10 Minutes of Tennis: AUS Open Opening Rounds and Justins Picks

Episode #4 Season 25: Shaun Boyce & Justin Yeo

Welcome to our another episode of 10 Minutes of Tennis! In this episode, host Shaun is joined by world-renowned tennis coach Justin Yeo to discuss the Australian Open, upcoming tennis stars, and what separates good players from great champions.

Today we’ll talk about the inspiring story of Destanee Aiava, the work behind her flabbergasting results, and how young players get motivated to get to the top. We also discuss the future of men’s and women’s tennis, the challenge of coaching, and the biggest names to watch this season.

If you’re a tennis lover, this isn’t an episode to miss! Hit that follow button, share this with your tennis buddies, and let’s get into it! 🎾

About The Guest

Justin Yeo is a world renowned tennis coach from Australia currently residing in Puerto Rico. He has coached a lot of great players and really understands what it takes to make it in professional tennis.

Justin has worked with athletes ranging from rising youngsters to elite competitors. His experience and passion for the game make him the perfect person to help us break down what’s new in the tennis world. As always, today in this episode he’ll reveal something unique.

Key Discussion Points in the Conversation

Even though the 14-minute episode seems short, Shaun and Justin jampacked the episode by raising many intriguing points from different stories about different tennis players. Here are some of the key points you’ll get to know- 

🔹 The Journey of Destanee Aiava

From picking up a racket at age five in Australia to competing at the highest level, Destanee is a rising star. She is also an inspiration for young athletes, especially within the Samoan and Islander communities, showing them that tennis is an option beyond traditional sports like rugby.

🔹 The Power of Inspiration in Tennis

Every top player has a moment that changed their life. Coco Gauff was once a little girl watching Venus Williams, and that moment inspired her to chase greatness. Andy Roddick had a similar experience as a young fan. These moments shape the future stars of the sport.

🔹 What It Really Takes to Be a Champion

Hard work beats talent. Taylor Fritz recently told a young fan that success comes down to wanting it, loving the game, and working hard every single day. Many players have talent, but only a few put in the work day in and day out.

🔹 The Unsung Heroes: Tennis Coaches

The best coaches spend years developing players without knowing who will make it. Justin reminds us that coaching is a numbers game—you train many players, and only a few make it to the top. But every step of the journey matters.

🔹 The Changing Face of Men’s Tennis

Stefanos Tsitsipas was once a top contender, but has he lost his edge? Andrey Rublev keeps falling short at Grand Slams. Meanwhile, a new wave of young players is rising fast. Who will dominate in the coming years?

🔹 Why Women’s Tennis is So Exciting Right Now

The WTA Tour is unpredictable. Big hitters can turn a match around in an instant. With so many strong competitors, picking a clear favorite is tough. But that makes every match more thrilling to watch!

Intriguing Parts of the Episode

One of the best moments in this episode is Justin’s amazing story about Novak Djokovic.

Just imagine – Djokovic lands from a long flight, but instead of going to his hotel, he heads straight to the court. He doesn’t warm up slowly—his first rally goes for 118 shots! That kind of dedication is what makes him a champion.

Another incredible story is about Serena Williams. Her former coach once trained with her for 45 minutes using just one ball. These stories remind us that talent alone isn’t enough. The greatest players are the ones who put in the work every single day.

Be Our Next Guest!

If you’re a racquet sports coach, club manager, player, or just a tennis enthusiast who has an interesting tennis story to tell, you can visit our page on My Tennis Story and share your words with us. Hopefully, one of our next episodes will invite you as our guest and spread your valuable word to our GoTennis! community. We’re waiting for your knock! Good luck!

YouTube Replay: https://youtube.com/live/SF0-io3tuYc

Shaun Boyce USPTA: shaun@tennisforchildren.com

https://tennisforchildren.com/

Justin Yeo: https://www.instagram.com/yeocoach/

Bobby Schindler USPTA: schindlerb@comcast.net

https://windermerecommunity.net/

Geovanna Boyce: geovy@regeovinate.com

https://regeovinate.com/

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Transcript
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Hey, hey, this is Shaun with the GoTennis Podcast powered by Signature Tennis.

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While you're here, please hit that follow button.

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And after you listen, please share with your friends and teammates.

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Also, let us know if you have questions or topics you'd like us to discuss and we'll

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add them to our schedule.

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With that said, let's get started with 10 minutes of tennis.

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Well, the first name is Destanee, so it was always destined that she was going to make it.

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First time she ever picked up a racket, age five, all the way in Nari Warren, Australia.

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And pretty remarkable just to see her journey with everything she's gone through.

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And just great to see her back on the court playing at this level.

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She looked great in the first round, a battle.

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But I'm really intrigued to see what she does with Collins in this next match.

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Collins is really solid, but I think that power that Collins hit may feed in the Destiny.

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And I think Destiny is going to give her a bit of a shake up.

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But a little D, we call it a little D. The dad Mark and Mom Rosie.

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It's incredible journey that she's made and I hope she can keep going.

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She's also doing a lot of pretty amazing stuff for Islanders because she's a bit of a, she's

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from Samoan background.

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So she's inspiring a lot of other girls and other Islanders to do sports and get into tennis.

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Most people look at it as rugby or because they're very solid type of culture.

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But so she's showing that there's other ways of getting out there.

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So she's inspiring more.

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So that's been really cool as well.

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Yeah, we see the young player coming up and then we see the inspiration of the kids.

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I like one of the more recent relatively viral videos online of little Coco Gough sitting

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right behind Venus Williams.

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And those things matter.

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We talk with a lot of coaches and players that talk about their seminal moment, that moment

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that said I want to do this.

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Andy Roddick's got his story as well that says, when I was at this tournament, I saw that

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and it was so cool and I said I was going to go do it.

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So I think that's really important to see those players and take the young kids up to watch

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them play to get inspired.

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100% and it also started somewhere.

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I mean, they showed Jacofe Chas Journey with his former coach when he first started as

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well, right?

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I mean, again, there are a lot of coaches.

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If you are listening that are in the trenches that are building future stars that don't

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get any accolades, don't get any recognition, just keep doing it because it is a numbers

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game.

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You just speak like sales and you just keep building and keep building and there is no guarantees.

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If you saw Jacofe Chas in the forehand when he was a little kid and they show it, it wasn't

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as flash as everyone's talking about.

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But he had a drive and he had something and did she raise a ton of them?

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Probably not.

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Again, you just got to keep going.

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I think in the player development side, if you've got an eye for it and you love it, just keep

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doing it.

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The recognition comes from like I had yesterday, what you know, when that last point in the

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10 point tie breaker and just when she dropped a racket, everybody felt it.

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You're part of the journey.

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That's fine.

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We need to hook you up with the coachlife.com group because they talk with coaches that

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worked with players like their first coach.

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That would be an interesting conversation to be had because hey, what does that take?

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I like what you put is that the numbers game say, well, these coaches didn't just coach

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that one player.

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It wasn't like I picked out Nick Gerios and he was going to be the, it was, they worked

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with thousands of players and they also happened to work with that one that happened to make

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it because most players don't make it.

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And when we talk about players, I mean, in my academy, you always say that it's your journey

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to the player.

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It's not the coach's journey.

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And the coach doesn't own the player, the player owns the player.

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So I used to say that all the time because the player needs to understand, you've got to

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stand on that court and do it for yourself.

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And I'm only going to be a pawn in the whole process.

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You're going to have multiple mentors, multiple coaches, multiple inspirations, which you've

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still got to be able to do it yourself.

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And so that's really the key element.

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I mean, I could almost replay it.

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It was myself, her dad, Mark, Mom Rosie, then there was Lisa Demilio, then there was Tennis

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Australia, who had multiple coaches that tried to help her.

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And then she's had a bit of a rock he rode with here in and out.

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And then I remember helping with Jamie Fallis, who's also in the tournament.

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They found Storch's in the tournament.

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There's a whole bunch of players that we all touch, but at the end of the day, the player's

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doing it for themselves.

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If we've been part of the journey, it just makes it more exciting as a coach.

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But every day, that's what I think every coach needs to realize.

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We're touching players that get this kind of result, I should say.

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That makes me think of yesterday I watched the post-match interview from Taylor Fritz.

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We don't always do these day-ofs.

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So this is more of a current event conversation that we don't usually have it this way.

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Excuse me, but the post-match interview with Taylor Fritz, where the question was, what

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does it take, this 10-year-old in the stands wants to ask a question about, what does it

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take to be a top five player?

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I think Taylor had a very simple and straightforward answer.

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It takes hard work.

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It takes a lot of hard work, but it also means you've got to want it, you've got to love it,

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and you've got to love that hard work.

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I heard another comment, and I think Robbie Konig was talking about, shying, one of the Chinese

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players.

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He's six foot four, he's got the bill, he's got the talent.

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They said he was the better player when he was in a academy with Daniel Medvedet, who clearly

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has had the better result, the better career.

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He just never got it.

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The day in, the day out, the work ethic, there's so much more than just being talented.

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Yeah, I mean, the dial talks about it all the time.

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Every player talks about just that hard work.

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You've got to be up to get up each day, every single day, and just keep going.

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You can look at it in every sport, Kirby Bryant, Curry, all of them, every single sport, it's

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about getting up and doing the work.

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Tom Brady talks about the work all the time.

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But if we talk about tennis, I can come up with a thousand different examples, but I'll

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He came off the plane, I was sitting in high-sense arena.

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He got a limo to their courts, and before going to a hotel, before doing anything, he walks

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straight out the court, picked out Racken and the bag, put the hitter up the other end,

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and the first rally was 118 balls.

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That's fantastic.

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First hit, and I just sat there, and he just literally come on the court, or just racking

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out, put the hitter up the other end, and the first rally was that.

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That's how you get ready to get it right.

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Patrick Mary, who talks about serene and we're hit for 45 minutes with one ball.

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So these things, that's what makes them where they are, top five, or top 10, and if you want

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to be there, you've got to be really, really, there's got to be something special about

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you, you've got to be running to work.

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Last two minutes of our 10 minutes here, I want to run through the men's draw real

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quick, because it looks like I've only got one really big question with it, which is seats

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across.

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Does he just need to switch to a two-handed backhand?

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I mean, he just doesn't have it, does he?

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Okay, I wasn't expecting that one.

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It's just he passed through a two-handed backhand.

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Come on, man.

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No.

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Easy.

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I make it like this.

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The game's bigger than him right now.

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He was what?

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Three in the world at one point?

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I don't think anybody fears him anymore.

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I think he's just got to get his edge back, that's all, but maybe not.

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Look at what happened with Dominic Team, but Dominic Team was more injury-wise.

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But yeah, he needs to get his weapons.

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He needs to, I think they just need to go back to the drawing board a little bit.

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He does have the tools.

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For him and a two-handed backhand, people.

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It is.

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Yeah, no.

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I would actually, I would probably try to strengthen the serve and get him to the net

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more.

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And maybe work the slice more.

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But yeah, no, he has the tools.

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They just need to reinvent.

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Tools to be top 10.

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I don't know if he's a contender.

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We look at Rubelev.

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Rubelev loves losing early in the majors.

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What's going on there?

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Yeah, again, I think there's a big wave of players coming in.

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You know, that they're all hungry.

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Good point.

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Big wave of players is good, right?

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Yeah, there's a big wave of players coming in.

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They're all hungry.

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When we said the top three got out of the way, which one's still going, who's not far off,

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I believe.

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I'm sure of that.

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Joggevich looks like he's working uphill against some of these stronger, younger players.

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And of course, with his age and everything he's done, I think he's doing really well.

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I won't take, I'll give him credit still.

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But at the same time, there is a big wave of players coming in that are hungry and it's going

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to be hard to see.

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I don't see how we're going to have a consistent top 10.

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We're going to see a lot of in and out, like we used to see with the female tour.

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I think we're going to see a lot of that.

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We're going to, at least for the five years now, we're going to get a feel for in and out

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in and out until we see another top two, top three, top four.

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You know, and they're starting to sort out, starting to sort out some rivalries.

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And the top three, I think, is going to be a lot more than that.

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I think that's going to be a lot more than that.

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I think that's going to be a lot more than that.

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I think that's going to be a lot more than that.

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I think that's going to be a lot more than that.

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I think that's going to be a lot more than that.

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I think that's going to be a lot more than that.

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I think that's going to be a lot more than that.

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It's going to be a lot more than that.

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I think that's going to be a lot more than that.

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I think that's going to be a lot more than that.

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I think that's going to be a lot more than that.

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I think that's going to be a lot more than that.

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I think that's going to be a lot more than that.

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I think that's going to be a lot more than that.

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I think that's going to be a lot more than that.

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I think that's going to be a lot more than that.

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That makes it more difficult for the older players to keep up with.

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Especially when there's a lot of them.

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I think that's what we're seeing.

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We're seeing a lot of wave of a lot of hungry players.

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You only have to look at the first round and look at who won.

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There was not the obvious names.

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We'll see how far some of them go.

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Paul Kers had a great little start to the year from the States.

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I think we'll see.

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It's going to be very interesting, 25 in the whole world for everything these days.

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10 miles will be one of them.

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There you go.

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I like that.

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In our 13th minute of our 10 minutes of tennis.

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You got picks on men's and the women's side.

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Have you looked that far into to make a bold pick day three, day four?

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Yes.

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I think because of the way the drawer is,

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I still think Senna is going to probably take it out just as fit as he is.

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He just looks too clean.

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I don't know how to call it.

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I think he's.

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I picked against him.

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And you know, bit biased, but Darren K.

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All in his corner.

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Let's go Aussie.

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Aussie, Aussie.

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What about the women?

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You think Coco, go off, can pull it off?

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Is there an Aussie that's going to make a run?

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I can't.

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I can't pick a woman.

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Sorry, man.

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Okay.

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There's too many.

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I don't know about it either.

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I don't personally follow it back.

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No, I know.

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I know enough of it.

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But there's too many big hitters.

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Too many women that just,

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they turn on and just, you wouldn't think they'd come out and know what they just do.

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The women's is very exciting.

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There's all I can say because it's too hard to predict exactly who's going to dominate.

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There's just too many good names.

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And we got to remember it's a fresh start of the year.

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So they've all had some time off.

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So we'll see.

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I think the women's is exciting because it's too hard to predict.

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Yeah, you know.

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Yeah, you know, I'm going to watch.

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Yeah, it keeps you intrigued.

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Right?

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Like what match am I going to miss?

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Who's really going to win?

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Yeah.

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So that's what the women's be brings you into fight.

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Like, I better watch this one because you just don't know.

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Like, you know, sometimes when you just know, you just don't watch because you know it's going to be over in 25, 30 minutes.

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Right.

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Exactly.

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All right.

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Well, this has been our 14 minutes of 10 minutes of 10.

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A special edition talking about the Aussie open.

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Maybe we'll do the same thing next week.

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Absolutely, but we all my few anyway.

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So it's all good.

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This is true.

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We took a few weeks off.

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Justin, I appreciate it.

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This has been 10 minutes of tennis with World R&D tennis coach Australian in Puerto Rico.

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Justin, you know, thank you, sir.

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We'll see you next week.

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Cheers, man.

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Well, there you have it.

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And with that, we're out.

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See you next time.

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