- Intro
Hello everybody and welcome back to Talkn Tennis, the only tennis podcast you need to be listening to to get all your headlines, results and well informed unfiltered opinions. Thanks to all the new followers and listeners in this past few week, we appreciate your support, if you haven’t done so already, gives us a follow on whatever podcast platform you listen to us on
I'm your host, they call me Adam the Animal, and I'm joined by my two partners in crime.
Firstly the man who has had to take a break from tennis as he has been spending the week researching cheap tattoo parlours in Bali, its Chrissy P, how are you Chris?
Secondly the man, responsible for deigning said tattoo for Chris but he first needs to learn how to spell Kazakhstan its Vargos, how are you Adrian
- Life Updates
- Chris: Tattoo?
- Age: Back to School to prove to dada im not a fool
- AO Recap
🏆 2026 Australian Open ChampionsMen’s Singles
- Winner: Carlos Alcaraz (ESP)
- Runner-Up: Novak Djokovic (SRB)
- Score: 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, 7-5
- The Story: History was made. At just 22 years old, Alcaraz became the youngest man to complete the Career Grand Slam, defeating the 10-time champion Djokovic.
Women’s Singles
- Winner: Elena Rybakina (KAZ)
- Runner-Up: Aryna Sabalenka (BLR)
- Score: 6-4, 4-6, 6-4
Men’s Doubles
- Winners: Neal Skupski & Christian Harrison (GBR/USA)
- Runners-Up: Jason Kubler & Marc Polmans (AUS)
- Score: 7-6(4), 6-4
Women’s Doubles
- Winners: Elise Mertens & Zhang Shuai (BEL/CHN)
- Runners-Up: Anna Danilina & Aleksandra Krunic (KAZ/SRB)
- Score: 7-6(4), 6-4
Mixed Doubles
- Winners: Olivia Gadecki & John Peers (AUS)
- Runners-Up: Kristina Mladenovic & Manuel Guinard (FRA)
- Score: 4-6, 6-3, [10-8]
- The Story: A historic defense! Gadecki and Peers became the first team in 37 years (since 1989) to successfully defend the Australian Open Mixed Doubles title. They saved their best for the Match Tiebreak to keep the trophy in Australia.
Discussion Topics
- Thoughts about the men and women's Final
- Where will Chris get his tattoo?
- Our AO Predictions
Reflections on our predictions, what did we get right and wrong
Chris
Mens Winner: Jannik Sinner
Womens Winner: Elena Rybanika
- Alex De Minaur will make at least a semi-final - he will beat Alcaraz when they meet
- Zverev will be gone by Round 2 in 5 sets
- Medvedev will go far, maybe a semi-final
Adrian
Mens Winner: Jannik Sinner
Womens Winner: Aryna Sabalanka
Alexander Zverev will be gone by Round 3
- Novak Djokovic wont make it past Qtr. Finals
- Alex De Minaur will make at least a semi-final
- Riding Bublik High
- Swiantek wont make the quarter finals
- Andreeva going deep - maybe a final
Adam
Mens Winner: Jannik Sinner
Womens Winner: Belinda Bencic
- Tournaments for This Week
- Montpellier ATP 250
The indoor season has kicked off in Montpellier with defending champion Félix Auger-Aliassime heads a stacked field looking to shake off the Melbourne heat, but the early headlines were stolen by 16-year-old French sensation Moïse Kouame. The local teenager electrified the crowd by becoming the youngest qualifier on tour since 2008, and he nearly caused a massive upset in Round 1. He took the opening set against 8th seed Aleksandar Kovacevic before eventually falling in a tight three-setter (6-7, 6-2, 6-2). Elsewhere, the "old guard" delivered as Stan Wawrinka rolled back the years to win his opening match but runs into FAA in the next round
- Davis Cup
Davis Cup Qualifiers start this weekend (Feb 6-8).
Australia travels to Ecuador to play on the high-altitude clay courts, with Lleyton Hewitt has selected a semi strong squad however will be missing ADM (Thompson, Kokkinakis, Vukic), but the combination of clay and extreme altitude makes this a potential "banana skin" tie. Elsewhere, the tie of the round is undoubtedly Great Britain vs. Norway in Oslo, featuring a massive showdown between Jack Draper and Casper Ruud. Meanwhile, Team USA faces a tricky test on indoor clay against Hungary, and Spain and Italy get a bye into the next round.
The Humbert "Phone-Gate" Investigation
There was a bizarre incident today in Montpellier involving local star Ugo Humbert. During his second-round clash against fellow Frenchman Adrian Mannarino, Humbert was leading 4-3 in the deciding third-set tiebreak—just three points away from victory
While checking a device isn't strictly illegal during changeovers, the timing was highly suspicious; immediately after putting the phone down, Humbert proceeded to lose the next four points in a row without winning another rally, handing Mannarino the match 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-7(4). The sudden collapse, combined with the unauthorized communication, has triggered an investigation by integrity officials into potential match-fixing, with fans speculating whether he received an instruction to throw the final moments of the match.
5.2 Tournaments Next Week
And if thats not enough for you, there are three tournaments on the Mens side next week, with two ATP-500 tournaments taking place, one in Dallas and the other Rotterdam. Rotterdam looks more stacked with Zverev, FAA, ADM and Medvedev and Jack Draper set to make its return all set to be playing. Alcaraz was also set to play but has since pulled out since his Aussie Open win.
Meanwhile in Dallas, Ben Shleton, Taylor Fritz and Casper Ruud are all scheduled t play. Put a watch on Fritz there to see if he is fully fit, he has been seemingly carrying an injury since early Janaury.
No sight of JAnnik Sinner for next week but he is set to play int he ATP-500 in Doha which starts on the 16th of Feb.
Bug tournament on the women's side, with DOHA hosting the first wTA-1000 event of the year, crazy its so soon. Sabalenka and Pegula and Keys have pulled out of the tournament otherwise its a pretty stacked event as you would expect.
- Battle of the Spuds - Davis Cup History & Who Am I
- Conclusion
Adrian, any parting words to your legion of fans from the US of A
Chris, anything you want to say to the bots who follow you on X
Thank you everyone for listening to today's podcast, if you’ve made it this far, what the hell is wrong with you, but thank you, we appreciate the support. Don't forget to follow us on Spotify or Apple or whatever podcast platform you are listening to us on, we will catch you next week. Good Bye.