Doubles Only Tennis Podcast

Storm Hunter Interview: Recovery, Lefty Strategy, & Aussie Wildlife

• Will Boucek • Episode 185

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Storm Hunter is one of the best doubles players on the WTA tour over the last several seasons. She's a Wimbledon finalist (2023), world #1, and US Open mixed doubles champion (2022).

Unfortunately, the 2024 season was cut short for Storm as she suffered a torn Achilles in April. I spoke with her from Australia in June as she continues rehab. We discussed her timeline for recovery and her success on the court over the past few seasons.

Here are a few topics we cover.

  • When does she expect to return to pro tennis?
  • How has she been able to succeed with a variety of doubles partners who have different game styles? Caroline Dolehide, Elise Mertens, Katerina Siniakova...
  • Why Storm started playing tennis right-handed.
  • What does she do differently in mixed vs women's doubles?
  • Strategy advice for lefty's and righty's who are playing with a lefty.
  • Which of her Aussie teammates would do best in a fight with their scary wildlife? 🤣

You'll get some great insights into life on the pro tour, Storm's childhood, and tons of doubles strategy in this episode. We hope to see Storm back soon!

See the shownotes for this episode here: https://www.thetennistribe.com/storm-hunter-interview/


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Injury & Recovery

Speaker 1

Storm Hunter is an Australian tennis player who is one of the best doubles players in the world. Last year, in 2023, she reached world number one. She made the finals at Wimbledon. She also has a mixed doubles title at the US Open back in 2022 with John Piers, another Australian tennis player, and earlier this year, unfortunately, storm suffered a Achilles injury that is keeping her out for the rest of 2024. So I caught up with Storm from Australia, where she is going through some rehab and recovering, and we talk a little bit about that, as well as her timeline and when we can expect to see her back on the tennis court. She also shares her tennis story.

Speaker 1

Growing up in Australia, she wasn't the most talented tennis player and then, according to her Wikipedia page, her coach said something clicked for her. She actually started out playing right-handed because she was embarrassed about playing lefty or being the only lefty on the court, which was kind of a funny story as well. And then from there, we talk about adjusting to different doubles partners. So she's played with a lot of different partners over the years, including Caroline Doleheid, elise Mertens, and this year she was playing with Katarina Siniakova before she got hurt, and they were definitely one of the top two or three teams on the WTA tour this year. So we talk about some of the adjustments she's had to make playing with these players, who each have different game styles.

Speaker 1

We also talked about being a left-handed doubles player, so she shares advice for lefties, advice for right-handed players playing with a lefty for the first time, and then she answers several of your questions as well. Some of you submitted questions through Twitter and Instagram and I ask her those questions, including some favorite footwork drills, favorite non-major tennis tournament and how her fellow Australian teammates, dasha Saville and Ellen Perez, would fare against their nation's scary wildlife, which was a really funny answer. So this is a really great episode where you're going to get to know Storm and then you're also going to get some strategic advice and some insights into what her rehab is like and her time for recovery, as well as just life on tour in general. So, without further delay, enjoy this fun, long conversation with Storm Hunter. Further delay, enjoy this fun, long conversation with Storm Hunter. Hey, everyone, welcome to the show. Today we have Storm.

Speaker 2

Hunter on Storm. Welcome, hey, Will. Thanks for having me. I'm super excited to be on.

Speaker 1

Yeah, I'm excited to have you on. It's been a while. I think we chatted last at the WTA finals last year a little bit, and yeah, a lot's happened since then, obviously. So I wanted to start with just let people know how you're doing, how the recovery is going, what's the timeline, when can we see you playing tennis again?

Speaker 2

Yeah, so I'm currently nine weeks since I had surgery. So, yeah, 10 weeks ago at the Billie Jean King Cup, I was practicing and our last practice I ran for a drop shot. Actually, I was getting ready to play singles the next day and, yeah, went to run for a drop shot, heard a very loud noise, thought someone had, like, thrown a ball at me, and then I was on the ground and kind of looked around and realized that, yeah, I was on the ground and kind of looked around and realized that, yeah, it was, it was my Achilles, and kind of knew straight away what that meant. So, um, you know, then we got scans and obviously confirmed that, so I was able to have surgery within a week of rupturing it, um, and it was a full rupture, um, off the bone. So I did it as well as I could, um, but yeah, I'm nine weeks post-op.

Speaker 2

I would say I'm about a week or two ahead of schedule. I'm just coming out of the moon boot now. So I had to wear a moon boot, um, and put very limited weight through my foot, um, for, yeah, the last nine weeks. But now I'm able to actually start walking in shoes, start to actually strengthen my tendon now, which is which is really really good. So it's a slow process, kind of the timeline's about. They're saying about 12 months, um, so we're kind of aiming for clay season next year at the moment, but I'm definitely definitely going to try and push to get yeah back as soon as possible.

Speaker 1

But obviously it's it's up to the body how I heal and, um, kind of taking it every day as it comes right now yeah, yeah, I know a few people who have ruptured their achilles and I actually saw one on a tennis court last year or two years ago maybe, and the person is running to the net and they like look back behind them because they said it felt like somebody like kind of threw something or hit them on the back of the calf yeah, that was exactly the feeling.

Speaker 2

And um, I watched the footage back because they were recording our practice session so and saying, like I thought we were practicing on pat ralph arena in brisbane, so a big stadium court, and there were quite a few like fans in the crowd and like some people kind of watching. So in my head in that moment when I heard this sound and fell to the ground, I was thinking why would someone throw a ball at me, like on the court? I was thinking behind me, like why would someone do that? Like we're getting ready to practice, and then even in the video you can see me kind of look around as I'm falling to the ground and realize that there's no one there and um, kind of, yeah, that kind of meant that I had I knew I'd heard stories, same thing that people had done that and heard that sound and um, yeah, it was on the ground and kind of said straight away, like my Achilles, like it's done. So, um, yeah, it was very typical Achilles rupture, I would say.

Speaker 1

Yeah, I've also heard that um. I don't know if this is true, but I think I heard it. I listened to this like podcast um by this doctor and he has on all these like orthopedic surgeons and dieticians and just different health people and I think I remember them saying that a full rupture is actually better than a partial rupture, because then you can just totally replace it, whereas a partial rupture is like really hard to get back that strength. Is that true or is that what they've told you?

Speaker 2

Yeah, that's what I've been told as well, because if it's kind of a partial rupture, they have to be really careful with how they kind of repair it and put it back together.

Speaker 2

And even the recovery could take longer because you've got to like make sure that the tendon is kind of fully healed, because the chance of re-rupture is probably a little bit higher, whereas mine, as a full rupture, it's basically like there's nothing left, you know nothing kind of together, and also it came off the bone so my surgeon was able to reattach it to the bone and um, basically now they're saying it's super, super strong, like it's not going anywhere.

Tennis Player's Late Blooming Journey

Speaker 2

So if anything like you're going to be better off, um, when you've kind of gotten back to the strengthening part of it and the conditioning, once you get back to tennis, like it's going to be way stronger, like you'll have absolutely shouldn't have any fear about um it happening again. So now it's that's good. It gives me that confidence that once I get through this kind of phase of like doing the strengthening part and you know, even now it's super tight, I don't have full range of motion yet so once that kind of comes back, um, yeah, I should, hopefully I should be flying yeah, yeah, that's really good to hear.

Speaker 1

That's encouraging, for sure. Um. So I want to get to some strategy stuff, but first, uh, tell people your your tennis story. How did you get started in tennis? Um, to kind of where you are now yeah.

Speaker 2

So I started playing tennis when I was six years old. Um, I'm from a country town in Australia called Rockhampton, so kind of in the middle of nowhere in Queensland, and as a kid, me and my brother I have a younger brother we kind of just played like a lot of different sports and the Australian Open was on and I was watching it with my brother and my parents and I said to mom, dad, I was like, oh, I want to play tennis. Like can you just enroll me in tennis? So you know, they didn't. They played a little bit socially, but just because we played so many sports, like they just enrolled me and my brother and from that moment I absolutely loved it. They couldn't get me off the court and it's a funny story.

Speaker 2

I actually started playing tennis right-handed because in the lesson I didn't see any other left-handed players. Like all the kids were right-handed players and I was a lefty, like I wrote left-handed, threw a ball left-handed, but I didn't see anyone else as a left-handed tennis player. So I would just put, yeah, the racket in my right hand. And you know, I didn't. I didn't want to stand out, I just wanted to kind of fit in, I didn't want to get out. I just wanted to kind of fit in, I didn't want to get teased and you know all the drills for like right-handed players, so doing forehands, like I didn't want to be doing backhands. So you know, my mum was always like Storm, like you have to play left-handed, like you're left-handed, and kept trying to tell my coach and I would just lie about it. I said no, no, I'm right-handed. And eventually I decided, you know, to start playing with my natural hand.

Speaker 1

But yeah, how long did that take? How?

Speaker 2

long before you just gave up on the right-handed. I think it was a couple months. Like I wasn't too worried, like I was young. I was just playing because I love this kind of feeling of this new sport and like I didn't think it really mattered, to be honest, like I had no idea. But my mom, you probably be better with your left hand because you do everything else left hand. So, like, why are you not playing left-handed?

Speaker 2

so it wasn't until we yeah, like I think we enrolled in like some private lessons with my coach, away from like the kids, and that's when I, yeah, started playing left-handed and he was like, oh, you're a lot better than we thought you were, because obviously, yeah, it was a bit easier for me. But yeah, then we moved across to the other side of Australia to WA. My parents, yeah, changed jobs and from like six to 12, I was just playing like local comps. I was never, I wouldn't say like any good. I was probably the fourth or fifth best player in my state and didn't really. I just played like the local club, local comps. We didn't really travel or anything and I was lucky that my coach at the local club, his son, was a junior Australian Open champion, brydon Klein. So I had someone who had kind of started to go into that system of being a professional tennis player and they kind of said like, oh, we think your daughter's really good and she loves it and I wanted to be a professional tennis player. So they, yeah, kind of spoke to the state coach and let me come up to like a camp to kind of do some like talent ID and from there I kind of just got put into like the Tennis Australia kind of program.

Speaker 2

And yeah, I would say it wasn't until I was 16 or 17 that I started to show like real promise or like any kind of talent. Um. And yeah, I was like just training at home. I was still at school. I didn't play really that many ITF junior events. I kind of played like the Australian Open and the junior trial game tournament, but that was kind of it. My parents couldn't afford to send me away on trips, um.

Speaker 2

And then at 16 actually, nicole Pratt was the head of the women's tennis at the time. She was in WA for the Hotman Cup at the time and just saw me practicing on my own with one of the boys and she was like, who is this kid like? She's, she's great, she's working really hard on her own, she's trying to, like you know, do everything right, but she has no guidance. And, um, basically she pushed for me to get a scholarship to train with with the AIS program. Um moved me to Melbourne and that was kind of the start of my, I guess, transition to being a professional player was. She took me under her wing. They covered, yeah, all my um, yeah, my expenses and she became my coach and we started playing like the last year of junior ITFs and, um, I started to, yeah, kind of with that consistency of having a coach and kind of that guidance, like I started to show some kind of promise and then, um, yeah, that's kind of sorry, that's a bit of a well-written story.

Speaker 2

but um, yeah, I would just say like it definitely was a late bloomer, like I didn't really show that much until, yeah, later years and then through, I guess like wanting to do it and just having the right people around me definitely helped, and with my career now like even becoming world number one, doubles, not until I was 29 years old and even having the success the last five years on tour. It's all been kind of like later, but yeah, that's just kind of been my story. I would say.

Balancing Singles and Doubles in Tennis

Speaker 1

Yeah, yeah, it's always interesting to hear, because there's like so many different paths, right, that people take, and yeah, it's fascinating to hear you know, for you you're more of like a late bloomer, and then some players are like super good when they're juniors and maybe their pro career doesn't pan out as well. It's always different. So one thing I was reading and I don't know if this is true or not because it was on Wikipedia, so you'll have to correct me if it's not. Your coach, I guess when you were a junior junior, said she wasn't the most talented until something clicked. Was that that you just switched the racket to your left hand? Or is that something else? Or is this not true at all?

Speaker 2

Uh, no, I would say, like, I, definitely I like. I know a hundred percent I wasn't the most talented and that's why I like, why I wasn't playing any big events, playing teams events or representing Australia at a young age, and I think for me I was just, I loved playing tennis and that's been my whole thing, this whole my whole journey of tennis is like as a kid I knew that was all I wanted to do was be a professional tennis player and I would do anything to do that.

Speaker 2

So I wouldn't say like anything clicked, but it was more like my work ethic and like I would do anything to make it happen. And I think people would see that part more than like the talent, like you know.

Speaker 1

I see, yeah, I was curious if, like, there was something he was talking about when it says something clicked Cause that's like in quotes on your Wikipedia page you can look at it after, but it's. It just kind of stood out to me so I wanted to ask about it. So, for your professional career at this point, you've had a lot of success in doubles. You've had some success in singles as well. Made the third round of the Australian Open this year. How do you go about balancing both of those? I know I talked to a lot of doubles players, obviously, and a lot of them are still trying to make it in singles and their rankings kind of veer apart at some point and it's hard to manage and I'm always curious how people manage that and what kind of your, your systems or process for that is.

Speaker 2

Yeah, it's incredibly hard, I'm not gonna lie, or um, it's very, very difficult if your ranking is um in singles, like not inside top 80, it's it's very, very tough to make both happen. Um, and I would say the last few years of my career, like I've been trying to manage it both ways, you know, and uh, I wouldn't say that I have the right way to go about it. Yet, like I'm still, even before this injury, like I was still trying to figure out the weeks that I'm playing singles, the weeks that I'm focusing on the doubles. You know, when I first came back five years ago, I had a shoulder injury and I was out for 12 months and I came back to tennis and I didn't think I'd ever play singles again. Like my focus was not on singles, it was like I just want to be playing like the biggest tournaments in the world, I want to be playing the Grand Slams, I want to play on those big courts and like I don't care if it's singles or doubles, and for me doubles was a very good option. I had a protected ranking of like 60 in the world so I could get into slams for that year, just to help me kind of set up and get back on tour. And then it wasn't until the end of that year that I was like, oh, my body feels good, like I'll try and play a few singles events. I came home, played some ITFs and like, did okay, got my ranking back up a little bit and, um, yeah, the last four or five years I've been trying to manage both and it's it's really hard because if you're playing the biggest events in doubles, that's kind of you're.

Speaker 2

You know you're making some money there, you're going deep, there's a lot of points up for offer. You know I have a lot of goals, and doubles too, that I haven't achieved yet. I want to win a Grand Slam and those things you can't just. You have to put a lot of effort and time and strategy and commitment to your partner to play all those big events. And then the singles, almost for me, me had to kind of fit around the doubles schedule, especially last year, and that meant when you had a week off, like you're off playing a challenger event, uh, for singles. And even last year, the amount of times that I'd go deep in a doubles event and then have to literally leave that night after the final or semi-final and fly somewhere and play singles the next day, like that's also not healthy for your body, for your mind. Um, and a few times I did it and did really well.

Speaker 2

That's what happened after Rome straight into Roland Garros. I flew from the Rome final, got to Paris, I had the afternoon to practice and then I played the next day and ended up qualifying for Roland Garros and making the second round in singles and then had to back up the doubles and the mixed doubles after that. So it was great, but also, like by the time doubles was around, I was fried. So it's very hard and I'm still yeah, still was trying to figure it out this year. I think you kind of need to be around 80 to kind of make both happen and be, yeah, consistently at the same events. But if you're between 100 and 300, it's very, very difficult and you do have to kind of sacrifice one or the other, I would say.

Speaker 1

Have you thought about or do you plan to give singles a shot again when you come back as well?

Speaker 2

I do, I definitely do. I think after this injury I'm going to have protected ranking in singles and doubles and my protected for singles will be about 114. So I should be in qualifying of Masters, obviously at Grand Slam.

Speaker 2

So I will be able to use that to be able to play both events but at the same time. Yeah, like I said, it's going to be very difficult to do both, especially early on. At this stage I'm not sure where, yeah how, my schedule is going to look. It's going to be a little bit depending on which month I come back and what kind of events are on. But obviously doubles for me, especially early on from an injury, I can manage my loads a little bit better.

Speaker 2

I think having someone a partner on the court definitely helps as well, because you kind of when you come back from a long-term injury, if you're on your own on the singles court, it can be kind of lonely and you have a lot of doubts to your mind because you haven't played and you're a little bit concerned about you don't know what's going to happen, whereas doubles for me it feels like you're in it as a team. You know you're kind of figuring it out together. You can communicate with your partner after every point and just get that energy and positivity from someone else and yeah, I think that's also really important for your mind too. So I definitely will be trying to do both, but we'll kind of just see how the body's and the mind's feeling.

Speaker 1

Yeah, what about, like the Australian Open this year, for example? So you make the third round in singles, semifinals and doubles While you were still in the singles. What did your practices look like? Was it like 100% focused on singles or did you spend like 20 minutes? While you were still in the singles, what did your practices look like? Was it like 100% focused on singles or did you spend like 20 minutes at the end working on some volleys and double specific stuff?

Speaker 2

Or what did that look like? Yeah, this Australian Open was very different for me but to be honest, I hardly practiced at all when I had any time off. I was trying to recover but I wasn't able to do kind of any specific doubles sessions but we would add it in into a single session. So if we did some single specifics for 30 minutes, I would add in like 10, 15 minutes of doubles specifics, whether it's some volleying to getting closer to the net, as I would be in doubles, because in singles I wouldn't be getting as close to the net, I'd be more transitioning from the baseline, whereas obviously doubles I'm starting closer up. So just trying to get my reflexes, getting my coach or whoever I'm hitting with um to kind of hit it, yeah, a little bit faster at me, get my reflexes going, doing a few um where I'm crossing, trying to get comfortable um, trying to poach that ball through through the middle of the court. So we do a little bit of that um and even returning.

Speaker 2

For me I find returning in singles and doubles is very, very different. I feel like they're almost, uh, the opposites. Where singles I'm always kind of aiming like more across my body, high percentage, maybe a bit more through the middle doubles. Obviously, if you go through the middle, you're, you're done, you're going to lose the point. So I would also, uh, yeah, practice a few returns, because I think for me, returning um one of my big strengths in singles and doubles, and um, if I haven't done practice with the doubles, going down the line trying to find the angle across court, even doing some chip love returns, just trying to add them in. So I'll just spend a few minutes just feeling them out as well, just to kind of. You know, it's not a specific double session, but just doing a few specifics that make me feel like, okay, I'm ready for doubles, even though I'm having a big singles load as well.

Speaker 1

Yeah, and one thing I want to mention briefly for people listening. So when you say, if you go through the middle of the court on the return and doubles, you're done, I think that's true at your level, not at most of the listeners level.

Adapting to Different Tennis Partners

Speaker 1

So I want to clarify that for them, because I don't want them going out there and trying to like blast returns down the line. What happens more often at the club level is the servers partners hugging the alley and you should return through the middle. But for y'all, you know you've got. You know your partner Siniakova, or whoever it is, is taking over the middle at the net and they can put that volley away, even if you do hit a pretty solid return through the middle, obviously. So just wanted to clarify that that's true.

Speaker 2

There would be, some players, even in doubles, who maybe don't poach that much, and you can kind of get away with the Sure Like when you play, some of get away with the Sure, like when you play some of the singles players, for example.

Speaker 2

Yeah, definitely those. Yeah, you can tell straight away who's kind of confident at the net, who's kind of looking to kind of approach the middle whenever they get the chance. And then you have those ones that are, yeah, positioned maybe a bit more towards the tram line, so then you can kind of you kind of know where you can return, I guess. Um, yeah, I would say to me it's more just, even as a player, getting comfortable to return down the line because you may it's not the most high percentage shot and it's almost like it is it can be a bit risky. So sometimes I like to just practice it, just to like, feel like, okay, I can do that, if I need to do that, I guess yeah, yeah, that makes sense.

Speaker 1

Um, so I want to talk about partnerships. You've played with a lot of different partners at this point, had a lot of success with a lot of different partners. How have you made adjustments? And they all have very different playing styles too. So, um, car Dulheid has a huge serve, huge forehand, elise Mertens just can do everything from the baseline, and then now Sineakova is solid from the baseline but really strong at the net as well. How have you made adjustments and maybe talk a little bit about what adjustments specifically you've made between last year and this year, for example, playing with Mertens and now at Sine Akabo?

Speaker 2

yeah, it's definitely. Um, it's been interesting because I felt like I've learned more about myself as a player when I've played with different partners. Um, because sometimes, like I would feel, like you said, they have all very different playing styles and I would almost adapt my game to like kind of like what my partner is doing or what my partner needs and and which I don't think is the right way to do it, because I think you should kind of play your style and be very clear with what you do well, what you maybe don't do well, and and whatnot.

Speaker 1

But yeah, I think, like maybe that's your style though Sorry to interrupt, but like I mean, maybe that's your style, like maybe you're, you know, you're the player who can adapt their game to whatever their partner needs, and like that in itself is really valuable.

Speaker 2

Yeah, that's definitely true. I would say that's true.

Speaker 1

Sorry go on.

Speaker 2

No, you're fine. But, yeah, even playing, yeah, like with Caroline, who has, you know, big serve, aggressive from the baseline, and then changing to Elise who, um, you know, can, like you said, do everything I know from the baseline, like she was not gonna miss a ball, she's gonna chase down ball, she's got a great lob, um. So it's a bit of a different mentality, because even with Caroline, I knew the points would be a little bit shorter. So I felt like maybe I could be a bit more aggressive at the net, because the points are going to be either she's going to go for a big shot and I'm going to get a look at a ball, kind of an off pace ball that I can do something at the net, whereas Elise had the ability to kind of control the pace from the baseline and she's happy to rally all day um, I don't felt, I didn't feel the pressure or the need to like be so aggressive at the net, because I felt comfortable with her, that she is, yeah, very comfortable from the baseline. She could change the pace, change, go down the line with the lob, um. So that was almost a bit of an adjustment for me because I had never played with someone who probably had those that level of skill before. So it was definitely very different because I'd say early on I was probably trying to do too much, and not because I didn't trust her, but because I just hadn't played with someone with that kind of experience before, and even her experience in doing so well at tournaments, going deep, very consistent with results and a very good competitor as well, and in those moments just being able to be very clutch, and yeah, it taught me a lot.

Speaker 2

But then I guess, yeah, with Kat this year she, I would say, is a bit more aggressive at the net. You know she's looking to poach a lot and close the net. Her volley skills are incredible. She's definitely the best, I would say one of the best volleyers on tour, if not the best. And, um, even her backhand from the the ad side is is a huge weapon. And playing with her again is different because she's a little bit more of an aggressive player, so points again a little bit shorter.

Speaker 2

Um, I felt that I could be again, take a bit more chance and be aggressive, and it's okay because that's kind of our game style as a team. Um, so it's, it's been fun. I, I enjoy kind of you know you obviously have a commitment to your partner, but it's also fun to kind of learn about someone else and like what they do and kind of figure it out as a team um, not just about your opponents but yourself as well, and what you kind of do under pressure and how you're going to react under pressure. And I actually really enjoy that part and I enjoy the communicating and the, the problem solving as a team and, um, yeah, it's, it's obviously a shame because kat and I I think we played five tournaments this year and we were loving it Like I was enjoying it so much with her.

Effective Doubles Partnership Strategies

Speaker 2

We were just like we had some tough matches, like there were some tough matches in San Diego Indian Wells and we kind of really figured it out as a team. Even the Australian Open early, the first few early matches were, yeah, not like the best quality, but it almost brought us together more and we were like, wow, if we can get through that together, like we can, yeah, have a good year. And yeah, obviously a bit of a shame with my injury.

Speaker 2

We can't kind of continue that partnership. But obviously her and Coco Goff having such amazing success at Roland Garros winning there I was so happy for them. They're both like lovely people and that was like also such a random kind of occurrence for both of them there. I think they signed up like two days before because Kat was going to play with Taylor Townsend and she unfortunately got injured.

Speaker 1

So sometimes that happens in doubles too and it can be a good thing because you kind of just got to go out and and play and not like overthink it as well and just kind of play the ball for what it is and not yeah, not get too crazy, I guess yeah, yeah, yeah, and I think you and Kat are still in the top eight in the race too at this point, which, which is astonishing, having played zero of the clay season, so yeah, so I think that I think for me, like, I like what you said about playing with different partners. It is a lot of fun and I would encourage your listeners to do that, if you don't, even if it's just for a tournament or two, because it'll, like you said, teach you about yourself. And also one of the things it's taught me about my own game is, like when I play with different partners, I find holes in my game that I didn't know I had, that like one partner might be covering up for me, or I might even have a strength that I didn't know I had, because I never had to hit that shot, because my partner was always like in a particular position where I didn't have to hit it, or something like that. So you can really learn a lot about yourself, and I do think, like we talked about earlier, like maybe for some people and maybe this is the case for you you're like, I guess is it like a chameleon where you can like, adjust to different partners and play with anyone.

Speaker 1

I remember sitting with with Ellen Perez and we were watching one of your matches at Indian Wells this year and I said what's your game plan against Storm? And she goes Storm's got all the shots. Like she can go backhand line, backhand cross, forehand line, forehand cross, volleys, she's got all the shots. So that kind of is in alignment with that, like if you've got all the shots you can kind of do whatever you need to around the doubles court. So I wanted to talk a little bit more about your partnership with Katarina. So if I were to ask her what your biggest strength as a doubles partner is, what do you think she would say?

Speaker 2

Oh, as a doubles partner, I would probably say my, probably my positivity, my, I guess, like energy, um, I would say that's probably my biggest strength overall, because even with Kat, yeah, we've had it. Like I said, we've had a few kind of tough matches this year and, um, we kind of got through them because she, you know, she, she's actually like she can go a bit crazy on the court. Overall, she, um, she's such a sweet girl and I think there were some moments where I was just there for her as like no judgment, like it's fine, Like let's just try and enjoy this as well and like next one, it's okay, let's go and just kind of have that positive chatter with her. I think I mean I'm not sure, I don't know, did you ask her?

Speaker 1

I haven't asked her, but I will yeah, you should ask her.

Speaker 2

No, I haven't talked to her this year okay, yeah, my um, I would say probably my positivity and I think growing up, like playing with different partners and playing a lot of doubles, even as a junior, like a lot of it is your communication with your partner.

Speaker 2

It's not like I'm not so much about the tennis, sometimes it's about your relationship with your partner and um, you know, because you're both going to go through ebbs and flows, like there might be a few games or a set where your partner's playing amazing and you can't make her make a shot, you can't make a return or you're struggling at the net and then all of a sudden it like flips and you know it's very rare that you're both kind of like at the same level at the same time.

Speaker 2

So I think you really have to try and like understand that and be aware of where you're at, where your partner's at, and just try to maintain like some sort of, I guess, balance and cohesion. And um, doubles can change so fast, like sun death juice, super tight rates, like you need to be. You could be losing and all of a sudden you get one sun death juice and you're back into it. So you kind of need to be ready for like, for that opportunity. So for me, I think it's like staying on it being positive and like just good self-talk.

Speaker 1

Uh, that would be, I would say, my uh, that would be, I would say, my strength, especially with cat this year.

Speaker 1

Yeah, yeah, I think, um, it's something that's very underrated in doubles especially. I think most club level players like don't even think about it. Um, but like being able to get the most out of your partner and like like almost take on some responsibility, right, like okay, like okay, if Kat is like starting to slump, like what can I do to get her out of that as quickly as possible? Right, and for her it might be like positive feedback, for somebody else it might be like energy, or maybe they just need some food on the changeover or whatever it is. But being a part a a good partner, like part of that is definitely recognizing when they are kind of slumping or down a little bit and then getting them out of it quickly. Um, whereas a lot of people I see will, um, at the club level, not the pro level, but they'll shake their head if their partner double faults or something like that. It's like okay, like you're definitely not gonna help them out, not going to help the team out if you're doing that.

Speaker 2

Yeah, I think, like everyone's human, like if you make a mistake and you see your partner like upset with you, like that's going to affect you and make you feel worse about yourself.

Speaker 2

I think that's the one of the biggest things that that I, I think, try and pride myself on is like, even if my partner's having a bad day because we can all have bad days but if you know they double fold or they try and make a big move at the net, go for a cross and they miss, miss it, like I'm gonna be the first one to say, hey, like that was great, like keep going for it.

Navigating Doubles Strategy With a Lefty

Speaker 2

Because if you, if you keep doing that, like you're gonna get it. So, um, I try and feel them. Maybe I do it over the top, but, um, yeah, just try and fill them with that confidence to keep going for it. And because I've also felt that on the side where I've played a bad match or I've gone for it and I've kind of missed it, and if my partner's there saying, oh, it's okay, like you got this, then I feel much better already giving myself like some kind of negative feedback to myself. So it's nice to have someone just there to be like, hey, like it's okay, like let's go next, or whatever it might be.

Speaker 1

Yeah. And if your partner is silent in that situation, you start the self-talk and you start thinking, oh well, they're mad at me, I'm not going to cross again. And then all of a sudden you're like worse as a team Again. This happens more at the club level, I think, but definitely something that I've seen a number of times, and one of the phrases that just came to mind for me while you were saying that that I like to use a lot is you know, if my partner does cross and miss that volley or something, I'll walk up to them and say like hey, move, you'll make that like seven or eight out of ten times, so keep doing that. And that gives them that like freedom of like I'm gonna miss a couple, but it's still the right play because we're winning seven or eight out of ten of those points when I, when I do that, um, so that kind of came to mind for me there.

Speaker 1

Uh, so let's move on to some strategy. I want to talk about strategy for lefties. So what advice would you have for a right-handed player who's playing with a lefty for the first time?

Speaker 2

Oh, that's a very very tough question I would say like, yeah, you have to be aware, obviously, first of all, choosing which side you're going to play, which side you're going to return from, and I personally prefer being on the juice side. I feel like you know you can get, I like my backhand cross court and can go backhand down the line, use the chip lob, look for forehands and same thing kind of. I have more options on that side, but I think you really need to. Maybe at club level it's just assumed that the lefty will play on the outside because it's on the forehand on the outside and the righty on the juice side. But I would say you really need to kind of sit down and talk to your partner about what their strengths are, even at the net with the volley.

Speaker 2

If you want the forehand volley through the middle as a lefty or a righty, or if you're playing two back, if you want the forehand through the middle, who's going to take that? Like you've got to be a bit more clear with communication, I would say, because if you're used to playing with a righty who you know their backhand's through the middle, and now you both have forehands, you have to decide who's going to take that ball. Um same if it's at the net. Um same with a lob, if a lob goes overhead and the lefty can get around and take a smash, but you're used to the righty kind of leaving it for you, like I think it's just a bit of communication about understanding. Um yeah, like what side? Very simple, but like what side their strength is. And I've even played against lefties where I've gone to lob a lefty and kind of almost forgotten last minute, like that's not the right side to lob them because they're sitting there and it's a smash whereas it's variety oh, that's a terrible feeling.

Speaker 1

I've done that a number of times.

Speaker 2

Yeah, you kind of almost play like and you kind of forget because that's like a tactic that's been drilled into you, and then you kind of realize like, oh, like, oops oh shoot, that's not gonna work yeah exactly, um, but I would say, yeah, just making sure you're very clear with, like, who's got the middle ball, especially if if it's both your forehand volley or forehand at the baseline. So just being very clear, because even I've had moments where we both come to the net.

Doubles Tennis Strategy and Preparation

Speaker 2

We both have forehand middle volley, so we're both like going for it, but we both need to be, so we end up missing it because we've both like gone for it or it ended up that we're out of position because we've both like gone for it, or it ended up that we're out of position because we've both covered middle and then you've left kind of the alleyway for the rest of the court open.

Speaker 2

So, um, yeah, just being clear with, I guess, who's going to take those, those balls. Um, yeah, and yeah, just being mindful, even the spin on the serve is going to be a little bit different. Um, like, if you're going to serve on the outside slider wide as a lefty, you know the ball's going to keep going, whereas if it's a righty serve, the ball will probably stay flat, or is it's like a flat wide serve instead of the um slider wide? So, just being like mindful of the different spins, I guess you're going to get from a lefty, but a lot of it, I think, is kind of practice once you get out on court together and you can kind of feel it and see it. But just be mindful of those little adjustments.

Speaker 1

What does the conversation look like for these middle balls? I've played with lefties in the past and we've talked about who takes the middle ball if we're both back, about you know who takes the middle ball if we're both back. I've never actually broken it down to like if we're both up, I take it. If we're both back, you take it because you have better ground strokes. If it's a lob, you take it because you have a better overhead, is it? Do you actually break it down into those three or? Um, I don't know.

Speaker 2

Just talk about like what that conversation looks like when you're playing with someone for the first time yeah, I would say the conversation would probably happen after like one or two matches, because I feel like it's very easy if you have the conversation beforehand.

Speaker 2

It might not actually be the truth or like what you're kind of looking for in the match, and I feel like you need to kind of figure it out first and you obviously want to have a bit of the conversation beforehand because you don't want to both be like leaving the middle ball, because also for your opponents they're like, oh well, they're obviously not on the same page about what's happening with those shots, so they might keep going there. So we would definitely break it down to be as specific as possible but also understanding like it's. It is very hard because you're kind of in the moment of also who's more confident?

Speaker 2

um yeah, it's, it's tough yeah yeah, it's very, very tough, but I've played with partners who, um, maybe the goal is for me to get into the net because with elise, for example, like from the baseline, she could just stay there like all day, um so it'd be like okay, maybe I need to try and push into the net, so anything kind of middle, we're happy for her to take it, and then my goal is to get in when we can, so, even if it's like a little bit on my side, but if she's there like she can kind of take that as long as I get out of the way, um right, and then

Speaker 2

kind of the. It's more, I guess, what we're trying to do, like what's the goal of being two back? Are we trying to get one person forward? Is it because they're putting so much pressure on us at the net that we both need to stay back and try and not let the net player there feel as confident um poaching or whatnot? So if we're both staying back, then we both will kind of just like try and be clear with communication, like same mind straight away, so the other person can move out of the way and um and whatnot.

Speaker 1

So it's tough, it's a very tough yeah, yeah, but it's good to play a lot of matches, though I mean that makes the most sense yeah, exactly I wanted to ask more about the, the wide serve in the ad court.

Speaker 1

So this is one. I'm interested to hear your take on this. So this is a serve where when I've played with lefties and maybe this is just like a club level thing I don't know, it could be different for pro and club level but when I've played with lefties they've told me you know, I'm going to hit my slider wide, you go cover the line, and what I find is that just opens up the cross court so much and almost no right-handed player can hit that down the line. Return against that lefty slider consistently. Um, maybe at the pro level y'all can hit it consistently. I don't know. I guess it probably depends on how you're hitting it that day. Um, what is your take on that?

Speaker 2

like the best kind of strategy with that wide serve for a lefty yeah, I think if, if, as a lefty, if you're really getting it moving wide and you're getting the especially if it's a righty player it's their back end, um, I generally I would say I would leave the line open I would say I'm hitting my wide serve, well enough, I'm backing my serve against their back end.

Speaker 2

Um, if they hit it there, I think that's too good. Like obviously not leaving it super open early, but kind of there and then looking to cover the middle. That's how I would play. And like there's many times where we've even been burnt with that shot with like they've gone a backhand on stretch, bunted at line. But to do that consistently I think that's a very low percentage shot and I think it means I'm not also hitting my serve. Probably well enough if I'm not getting it moving, getting them off the court. But also you kind of want to pressure your opponent to hitting like a low percentage shot. If that's, you know that's kind of a tough shot to hit under pressure and if they do, like that's kind of too good. But I would definitely most of the time be saying to my partner like let's cover the middle, like let's force them to hit.

Speaker 1

Yeah, let's make them hit it a few times before we start to cover that. Yeah, for sure. So this is a question from twitter. Uh, and I don't. I've never noticed this before, but somebody asked why do you serve into the sun for your righty partner? Is that something you do?

Speaker 2

uh, no, I don't know, I wouldn't say I do it okay.

Speaker 1

Maybe they just saw you in one match and you were serving into the sun or something it has.

Speaker 2

It has happened before, but I wouldn't say you try to avoid it yeah, I would say more wind is more of a factor that I would be more interested in and so that if that means I'm serving into the sun because I'm getting like good wind conditions, I would do it. Or if my partner for some reason, like has to serve first or has to serve second, Like yeah but no, I wouldn't say I purpose seven to the sun.

Speaker 1

Okay, so it sounds like you're just prioritizing some other stuff over the sun, wind conditions and who wants to serve first in certain situations. Okay, that makes sense. We talked about return sides. I feel like it seems like almost everybody at the pro level, except for Ellen and Nikki, play with four hands in the middle.

Speaker 1

For most club level teams, that's typically what I recommend, unless the lefty just can't hit a backhand cross court. The lefty just like can't hit a backhand cross court, um, but even still, I feel like if they have the mobility to run around their backhand every time, then it's better to have that strength in the middle. Um, what about different serve formations? Do you have to make any adjustments when using, say I formation? Um, um, serving, being a lefty, know that you're, knowing that you're gonna eventually expose either forehands in the middle or backhands in the middle um, I wouldn't say in particular.

Tennis Tournament Preparation and Strategy

Speaker 2

It's more about kind of, if I'm very, if I want a forehand on the baseline, if the ball gets past the net, so but to me, for me personally, like I'm kind of, I like either side, forehand or backend, and I feel comfortable either way. So I would be more inclined to be setting up a play that's based on my opponent I want to be in a down the line rally with them because I want to take the net player out of it a little bit. Or if my partner has, I guess, a better forehand volley or backhand volley, like whichever side they kind of feel more comfortable going for. So I wouldn't say it's about me being a lefty, but more just about what kind of shot I'm setting up for my partner at the net, potentially, or myself at the baseline, um, and also for my opponents as well, to just make them, I guess, think a little bit more.

Speaker 1

Yeah, yeah, that makes sense. Um, how do you prepare for big matches? Do you have any specific routines you like or any pre-match meals? You have to have Any superstitions? You have Anything like that.

Speaker 2

I always like to have rice, if it's obviously, if I'm not first on, if I'm second or third, I like to just have plain rice for some energy, with olive oil and salt. Like I'm sorted if I have that. That's definitely my kind of pre-match meal. But other than that, I would say, like just having a conversation, making sure I've had a good chat with my partner before the match so we're both very clear about, like you know, it might be a brief chat about our opponents and if we've played them before, we've watched some footage, like if there's any specific tactics we think will be beneficial, and then just a little bit of a chat about what we're going to do as a team.

Speaker 2

Um, but other than that, like not really obviously tennis is so at the pro level, like you could be first on or fifth match on and, uh, you don't really know how long you're going to be waiting around. So I found, as my career, as I've gotten older, like when I was younger, I had all these like routines and things that had to be done like before my match. And as I got older, I kind of realized like it's actually really hard to do that because our scheduling is so, um, unpredictable, like week to week, day to day. So as long as I feel like mentally prepared, like I'm good, I can kind of just have a bit of the same kind of physical warm up 15 minutes before, but everything else is kind of adaptable.

Speaker 1

Yeah, got it. So I want to ask you about Mix. So you won the 2022 US Open with John Piers. How does your strategy change for mixed doubles versus women's doubles?

Speaker 2

obviously playing against a serve, against a guy who's who serve is a lot bigger than maybe you're seeing most of the time in in women's doubles, um, and also they're obviously a lot taller. They're covering a lot more of the net. I would say like they obviously can cover pretty much three quarters of the court. So I enjoy it because it gives me the freedom to be more aggressive. I would say, um and go for my shots, because I feel that you kind of have to, like you can't really use a lob because they're going to get up there and put it away.

Speaker 2

And speaking with Johnny and Matt Ebden, who I've been playing with as well, like, basically their feedback to me is like you just go for it, like be aggressive, take the ball on, because even if the guys are the net and you're taking it on, like it's going to be a tough shot for him.

Speaker 2

But if you kind of be a little bit passive and try and hit it around him, like at the net, um, yeah, they're going to kind of put it away. And I do also feel like, uh, the women in the mix also like kind of have a little bit less pressure and sometimes you'll play someone in mix who you've played in women's doubles and they almost play a little bit freer too and they're also going for it, so it can be almost playing like a little bit of a different person, in a way, than you're kind of expecting and um. So yeah, it can be fun. It definitely gives me that freedom to kind of just go for it and even try things in mixed that I wouldn't maybe do in women's doubles, because I have that, yeah, that freedom to kind of go after it.

Speaker 1

Interesting. Yeah, I hadn't thought about how the matchup might be different, because they play like just a totally different style in mixed versus women's or men's doubles, for example, but yeah, it is so much fun to watch too. I really would love to see more mixed at more events. The Indian Wells event this year was. I was really excited that they started that and gave it a shot, and I hope that they can kind of continue to do some stuff like that, especially as some of these 1000 events get longer. Do some of that during week two. So, okay, a couple listener questions, then a few rapid fire, and then I will let you go. Um, what is your favorite non-major tournament?

Speaker 2

oh, that's a good question I'm I would have to say indian wells, because the crowds, like they get around the singles, the doubles, the mixed doubles this year, like it's it's an event that I think everyone feels as a player like super welcomed, um, super supported, like I think Indian Wells is one of those, one of the only events outside of a Grand Slam where I'll get like fans come up to me and ask me about like doubles tactics and you know, come and watch and they're like kind of curious about like why you're making these decisions on the court and um, I think that's awesome because they're like super invested and um, you know, they they want to watch.

Speaker 2

I would say sometimes the doubles more than the singles.

Speaker 2

I think they yeah, they do value it and, um, obviously they probably play themselves and kind of can relate to doubles, decisions being made on the court or even just respect, I guess, the level and the quality of the doubles. So Indian Wells is, yeah, it's such a vibe, it's so much fun. I think I feel so at home there. You know, it's just a very great atmosphere, very relaxing and nice. And yeah, I had a good Indian Wells this year making the final of the doubles with Kat, and then we got to play in the mixed doubles and me and Matt Ebdon ended up winning it, which was, yeah, it was a lot of fun and great initiative to try and bring the mixed doubles into the two-week 1,000 events because, you know, always the two weeks can be a very long time, especially if you haven't gone deep, or even if you have, you're playing maybe one day and then you have a day off and it's kind of nice to kind of play a few more matches and the crowd really enjoyed it as well.

Speaker 1

Yeah, yeah, I haven't thought about. I mean, I know like Indian Wells has such big doubles crowds, which is great. I haven't really thought about why I guess as much, but I guess it makes a little more sense since it's like not, oh, I'm going to go check out the tennis today. You know you have to like make it a point to fly there and go there, and it's still, you know, a big tournament with big stadiums, and each time I'm there I'll, you know, be walking around in my shirt or something, and I'll have people stop me too and say like hey, I listen to your podcast, but at the other tournaments definitely like not as much um. So they are like really Indian Wells fans are really like the true um, like kind of hardcore doubles fans, um, but that's that's cool to hear that they're like stopping you and asking you strategy stuff.

Speaker 2

That's that's really neat yeah it's really like kind of a shock actually, because you're not really expecting it. And then yeah you know I'll ask you a question and, um, yeah, it's great and, like, I don't get asked that at like any other events all year, so it's definitely a a fun one, and even if they'll come and watch practice and, um, like, be really intrigued with what kind of practice you're doing, so yeah shout out to the indian wells fans you guys, you guys are the best yeah, it's awesome.

Speaker 1

Um. So the next question I think it's related to the um. I don't know if you saw it, so I posted a, the video of you on instagram earlier from indian wells earlier this year and I said watch the footwork, because you like moved, I think, from net in the ad court to net in the deuce court, then to the baseline, ripping forehands. Um, and somebody uh responded and asked a question about footwork. So they wanted to know what are some great footwork drills for club players, or just some of your favorite footwork drills, or most effective, maybe not even favorite.

Speaker 2

Well, okay, I've got one for you. I learned from Cara Black. Actually I was doing a camp with her about five years ago with some 14 and under players and we were doing some doubles, footwork drills and we called this one the shimmy shimmy. So basically it didn't involve any tennis balls or anything. We basically just kind of stood, we stood at the net kind of as if we were standing if our partner was serving, and basically we just went like side to side practicing like our shimmy, so kind of almost like practicing like fake faking at the net. So okay, kind of moving and then moving back, um, kind of trying to fake our opponents. And cara black, I would say, would be one of the best players when she played it. Kind of. Cara Black, I would say, would be one of the best players when she played at.

Tennis Drills, Wildlife Fights, and Autobiographies

Speaker 2

Kind of, even if she wasn't moving to cross or to poach, she was always moving in her spot at the net.

Speaker 2

And I think that was one of her things was that if you're moving but you're not even like fully going to poach the ball at the net, like you're at least making your opponents think about it and they're not sure if you're going to go or not, and even watching her do it a few years ago, like she was so fast and her movement was incredible, like literally at the net, the way she moved her body.

Speaker 2

So we were kind of just doing like side steps, side to side, but then like kind of half stopping and then going back, um, taking kind of like a half step. So, um, I have to find the video because we recorded it. It was, I felt, so uncomfortable because I was like I've never like even thought about seeing practicing this and she kind of was, you know, saying especially to the young girls, like it's really important that if you're at the net you're not just like standing there, because even if the ball comes to you you're not going to be ready. So you always have to be on your toes and ready and try and also kind of fake your opponents out as well.

Speaker 1

Yeah, and always be moving. Yeah, let's see if we can find that video. I would love to link to it in the show notes if we can find it. So it sounds like you start in the middle of the service box and are you going like all the way to the center service line or just kind of towards it, and then you're moving back towards the doubles alley and you're just kind of shuffling back and forth.

Speaker 2

Yeah, you're kind of just like shuffling back and forth Like you can. Obviously you can kind of do it anywhere on the court or even at your home or wherever. But obviously if you want to make it realistic, you're kind of, yeah, staying in the middle of the service box and you're kind of shuffling almost to the um center line and then and back again. Um, then you might the next time you do it you might go like just a half step, so you might almost go towards the center line but not go the full way, and then go back as fast as possible.

Speaker 1

So it's always kind of mix it up a little.

Speaker 2

Yeah, try and mix a little and, um, I think the more you do it kind of like randomly, so you're not always going to the same spot twice, you're always kind of going a bit shorter or a little bit longer. Um, you might even take a little bit of a step like on an angle forward and then back. So you always got to kind of come back to your position or around your position, because if you think about it, when you're playing someone you might be following them a little bit, but then you've got to kind of go back to where you are recover.

Speaker 2

So yeah, you might take one or two?

Speaker 1

is it timed? Is it something you just like do for 60 seconds or something? Is it a time drill?

Speaker 2

yeah, so you could do it for like. I would start with like maybe 30 seconds and then maybe go up to like a minute um, so it's kind of it could be a little bit of conditioning exhausting. Yeah, yeah, it sounds like it so you can add that one in um, okay, next question this is a good one.

Speaker 1

Um, which aussie would be most useful in a fight against their nation's scary wildlife? Dasha Seville or Ellen Perez?

Speaker 2

oh my gosh, that's a tough question. Who would be better in a fight? I think I'm gonna have to say Ellen, um.

Promoting Doubles Tennis and Player Stories

Speaker 1

I feel, like Dash.

Speaker 2

I mean Dash is super competitive, but I feel like she would try and become friends with the the animal and Ellen. I think she she's spicy when she needs to be and and she's strong. I've seen her in. We did like a it's called like a smash room and we did one at home here in Australia where, like, you can take like a baseball bat in and you kind of like smash these objects that are in this room and Ellen Ellen had a lot of power. I was like I don't want to get on Ellen's bad side. So, yeah, I'm going to have to pick Ellen.

Speaker 1

That's so funny. All right, if you go camping in the Australian outback, take Ellen Perez with you. All right, so last few here.

Speaker 2

What is your favorite tennis book? Ooh, I would say I loved reading Andre Agassi's autobiography. I thought that was very, I guess, eye-opening into his career. I, yeah, I just loved it and I think as a kid growing up he was and he was my dad's favorite player. My dad used to love watching him. So, um, I think, just kind of hearing his yeah, his life story and his tennis career, I just really love that book.

Speaker 2

But I love reading a lot of autobiographies. I think Raffer's was great as well. It was like there's a few good ones that I don't know. I think when you're a tennis player, you kind of like want to read about their story and their journey and it kind of goes to show like everyone's journey is different and there's no right way to become a professional tennis player because there's so many different paths you can take and everyone has such a different, um, upbringing. So, yeah, I kind of like reading them, just to like hear about their story and, um, just, yeah, it's. It's kind of any tennis book autobiography I I like to enjoy yeah what is uh your favorite non-tennis book?

Speaker 2

That's a tough question.

Speaker 2

I'll go with one that I've read recently. It's called the Happiest man on Earth by Eddie Jaku, and it's actually from Melbourne and he was a prisoner of war in Auschwitz many, many, many years ago and his story is crazy about how he kind of survived that and then ended up coming to Australia and living his life and creating his family here. He lost all his family in Germany and it's just about his story about his life, how he's been able to kind of move on and obviously acknowledge what had happened to him but also being able to live his life now and it was very powerful and I kind of read it just as I had my surgery and it was just very made me very grateful for what I have in my life. And you know, obviously what's happened to me is not, you know, it's not great, but also it's not the end of the world and there's a lot of people going through a lot worse and I'm very grateful for my career and how lucky I've been so far. And yeah, definitely made me feel, yeah, very, very lucky.

Speaker 1

Yeah, 100% yeah. That sounds like an awesome book. I'm gonna sounds like my style too. I'm gonna check that one out. Um last question for you how do we make doubles more popular?

Speaker 2

oh, that is a very good question.

Speaker 2

Um, I would just say, like, I think the players that we have playing they're unbelievable.

Speaker 2

I think the quality of doubles right now is is great, and I think it's just more about getting, I guess, the popular like getting more attention on doubles, like marketing the players a bit more and um getting them, I guess, showing the matches on on tv channels and getting them to do more interviews, more press and um so we get to know them more, know their stories, their backgrounds, like a lot of them have some amazing stories about you know why they're playing doubles, like if they've come from college or they've had injuries, or it's just been like a huge passion, like me wanting to just play tennis at the highest level, no matter what it's singles or doubles at us. So, um, there's so many amazing stories that I think we haven't heard just because, um, there just hasn't been that media attention. So, I think, just trying to increase the attention, I think the product's great. To be honest, I think we're very lucky with the stories that we have and we just need to kind of promote that a bit more.

Challenges of Time Zone Differences

Speaker 1

Yeah, I totally agree with you. Yeah, most of the tournaments I go to, you know, when I do the media requests and stuff, I'm typically the only person that's interviewing the doubles players. Um, not always, but typically, and it's, yeah, I think, kind of a goal. Um, or something I'd love to see like in the next five or 10 years is for that number to like never be one anymore. You know, like never be just me in like five or 10 years. Um, I think that would be super cool. Um, while you said that last question, uh, how do so in Australia? If, like, you have family or friends who want to watch your matches say it's like a first round match at a 500 event or something, how do you, how do y'all watch it there there? Is there a streaming service in australia, or what's the best solution for that?

Speaker 2

um, it's actually very, very hard yeah very hard, uh, which I probably didn't really realize until obviously now being injured, I'm trying to find the streaming of like of matches.

Speaker 2

What is available, the 1000s or the grand slams or so we can watch like the thousands, the 500s on wta tv, which I think actually isn't available in the us but it's available here in australia, um, so we can watch that. But actually grand slams it's very hard to get a hold of like even qualifying and doubles. It can be kind of difficult. You need to get a hold of like even qualifying and doubles. It can be kind of difficult. You need to have a streaming service like a local like. It's almost like a stand or an Amazon Prime, whichever streaming service is streaming that tournament, which you may or may not have. So yeah, it is quite difficult, but WTA TV at the moment is probably the most consistent just with getting those matches. But I'm finding the hardest thing the time difference, because it's always kind of 1, 2 am and you know you're kind of going to sleep and then you wake up and the matches are done and it's almost like the next day.

Speaker 2

So that's probably the hardest. I'd say the hardest thing about being in australia is like we're always. Yeah, the time difference in the us and the in europe is very difficult, um, so people kind of just like it's almost too hard to to watch it.

Speaker 2

So I think we can almost do need to do a better job of just trying to like even just creating highlight packages where you can watch, like the highlights, or get updates, where you don't have to go and like try and find it through, uh, the replays of the matches, which, yeah, can be hard work yeah, totally, um cool.

Speaker 2

Well, any last requests of the audience or any final comments before we hop off here uh no, I just say thank you so much for having me and thank you for the support. I've received so many messages of support with my rupture of my Achilles and my rehab, so I appreciate everyone reaching out. It's been amazing and, yeah, just looking forward to following the doubles and the tour this year while I'm rehabbing and I'll be back next year.

Speaker 1

Awesome, well, hopefully it'll be before clay season, as you said. Um, we're wishing you a speedy recovery, for sure, and, uh, thanks a ton for coming on.

Speaker 2

No worries, thank you for having me.