The Sit-Down

Viv and Matt have always wanted to sit down with Simon Rea, a colleague who began his tennis journey in his native New Zealand. Emerging through the NZ junior pathway to become a national champion and Davis Cup representative, he completed a journalism degree as a US college player. He later transitioned to high performance coaching, which brought him to Melbourne and saw him link up with Nick Kyrgios, whose breakthrough run to the Wimbledon 2014 quarterfinals he recalls in vivid detail, as well as his time coaching Sam Stosur. Now Senior Manager of Game Analysis at Tennis Australia, Rea discusses his coaching philosophy, the renewed interest in New Zealand tennis, and how his data team is helping Australia's current crop of stars. AusOpen.comiHeartApple PodcastsSpotify Host handles:@Viv_Christie@MattyATSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Alexei Popyrin is riding a sweet wave after his recent ATP Masters 1000 triumph in Montreal. He enters the US Open with a career-high ranking and is seeded at a Grand Slam for the first time. The 25-year-old sat down with Viv and Jon to talk milestone breakthroughs, Aussie inspiration, and the sacrifices that are helping to turn his long-held tennis dreams into reality. AusOpen.comiHeartApple PodcastsSpotify Host handles:@Viv_Christie@MattyATSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Michael Chang remains the youngest man to win a Grand Slam title following his historic triumph at Roland Garros in 1989. But, as he reveals in this episode of The Sit-Down, the former world No.2 often felt more at home on the North American hard courts, where he won titles in Toronto, Indian Wells and Cincinnati — the latter of which where he reached four consecutive finals and won twice. Now 52 years old and living in California, Chang sits down with Viv and Matt to reflect on his incredible career as a player and coach, and how buoyed he is by the current state of the game. AusOpen.comiHeartApple PodcastsSpotify Host handles:@Viv_Christie@MattyATSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As we bid farewell to the Olympics, we spend time reminiscing with Andre Sa. In an impressive playing career, Sa represented Brazil in four Olympic Games, including at his home nation in 2016. He was also a Wimbledon singles quarterfinalist and a top-20 doubles star. Andre joined The Sit-Down to talk about those dream Olympic experiences, the evolution of team tennis and why the friendships he formed were the biggest rewards of a pro career that continues beyond his time on tour. AusOpen.comiHeartApple PodcastsSpotify Host handles:@Viv_Christie@MattyATSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mirra Andreeva is one of the stars of the moment: an Olympic silver medallist in doubles at the Paris 2024 Games not long after capturing her first career WTA singles title in Iasi, and now a top-25 player. The 17-year-old sat down with Viv at the recent Wimbledon championships, showcasing her strikingly mature personality and unique perspective on the game. Andreeva discusses her love of all surfaces, comparisons with Martina Hingis, and working with former Wimbledon champion Conchita Martinez, as well as what she's reading and studying. AusOpen.comiHeartApple PodcastsSpotify Host handles:@Viv_Christie@MattyATSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Twenty years on from winning Olympic bronze in singles at the Athens 2004 Games, Alicia Molik reflects on her 'career pinnacle' achievement. She remains the only Australian tennis player to have won an individual medal since the sport returned to the Summer Games in 1988. The then-23-year-old’s performance ignited a fruitful six-month period in which she reached the Australian Open quarterfinals and cracked the WTA top 10. Molik sits down with Matt and Viv to reminisce about life in the Olympic village, her emotions standing on the medal dais, and how it felt to achieve Olympic success compared with other tennis prizes. AusOpen.comiHeartApple PodcastsSpotify Host handles:@Viv_Christie@MattyATSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Australian doubles stars Matt Ebden and Storm Hunter have each appeared on recent episodes of The Sit-Down. Both conversations veered into fascinating areas such as the state of the game in general, the marketing of doubles, how to reach new fans, and the state of Australian tennis. Both veterans of the tour with a passion for seeing tennis be the best it can be, Ebden and Hunter offer fresh insights from their unique perspectives on these issues, which Viv and Matt deliver in this special two-part follow-up episode. AusOpen.comiHeartApple PodcastsSpotify Host handles:@Viv_Christie@MattyATSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Already a Grand Slam singles champion from 2021 at Roland Garros, new Wimbledon queen Barbora Krejcikova has entered a new echelon with her second major singles title. On the eve of her campaign at the All England Club, Krejcikova sat down with Viv Christie to discuss her journey, which began with her family in Czechia and has so far produced doubles success at majors, Olympic gold, and her famous singles triumph in Paris. Krejcikova had low expectations for Wimbledon following recent battles with injury and illness; little did she know that she would go from this interview to have one of the fortnights of her life. AusOpen.comiHeartApple PodcastsSpotify Host handles:@Viv_Christie@MattyAT@brieparkerSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 1987, Pat Cash joined the most exclusive club in tennis when he defeated Ivan Lendl to win the Wimbledon men's singles title. The Australian legend sat down with Viv at the All England Club during the 2024 Championships to discuss how his achievement 37 years ago changed his life and his tennis career, and how Wimbledon titles are celebrated in the 21st century. AusOpen.comiHeartApple PodcastsSpotify Host handles:@Viv_Christie@MattyAT@brieparkerSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When Jelena Dokic stunned Martina Hingis in the first round of Wimbledon 1999, the Australian qualifier was catapulted into global stardom. The win came at a tournament where she won 20 of her first 24 matches, and she ultimately peaked at world No.4 in one of the strongest eras the women’s game has seen. Dokic sat down with Matt and Viv to relive those highs, recounting her upset of the Swiss superstar in vivid detail, describing what it was like to face many WTA icons, and how her run to the medal rounds of Sydney 2000 remains one of her proudest achievements. AusOpen.comiHeartApple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsSpotify Host handles:@Viv_Christie@MattyATSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Australian doubles star Matt Ebden is hitting new highs deep into his tennis career. As one half of the men’s doubles champions at Wimbledon and the Australian Open, the 36-year-old is now the ATP doubles world No.1, and is targeting more silverware as he heads into his beloved grass-court season. Ebden joins Viv and Matt on The Sit-Down to discuss his long career that just keeps getting better with age. AusOpen.comiHeartApple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsSpotify Host handles:@Viv_Christie@MattyATSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As the tours pivot from clay to grass, former Queen's Club tournament director Stephen Farrow sits down with Matt and Viv to reveal how he entered the tennis industry and rose to oversee one of the world's most historic events. Now living in Australia in his role as tournament director of the innovative United Cup, the British native recalls some of his most memorable moments across his career in tennis, and envisages an exciting future for the sport. AusOpen.comiHeartApple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsSpotify Host handles:@Viv_Christie@MattyATSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An unseeded 18-year-old at Roland Garros 1988, Australia's Nicole Bradtke (née Provis) reached the semifinals — her best Grand Slam singles result. The clay-loving Melburnian sits down with Luke Dennehy to reflect on her charmed run 36 years ago that included a quarterfinal win over eventual three-time Roland Garros champion Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, the elusive match point against Natasha Zvereva that cost her a spot in the final, and the telegram she received from the Australian Prime Minister. AusOpen.comiHeartApple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsSpotify Host handles:@Viv_Christie@MattyATSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Esteemed French tennis photographer Corinne Dubreuil is back at Roland Garros, capturing the tournament through her lens for the 38th consecutive year. The globe-trotting freelancer sits down with Matt Trollope to explain how Chris Evert became her gateway into the industry, why each of the Slams are so unique to cover, and how her award-winning Rafael Nadal book came to fruition, plus she reveals her all-time favourite photos and players across her dream career.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Francesca Schiavone made history at Roland Garros in 2010, becoming the first Italian woman to win a Grand Slam singles title. There was also her victory over Serena Williams and her Australian Open record-breaking epic against Svetlana Kuznetsova in a career that saw Schiavone reach a world No.4 singles ranking. The 43-year-old sits down with producer Shannon Davis in her Milan home, reflecting on some magical moments in her professional career with the same passion that still drives her tennis dreams. AusOpen.comiHeartApple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsSpotify Host handles:@Viv_Christie@MattyATSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Former world No.33 Paolo Lorenzi, who retired from the tour in 2021, is now the Italian Open tournament director. Having trained and competed with Jannik Sinner and Matteo Berrettini in his playing career, Lorenzi has witnessed first-hand the spectacular rise of Italian tennis, and believes the best is yet to come. He sits down with Ursin Caderas at the Foro Italico in Rome to discuss Sinner’s enormous popularity, and how the Australian Open 2024 champion could soon not only be world No.1, but potentially one of 10 Italian men ranked inside the world’s top 50 players. AusOpen.comiHeartApple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsSpotify Host handles:@Viv_Christie@MattyATSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wim Fissette is on tour with Naomi Osaka again following the birth of her daughter Shai and subsequent return to the court. The Belgian coach believes the four-time Grand Slam champion and former world No.1 can reach even greater heights, and has room to grow on clay. Fissette joins Matt and Viv from Madrid to discuss her potential, and his passion for coaching over a 15-year career that has featured stints with other top-ranked major champions Kim Clijsters, Simona Halep, Victoria Azarenka, and Angelique Kerber. AusOpen.comiHeartApple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsSpotify Host handles:@Viv_Christie@MattyATSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You'd be hard-pressed to find someone with more passion for tennis than Paul McNamee, a Davis Cup and Wimbledon champion who later became Australian Open tournament director. Atypically for an Australian, McNamee's favourite surface is clay — a love-affair he documents in his book Welcome to the Dance. Matt and Viv sit down with McNamee to discuss the nation's relationship with clay, his favourite clay-courts around the world, and who he most loves watching compete on the surface today.AusOpen.comiHeartApple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsSpotify Host handles:@Viv_Christie@MattyATSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Former-player-turned-super-coach Brad Gilbert has added a showbiz string to his bow after serving as consulting coach for the new tennis movie Challengers. The 62-year-old, with wife Kim, was responsible for turning Hollywood stars Zendaya, Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor into convincing tennis players for the silver screen. And, as Matt and Viv found out during their sit-down, there was a lot more to the role than Brad expected.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sam Stosur’s obsession with the clay wasn’t always what it is today. As the clay-court season gets underway in Stuttgart, the 2010 Roland Garros finalist sits down with Matt and Viv to discuss how she learned to master the surface, and which European clay court she would most like to have replicated in her own home. AusOpen.comiHeartApple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsSpotify Host handles:@Viv_Christie@MattyATSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

1968 Wimbledon singles finalist Judy Dalton was one of the 'Original 9', a group of players who defied the establishment to form the women's professional tour. This week has seen the holding of the longest-running United States tournament from that tour, at Charleston. Dalton remains a passionate advocate for the women's game, and a great storyteller, as Matt Trollope discovered in their sit-down. AusOpen.comiHeartApple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsSpotify Host handles:@Viv_Christie@MattyATSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Marta Kostyuk burst onto the world stage with a run to the third round of Australian Open 2018 — her first Grand Slam main draw appearance — at just 15 years of age. Since then, much has changed for the young Ukrainian star who reached the last eight of a major for the first time at AO 2024. But it's not just on the court where the 21-year-old is all grown-up, as Andrea Petkovic discovered during her sit-down with Marta.AusOpen.comiHeartApple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsSpotify Host handles:@Viv_Christie@MattyATSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

AusOpen.com’s Matt Trollope and Australian Tennis Magazine’s Viv Christie present a new stream of The AO Show called The Sit-Down. First cab off the rank is Jannik Sinner, who — until his loss to Carlos Alcaraz at Indian Wells — was undefeated in 2024. The world No.3 enjoyed a stellar Australian Open culminating in his first major title after a jaw-dropping five-set final against Daniil Medvedev. But there’s a lot more to the 22-year-old than meets the eye, as Nick McCarvel discovered during their sit-down. AusOpen.comiHeartApple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsSpotifySee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.