PODCAST - A Week On From The Australian Open

TENNIS STRATEGY COACH CRAIG O’SHANNESSY ON NOVAK DJOKOVIC - ‘When you’re watching him next time pay particular to his forehand rally ball down the line. He hits it much more than other players, he’s trying to get the opponent moving, he’s trying to make the point more athletic, where he’ll have the advantage and he’s also baiting the opponent in some ways in making a poor decision’.MACHAR REID, HEAD OF INNOVATION AT TENNIS AUSTRALIA ON THE FUTURE OF EQUIPMENT - ’Tennis Lab is all about helping players and in particular Australian players year round, get the right racquets and string in their hands to add to their games, whether that’s with performance in mind or minimising the risk of injury and getting better and getting better in a sustainable way, so you’re not getting injured, for the most part, from a performance point of view, is what the game is all about’. RINKY HIJIKATA ON LEARNING FROM PLAYING THE BEST - ‘I’ve learnt about the level and what those guys do on the court and how relentless they are when you play them, they don’t really give you an inch out there so you kind of have to earn everything you get out there and that’s something that moving forward I want to try to do better’.COMMENTATOR MIKE CATION ON THE CHALLENGER TOUR AND AMERICAN PLAYERS - ‘A lot of these young Americans especially have been buoyed by the fact that there’s so many Challenger events in the States. It lessens the amount of travel, it lessens the cost you have to make by travelling around the world to play in events, so as a result they have a better opportunity to get just a ton of matches and victories and especially if you’re playing at what we’d say is a lower level, an opportunity to get easier wins and really build that confidence and get those victories’.- Podcast presented by Chris Bowers- Interviews by Candy Reid and AO Radio’s Angus Delaney