00:00Nick, long time coming for a lot of people, mate. How's it feeling? Is there nerves? Is
00:09it what you remember from pre-tournament in the past?
00:13Yeah, look, it's just good to be back. I don't know. I mean, I'm obviously a little bit,
00:18I don't know if I'll call it nervous, more just, I guess, I mean, today when I was hitting
00:23on stadium and then playing another guy that's in the draw that's also had a couple injuries,
00:29I guess we just reflected on, you know, I mean, I look where I was at 18 months ago
00:36and you know, I had the surgery. It's been about 16 months and I just, I honestly never
00:39thought I'd be back playing at this level and even just, you know, entering an event
00:43like this, preparing and doing all the right things, but it was just surreal to be back
00:47out there and I took it all in and yeah, I'm really excited to just go out there and just
00:51play, like just play tennis and, you know, I saw Novak in the gym and playing doubles
00:55with him. There's a lot to be excited about that I'm just able to get out there and compete
01:00again.
01:01Tell us about that decision to play doubles with Novak.
01:04We kept like messaging me over and over again and then I was just like, I'll give him a
01:10little handout and give him the pleasure of playing doubles with me, but no, it's going
01:16to be a lot of fun. I mean, look, a kid from Canberra gets to play with the greatest of
01:19all time in his hometown in front of the fans is pretty special and it's something that
01:25I'm able to tell people, you know, when it's all said and done that I've played doubles
01:28with him is pretty special.
01:30Who were you hitting with?
01:32Riley Opelka.
01:33How did you feel? How's the wrist?
01:35Yeah, it felt good. It was definitely a step up, you know, returning that serve from, you
01:41know, the practice court, but it was good to go right in the heat of the pace of the
01:45ATP Tour, you know, he's got one of the biggest serves, so to test my wrist out against that,
01:48you know, obviously I play pericard, which is arguably probably the biggest serve on
01:51tour, so it was good preparation. I actually booked Riley a week ago, not knowing the draw
01:56at all, and then I came out today, so really good preparation, but yeah, I'm not even thinking
02:01about that. I'm just thinking about, you know, waking up, doing the right things for my wrist,
02:04my body, and then just trying to get back on the court and just stack the days together.
02:07Everyone's obviously wondering what level you'll be able to get to, and the serve's
02:11a big part of that. I think that was, you know, when you've been trying to get back
02:14and rallying, but where's the serve at? Where are you hoping to get it to? Can it get back
02:19to being one of the best on tour?
02:22Look, I think, you know, I've seen athletes, not necessarily tennis athletes, I mean, tennis
02:28athletes, NBA players, you know, they have horrible surgeries and they have bad injuries
02:32and they come back and everyone expects them to be back to the way they were when they
02:37were in their prime. You know, I would love to be able to go out there and play the way
02:41I played in 2022 and compete for Grand Slams, and I still believe I can. You know, whether
02:47or not that's factual or not, you know, there was another player who was like, oh, you have
02:50to be realistic, and that's just not how I am. I always back my ability, I always go
02:54out there believing I can win, so I still feel like I can produce a level that's pretty
02:59high. And, you know, I think when people are, especially against Pericard as well, I could
03:05play like Roger and still lose, and I could play the worst match of my life and still
03:08lose. That's the type of player he is. He takes the racket out of your hand. So, I think
03:13I'm playing pretty good, and I think I'm still able to, you know, play well, but to expect
03:20to be the exact same after such a, you know, it's a career-ending injury, really. You know,
03:26them tennis players never had this injury before and never come back. So, we'll see
03:31how it goes.
03:32Nick, has your relationship with tennis changed in your time away and now coming back and
03:37being part of a tournament again?
03:40I mean, it's always been a, I guess most tennis players say it's like a love-hate relationship.
03:44You go through hating it months, and then you go through loving it. But I guess for
03:50me, it was not even a tennis thing. It was just like my everyday living was affected
03:55from this injury. I couldn't carry groceries. I couldn't turn a doorknob. So, it was like
03:58to the point where tennis was like, if I'm able to play tennis again, it's just a bonus.
04:02Like it wasn't, you know, I don't look at it any differently. I'm just not going to
04:06take anything for granted. I'm going to go out there and play, and I don't know how it's
04:09going to be literally a day-by-day symptomatic injury moving forward. You know, if I play
04:13a long match or, you know, I jam it the wrong way, who knows how it's going to pull up the
04:17next day. That's just the type of injury it is. So, but I think I, you know, I enjoy still
04:23being around tennis because if I didn't, you know, obviously commentate, and I'm going
04:26to be commentating for a long time, but I didn't have to put myself back in this position
04:30of the preparation, the training, the competing, the dealing with all the media scrutiny, like
04:34going out there, putting myself basically in the pressure cooker again. I didn't have
04:37to do that, but I still think I enjoy parts of the sport. So, that's why, you know, I
04:41tried to go through that process, the hard process of getting back.
04:45You've been outspoken about Yannick Sinner and that whole situation. Can you talk about
04:50what your, what the motives are behind that? Like, is it a bit of fun? Is it about making
04:55a statement about drugs in tennis? Is it a bit of both? Tell us about that.
04:59Well, I mean, first of all, I mean, someone like me who I would never even in my entire
05:05life ever try and dope in this sport, you know, this is something that, I mean, especially
05:10going through an injury like I went through, and obviously there are things out there that
05:15could speed up healing, help me get back to prime level, you know, help my recovery. There's
05:22so many things out there that are prohibited in our sport that I could have been doing
05:26to get me back quicker. You know, two years out of the sport in my prime, basically I
05:30was 28, competing for Wimbledon, US Open, and I had an injury where I could have been
05:34doing things to get back, but that's just not who I am. And I'm always against that.
05:40So for me, when people are saying that I'm disrespectful to the sport, I think someone
05:43like that that has tried to cheat the process and actually not, you know, done it completely
05:49on their own merit is the disrespectful one, in my opinion. But that's, yeah, I mean, I
05:54have to be outspoken about it because I don't think there's enough people that are speaking
05:58about it. I think people are trying to sweep it under the rug and saying that, oh, you
06:04know, about the amount and all this. It's just like, it's not nothing about that. It's
06:07like, and there's not fair treatment for every single player. I mean, we've seen that
06:12with Max Purcell, and the reason that's different is because he went to the authorities first.
06:17He admitted that he had done something, you know, that was on the prohibited list and
06:20he was outspoken about it. That's how it should be, rather than all this sweeping under the
06:24rug and not knowing, and there's question marks. Okay, he's number one in the world
06:28and he's an amazing tennis player. I've never said he's not. And I just think the treatment
06:33has to be fair for everyone. And I just think that it's been handled horrifically in our
06:39sport, and two world number ones both getting done for doping is disgusting for our sport.
06:45It's a horrible look. And yeah, the tennis integrity right now, and everyone knows it,
06:50but no one wants to speak about it. It's awful. Like, it's actually awful. And it's not okay.
06:56So I know that people don't like when I just speak out about things and be honest about
07:02things. But for someone, a kid that grew up playing tennis, and I enjoyed the competition,
07:06I enjoyed playing, you know, I can get emotional, I can throw a racket, but that's nothing compared
07:10to cheating and taking performance enhancing drugs. That's ridiculous, in my opinion.
07:14So I'm not going to shut up about it anyway. Like, yeah. Sorry, I probably went a bit too
07:21long, but that's just my honest thoughts.
07:24You are very confident, though, that you believe he has done something wrong. Like when you
07:28say he's tried to cheat, are you certain he has done that?
07:31Well, I mean, so your question is, do I think that he failed two steroid drug tests, which
07:38factually happened? He did fail two doping tests at separate times as well. It wasn't
07:45one after the other. They were a different timeframe. So, I mean, if you think that that's
07:53the way that it got in his system, if that's how you think it's happened, then, but I mean,
08:00if he didn't do anything wrong, then why did they take his prize money and points away?
08:03Obviously, they found something wrong with it. And then obviously, why does it build
08:07it? Because of all this, like, I mean, I employ my team hundreds and thousands of dollars
08:16to be the professional they are, to make sure that doesn't happen. So they knew it happened.
08:22Then why did they wait five to six months to do anything about it? He kept his team
08:26for five months. Do you know what I mean? Like, that doesn't make sense. Like, if they
08:30knew about it two weeks after, then why did you keep the same team? I'd be livid if my
08:34team, if my physiotherapist contaminated me and put me in this position, I'd be, I'd probably
08:38never talk to the guy again. But he had the guy on his team for five months acting like
08:42nothing happened. That's as sus as anything, if you ask me.
08:47Nick, just on Novak, do you think the timing, you coming back to tennis, you playing with
08:53Novak, spending time with him this week, picking his brain a bit?
08:57I don't pick his brain.
08:58But what's that going to do for you, do you think, as far as your tennis goes, having
09:02that experience with him here?
09:05I mean, you're acting like I'm not a decent tennis player. Like, I've beaten the guy twice.
09:10Let's just, look, I've, you know, he's an amazing player, the greatest to ever play
09:15the court. But I wouldn't say I'm going out there and like, oh my God, Novak, like, you're
09:18the best. Like, please give me advice. No, I'm not like that. I just do it. I'm just
09:22going to go out there, have some fun. And I think I actually help him more because he's
09:27got to the point of his career where he wants to obviously have a bit of fun. Like, he's,
09:32you don't get to a position like that and you don't get to have a career like that without
09:36serious discipline day in, day out. And I think now he's starting to have a bit of fun,
09:39obviously employing Andy Murray as his coach. Like, he's looking for a change. He's playing
09:43doubles with arguably the most controversial tennis player. So he's obviously, I think,
09:48to the point where he just wants to, you know, have something fresh and have a bit
09:51of fun and remember that he can reward himself at the end of the day. And it doesn't always
09:55have to be super, super, like, you know, really straightforward and not fun at all. So I don't
10:00know. I don't know how it's going to be. Look, we might get absolutely snipped. We've never
10:03played doubles before. We might not win. Like, I feel like everyone thinks we're just going
10:08to mesh. We'll see. Two complete different personalities. We'll see how it goes.
10:12In the Australian Open, Nick, obviously you played Novak in Wimbledon. You went so close.
10:17But the Australian Open, how big would that be for you to win that, for you personally?
10:22Mate, I don't even want to, you know, to... I don't even think that's... I haven't even
10:28thought about the Australian Open once, honestly. With the way my body is and the way my wrist
10:31is, if I don't take a day-by-day process, I won't be able to play. Like, this week,
10:37I have to concentrate and be diligent with everything in my recovery. I can't think about
10:40the Australian Open right now.
10:43Last question.
10:46Just on that, then. I mean, we've obviously seen you throughout your career. You've played
10:49with this such bravado, etc. Has this sort of been... I don't know if humbling is the
10:54right word, but the experience of sort of the limits with the wrist as well and sort
10:58of having to... You kind of partially putting limits on yourself and your expectations.
11:03Has that been tough for you?
11:07I think the media is to blame for me playing with such bravado. I've just played the same
11:13way since I was a junior and how I am now. I've played the same way, and I guess they
11:19kind of created, like, every time he steps out on the court, there's something to go...
11:22where I've played years and years of tennis in my life, and I've played normal matches.
11:27But yeah, I mean, I don't even think it's been humbling. I actually think I'm probably
11:32one of the most humble tennis players. I've never taken myself too seriously, and I know
11:36at the end of the day, I'm just hitting a ball over the net, to be honest. So I guess
11:41it's just made me understand that I'm not young anymore, for sure. On the tour, they've
11:47got these young guys like Roon, Sine, Alcaraz. These guys are freaks of nature, and I know
11:52I'm not in that position anymore. But yeah, I'm just enjoying the ride. This is definitely
11:57the later stages of my career, so it's going to be just trying to enjoy it all.
12:01Thank you, guys.
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