Elena Rybakina is your 2026 Australian Open Champion

Alvin Owusu (00:00.66)
And welcome to another episode of the best of three podcast. I'm Alvin that's Tori and Elena Rabackina is your two thousand twenty six Australian open women's champion. That was a fun match. T.H. Did you enjoy yourself first and foremost?

Torrey (00:08.554)
Mm.

Torrey (00:19.103)
I I did, I thought it was a great match. We saw a little taste of this at the WTA final, we? Very similar circumstances, indoor-ish, hardcore. You know it's gonna come down to those two at some point in the WTA final. It obviously came down to that here in Melbourne. I was...

I'm still trying to get my head around it. It was such a closely contested match. Momentum felt like it was like a tricky let-cord. It could go either way at any given time. Both players did so many things so well that it came down to little things and it came down to...

Alvin Owusu (00:59.747)
Yeah.

Torrey (01:13.86)
the execution past what you had planned. In other words, serve plus one, okay, boom, neutralized. Return plus one in a second, boom, okay, got back in the point. Okay, that happens, it's pro tennis. Few quick patterns, couple center shots, inside out, open stance back and back deep, okay, now what? And that happened perhaps four times a game, maybe five, and it was all down to literally inches.

of execution. You know what I mean? So it was was I entertained 100 % I think it was a great final 1000 % was like glad it came down to these two. Of course. Am I looking forward to the next iteration? Absolutely. It's just such high level tennis. It's very difficult to to almost appreciate. I bet if I was watching there in person, I would have been even more impressed because the level is just when you see a ball hit that big that often.

Alvin Owusu (01:44.812)
Yeah.

Torrey (02:13.662)
You almost have to be there in person to really appreciate the level and the pace. The TV didn't always do it justice, you know, with the ball traveling that fast, that often in succession. So all the above, yes, yes, and yes. you know, it was, I think the stats said something that kind of speaks to my ambiguity. 92 points to 92 points. I mean, you know, I mean.

Alvin Owusu (02:39.18)
Yep, that's it. Well, I mean, it's six, four, four, six, six, four, right? Like, I mean, like, we're, what are we, it's, there's not much between the two of them in this match or when they, when they traditionally get together outside of a random, you know, odd one in Brisbane in 2024, they're, they're always, I mean, they have recently played a match that was six, six, six, six, six, six and six. So we knew going in that this,

Torrey (02:42.047)
It's a coin flip. Right. Right.

Torrey (02:49.174)
man, no.

Alvin Owusu (03:07.436)
These women somehow it's like Hancock, right? Or the, these, what is the quote about the something, the force and the immovable object. Like when these two clash, it's like something's got to give, but it's going to be minor. And, that's what we've gotten previously. That's what we got today. you know, kind of like macro, I think we, we saw a lot of things kind of get rectified today. And I want to kind of talk about a big picture before we go into what we saw in the match, but,

Torrey (03:14.856)
Yep,

Alvin Owusu (03:36.79)
I was really, really impressed with like the way that the match did have its natural swings, right? Like it had natural swings, but also it was a very professional, high level women's tennis match. that in the first two sets, they were both separated by one break. one, like Rebecca gets the early break in the first set, serves it out. Sabalinka gets the late break in the second set, right?

Torrey (03:45.309)
Sure

Torrey (03:52.253)
Yeah. Yeah.

Torrey (04:00.637)
Yup. Yup.

Alvin Owusu (04:06.635)
And then that was it, right? She broke at Rebecca and a serving four, five, and then goes on a bit of a run. Yeah, goes on a bit of a run, right? So they go from four all, Sabalinka holds in the second set, five, four, breaks six, four, goes hold, break, hold, right? And I'm like, all right, well let's start figuring out how we're gonna comprehend this particular turn of events here. And then Rebecca goes, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Torrey (04:12.807)
early break on the third. Right. Yeah.

Torrey (04:32.231)
Yeah. Right, right, right, right.

Alvin Owusu (04:35.307)
hold, break, hold, and let me also let you know I'm also sprinting here. so it was, I felt like it was such a breath of, not breath of fresh air, but like, man, we are blessed as tennis fans to have, I mean, this is what our fifth straight different Grand Slam winner on the women's side. Our number one player in the world is requiring almost Herculean performances from other women.

to usurp her in finals of Grand Slams or in Grand Slam big matches. You remember Madison last year, right? Played maybe the master of her life in the week of her life. Coco had to pull out all the stops in the French Open. Amanda played probably the match of her life at Wimbledon against Arena. And now Elena having to play a almost flawless two sets to get herself into the champion seat.

Torrey (05:12.925)
Sure, for sure.

Torrey (05:21.372)
Yep. Yep.

Torrey (05:28.943)
Right. Right.

Alvin Owusu (05:35.501)
When you kind of take a step back and look at two players, right, they both hit the ball extremely big. That is obvious. What would you say are the kind of strengths of each player that showed up in today's match?

Torrey (05:41.533)
Yup. Yup.

Torrey (05:52.038)
Great question.

in order.

Torrey (05:59.355)
We're back in a...

Torrey (06:03.642)
work is the first thing that jumps off at the page. Her footwork was sharp, clean. Her step ins were for a lady that's six foot tall. He bends and moves extremely well. When the pace picks up. Most people get just a tad bit behind. Even Sabalinka as athletic as she is, he could tend to out hit herself from her coverage area. There are such little

spaces in the court that we're back and that cannot get to comfortably. Her footwork, her movement is just astounding at the level and the pace that she executes at. Number two, her depth off of everything. Her depth off of her ground strokes, her depth off the return. Her depth off of your good return is just, it's otherworldly. And that tends to put her back in good shape.

One of things I like about her game is she's pretty fundamentally sound. I know it's an understatement, but she doesn't go for a lot if she doesn't need to. You can go back cross court. Even on balls you think she won't go cross court, you think she'll bail out, she'll go back cross. And that kind of fills you off. It's like going behind you even though she's really playing the right shot. You can think she can do it. And then at times, my point is her footwork gives her that.

The third thing I would say if I had to give her a third thing, she is pretty comfortable at all phases of the court. Her serve's big, her return's good, she has good volley, she's just all around, there's nothing, there's absolutely no holes and a few weapons on both sides. It's like playing an automaton. I there's nothing she doesn't do well. Arena, variety.

I think the one big thing we all know she has the pace and the power and the huge shots. Her variety, her use of the drop shot to me have really improved over the last couple of years. This is going to be a weird one, Alvin, for number two for me for Arena. This is now the, if I'm not mistaken, the fifth slam that she has not finaled in, but has gone the distance and has been around as the consistent

Torrey (08:28.14)
last or next to last woman standing in a row and I'm probably I'm probably not giving her full credit. It may be six or seven going into the previous year.

Alvin Owusu (08:35.607)
She said she is her loss to Amanda was in the semi finals of Wimbledon. So yeah, but she won the US Open the year prior in 2024. So we're we're definitely in that space.

Torrey (08:38.828)
in the sentence, right, of with me, right? So.

Right, so in that space, and I may be around too often again, I'm sure there were several in 24. What I'm getting at is that once again, her bad tournament is a final, or as you said, would be the semi-final. So her, I'm gonna use the term longevity here, and her consistency is something that cannot be overstated. She is once again in the conversation, right?

Alvin Owusu (09:10.381)
Absolutely.

Torrey (09:13.434)
Three sets I might add and not three out in the third. let's not forget about that. Clearly didn't get steamrolled and she's not impervious, right? She's human and she's a very good human. And I think that's something to be mentioned. A lot of her counterparts who are comparing her to in the sense of comparisons have not done the same thing she's done, right? She is losing in that final. They are losing in third rounds and getting upset in that tournament. You know, having a bad tournament.

she's losing in the final, know, to a girl that just outplayed her. And that was the case last year in Australia. That was the case in, you know, all year long, if you think about it. So that's something that I think needs to be mentioned. And I think that, if had to give her a third thing, I think her adjustments, we talked about her variety, but her adjustments and mid-match. This is a young lady who several years ago was a victim of her own head, could not kind of put some...

Adjusting together was just too emotional to kind of figure it out. She's continuing to think her way through matches and problem solve and try things that I, and use the variety. know, a lot of players, and Alvin, you and I have coached a lot of guys and girls. Sometimes girls can be the worst to try new things and matches. They just stick to what they know, you know, and it's what makes them good. It's also one of the things that kind of can hurt them from time to time. They just won't try it. You know, they have good this, that, the third, they won't try it. They won't trust.

that in a match in a tough situation. Arena will trust it, she'll try it. How many times has she had some clutch drop shots, you know, to now supplement her big power shots. So those are the things I see. Again, to kind of wrap it up again, her variety, obviously her longevity, she's always around and toward the end of these tournaments, especially the slams and obviously her willingness to change up and adjust. And for Rebecca, man, footwork, Calvin.

There's just no weaknesses, man. Just no weaknesses whatsoever. And just her ability to just stay fundamentally sound so long in the point. It makes her very, tough to beat.

Alvin Owusu (11:20.341)
Yeah, and so, okay, so I wanna kind of break that down a little bit. So, I mean, obviously, Elena won the match, right? 6-4, the third. But I think that something that kind of talks to, when you start talking about adjustments, I think there was an adjustment made and one not made. So I think Elena made a very distinct adjustment. I'm gonna go ahead and give my props to her coach, Vukov. Again, I said this maybe four days ago. My man has coached his ass off over the last week.

You can see it in the interactions they have off court. You can see it in some of the stuff that they've shown between matches. is they the way that they operate that team a lot of conversation. They're talking all the time while they're on the court. And some people think, OK, he's talking too much. It works for them. I went and I went to the DC 500 and sat right behind her box. I mean, that's one of the best things about going to small tournaments, right? Like I'm sitting.

Torrey (12:18.691)
Yeah, right.

Alvin Owusu (12:19.48)
right behind her box. think football might not have been at that event. They had a different, she had a different coach there, but it was Rebecca versus. Right, yeah, exactly. But it was Rebecca versus Mboko and the one takeaway I had was like, man, Rebecca and her boxers, they're chirping the whole time, whole time, whole time, whole time. But that's the way that they roll. It's almost like a college team. Your college team is chirping the whole time. Everyone's talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk.

Torrey (12:24.888)
He might have been the involuntary space.

Torrey (12:45.154)
Right.

Alvin Owusu (12:49.078)
And that's part of the, that's how it keeps the players involved and keeps the players invested and helps them, you know, bring their best tennis and that's how it works for them. But I will say that down three, so right when we go from four all in the second set, Sabalinka goes, hold break to close the set and then goes, hold break, hold to get up three, right. She at that point is in the driver's seat. You could see and hear Vukov telling Rebecca.

we have to pick up the intensity. You have to bring the intensity because the one thing that maybe isn't as easily identifiable when we're watching these matches on television, you start looking at clock, we're touching two hours here, right? And this is two hours at high intensity tennis. There is going to be an impact on the body, right? you don't, and the mind, right? So you can, if both of us are being impacted physically, like we're gonna, the separator is going to be mental. And.

Torrey (13:32.056)
All right.

Right. And the mind. Right.

Alvin Owusu (13:45.855)
Elena made the simple adjustment, but very clear adjustment of like, need to be more intentional with my energy, more intentional with my physical presence. I'm only down a break in this set. 3-0 feels big, 3-0 feels big, but it's one break. So what's the first thing we need to do? We need to hold. And then if you get a chance, let's be solid on returns. And she was extremely solid at one three, gets the break, had some, you know, I think,

Torrey (14:00.097)
Right, right, right.

Alvin Owusu (14:15.156)
Arena missed maybe three first serves in that that game. Very pivoted. That 3-1 game kind of made the match. then, and then so breaks. Sorry, so sorry. To break to go 2-3 and then held to go back to 3-all. And at that point, at that point you start to see Arena kind of lose it a little bit. Like she's coming a little undone. I think she broke a racket somewhere in there. She's now she's yelling at her box. They're not chirping anymore. They're.

Torrey (14:17.804)
Yep, yep, yep.

100 % agree. The 2-3 game you mean.

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah. Right.

Torrey (14:36.747)
Yep. Yep.

Yep. Yep. Yep.

Right. Yeah.

Alvin Owusu (14:44.244)
Now she is yelling at her box and it's it's getting a little it's like and at that point you start to see it you start to see it shift or back and is almost smiling smiling like I got you I'm ready to roll right here and and then goes on a run wins that set six four, but This four four four is our six four four six six four very very tight, but we've got matches within matches here because Even though we're back in a one that

Torrey (14:58.935)
Yeah. Right.

Alvin Owusu (15:13.558)
Third set six, four, after she was down three, she kind of won the set six, one, like she went on a run and that's, and that's like, momentum swings, momentum swings. It's everything. want to kind of come back to the, the, the things you're talking about, what Elena does well that she was able to bring today and what, arena does well that she was able to bring today. And I saw it as kind of, if I bolted down to one thing,

Torrey (15:21.047)
Yeah, I'll do it for you, Sure, sure.

Alvin Owusu (15:43.341)
Arena is really, really good and maybe the best at maintaining high tempo rallies, right? And I'm going to give you a little bit of time to kind of break down what a high tempo rally is. Yep. And then Elena Rabacana is fantastic at first strike tennis and she does it really well off of both the serve and the return. And I say that in that if she makes a first serve,

Torrey (15:55.306)
Right, what you're saying. Yep.

Torrey (16:05.11)
Okay.

Alvin Owusu (16:12.804)
She can pretty much go full bore offense on the very next ball, almost regardless of where you hit it. If she tags a first serve up the tee or out wide, even if you get that thing within three feet for the baseline, she has already made the decision that the next ball is the one that you're not, you're not bringing back. and she does it so well. and that is that, and then off the return of serve.

Torrey (16:21.814)
Right. Right.

Alvin Owusu (16:38.966)
Her second serve return, I mean this is thing we talk about all the time, women's tennis. Second serve, serve, second serve return. We've got Irina Sableyka who's probably got the best second serve in women's tennis.

But the slight variation of she can kick it up, but if you don't kick it up and out, it's still a point of emphasis for the returner. Like you can still get a hold of that thing. please do. Bingo, bingo.

Torrey (17:06.774)
You've also got, if I can interject, a six foot tall returner, right? And so to your point, you've got a, it's kicking up if you're Eva or even, Eva Jovic, JPEG at 5'8", 5'7", you know, that is significant. That's shoulder high. You can't do much with it. That's anatomically, you know, inefficient. However, when your opponent's six foot tall like you are,

Alvin Owusu (17:18.582)
JPEG, for instance.

Torrey (17:32.618)
that is still wheelhouse, that's still below the shoulder, and that's a difference. I want to keep going because to me, your point being, she hasn't had to do this much, right? There are very few other, Maddie is that tall, maybe a tad taller, but isn't as swift a foot, right? And so, and she'll take her cuts, but you're like, you know what? She'll go for that ball, but I had no problem going open court on her because she will take herself out of position.

You know, she will lose is the old, the old line from Batman. You sacrificed sure footing for kill shot. You know what mean? And so she will hit that ball to that open court. Hey, you, you strike over there with that inside out for it at your own peril, because I'm going to run you with that ball and I get it. And, and, and you're going to two steps behind and I got you. So tack it all you want. Now you've got a swift six foot tall, right? That is striking that ball and what used to be out of position in my kick works.

turns into didn't affect her much at all.

Alvin Owusu (18:33.396)
And she's not attacking it to build either. Because especially if you go inside in on the back, like deuce side, backhand, like most of the women are, and Irina included, most of them are going heavy, trying to go heavy kick on the second serve to the backhand, right? So how do you approach that based on your size, right? I think Ivo Jovovich is a fantastic example of not tall, good hands, economical swing path.

Torrey (18:36.241)
Right. Right.

Torrey (19:01.397)
Yup yup.

Alvin Owusu (19:01.552)
uses her speed and footwork to get up to that ball before it gets over her shoulder and tag go. If she's a little late, she's gonna spray because she doesn't have much of a window there, right? But if she's on time, she has the hands to hit it clean inside in, boom, that's it right there. Rebacchina has the same kind of production on that backhand, a much bigger window, right, of error. When I say window, I mean like,

Torrey (19:12.073)
Sure.

Torrey (19:19.849)
Yeah.

Torrey (19:27.573)
Yup. Yeah. Range. Yeah. Yeah.

Alvin Owusu (19:29.452)
if she's a little bit late, she's still gonna be okay. She can fall back on that. But again, short backswing, step out, step in, step through, and she's going. She's not building, she's taking that as a strike. Whereas Jessica, using Jessica as another example, not necessarily against Irina, but against Elena in the semi, kinda same thing, but she's not.

Torrey (19:40.574)
Yep.

Torrey (19:51.816)
Most others, right?

Alvin Owusu (19:57.298)
As sure about getting on top of the second serve inside the court. so that second serve is a little more impactful going up and up and out. specifically on the ad side, same thing to the backhand. When I talk about going up, right? Arena is fine going up, but like you said, Elena is so tall that if you don't go up and out, she, again, she's going to step right into that ball and drive. And I feel like that's the.

You know, that is kind of one of those, everything's on a razor's edge here, right? And this is the highest of the highest levels in the biggest pressure pack scenario. Like there is a difference between, you know, 110 kick serve up and out versus 110 kick serve up and in. And that can make all the difference. But I wanted you to talk about high tempo rallies and arena and her ability, almost maybe sometimes her detriment to.

Torrey (20:31.07)
Yeah. Yeah. Yep.

Yeah.

Alvin Owusu (20:56.507)
stay in those extremely high tempo baseline rallies.

Torrey (21:04.115)
It's.

For most of the listeners that I know that those of us that play high level tennis, I think we all appreciate that a high tempo rally is relative, first and foremost. Some of us just hit a bigger ball than others. I don't care who you are and what level you've played at. used to be an average player, but now I consider myself a below average player because I have well far below average movement, you know what mean? Where I used to move pretty well.

I'm one those players that had a big serve. I was bringing, you know, I won 30s back in the day. I even clocked one or two at 142 back in the day. I had a huge serve. God, I wish I had returns because I might've been halfway decent, but I could hit with pace when pace was brought off the ground. I could create my own pace off my serve.

My high tempo was, would say B plus range. I could hang in most high tempo routes. I actually liked pace and I well with pace. If you brought it, I used it well. I couldn't necessarily create it on my own. That's why I call myself in that B plus area. And I'm picking myself because I want to establish a baseline. There are players that I've worked with and I've worked with some top 50 ATPs. I've worked with a couple of girls that were top 30. I know they had, I would say, a

to a minus pace off the ground, didn't necessarily have great pace off the serve, but could step in and tag a ball 80, 90 plus miles an hour back, six, seven, eight balls in a row. Not a problem. Within about six to eight feet of each other from the center line. Again, I'm establishing a broader baseline. We do a drill and the ITF had this drill and those of you who play it and those of you who haven't played, if you can imagine yourself hitting a

Torrey (23:00.433)
based on rally with your coach or with your, you know, your true hitting partner. When you played, maybe you're playing now, I don't know. And if you could hit 40, give or take, ground strokes in a minute, a pretty good clip. If you could do 45 in a minute, that is phenomenal. That is a pace that just most people just can't quite fathom or understand.

Like most people, you're in the low thirties, which is very good, very good pace and very good consistency. You are what I would call in that average kind of a high, high level tennis. So to go from 35 to 38 is significant to go from 38 to 41 is world class and to be 42 or better. That is top 50 WTA level tennis. Alvin.

these girls are hitting at 45 in a minute back and forth. So I wanted to kind of set the stage on high tempo is not just pace. High tempo is penetration, it's footwork, it's countering, it's knowing where to go. It's knowing that if I do loop one up, I'm the first one to give up the pace, which now gives you the chance to move forward. And it also means there's the occasional gamble. And I think that's really speaks to what I saw in the match.

Alvin Owusu (24:01.961)
Yeah.

Torrey (24:28.101)
If I'm a step late, I will go open stance and just lean on it just to not give you the chance to hurt me. And I might even go bigger and hopefully deeper to not give you the kill shot that I'm now open up by going a little bit wider. Now, what if on the other side after you've been behind for two shots, that's all it takes is two shots where I haven't stepped in. I haven't gone through the court. I've gotten to the ball. I haven't gone through the ball.

And I had two open stands in a row. I'm behind, but I'm still defending, neutralizing, whatever you want to call it. The person on the other side is still stepping in. That's what happened today with Arena and with Alana. Alana is still stepping in. And her step in has a little bit better control and the same depth and the same pace as Arena's inside out. So that now makes me as Arena have to take a bigger chance.

to really commit to the inside out. I got to do more with the inside out because I'm taking a big chance. And I still got to watch out for you down the line backhand, but she has a great one. And I have to make sure I do it often enough and I convert on it often enough to make it worth it. And then I got to throw in an occasional dropper just to keep the play safe and keep it viable because I can't do it that many times. You'll start to figure it out and you'll punish me down the line. So I had to kind of throw into a variety too.

That's what I felt like was the High Tempo Rally today. It was a masterclass in High Tempo because you had so much of it going back and forth. And while you're establishing that High Tempo, the pace is one thing. The depth of the High Tempo to me is really where the secret sauce is. I felt like Rebecca and us depth in High Tempo was just astounding. And so when that happens, there's not many open chords. So now with High Tempo, you the other side.

you risk going for too much because you felt like the previous high tempo didn't do enough. And at least that's what I saw.

Alvin Owusu (26:26.378)
Right. Yeah, I'll piggyback on that in almost from a standpoint of like, okay, so we've, we've seen a version of this before with arena and player at player X on the other side of the net today. was Elena. We're back in a producing what she produces at an extremely high level. And again, 92 points and 92 points here. We're talking about flip a coin. is, this is, you know, this go 50 50 over the course of, you know, they do this 10 times.

You never know where this is gonna land. But in that high tempo rally, I... Arena moves better. She's a better mover than Elena. That is, she's probably a better overall athlete. But where does this show up? I don't think that she actually gets behind in these high tempo rallies. I feel like she holds them pretty well. There's a couple of instances that kind of jump out at me from this match where...

They're going, you know, cross court, cross court back either. There's two different ones. One that was on the do side. One was on the one was on the ad side and both of them ended, you know, maybe seven or eight exchanges with arena going with a bigger shot that got, you know, that ended up being a cross court winner cutting in front of a linear back in a, but my, my thought was like, okay, when you start looking at the profile of the, and I come back to this a lot, like profile of player that arena has been coming up against.

in these big matches, they're all bigger girls. they all like Coco is the is the kind of one exception that doesn't hit as big, but Coco is six foot tall. she is tall. Maddie is tall. Amanda is tall, right? These are all tall girls. Yes. That also speaks to what does it, what does it take to be at the top of the women's game? One, but they can all took aside Coco on the back end side though can produce

power, but they all do it a little bit differently. think in this particular matchup today, Elena can, her stroke production is more efficient than Arena's. It doesn't take as much wind up to create. And I think that one thing, you know, for the evolution of Arena Sabalenka, which I could think, I'm sure she will continue to evolve as a player over the next two, three years. I would almost like to see her take a page.

Alvin Owusu (28:53.724)
away from like Carlos, Janek, even Novak from yesterday's match. Like we're not doing this cross-court rally all day long to see who's got the, who's got the, the bigger sack here. You know, I'm gonna slap the thing down the line because I think if arena starts to take that rally, instead of going four or five, six balls harder, harder, harder cross-court tag it line and make, we're back in a turn into a mobile hitter.

Torrey (29:16.122)
Nope.

Alvin Owusu (29:21.298)
I think that's actually a space in which Irina is probably a clear cut level above her. I don't necessarily trust Rebecca running to the forehand, sticking that right leg out and then producing the same quality shot going cross court as I do her standing in place and firing all day long.

Torrey (29:37.602)
yeah.

Torrey (29:42.571)
with you. I it's a it's a funny comment. I come I very much disagree with you on the moving and on the footwork side. But I agree with your point on the tactics of arena. Perhaps the point you're getting at and maybe where if I had to really define my point from center to left or right, that six feet give or take eight feet right. We're back and it has the proclivity to hit that bends all

Alvin Owusu (30:03.882)
Mm-hmm.

Torrey (30:11.567)
day long and cover court all day long. But a pretty hefty middle third, right? You know, I'm talking, you when you're talking about a middle third, right? The middle court's eight feet wide, right? So you're talking about eight feet either side. So I'm talking about, you know, now the lines themselves are here, right? You only got 24 feet, right? So it's kind of a, you know, it's a 27. I think you've only got so much room, right? So.

Alvin Owusu (30:13.626)
middle third, you're talking middle third of the court.

Alvin Owusu (30:28.572)
Okay, middle 66 point, yeah. Okay.

Torrey (30:40.688)
I think the point I'm getting at is not first step is most players will default to an open stance for time or for space reasons. And I think we're back in it is a little more discipline to step in with the step in ball. You get a little bit better accuracy. You get a little bit better. You can dial it in a little more. You typically change direction a little bit a little bit not necessarily easier, but with a little better aim and a little better, you know, penetration for sure.

The open stance is great for movement. saves you a step and you're out wide and lets you transfer hip and weight. It's great. It's but at some point it's a bit of a patch. But it's a needed patch because you're you're out wide to start every point. Having said that, I disagree with your point about a better mover. I think she's a better athlete. I think she is stronger in different positions. Her ability at her height to get low and to and to get high and to come forward and to be stronger with both wings.

I completely agree with you. I think she's a bit stronger and as fast as far as movement though, as far as footwork is concerned, Elena is much more disciplined. She is a quicker mover, not necessarily as fast. If I put them on a sprint, I might give the edge to to Arena, but I would give Elena the edge in quick, efficient footwork in that eight feet either side. However, having said all that, I agree with your point about

Alvin Owusu (31:56.01)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Torrey (32:08.174)
Arena needs to take strike first and stretch because when you get out of that area, she's not as good. I think Arena is actually better in some corners and she's a little bit feistier and will go for Brooke and hit those balls in the corners better because now you're stretching the disciplined Elena, we're backing up, to a corner where she now has to be, has to do a little more than she wanted to. The point's a little more out of her comfort zone and she's not great in the corners on the dead run, right? And.

Alvin Owusu (32:36.913)
Right, right, yeah.

Torrey (32:37.292)
That's where it showed up to your point, which is why I think what you're saying makes perfect sense, ongoing line a little bit more to stretch her out. The question is, it's a fine line, isn't it? Because, know, Greg Tiley one time told me it was this great stat and I don't know if the actual stat still proves true, but he had this great stat when I was doing this performance coaching seminar back in London. He said, it was at Wimby one year and he said,

two out of three times every, 66 % of the time he said, you change direction, you'll make a mistake. Right? And then he says, now, here is the conflict. He says, 66 % of the time you have winners, they come from down the line. It was just perfect, know? So he's like, there in life is your problem.

So you know the risk is always worth the reward. However, you're gonna miss that ball two out of three times. And the way the stats pulled themselves out, that's the contradiction, that's the conundrum, I guess is what I'm looking for, that you're dealing with if you're arena. How do you balance that?

Alvin Owusu (33:50.375)
Yeah, kind of good word.

Torrey (33:55.726)
you know, that going for broke, because I feel like a few of those easy errors when she was trying to go down the line early, but she missed in that three, oh, the three all situation, you know, and when you, when you pull up, when you pull that trigger a few times and come up and come, then you start going back across because you have to kind of reset yourself. And guess what? There's, there's a lay in that weight donor, you know, and with interest. So again, I agree with your, with your strategy though, a hundred percent. And we're going to see this iteration play out quite a few times. And there's going to be what I really look forward to and, and, and

Arena has proved this over time. She will adjust and she will come back and she will get that down. And that's one of the things I really love. That's one of really understated things about Arena Sabalanko that I think people don't give enough credit. She is a competitor. She will find a way, match what you just did. Just give her a few weeks, every few months. You're gonna see her adjusting and bring a new little arsenal in her game. She was too competitive not to. And I think over all the girls in the top, the ladies in the top five, she does better than anybody. And now that

Rebecca has quote unquote arrived or re arrived, however you want to call it. Now she's putting herself, you know, on the to be hunted, not the hunter side of things. And now she's going to start playing those ladies a lot more often than the later rounds. And now we're going to see how much she can adjust and to stay afloat, say atop of the of the heap.

Alvin Owusu (35:17.373)
Well, it's not just it's not just adjusting. It's almost you got to consider the evolution as well, because every time a match like this matches like the like like Wimbledon, like the Australian Open last year happened or even Australian Open 2023. This is almost a carbon, not carbon copy, but very similar feeling matches their final in 2023. Like now you have the generation of players of girls coming up trying to ascend into tour. Like I think that

Torrey (35:42.829)
Coming up.

Alvin Owusu (35:46.77)
the same way you see movement becoming the differentiator on the men's tour, it's gonna start happening here because we're talking about all these women who are six foot and up, they can hit the piss out of the ball, they're serving big, that's what it takes. Those are the table stakes of getting into the top five, the upper echelon. Now it's like, okay, now who can add movement and the ability to do it in compromised positions in the corners, like you mentioned?

Torrey (35:51.724)
Right. Right.

Torrey (36:03.008)
Right, right, right.

Torrey (36:15.928)
at 85 to 90 miles an hour.

Alvin Owusu (36:16.457)
we're back and I can you right right that's the that's where you but you you start to see the the very small variations here like that's where Amanda and it's a movie starts to fall off right she's not she of the big hitters she's probably the worst mover and that is her that will continue to be a ceiling for her as she tries to push that you know that limitation up you get her moving on the forehand side like

Torrey (36:20.992)
Right.

Torrey (36:33.644)
100%.

Alvin Owusu (36:45.255)
That's where she gets a little little compromised. She like that same example I gave about like rallies at high tempo rallies, especially on the backhand side going cross court. She'll pull that damn thing down the line with the quickness. One, she hits the backhand cleaner than Christmas to she's not going to give you a chance to put her into a position where, you know, one, two, third ball. Now she's behind from a movement standpoint. She she's going to go one to line you move. I'm stepping over.

And now I'm dictating to the, you know, traffic over there to the ad court. But again, boy, are we lucky. This is, this is a fantastic, a fantastic, I was watching this match and I was like, man, this is, God, this is good. This is good. This is so good. And then I, I can't, like, I was thinking about, okay, after we're back in the wins, what all, what all does this mean? And I'm like, I don't want to put too much meaning into it, but it's like, I think about.

Torrey (37:23.884)
Great tennis, man. Great tennis.

Torrey (37:39.218)
story.

Alvin Owusu (37:41.578)
The story. Yeah. I love a story. I love a story. What? Okay. So in my story, why does this, when I closed the book on the women's 2026 Australian open, what, what happened? Alaina are back in a redemption from 2023 loss. Boom. All right. Last year, Vukov was denied entry to the Australian open. Now he is being, um, now he's being, uh, spotlighted as, you know, the, the, the whisperer in her corner getting praise from the imagine, imagine this man who was shunned by the WTA.

Torrey (37:55.104)
Yep. Yep.

Torrey (38:03.595)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Alvin Owusu (38:11.571)
for a questionable tactics is now getting praise on ESPN during the women's final for his coaching ability. right, redemption for Vukov. Elena was not able to serve it out with conviction against JPEG. I was able to get through the match, but was not able to serve it out when she had her opportunities. Boom, stepped up at five, four in the third, was able to serve it out with no question. And then just like she did at the WTA finals, Elena Rebecca goes, Ega.

Torrey (38:14.412)
I like the questionable.

Alvin Owusu (38:41.289)
JPEG, Sabalenka, you. And she beat Anisimov at WTA finals. Thank you. Take another. That was a comprehensive championship. One set dropped. And that was in the second set today. Yeah, that's a good two weeks of work. And Alina Rybakina is 20, 21 since early October.

Torrey (38:42.517)
Mm. Mm.

Torrey (39:02.059)
Darn good, darn good to me,

Alvin Owusu (39:11.417)
And not counting the walkover she had against, she had a walkover. She pulled out of a semi-final, I think in, Wuhan, but, lost to Buhova last week, but that's the only loss she's taken in the last two and a half months. She's not only playing well, but she is establishing herself. She'll be ranked number three in the, in the women's rankings come next week. And, now the race is now the race is on, right? and speaking of post Australian open, like.

The women have a pretty chunky schedule over the next six weeks. They get one week effectively one week off and then we're masters in Doha in second week of February, third week of February, masters event in Dubai. First week, first two weeks in March, masters event in Indian Wells and then masters event in Miami. So we have four masters in six weeks. It's, we're gonna finish up this hardcore season with a sprint here.

Torrey (40:00.971)
on Sun Double.

Torrey (40:04.747)
It's a.

Torrey (40:09.754)
Can't even say finish. It's almost becoming a longer chunk. It's like a whole it's almost gonna come up I think it's borderline too much, but we'll see I've got two funny. Well one's funny Questions for you. It's one of the challenge we call the Miami The Indian Wells to Miami the Sunshine Double. What are we gonna call the Doha to Dubai?

Alvin Owusu (40:32.05)
Mm-hmm.

Torrey (40:36.306)
exchange that that's the challenge and I know you're very good with the words. The desert double. Fair fair fair. That's pretty that's pretty good on the fly. The the other thing I was saying is is what do you think will happen? We saw this a lot in the men's side last year with such an extended clay court season. The women have some, but I don't think it's quite near as lengthy as the men with all those 1000s with all those extra tournaments all the 500s in there as well.

Alvin Owusu (40:40.735)
The desert debacle is what we're going to call it. The desert debacle. It's just what a. Yeah.

Torrey (41:05.738)
We saw a flurry, pardon the pun for Atlanta weather right now. We saw a flurry of pullouts, injuries, withdrawals, you name it, retirements in the early rounds of the French last year. And how much, I guess the indirect question is how much do you think that'll play a factor? Obviously some of it remains to be seen, but your early take, how much of this will remain will become a factor in the women's game?

going forward with these two bigger tournaments and obviously much bigger person so they're gonna draw a crowd. I will have on the clay court slash, you know, you're quick to call it that hundred days right between, you know, Wemby and French, there's a lot of tennis to be played. Do you foresee any impacts due to these bigger events added in without a break?

Alvin Owusu (42:01.766)
Yeah, I think it comes down to players managing their schedule, right? And obviously the 1000s are mandatory. You've got to play the vast majority. I think you can skip maybe one. I could see both Elena and Arena skipping Doha, right? So that then gives you two full weeks off, right? Now, when you look at a Grand Slam, we talk about, we're gonna go to Doha in a week. It's like, well, not...

Everyone's gonna go into Doha in a week. There are some people who have been out for a week So now they have two weeks in between Like the first week of I'll show you an open and then the start of Doha. So that's that is manageable I think two weeks is kind of what you want as a player and Then but then the back-to-back nature of Doha and Dubai, okay Then you have to manage yourself in between that Indian Wells. I think and this is where the players start to complain about how long these events are it's not just

the time between your last match at one tournament, your first match in the next tournament, it's the, okay, I can't go home. I've got to get there and I've got to be there. And even though I don't play for three days after I get there, I still got to be there. And that's not at home. That is somewhere else. That is, like I said, not home. So to your question about how does this impact the clay court schedule, think because the women, so the women have these two masters where the men don't, they're 500s.

Torrey (43:16.873)
Right.

Torrey (43:29.48)
Thanks.

Alvin Owusu (43:30.056)
Um, and they have a little bit more time. The women don't have the mandatory like 1000 at Monte Carlo, uh, which comes right effectively, more or less right after Miami. Um, the women have the, the 500 route that they can take, which is like some go to Charleston, some, and then some go to Stuttgart. Uh, so it's, it's a little more manageable in the switch from hard to clay. They've got a little more time there. So I think that allows them to.

spend more time at home, more time practicing. I don't think you see the impact on the women's side as much as you see the impact on the men's side because they do have that space between the surface change. They get it back, it's a little harder because they don't have as much space between Grand Slam and Masters event coming up, but they have a little more reprieve later on in March between.

effectively end of Miami and the beginning of they don't have a masters until, Ro is Rome their first one or is it Madrid? I can't remember the order. but I can't remember which one comes first, but they've got a little more space. so I, I don't worry so much about that as it pertains to the French open, but the 100 days of summer, right? French open, started French open to, to us open. is a, that's real. Everyone's doing it at that point. They're all kind of playing the same tournaments, masters events. It's, it's a lot, but.

That is a problem for later. This problem now. There's one of the-

Torrey (45:00.232)
Yeah, yeah. And we'll see, right? We'll see. It's like you. I don't think it'll matter a lot. And I just, if anything, it gives a little bit, gives more opportunities to shine for the ones that didn't, weren't able to shine here, right? So I look forward to that, that happening and look forward to the whole, world. There's great tournament album. And I think the women's game is in really, really good shape. So many good match, so many good players, so many people vying for and can take.

the trophy at the end of the week, nine days, 10 days, 14 days, so many of them now that are buying for that. just, really is a very good product that the WTA has found themselves in the position of. If I could, I'd like to take a quick trip to Coach's Corner. We haven't been there in a while. And I like to speak to fundamentals on a macro and a micro scale. Whether you're...

filed is 10, 15 or 20. The fundamentals of efficient footwork, efficient swings and reads have got to stay right and as sharp as possible. Any lack of, I do mean lack of any of them at any point in time.

will result in a flaw that cannot be outdone at a later point in time.

Footwork is as much mental and conceptual as it is physical. It's not just can I step in? It's do I read the amount of time I have to step in, which comes from my perception on the outside of the net, which of course, hence I say more mental than people give it credit for. Footwork then ends up being a physical response. But also now you have the components of how much to step in, to give ground.

Torrey (47:08.186)
when to step in and take it back on the rise and so on. The strokes, anything that's a little too big, anything that takes too much variation will break down in higher tempo rallies. Is your child comfortable? Guy or girl, are they comfortable in higher tempo rallies? Get them there. The game's only getting faster. The game's only getting bigger. And you're gonna have these two or three bursts of power in place. Two or three change of directions, I think is what the average numbers are calling for these days. I think it's like.

2.7, change of directions per point, right? At a high rate of speed, at a high rate of movement per point, every point in and out of the shoot. And then of course the reads, the tactical understanding of where to be, how to counter. And if you have a hole now, it will only get worse, it will not fix itself. And I just wanted to make sure for those of, if there's parents watching the pod or listening to the pod,

Make sure when you note these things, mention to the coach, coaches, please don't gloss over that. If the kid has a good exchange, make sure they can do it again 10 more times. You know, the game's gonna keep getting harder and I find the footwork is perhaps the quickest thing to go. But look beyond the footwork, it's the reads that are probably slow. Maybe they're watching their own ball too long. Maybe they're not recovering as quick as they can. Maybe they're not reading the impact of their ball enough or reading the opponent's backswing or their position enough to know where to move to.

Maybe they're physically fast enough. Maybe they're just not reading what to do in that timeframe. And then of course, obviously the swings, I don't think enough can be said about making your fundamental and your stroke clean enough that it's duplicatable enough, especially under duress. So I just wanted to kind of, for watching these two, I thought back to myself, I'm gonna land over back in this coach at 10, right? I have no idea where she's gonna be in 23, 24, how the hell is she?

I have no idea where she's gonna be in 13, 14 years. I have no idea. What I do know is I'm gonna teach her a good backhand, right? And then she's 14, right? Pretty good. Nice backhand, tall girl. She can tell she'll be tall. At some point, you had to put that stuff in then. You couldn't put it in when she starts the WTA Tour. So I'll say the same thing about Rita. You just don't know how good this kid's gonna be one day. And no one starts off thinking, you're gonna go pro tennis when you first put that little pink.

Torrey (49:32.966)
19 inch racket in your hand, You just, you're out there having fun, have to the ball over the net. But I just feel like as we get going down this path, the fundamentals have to constantly be reiterated to make sure that these players at whatever level, I don't care if they're playing L6, you know, at Hudlow, can they, do they have the fundamentals to whatever level they can? And can they do them over and over again? And I think those three are

probably three of the biggest fundamentals to make sure you hone in on the footwork, the strokes and the reads. I feel like I just wanted to mention that because this match came down Alvin to literally inches. It came down to the points as you said was 92 each. This literally came, if you were to chalk up the score, it was a dead tie. You know what I mean? You're talking the difference of a few games. So at that margin of error,

there ain't no weakness you're exploiting anymore. There aren't any more weaknesses at the high levels of any part of the game. Junior's college, pro, and so without the fundamentals being extremely good, you're walking in there unprepared. I just wanted to add that little piece there that I feel like sometimes we watch tennis like this, we don't necessarily take away from it the years of training and the discipline and the finite.

micrometer, know, micrometers of adjustments that are continuing to be made to make it look as easy and as wonderful it was to watch that we saw today.

Alvin Owusu (51:04.763)
Well put, well put. I'm gonna add one thing to put a bow in this tournament and then also ask you one question before we get out of here. One, it was so cool seeing Jennifer Capriotti back out there. That was fun. She was part of the presentation at the beginning. They called her back out again. I just love to see our former greats showing back up, so that was really cool. That was that one thing. Two, question.

Torrey (51:17.423)
Yeah. Yeah.

Torrey (51:29.583)
Yeah.

Alvin Owusu (51:33.113)
If I told you these two players, I'm gonna give you their stats and then I'm gonna ask you whose career, if they retire today, was better. 11 titles won total. Two Grand Slams each won. One Grand Slam final for each player. Career high rank of number two for one. Career high rank of number three for the other.

One is Coco Golf and one is Lena Rebecca. Who's actually had a better career?

Torrey (52:04.228)
That's a point. If we had to stop today.

Alvin Owusu (52:10.321)
Stop today.

Torrey (52:13.604)
Man, that's tough.

I am not wanting to take.

It almost easy if you hadn't told me. Because now I'm thinking about, now I'm thinking, because the tie break, right? Like this match, the tie break is, who do I, God.

Alvin Owusu (52:25.188)
Yeah.

Torrey (52:40.676)
That's a tough question. I'm going to, man, that's a tough question. I'm going to take.

Torrey (52:50.02)
That's not really a good gauge. was gonna say I'm gonna take at the age at which Coco did it is gonna have be a tiebreaker in my mind. But I also have to take in the level of difficulty that Rebecca has done hers and beating so many of the good players on the way. And so that counts for a lot.

Torrey (53:09.504)
I would have to pull the old standard on what other grounds are we defining this conference? Are we defining this thing? It's like, when I get these arguments with guys over who's the best basketball player, I'm like, well, what are we talking about now? You know what mean? Are we talking rings? Are we talking all around? Are we talking that? And you laid out your point very well. God, that's a tough one. That is an absolute tough one because

on paper, which you just listed, sounds like a lot of them are very, it's almost a dead heat with the actual results up to this point in time. Fortunately, that question will be answered with history and not by me, because let's hope I don't boggle this one. But I also look forward to seeing the next, you know, 12 months to help add a little more coal, you know, in the old chamber.

the locomotive on this one for either player. So I'm gonna take the fireman's pole on this one and to dodge my way out of it. Wow, tough question because it's a tough one to answer without just being biased for a player per se.

Alvin Owusu (54:32.178)
Fair enough, fair enough. I'll let you slither out of this one. I'll put a pin in it. Best of three, we are out. See you tomorrow for the men's final.

Torrey (54:35.745)
Yeah.

Torrey (54:42.499)
Absolutely.