Speaking on the first edition of the new ‘The AO Show’ podcast launched this week, defending AO champion Roger Federer said he would be surprised if the next AO champion came from outside the top 10.
Federer, representing Switzerland at the Hopman Cup in Perth, discussed his main competitors for the Australian Open as he prepares for a record seventh major title in Melbourne.
Federer, who is also looking to 'three-peat' at Australian Open 2019, said he would do all he could top stop the Next Gen pool of talent breaking through.
“You have to go with [Djokovic, Nadal, Zverev]. They are definitely the favourites. There are guys who can do breakthrough performances like [Stefanos] Tsitsipas or [Denis] Shapovalov or Nick [Kyrgios] but if you’re talking about who is going to win, it’s probably going to be one of the top 10 guys,” Federer said.
“The Next Gen is definitely pushing through. Is it a time where they are going to win a Slam? That would be nice, but I hope I’m in the mix and will not allow that to happen at this year’s Australian Open.”
Former world No.1 Lleyton Hewitt also joined the show to talk about the storylines he is most looking forward to in January, and rising Aussie star Alex de Minaur was at the top of the list.
“We have a new No.1 on the men’s side in Alex de Minaur who gets the opportunity to go out there and most likely be seeded for the first time at a major. To think that he was outside 200 a year ago and now he’s going to be pushing top 30 in the world is quite extraordinary,” Hewitt said.
“He’s going to come in with a lot of pressure and expectation on his shoulders, but at the age of 19 and as hungry as he is…he’s going to go out and really deal with that pressure and embrace it as much as possible.”
‘The AO Show’ is the official podcast of the Australian Open and will follow the biggest storylines of the tournament in January, with player interviews, expert commentary and insights.
The first episodes also features Australian Open Tournament Director Craig Tiley, who spoke about the exciting new player pods at Melbourne Park, what it takes to run a Grand Slam and how Game Insights Group (GIG) -- the data and analytics arm of the tournament – is transforming the way we analyse and understand tennis.
Listen to ‘The AO Show’ now for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favourite podcast app: http://bit.ly/TheAOShow