Hi, this is Billie Jean King. This is Mary and Bartori. I'm Matt's Belander. This is Mary Carillo. This is Pam Shriver. This is Yannick Noah and you're listening to the tennis podcast.

Hello folks, it is Catherine here. David is here to Matt is here. Today is the day that's, well, depending on when you're listening to it, but today as we speak to you, is the day that we relaunched friends of the tennis podcast.

And that means that if you'd like to take us on in predictions, guess that it is a show or make your pet a tennis podcast mascot in 2023, you can do that now. You click on the friends link in our show notes and just take your pick.

If you're already a friend, thank you, and you would like to upgrade your friendship to the tennis podcast to get a shout out, introduce a show or any one of the other categories, then you can do just that via the same link.

As well as the 2022 review show that we have just recorded and though we say so ourselves is a corker. You as a friend of the tennis podcast will also be able to listen to two new Q&A podcasts before the end of 2023. The first one will be all about Serena Williams, just like we did for Roger Federer a few weeks ago. We'll be doing a similar show for Serena.

And the second Q&A show will be a free for all in 2022. We gave away Roland Garrus and us open tickets to friends of the pod in our partnership with Wilson.

We gave away a trip to the Billie Jean King Cup finals, thanks to the IDF and we gave away an all expenses paid trip to the 2023 Australian Open for two people thanks to AO travel.

In 2023, we'll be looking to lay on even more competitions because they were a hit folks will be producing eight editions of tennis we lived throughout the year more Q&As, grand slam review shows and maybe even David's diary.

We have other plans as well and ideas bubbling away, but rest assured we'll be doing everything within our power to make your friend subscription worthwhile whilst also using what we generate from it to keep the tennis podcast on the road all year long.

And that means David's long awaited return to Oz. See what I did there David. That's a film a really scary film actually love it when I was a kid but turns out it's really weird anyway. Hello David.

Yeah, hello, it is rather terrifying. We've turned the hours really it's but I can't wait I can't wait to go and particularly because a year ago when I was not able to go and we were really on the brink of deciding whether any of us should go could go whether we could afford to go all those sort of things.

And we took a flyer I mean it was literally what three days notice when you guys booked your flights and went to Australia and you spent three weeks there.

And I think within within two or three days we just knew it was the right decision because the ability to attend press conferences to see things up close to to feel the stories as they were unfolding and then to talk about them immediately on the nightly daily grand slam shows that we produced.

There was so much richer for it and I got the sense that this is the way forward right then and then I wanted to be part of it and I couldn't be part of it at the time but now I can and I mean the reason we can do it is because frankly friends of the tennis podcast has been a successful venture so far for us we can we can afford to do it I mean it is expensive to go all that way and to stay there for three weeks but we're doing it and we're doing it in Paris as well and I'm.

Can not wait yes David's already reignited his friendship with our Airbnb host from Paris he's he's kept the fires burning for what five months now didn't then get us a discount anyway we tried face.

It's it's it's very difficult to express what the value is of being on site isn't it you know it would be hard to express on a sort of budget sheet or anything but I think we're very grateful that our listeners get it and certainly friends of the pod get it don't they the the value that we're able to add from from being there and experiencing it and we

try to tread the line don't we have not giving a listeners too much for you know but also emphasizing that value and how fantastic it is to be there and how much we don't take it for granted.

Yes and I hope we get that balance right because it's true it is it does make such a difference to be on site I know that from podcast I listen to in other sports as well you know it's it's always amazing when when they're on site

and feel like they're sort of bringing me as a listener to those events that's what we really tried to do and yeah I think hopefully we have richer experiences of press conferences and matches and just just things happening you know while we're on site just someone walking past or some kind of announcement that we over here on the speakers I just think all of that is is the gold that you can't get when you're recording in your caravan

during the 2020 US open it in the middle of the night and having breakfast before you've gone to bed and they're all being extremely weird you know that captured a certain era I think but now we're now we're back in the era of going to these events and being on site and it's it's the biggest buzz possible really.

Yeah thanks to friends of the tennis podcast and to the work of some very impressive vaccine scientists Matt caravan days are over so to keep that away from the caravan to support the pod and also to bag yourself a pet mascot ship an intro shout out guest editor ship

you could become an executive producer and become a top top bloke or gal will finesse that and all of that all of that is available to you if you become a friend of the tennis podcast that is the sales pitch over folks will be back soon promise you that we will have a weekly podcast for you in the week before Christmas rounding up all of the tennis news that has been

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