tournament in the last day I focused on what I was going to do in my match against Sophia. Prior to that I only thought about what I needed to do to get through the tournament. So I thought that was a really interesting way of thinking and also a little bit of a look into her mind that she's that confident. So anyway, that was, that was, I thought a great good start. In the end it could have been better just the way she played. But having lost to Kenan and the fact that Kenan, what a shitty draw for her. My God.

[Andrea Petkovic]

Yeah. And to be fair, the last time she lost to Kenan she went on an absolute tear afterwards cuz she lost in Wimbledon and then won basically every tournament that ever happened.

[Tomer Cohen]

So maybe it's not a good thing. No, I'm just kidding.

[Andrea Petkovic]

Well, Laura Robson said something funny. I say, she said because it was about the Anka Todoni and Chen Wen Zhang match. She said, when you play these, when you're a qualifier, you come as a lower ranked player into these tournaments and you play a hide seed, there will always be somebody in the locker room telling you, well it's good that you get them now better than to get them in the fourth round.

[Tomer Cohen]

Totally. Well actually I have said that to somebody this week, a young player from Australia who's playing one of the best players in the world. I said, well it's you better to get them in the first round. And it is true and there will.

[Andrea Petkovic]

Always be somebody who will tell to you, oh, a qualifier, that's tough. They have already won play three matches. It's just those tennis stereotypes that every time you play somebody like this you will hear in the locker room at least once.

[Tomer Cohen]

Yeah, exactly. We just, I just interviewed Francis Tiafo after his battle. Five set match was incredible. My God, five sets, puking on the court, hitting underarm serves. I mean it was the most Francis Tiafo match I've seen in a long time. But he got through it and he said, you know, look, I know I'm getting to the, the second part of my career. And so he said if I'd been in a Reddit, I think he's, I'm not sure, we'll have you look it up but, but he understands that look, his, his end rate maybe is mid-30s, 36. And so he is technically getting to the second part of his career. Right. He's probably like 26 or 27.

[Andrea Petkovic]

26.

[Tomer Cohen]

So he said I would have defaulted to that match today if it wasn't a grand Slam. And so that's how much he fought through. He was cramping. He was having side cramps. He was, like, tanking return games to conserve energy for his service games. And actually, fact, he tanked the last game, and he started hitting winners all over the place. Ended up winning the game. No. Which was important because he would have had to serve into the wind, uphill, which you're probably thinking. What do you mean, uphill? There's a slight little. A little tilt. Tilt on the courts here at the Australian Open. The tilt down to the river. It's very minor, but when you're out there, you feel it. And he would have been serving uphill into the wind. And let me tell you something, that would have been hard for him.

[Andrea Petkovic]

Well. And I don't know if you've ever cramped. I cramped.

[Tomer Cohen]

I have cramped indoors in Stuttgart playing doubles. How embarrassing.

[Andrea Petkovic]

That is weird. We will just glaze over it as if it never happened.

[Tomer Cohen]

I'm glad it did, though, because now I know what it feels like.

[Andrea Petkovic]

Yeah. Well, I will say I crammed once, and then I retired three months later because I was like, I'm out of here. I'm not fit anymore. And it is really hard on those quick, explosive motions, which, for Francis is the serve. So that would have been hard to serve out.

[Tomer Cohen]

It was not easy. It was painful. He was. And he was puking, so he's clearly lost a condition. He's like, you know, that's gonna make the cramp. Did he.

[Andrea Petkovic]

Jack Draper puke?

[Tomer Cohen]

He jacked. Draper puked all over. He was. Yeah.

[Andrea Petkovic]

And.

[Tomer Cohen]

But he did it strategically. Really smart thing. He puked right near the baseline, so they had to take forever to clean it up. So I think the people that clean that stuff up need to get a raise, just frankly. And the dude that did it, even.

[Andrea Petkovic]

We ran into his girlfriend. Even his girlfriend was like, the poor girl to clean it up.

[Tomer Cohen]

Yeah, well, there was a girl that cleaned up, and there was a guy. There was like. He was puking all over the place. But anyway, it was a great effort from him. And let's see how he handles that, because he's got a couple of days off now to recover, which he needs, and we'll see how getting through a match like that can help him go further. Another player that we just saw win was Jannik Sinner. Certainly looks unbelievable. That was an incredibly tough draw against Jerry. Jerry was one of the next. Tell me one thing.

[Andrea Petkovic]

The top seeds on the women's side have gotten incredibly tough draws.

[Tomer Cohen]

Yep.

[Andrea Petkovic]

On paper. But then Also like in match arena, Sabalenka, former US Open champion Sloan Stevens, Coco G, former Australian Open champion Sophia Kennen and IGA Swiontech got Katarina Sinakova, who is also a Grand Slam champion. Maybe not singles, but she's won nine Grand Slams, she's a gold medalist in the Olympics and she's a good singles player. She's a former top 30 now.

[Tomer Cohen]

And they all got through them.

[Andrea Petkovic]

They all got through them and in straight sets. But, and then Yannick Sinner with Nicholas Jari who is just outside of the seating position. And so man, today is packed with.

[Tomer Cohen]

The schedule that we've got going on. Of course, Novak Djokovic is later on tonight, 7pm see 10 time champion coming out on the court. What do you think his chances are into the draw? Let's talk a little bit about the overall now that you know the schedule now, the end of the draw and who's up the top, down the bottom, all the things. Who, what's your overall thought process with the men and the women?

[Andrea Petkovic]

So my overall thought process is that the, in both parts, the lower half is a lot weaker, but not in terms of the seeded players because there is a Djokovic and there is a Alcaraz and there is a Zverev on the men's side and there is a Sciontek and a Rybakina on the women's side. But in terms of, you know, the floaters that you don't want to have, they are somehow all in the top half. Just as an example, Nori and Berettini are playing each other in the first round as unseated players. All these kind of players are kind of in the top half. Nicolas Jari playing Jannik Sinna in the first round. So I feel like in that regard I think the people in the top half will have a lot harder time to get to the second week, you know. But then once you are in the second week, it's a loaded, it's a loaded jaw for Alexander Zverev. You will just rejoice that Taylor Fritz is away from him in the pop off. I think there was a prayer circle and multiple candles lit.

[Tomer Cohen]

Only player I don't want to see.

[Andrea Petkovic]

Exactly. And then, I mean this is, this is tough. So quarterfinals for Novak would be Carlos Al Alaras and then Z is in the bottom.

[Tomer Cohen]

It's a quarters. They're playing each other in the quarters.

[Andrea Petkovic]

They would play, yeah, if they get through, they would play each other.

[Tomer Cohen]

That's a nightmare. I, I, I thought that I Hadn't looked at the draw again, I wasn't 100% sure, but that's a freaking nightmare.

[Andrea Petkovic]

Yeah. I mean, that's has a third round Mahaj, which is not easy. Thomas Ma, he was playing incredible at United cup, but he had also an incredible meltdown. If you haven't seen that, please Google it because it was a beautiful.

[Tomer Cohen]

It was amazing. It was all things happening.

[Andrea Petkovic]

Yeah.

[Tomer Cohen]

Speaking of Mahaj, who now has to play Riley Opelka, actually. Oh, my God. So what about Riley getting through last night?

[Andrea Petkovic]

Maybe. Maybe I'll take back the. The top half is more loaded with these floaters, Cuz Mahaj and Opela and Novak. That's tough.

[Tomer Cohen]

That's. That's rough. I did see Riley. He's, you know, still kind of having struggles with the back a little bit, so we'll see how he recovers because he finished very late last night in cool conditions. Did see him today. He was taking a day off. He was going to do anything because I don't believe he. He has to play.

[Andrea Petkovic]

I think he has two days. Yeah.

[Tomer Cohen]

Yeah. So look, you know, with that serve, he can beat anyone as long as he's healthy.

[Andrea Petkovic]

So I'm not supposed to get hot. So that would help him be super.

[Tomer Cohen]

Hot this week here in Melbourne. I mean, it's hot.

[Andrea Petkovic]

Yeah.

[Tomer Cohen]

I mean, for people there in Europe right now to New York, this is bloody hot. Yeah, but it's not. It's not what it could be. Yeah, maybe.

[Andrea Petkovic]

Let's just talk quickly about iga because I called her match right now. As I said, she played Sinakova so tough first round and senior covered stretches of play where she hit as she can. Winners all over played so well. And what I really liked about IGA was she kind of. And that Wimfert talked about this during United Cup. We had the chance to chat to him a few times and he said he wants her to panic less when these big hitters come around and sort of just give a little shape on the ball, stay in the rally and wait for these stretches of play of the big hitters to subside. And she did well today. There was one moment where Katarina had three games where she hit seven winners like incredible. Where IGA was on the verge of panicking, but she riled it back in and she did so well. That was something that for me, as an IGA fan, for all IGA fans, was very encouraging. She reversed back to something she did when she had her best seasons. She would put a bit more shape on the forehand and trajectory to give herself more time. And whereas last year, sometimes she would get into this hidden hitting fits with these big hitters.

[Tomer Cohen]

Yeah.

[Andrea Petkovic]

That she couldn't out hit.

[Tomer Cohen]

Yeah.

[Andrea Petkovic]

And she, especially on a fast court.

[Tomer Cohen]

Now she can out hit a player on a clay court because she had to change direction.

[Andrea Petkovic]

Yes, yes.

[Tomer Cohen]

But not enough.

[Andrea Petkovic]

But that was so smart of her.

[Tomer Cohen]

Who's going on the court? This is what you people were going to hear in our women's Petra Martic, Christiane.

[Andrea Petkovic]

Okay, nice match. Why don't we go see it?

[Erica]

Come on, come on.

[Andrea Petkovic]

Come on, come.

[Erica]

On.

[Tomer Cohen]

Come on, come on.

[Andrea Petkovic]

And so, so I thought she did super well there. And what was also another very encouraging sign, she played her best tennis in the most important moments.

[Tomer Cohen]

Yeah.

[Andrea Petkovic]

And we had moments last year where it wasn't always the case. On the quick surfaces, to be fair, on the slow surfaces, she's the eager that we've always seen. She has shortened the forehead swing. She's kind of, if you remember, she would go up with the racket face and then drop it down before she.

[Capital One]

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[Jon Stewart]

Catch Jon Stewart back in action on the Daily show and in your ears with the Daily Show Ears Edition podcast. From his hilarious satirical takes on today's politics and entertainment to the unique voices of correspondents and contributors, it's your perfect companion to stay on top of what's happening now. Plus, you'll get special content just for podcast listeners, like in depth interviews and a roundup of the week's top headlines. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Katherine Legge]

Hey, you guys, I'm Katherine Leg. I'm a racing driver who's literally driven everything with four wheels across the planet. And I've got a new podcast. It's called Throttle Therapy. This season, I'm gearing up to make history, competing in some of the world's most notorious racing events, starting at the Indy 500. Join me as I travel from racetrack to racetrack. In my quest to continue a memorable career in racing, I'm also going to bring you inside stories with legends of sports, new faces from the next generation of auto racing, and conversations with the people who've supported me throughout my career. We'll be getting into everything from karting to nascar, even Formula one. Whether you dream about being a pro athlete or an astronaut, we're talking about what it takes to make it. Listen to Throttle Therapy with Katherine Legge, an iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You can find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

Presented by Elf Beauty, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports. I'm Dr. Laurie Santos and to welcome the new year, my podcast the Happiness Lab is releasing a series of happiness how to guides to help you in 2025. I'll distill the wisdom of world class experts into easy to digest actionable tips.

[Tomer Cohen]

It's about never feeling good enough. I feel like I'm always failing.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

You'll learn how to handle relationships, how to be inspiring, and how to find your purpose.

[Andrea Petkovic]

We make it this big pie in the sky thing and then of course.

[Tomer Cohen]

We'Re all frustrated because no one knows how to get there.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

Struggling with tough emotions. We have a How to guide. Worried that you're not enough? We got you self obsessed and want to get over yourself. There's a guide for that too.

[Andrea Petkovic]

The ability to approach somebody and make.

[Tomer Cohen]

Them experience desire for you in minutes.

[Erica]

Or even hours is a rare and rather unnecessary skill.

[Tomer Cohen]

Historically Speaking.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

The Happiness Lab's How to season starts January 1st. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.

[Erica]

Happy holidays from me, Michael Rappaport and my gift to you is a free subscription to the I Am Rappaport Stereo podcast where I discuss entertainment, sports, politics and anything and everything that catches my attention. I am here to call it as I see it and there's a whole lot of things catching my eyes these days. Here's a clip from one of my favorite episodes. You are not a real fighter. You will never be discussed anywhere in boxing history.

[Tomer Cohen]

Ever.

[Erica]

Fake Paul the movie is the Apprentice and the movie is about young Donald Trump and his apprentice Roy Cohen. Real character, obviously both real characters. It kind of has a scar face vibe to it, which I thought was very interesting. Listen to the I Am Rapaport Stereo podcast on the iHeartRadio app Apple podcast and wherever you get your podcast hits it.

[Andrea Petkovic]

Now she's trying to do the quick rotation. So basically just turning her shoulders sometimes, it's still a little bit of a. Well, I wish that was the only time anyone has ever compared my forehand to Ikea.

[Tomer Cohen]

You're welcome. Well, no one's going to be comparing my forehand to anyone's. Particularly the world's best. One of the best players in the world.

[Andrea Petkovic]

Well, and they worked on the surf. It's a bit more fluid. But Wims did say at United cup that it's a stepping stone, basically that this is a stepping stone to even more fluidity in the future, hopefully. And she's Getting on average 179, 180.

[Tomer Cohen]

K's yeah, she's probably the first serve. I'm not concerned about the first server, I'm concerned about the second serve. I'm concerned about the fact that the second serve is. Isn't as lethal as it could be and she doesn't get enough kick on it, the ball toss. So I'm going to keep my eye on that. Sort of similar to how I feel about Coco. Because, you know, as the old timers used to say, you're only as good as your second serve. And nowadays, guess what? That is true. Because if you have a shit second serve in men's and women's tennis, you are going to get crushed. They are going to crush that second ball. And unless you're an incredible mover, you can maybe get away with it. But still, even if you're a Coco golfer and eat of Shantek, if you don't hit your serve well, these girls are going to step up and crush the second serve. So that is something that we're going to have to keep an eye on because on this court it's fast, Australia's fast and it's hot and the conditions play quick. And that's why Sabalenka plays well here. It's why Rina has done well here and made the finals. So. And even Chinwin goes for the serve. You know, her second serve has a bit more pop on it sometimes than even Igas. They're pretty similar in a lot of ways. But.

[Andrea Petkovic]

But it's funny because the. So I talked to a few, I did the Week zero, as we call it here. I did a few of the charity matches just like interviewing the players. And it's so funny, you interview five players and they will tell you five different opinions on the swiftness of the court. And I, the first person I spoke to was Alex Diminor and he was like, this is the Slowest Rod Laver arena has ever been. And I'm like walking around telling everybody how slow it is. And then I speak to Yannick Sinner and Stefanos Tizipas and both of them go, oh, my God, it's so fast. We didn't have a. We didn't have a single rally. We couldn't get over two shots per rally.

[Tomer Cohen]

Well, that's interesting.

[Andrea Petkovic]

So it's. And then another person said, I can't remember. Oh, Carlitos. He said that it's medium fast. It's like everything goes. But you can basically ask four players and you will get four different opinions.

[Tomer Cohen]

I think this surface looks medium. Medium to fast. Yeah, it doesn't. It's not medium. It's not. It's not. Definitely not medium slow. So I guess we'll see who gets through to the second week. We'll have a pretty idea, Pretty good idea who's more comfortable on this court. But, you know, overall, I think sits losing. Oh, yeah, that to Mickelson. There's something going on.

[Andrea Petkovic]

You have to. He has to.

[Tomer Cohen]

I mean, how long before the dad's back in the picture?

[Andrea Petkovic]

I think I'm giving it one month.

[Tomer Cohen]

Well, one month. So you think Indian Wells is going to be back there? I think Indian Wells see Puppet Smurf back in there, back in the players box. That'll be interesting. But he is obviously struggling, but, you know, look, we are off to a great start. Here it is. The weather is beautiful today. It was crap yesterday. Petco and I are working our asses off. We're going running back and forth with everyone.

[Andrea Petkovic]

What do you have?

[Tomer Cohen]

Tremendous amount of American seconds in the main draw here. I think it was like 36 or something. 33, yeah. Men and women, they have like 33 players in the main draw. That is a phenomenal effort.

[Andrea Petkovic]

We don't even have 33 players in general tennis.

[Tomer Cohen]

I mean, same with Australia. I mean, that's impressive. Yeah, very impressive numbers. I have Danielle Collins and calling her later on tonight because the Danimal is back for another year. So we'll see what happens. I don't know. I haven't looked at the schedule.

[Andrea Petkovic]

Well, great preparation again.

[Tomer Cohen]

Hey, listen, this is how people say, how do you prep for matches? I don't. Well, we can tell. No, but who do you have tonight?

[Andrea Petkovic]

I have Carlos Alvaras.

[Tomer Cohen]

Are you interested? Interested to see how Carlos plays.

[Andrea Petkovic]

So I've done the charity matches with him and it was really interesting. I spoke to Juan Carlos Ferreiro, who I was really scared to talk to. He smells fantastic by the way. I nearly fainted when I had to like kind of awkwardly squat gets the.

[Tomer Cohen]

Best smelling team for me. Okay, well husband and coach smell great.

[Andrea Petkovic]

And I was interviewing him and I was just like awkwardly leaning into getting closer and closer, get a sniff of his scent. He's just had surgery on his right knee as a. His cartilage repaired and he told me it was really interesting. They worked on Carlos's concentration and consistency in the off season and he said that he just, he's so young and he's emotionally young. He didn't say it with these words, but he basically said he's such a young person still that his thoughts just wander off. And that's something they worked on. And I wanted to ask how would you work on something like this? But I only was allowed two questions and Carlos has changed to serve. So I wanted to ask about the surface as well. So I had to pick and so I asked him about the surf and he said well they also similar as to iga, he felt like Carlos service motion was a bit disjointed. So they also also worked on the fluidity. You can see it right away. It looks very beautiful actually. And he said that he felt that Carlos's speed on serve is okay, it's enough because he has a lot of different servers, but that the consistency is lacking and that's what they been working on. So this is all. This is not me, this is Juan Carlos Ferreiros. Great smelling guy. Knee operated words from me, from my mouth to your ear.

[Tomer Cohen]

Well, I will say I think that the one thing that hurts him, and I may have even discussed it with you on the pod is that he doesn't hit his spots well enough in on serve. And there were a period of time the last few years where he did hit it really well. I, I think that is one area that he needs to improve on, which is why he doesn't win on hard court like a sinner does. Because Jannik gets so many free points with his accuracy on serve and his power on serve. Whereas I think Carlos doesn't have the power like Jannik. Clearly he's like 5 inches shorter than him. So that makes a big difference. And sinner can get that snap and that accuracy getting the corners. But I think that's an area that he needs to work on. So if he can. So we'll take a look at like as we call it, Bolt six. Is this new? It's taken over from Hawkeye. I'm going to be interested to See where Carlos is serving stats. Look as far as where he's actually pinpointing the serve last year and this year.

[Andrea Petkovic]

Yeah.

[Tomer Cohen]

Because if he's hitting his spots better this year, he will have more success on hard court. He can get away with it on clay because the service is as important. And on grass, I think he gets more confident on grass and he just moves better. And oh, Lucas Klein, Sep quarter. Seb Korder, who had a great week last week in Adelaide. Yeah, so. And, and so did Maddie Keys. I just want to give a shout out to those guys. Maddie Keys. I did speak to Jessica Pagula. I said wow, man, Maddie played great. And you know what she said? I've never seen her play better tennis in my life. It was like I could do nothing and shout out to Jess who made the final.

[Andrea Petkovic]

But Maddie, that's what getting married will do to you.

[Tomer Cohen]

Hey, listen, if she recommend 10, 10 recommend she can find consistency. And we all know that no one hits the ball bigger than Maddie Keys. No one. She can hit it in. Good luck everybody.

[Andrea Petkovic]

I'm just always apprehensive about.

[Tomer Cohen]

Well, yeah, because big matches she gets a little anxious.

[Andrea Petkovic]

No, not about that. I'm always apprehensive when they win the match. The tournament before. It feels like it happened only once. That the person who won the tournament before ended up winning the Grand Slam after, which was Barbora Kritykova who won Strasbourg and then won the French Open. I don't think I can't remember anybody ever winning the tournament right before in Australia.

[Tomer Cohen]

We've had it happen in the past. It used to be the tournament in Sydney. Like a Lena Kim Kleisters. They would win Sydney and I don't know what she is.

[Andrea Petkovic]

Sure.

[Tomer Cohen]

I don't know what she is. They won Sydney and then they came down and won Melbourne.

[Andrea Petkovic]

But I cannot remember.

[Tomer Cohen]

We'll look it up. But listen, our faith listeners will look that up on Google.

[Andrea Petkovic]

Oh, maybe another little insight because I also got there was this charity week was great to speak because they have this new coaches box on the court. So the coaches sit closer. And so they had this new initiative to bring them also closer into the media space. So I had the chance to speak to them and I also spoke to Darren, which was really interesting.

[Tomer Cohen]

Cahill.

[Andrea Petkovic]

Cahill. Exactly. Jannik sinners coach. And it was really interesting because I was. I didn't know what to expect. Whether they will actually open up or try and keep some secrets. And Darren was really open as well and said that they basically worked on making Jannik more, make Janik have more variety. They continued on his net play for him to finish points more often at the net and they also continued on his serve to have more accuracy and more variety and serve. They are very happy with how the speed has progressed and now they want him to be able to basically serve his spots and different kind of slices.

[Tomer Cohen]

And spins as well and change the pace on it a little bit. Yeah, and listen, variety and overall as well, probably trying to develop the forehand drop shot a little bit more because you know when you hit the ball that big and hard, everyone starts moving backwards. So like Carlos, if you can hit that drop shot, it's certainly effective. All right, guys, well, we're getting ready for getting. It's getting louder, it's getting crazier. We love it here in Australia. Got great matches tonight. There's literally Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic and Nick Kyrgios. We'll see what happens with Nick Kyrgios here.

[Andrea Petkovic]

What is your.

[Tomer Cohen]

He's playing on the people's court. John Kane Arena.

[Andrea Petkovic]

What is your guess? So I spoke to, I spoke to somebody who told me that Nick actually prefers the tougher draws in the first round.

[Tomer Cohen]

Did you know that he has an excuse if he loses? Probably.

[Andrea Petkovic]

Oh, you think so?

[Tomer Cohen]

Yeah, probably.

[Andrea Petkovic]

Okay. Yeah, I, it was just surprise cuz I don't know exactly who told me but they were like, you know, he's always waiting for the draw and hoping to get one of the top seats in the first round.

[Tomer Cohen]

Yeah, well, we'll see how he turns out tonight. But we've got some great matches that.

[Andrea Petkovic]

You believe that story or you don't?

[Tomer Cohen]

I. I believe it, but probably for different reasons of why.

[Andrea Petkovic]

Okay.

[Tomer Cohen]

You know, but, but hey, listen, who knows? I don't know. I'm not in next head and I'm grateful for that, that's for sure. Anyway, all right, guys, well listen, it's a quick one and we are happy to bring it to you live here. Background noise from the Australian Open. Beautiful day. Thanks for listening to us and thanks for staying up late in the US and watching us on ESPN and throughout the world. Listening to Petco on the world feed and we'll talk to you soon by.

[Erica]

Come on, come on.

[Andrea Petkovic]

Come on, come.

[Erica]

On.

[Tomer Cohen]

Come on, come on.

[Mila]

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[Jon Stewart]

Jon Stewart is back at the Daily show, and he's bringing his signature wit and insight straight to your ears with the Daily Show Ears Edition podcast. Dive into John's unique take on the biggest topics in politics, entertainment, sports, and more. Joined by the sharp voices of the show's correspondence and contributors, and with extended interviews and exclusive weekly headline roundups, this podcast gives you content you won't find anywhere else. Ready to laugh and stay informed? Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Mila]

The OGs of uncensored motherhood are back and badder than ever. I'm Erica. And I'm Mila, and we're the hosts of the Good Bad Choices Podcast brought to you by the Black Effect Podcast Network every Wednesday. Yeah, we're moms, but not your mommy. Historically, men talk too much and women have quietly listened. And all that stops here. If you like witty women, then this is your try. Listen to the Good Moms Bad Choices Podcast every Wednesday on the Black Effect podcast network, the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you go to find your podcast.

[Tomer Cohen]

I'm Tomer Cohen, LinkedIn's chief product officer. If you're just as curious as I.

[Andrea Petkovic]

Am about the way things are built.

[Tomer Cohen]

Then tune in to Podcast Building One. I speak with some of the best product builders out there.

[Erica]

I've always been inspired by frustration. It came back to my own personal.

[Tomer Cohen]

Pain point, so we had to go out to farmers and convince them. Following that, curiosity is a superpower. You have to be obsessed with the human condition. Listen to Building One on the iHeartRadio app, Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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