Stefanos Tsitsipas and Aryna Sabalenka on the Blade v9 and Beyond

so ladies and gentlemen welcome again and welcome to Steph I know he needs no introduction uh to tennis fans everywhere but I'm going to introduce him anyway obviously he's a much loved player here in Australia he's defending a final from here last year uh he's been ranked as high as number three by the ATP we expect higher things than that by the way Steph yeah uh he's won 10 ATP singles titles including uh two masters 1,000 championships he won the 2019 ATP finals and that is a big deal becoming the youngest winner in 18 years and of course he's reached two major singles finals one at the French Open in n in 2021 I nearly said 1921 2021 and of course here last year in in 23 he was a finalist losing to Novak both times so welcome mate it's nice to see you you you you might need to turn that on still here we go well done Steph so you like the blade they tell me is that right it's the best I see you've got your hands on that one um now they tell me that's your favorite color too is that right it does happen to be my favorite uh color pattern yes uh fluorescent yellow there are a few touches in it with uh obviously a main dark foresty green finish which I love why why is that where do you get that from that foresty green rang garos 2021 I believe years that was a good year what was the year I lost to hul garun I'm trying to remember 21 I believe I I became really obsessed with cars so the uh for the for the past four months before my Rolla and G's debut that year I was just constantly wake I would wake up in the morning and think about this particular one car I was just oh fully obsessed with it and I'm like I need to buy this car I'm never I'm not a m materialistic type of of guy if I like something like I just stick to it I saw this Aston Martin in Speedster V12 um um right next to my apartment where I live and uh since that day I was like I I need to do absolutely everything that I can to make enough money to buy that car so after the French Open I bought I bought the my first ever Aston Martin's Pizer and it came in that color right here okay so that's not a that's not a British racing green is it it's a British racing green is it is no it's a it's a Wilson it's a Wilson it's a Wilson American Racing green yeah good answer good for you yeah we we readjusted it uh slightly so I bought the Asal Mar sper I was extremely happy it came in in in in this color right here um I I can't differentiate it I mean I think it's exactly the same from what I have it and as everyone knows I don't know if anyone follows uh F1 uh Aston Martin colors um they uh they come in British racing green and fluorescent yellow so that's exactly how my car came with fluorescent yellow accents on it and since that day I was obsessed with the color I was like this color is absolutely amazing I just need to um implement it more into my life in other objects or things that I own to just have that color pattern are you aware that that's almost the Australian colors is are you aware yeah oh yeah it is a golden yellow with green right and you said last year you were looking at real estate here you're not you're not moving here by any chance no um no not yet okay not yet okay so we've got some youngsters here Steph um they can't afford an Aston Martin yet by the way but I I I I encourage you to keep dreaming big good so just go back could you for our sake and just tell us how what got you into tennis why did you become attracted to the sport cars no no no um well it started a long time ago uh in 2001 when I was about 3 years old I um happened to have two parents that both uh love tennis and coach tennis and they were fully invested in tennis um one day I show up at the course where they worked at it was the Four Seasons in Athens uh and uh I think that day I realized that there's this beautiful sport that exists that is called tennis I picked up my first uh tennis racket that day which happened to be Wilson I don't know by coincidence I don't you know a fast forward 2024 we're here doing this is is absolutely amazing so I picked up my first Wilson his ret and I started hitting uh balls uh then eventually one week passed a month passed and I was really fully invested in it I really liked it enjoy it um hitting the courts and spending pretty much my whole day there from the morning till the night I would just play with other kids my parents would coach little kids and I would just join them and play with them and I used to get very frustrated because I used to lose to in all the games they used to do for the little kids you know throwing the balls around and the kids have to collect all the balls and and get back as as many of them as possible and I remember I used to finish last in those games and I would cry and get really upset and three years later I they signed they signed me up in my um in the tennis club that I even go to this day uh and and I started taking regular tennis lessons two times a week when I was 6 years old and my obsession grew bigger and stronger at about the age of 10 I already knew I wanted to pursue tennis seriously and make it a career one day okay and you when did you really know that you were actually good at this was it a 10 or was it a little older um that's a good question you know it's it's difficult to really answer this because I used to compete in Greek tournaments and in my mind I don't know whether that was because I was humble or okay I I did realize that I was good in Greece but to me didn't really mean anything cuz I knew that there was a whole world out there where 10ish was played even better and um the competition was even more uh fierce fierce and U players were much stronger uh globally so I did get a good taste in the beginning of what it is to be the number one on the 12 in Greece under the 14 all these categories you know moving to under 16 but then I combined it at the age of 14 I remember I had a summer where I went to Europe to play and test myself against European players and I was not the best so that gave me a good first hit of you know I got to work harder things are not looking as easy as I initially thought they are uh so I did have my first fall there and uh got a very good understanding of what level is and uh I think at at around the age of I would say 12 to 14 I did understand and really wanted to pursue professional Dennis but um I was never too sure how easy it is to make it so I just took it step by step I I I focused on junior tennis development and then uh I started playing my first uh amateur professional tennis competition when I was 15 16 years old and when I first first uh got my uh when I got my first ADP points I then realized yeah I can actually make it but I think the my first realization of that I can turn a professional tennis player it came when I hit uh the number one Junior spot in the world um on the ITF junior rankings that's when I first realized you know what I can actually have a good shot at this yeah wow okay they tell me those losses build character do you agree with that or would you prefer not to build so much character uh they do it does build character it's like turning right in an aane you know that builds character yeah okay now let's jump forward a little bit because you've been to two grand slam finals uh one at Rolland Garis on the clay and of course last year here um now your surface preference when you played at the club with your parents it's on hardcourt Clay courts on that's clay courts on okay so what's your favorite surface now do you I like I like them all you like them all I like them all they're all unique and they're all beautiful to play at I don't have a preference um the surface that I do know the best simply because I spend years of my craft trying to perfect that particular surface because I only had access to that was Clay quartz yeah well I think I I have the opinion that if you learn on Clay it builds your it builds your game a little better than every other surface I think it gives it helps you build your craft so you've learned to be an allc Court player because of that probably I I absolutely agree on that I think it's great even for young kids to start playing on Clay it's a great surface to play it's good for your joints for your muscles it's uh not as hard on your on you doesn't um it's not a a very aggressive surface um and I think I'm actually thankful for it now that I had a tennis club that had only clay courts because was um I developed as a tennis player in a very healthy environment due to that at the rich count at the no not the rich Four Seasons Four Seasons but that was hardc I was not practicing there okay I was practicing at another club all right Steph so we the people in this room follow tennis obviously um your biggest rival who who do you see that as and I mean I know there's lots of them there are lots of them yeah yeah and but you myself yeah yeah is it you are your own biggest rival okay that's not a bad answer I like that M yeah okay I like the question but it's just I'd like to go deeper with it yeah yeah okay so we may not have that time um okay all right so what what's been your biggest moment in recent years though I mean I'm guessing it's one of the the finals or the semis of those finals but you you tell us biggest moment biggest memory sort of of moment that you've been through as a player final here it was a big moment why not I mean my first Grand Slam final the Rand garos it was a big moment um and there was a lot of uh memories from that day but the one that hit me the strongest was here because I was not just fighting for my first Grand Slam um um TR trophy I was also playing for the world number one spot so it was uh two in one almost and uh my whole past just flushed in front of my eyes I the first thing that came to my mind was when I was 3 years old in these courts in a country that has no history in tennis no one has ever came from Greece playing good tennis and I was the first player of my um even generation but also from from my country that I was about to make history not just for myself for my own personal goals but also for an entire nation that was watching and um yeah it was a very emotional day yeah not not many players get to you or get close to that ultimate goal I think but but what is your what do you think it is the ultimate place you want to go with your tennis with my tennis is it number one I do I would would like to be number one in the world I think everyone would like to be number one in the world but for me there are more import more important things in life such as to like live a good Legacy with what I've done in the sport over the years to just inspire people that's way more important to me whether you're number one you could be number one in the world but you really bring nothing to the to the game and you just do it for yourself I just don't I don't want to do this just for myself I want to do it for um other people that have joined me on my journey and people that have went through emotions as well with me because there I know that every time time playing there are millions of people watching back home or anywhere else in the world that um um it's kind of touching for them and and they they feel some sort of connection to me throughout my journey and and through my purpose that I'm trying to um that I'm trying to uh put out there on the court there is there's a purpose there is a there is a there is a meaning behind all of this and I want just people and little kids I I I I love seeing kids uh follow tennis um my mission with it is just to have a big impact within this if that's number one in the world that's great if I win multiple slams that's great I'm just out there doing my job daily and what I have control over is to perfect it and do it as good as I can well I think Wilson want good people that's why you're here with exactly corre just being a good person that matters to me way more that's it good for you Steph um I was already a fan but now I'm a bigger one so just before we finish um outside of tennis I know that you're an Aston Martin fan now um I see I don't think the willson people are to Ken about that oh they're not ah well they they like your color choices um you're a bit of a watch fan you what what what what turn you on outside of the Court when you when you leave and have your holidays and when you have your rest periods there there is um that's a great question cuz I I just discovered what I like as well that is linked to this as well and that is the color green as we see here and I just realized I'm I mean I didn't realize I know that um but I'm a big fan of nature I like to immerse myself into like Landscapes and nature and like rainforest and I just love being in those places you're starting to sound like the perfect man Steph you know like no no no I um I also want through my tennis I just realized I also want through my tennis to to to kind of have environmental and sustainability um sustainability kind of impact through my game and my tenness because I really care about marine life nature on its own I know there has been a lot of topics surrounding that climate change and all that and I feel responsible as an athlete to have uh some sort of say or involvement in that because I I feel like there's no Planet B and this is our only planet and we should take care of it and I just love the planet that I reside in good for you mate well done well um you do a lot of good things for tennis and um we hope you can back that up last year or this year from what you did last year I was commentating all of your matches last year and G you played some amazing stuff I could hear you when I was playing you I try to keep my voice DED um okay so thank you mate it's so nice to have you here and uh I know Wilson are proud of you as as an ambassador and um we're going to have a few photos if that's okay absolutely we have Arena here now I just want to dwell on one thing she's been ranked number one in the world and you need to dwell on that because that's thrown around a lot uh in the tennis parants you know we all talk about it we it's a throwaway line and this person's been ranked number one and that this is a big deal it is very difficult to get to the top we think there's probably 150 million tennis players or something Arena around the world I don't know I don't know done welcome thank you hi hi everyone if I can just introduce you by saying uh you've been playing pretty much since 2017 a bit longer maybe on the tour I think yeah I think 2017 and you won your first WTA title at the Connecticut open and follow that up with another title at the Wuhan oh thank you for remind me I already forgot that you're winning so many you've forgotten see no no I'm getting old it's been a lot while ago you're not too old so since then she's continued to climb the ranks and obviously now has become or reached in September the top player in the world um and last year she made a bit of history for herself and one her first major at this train open so well done thank you please make her welcome thank [Applause] you so Arena I'm one of those old tennis commentators and I admire what you guys do every day I used to play a little bit years ago um tell us a bit about the strain open last year first because I I think I was never good enough to win a major singles title but I think that the first one would be the hardest um I don't know actually I just have one if I would have three of them I would tell you what is the hardest one but um yeah I think it's really like emotionally it's really tough the first one because you're like trying to get their close and you fail a lot and I think it's it's it's part of the process and I feel like to Wi in a grand slime you need to fail a couple of times to learn something and then you're like kind of like ready for anything on Court and then it means that you're ready to win the major tournament so so far I would say that the first one was the hardest one I think so I don't know probably not because I still have only one so I feel like it's always will be always will be tough you know it's never easy on court there yeah never easy um but they do tell me you like the blade right I do I do I do love the blade are you giving the blade the credit for the asron open last year or I giving the blade a lot of credit you know I'm playing with this rocket since I'm 16 I think so how many years how old I am 25 a lady doesn't need to tell her age okay so nine years I'm playing with blade I guess I guess it's um let's give some percentage to Blade fair enough well done can you take us back to the beginning of your tennis life because it is a global sport um in all these different countries you know I I knew what it was like to try and play tennis as a young person in this country but not in all of the other countries where all of our um world players come from tell us what it was like for you how how did you start uh nothing really crazy I was really active uh kid uh I was running a lot and my parents decided to bring me to Sport and they were like thinking what can be good for me because I was quite tall I wasn't like a small kid when I was six and like gymnastic was out straight away uh what else there's like basketball volleyball but I wasn't like a team player and uh Team person I would say and I mean they just bring me on tennis court and that's how everything started and I loved it and uh I don't know I just lefted it that's everything I remember were they public courts or did you have a club we had we had a club it was one uh um kind of like the biggest Club in uh in in Minsk Belarus we had like couple of clubs but they bring me in the biggest one and yeah everything everything started there okay were they hard courts that you played on there hard courts okay but most of my time actually later on most of my time I was practicing on the clay court so I don't know like my whole career people were saying that clay court is not my is not my court but actually I've been practicing a lot on the clay court and I actually love playing on Clay but but is it your favorite surface or or because you've had your first win on a hardcourt in in a grand I would definitely say that the hardcore is my favorite but I also enjoy playing on clay and grass you like grass too okay well there's a pretty big tournament that's played on grass you might oh yeah I agree you might be you have to laugh all of them you know so so was the Australian Open do you consider that your biggest it has to be your biggest moment I think of course okay so what about the biggest match that you remember was it in that tournament or was it another time maybe it was one you lost um but your yeah as your biggest memory really as a an important match I don't know I have a lot of memories and um I would say that the final of the Australia Open was the biggest match because you know it wasn't that easy final match you know it was the match where I had to work really hard and where I had to turn around the game and fight for it and I really I really enjoyed that fight because it wasn't like an easy an easy win so I was really proud of myself in that match and I think that was the most memorable match from that tournament but then later on the season I think the final with eager we played was also really huge really high level match really amazing I just got a little bit more lucky than her and I won that match the WTA finals um yeah the WTA finals I mean in Madrid on the clay um but also the you so on with coko I lost that much probably at some point I didn't play my best but it was super um I don't know the atmosphere was crazy even though they support her more but but it was amazing aome I would say one of the greatest matches I played I wish I would finish it differently but um as I said you need to fail sometimes you do Lear well we were just talking to Stefan Stephan we he's I said you know character is built when you lose matches sometimes isn't it makes you a winner the next time yeah yeah you need to get a little bit angry you know like you need to you need to like fill this um I don't know you know like I don't want to happen it again you know like it just your dislike for losing yeah what were the feelings like because most of us in this world don't have that feeling when you when you win this big Cornerstone event in the world of your sport which happened to be the Australian Open that was the first one what what goes through your mind can you remember can you remember what happened that 10 minutes 5 minutes afterwards it's really warm here was it relief um honestly I expected much more emotions but by that by that time I was so exhausted from like being in the tournament for such a long time I mean it's it's just two weeks but when you like playing like day after day it feels like forever but I remember the first I was um like yes it wasn't the waste of my time I was in the right sport the whole life and um and yeah I was I was proud of uh of a lot of things actually of my family they that they they were pushing themselves so hard so I I was able to be where I am right now I was proud of my team that um they were like they always they're the guys who's like always looking for something new for something more for um to improve my game and I was of course I was proud of myself that I was able to bring everything together and um achieve what I achieved so it was like you know it was like 5 Seconds thoughts but it was just like yes I did it it wasn't waste enough time well done yeah what a relief and your family what what a moment for them when when it finally happened huh yeah yeah my mom was calling me crying like really crying and saying that your father would be proud of you so it was really emotional moment everyone was crying yeah but we were all crying here too I'm about to cry right now as well you don't need to do that okay so let's look to the Future quickly this year um it starts again you know there's it's never ending you know that that computer system that ranks your keeps going keeps going and you have to defend everything here now but you feel good leading into the open this year yeah I feel really good and I think that's not the right mentality thinking about like I need to defend you know it's we just start everything over again it's it's like yes I won it last year last year was amazing tournament but amazing amazing year overall uh but I'm not here to defend something I'm here to bring better tennis that it was last year you you have another opportunity that's the way to look at it exactly what do you think ultimately um did you have goals before you won your first one or do do you not think about goals some people do some don't and what do you want to achieve with your game as time goes on yeah I think we all have the same goals it's quite obvious you know like and I feel like you don't have to think about goals like of course I want to win as as many Grand Slams as I want but uh the main focus is to keep improving improving because I feel like as soon as you stop improving yourself um you you you're losing it like easily so you always have to look for something else and this is just how it working and uh this year I'm just I just want to improve my game I want to get uh like moving better I want to serve better I want to uh like put more pressure on my opponents and I mentally I want to be stronger so I want to improve every ECT of my game fantastic gee your English is good is it yes oh thank you very good gee that's impressive that's what I really always always telling everybody that my English is terrible and I'm sorry sorry for that just like I start my inter my um winning interview uh last year the Australia Open like sorry for my English so but thank you well English is my first language and I think yours is better than mine so you're going okay you're going okay stop saying that because now I feel like it's a little there okay okay um outside of tennis you know before we maybe sign a few autographs and meet some of these youngsters outside of tennis what what do you do what what does Arena do when she leaves the nothing to tennis no no um well what do I do actually do nothing what I have no time for anything else no Hobbies um I like to you like to cook do you like to cook I can cook but I have no time for that but if I cook I mean I can cook what sort of food what what's the native food for you in mink okay what's your favorite food you know like these kind of like pancakes from kage cheese H Dr no no it's a different one it's it's a belarussian one but no the the the Cota cheese right like the pancakes pancakes with with CSH cheese it's with with honey with syrup with honey on the top or or Cham something yeah it's tough to explain actually for real it's hard to explain pancak it's pancakes but it's like they know the thing they like uh like yes okay is it good for your tennis those pancakes it's quite healthy it's depends on which cottage cheese you're using like if if if fat is low so it's it's good you can why are you looking at me when you say that I'm going for the low fat version where is Matt M yeah we're talking about fed people and I'm calling you no okay well let yes yes yes ah GE it looks good we're coming to dinner you try it actually I think it's such a like Eastern European like dish you know I think but it's really good okay well I'm glad you do something outside I mean I can cook I like to go for a good dinner I like to go out I like to have fun watch movies uh spend time with my family um which is not uh happening often but uh well you're a versatile young lady very versatile you know the word versatile means you do many things oh okay I got it yeah yeah okay good for you I like to dance but uh I wish I could go for classes like to learn some more but no I mean unfortunately not much time for that okay in a few years time a lot of years time maybe few years you give me only a few years in tennis thank you I know that's not true that's the biggest uh the biggest fear of my uh of my team of your team yeah because I'm talking about babies and they're like okay I'm I'm we leaving well I can't they don't want to hear about that but why not come on what do you think guys I think like two or three more years I go for baby and if I'm lucky enough I come back gee all I know is I'm blushing now Arena well thank you it's great to chat and um yeah what what a wonderful experience you had last year here we're we're glad it was in Australia yeah and we hope you have more good experiences here so thanks for coming thank you thank you yeah and we've got some people here now some I see some people thank you for telling me some people have a badge so if you have a badge if you could line up first please and if you want to meet Arena and maybe have a photo if that's okay and sign something five bucks five bucks sh you drive a hard barg in around well done thank you mate it's so nice to meet you in chat thank [Applause] [Music] you