ESPN

(January 13, 2026) ESPN Tennis commentators Chris Eubanks and Patrick McEnroe today previewed the 2026 Australian Open. ESPN’s exclusive live coverage begins on Saturday, Jan. 17 at 7 p.m. ET on the ESPN App and at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN2.

Coverage highlights include:   

• The ESPN App is the home of live coverage of the 2026 Australian Open, featuring ESPN’s linear networks and live streaming
• All matches from every court will be available daily on the ESPN App
• The ESPN App will provide live coverage beginning at the start of play each day, including the first 1.5–2 hours on most days, with extended coverage on Day 1 and Day 3
• Linear coverage on ESPN2 will typically begin at 9 p.m. ET on most days, with later starts on Day 1 and Day 3, and earlier on Day 2, and will continue through the end of play
• Debuting this year are two 30-minute pre-shows before each singles championship on ESPN beginning at 3 a.m.
• Continuous live coverage from primetime ET through 7 a.m. leading up to Championship weekend across ESPN networks and platforms
• More than 260 hours of live coverage across ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes

THE MODERATOR: It’s summer down under, and we’re very happy to welcome you here today to speak with Chris Eubanks and Patrick McEnroe.  Our coverage started with the Qualifiers this week.

Welcome Patrick and Chris. We’re going to talk about some key storylines. I know you guys know a lot of them: Alcaraz, Sinner, we’ve got Venus with the wild card, we’ve got a lot of American women in there. 

Let’s start with opening comments from Chris and Patrick. Anything you guys want to share would be welcome. 

McENROE: Well, it’s great to be back. I’ve been going to Australia pretty much every year except for the couple of pandemic years. Since ’91 was when I first played there, and I’m starting my 30th year with ESPN. It’s an amazing event. It’s one we’ve always covered, even when I first started with ESPN. We weren’t involved in the other majors, but now we are involved in at least three of the four. 

Great to have Chris on board. I know he just finished up his playing career, and we’re happy to have him 100 percent of the time now. 

EUBANKS: Thank you, P-Mac. I’m super excited to be able to join in a more formal capacity. I can now devote all of the energy and the time that I spent into my tennis, can now just move that right over into coverage and to really digging into the X’s and Os, the storylines to try to be as good as I can be. I’m excited you guys have welcomed me in with open arms since 2023. 

First year full-time, looking forward to it, and I can’t wait to work with you and everyone else. 

Q. We are coming off a year with a lot of great storylines, and one of them that really stuck out for me was what Valentin Vacherot was able to do in Paris, in Shanghai, beating Novak in this sort of fairy-tale final against his cousin. I was wondering if you could weigh in on how incredible that was. He’s at a career-high ranking. Talk about that a little bit.

McENROE: Yeah, I think it’s one of the most amazing stories. We’ve seen hints of this kind of thing happening in majors, where you call them like career Challenger players, right, but the level of those players has gone up so high. Chris knows this. He spent a lot of time playing in those and playing on the main tour. 

The difference now between a player who’s, let’s say, 20, 30 in the world and someone who’s 150, 250 is not that big of a difference anymore. I think that was — we’ve seen that and some players make runs to get to the round of 16 of a major, but to see this guy win a Masters event was like a whole ‘nother level. That was amazing the way he did it, and not just beating Novak but the players he beat along the way. 

Again, I think it highlights the fact that there’s so much more depth in the men’s game, and we used to say there’s a lot of depth in the top 50, top 100, but now you go through players again that are — I call them career Challenger players, but they’re capable of doing something like that. We’ll see how long he can stay at that level for the next couple years, but it was a pretty remarkable performance from someone that was kind of knocking on the door and then just burst through. 

EUBANKS: I couldn’t have said it any better, P-Mac. I think it speaks to the depth of men’s tennis, especially a player like Vacherot. Came through the college system, big guy, allowed himself time for his body to develop, for him to figure out his game style, and he’s got a lot of firepower. 

You find that a lot of times players with a lot of firepower can kind of burst onto the scene and have these magical runs. To your point, Patrick, I’ve never seen someone finish the job and go on and take a massive title like that. We’re used to saying — a few years ago Ben’s first Australian Open, he flew down to Australia, what was it, 90 something in the world and then quarterfinal because he’s a tall kid, he’s got a lot of firepower, he can kind of get hot. 

Vacherot was able to get hot, but being able to beat Novak, beating his cousin, which I’m sure had to be a bit emotional, as well, he showcased some really top tier tennis. He was able to follow it up at the end of the year winning some rounds in Basel and Paris. So look for him to continue that fine form, and I think he’s going to be exciting to see. 

Q. Wanted to ask about what possible solutions do you guys see for the calendar and scheduling issues and lack of time to rest and catch one’s breath and try to stay healthy physically and mentally? Are there any solutions like that or maybe there aren’t? I’d like to hear both of you weigh in but particularly interested in Chris who is fresh off being on tour.

EUBANKS: Yeah, it’s a great question. I think it’s a very complicated one. We can attack it two ways. We can get very granular and talk about maybe we find a way for the ATP to buy back certain tournaments and buy back weeks on the calendar. That gets very complicated, especially when I think one of the biggest tournaments, Paris Masters, being at the end of the Asia swing, I think that to me is a time at which players kind of hope maybe we could have a year-end final and end the year around October. 

But we go from the US Open to Asia to Europe, the European swing is very, very tough to navigate. The ATP has got to figure out all the rules and the ins and outs on how they could shorten the season. I don’t really see that happening, personally. 

But big picture, or a very easy solution, I would say, kind of like what I just spoke about, we finish the US Open, players go to Asia. After Asia let’s end the year shortly thereafter with ATP Finals and WTA Finals, kind of try to end it around that October window to give players a full at least two months, November and December to be able to rest, recover. 

Still not the best, but it’s a far better solution. But again, in order to implement that, it gets way too complicated with tournaments having weeks and licensing and sponsorships for years down the line.

I don’t really know the full answer, but I would like to see a tennis calendar end — have the ATP Finals and WTA Finals end around October, and if they want to have some 250s after that for players who are lower ranked who want to continue to play, let them make that choice, but don’t force it where we have to play into November. I think that’s kind of the biggest frustration. 

McENROE: The thing is we’ve been talking about this forever, and nothing has really changed. Chris is 100 percent right. For the majority of players, they want the opportunities to play. You’re really only talking about the top-tier players that even complain about it. 

So this has been going on forever. I believe that the era of the big three that we just went through, those guys figured out how to basically give themselves time off. Rafa essentially wouldn’t play after Australia until maybe — he would never go back and play indoors. He might play Indian Wells would be his next tournament. 

Those players have the luxury of doing that because they make so much money that they can do that. But for guys like me and Chris, and again, in that ranking category, we want to play as much as possible because that’s how you make a living. 

I think it’s up to the individual players. Those tournaments that Chris mentioned in Europe, yeah, they’re very successful tournaments. You’ve got Vienna, Basel. Obviously Paris indoors is a huge event. I think it’s hard to say that we should cut those out. Those tournaments are hugely successful. Players can make a lot of money. 

I know when I played, I was looking for ways I could make money and get my ranking up. I think it’s really up to the individual players, and I think the ones that do need and want the time off are the ones that can afford it. 

Q. We often will hear players talk about the tennis balls, whether they might be too heavy, whether they might be causing injuries. They’re supposed to be rather similar in size and weight, but how significant are the differences, and how can that affect a match, and does it really contribute to injuries?

EUBANKS: Yeah, I think every player is different. I think every player’s body is different and responds differently to different — whether it’s some players are very sensitive to their racquet’s weight and tension, so everybody is different. 

For me, changing balls never negatively affected my body. Never felt any pain as a result of it. I also wasn’t playing as many matches as a lot of the guys who are complaining about the balls. The guys that are going to the second week of majors consistently and to later rounds of Masters 1000s, they’re hitting a lot more balls than I am. 

For me, it never really affected me, but I do know from swinging with a lot of players who have had elbow issues, arm issues, many of them started post-pandemic when we all as players, we felt that the ball started to change. This wasn’t like we heard it from someone else and then we started to notice it. Everyone started to feel that the balls were fluffing up way too quickly and way faster than they did before. We didn’t really know what it was until, I think, word started to travel about the manufacturers having issues getting the proper type of rubber, all the things, post-COVID. 

Since then, for me, like I say, as a player, it never affected me that bad, but I did see it affect a lot of players, and I think the main thing the players want is just a level of consistency and continuity throughout the schedule. It’s not that we’re opposed to changing balls all the time; it’s just allowed the change of balls to happen in a season, in a swing, so that we get acclimated to something for a couple of months. That’s the ball that we’re using for a couple of months. Then when we need to switch to the clay court season, we start off first week on the clay with a certain ball, we use that ball throughout the whole time because our bodies will naturally adjust and adapt. 

That’s been the biggest complaint from players. If the balls are going to be bad, the balls are going to be bad. There’s only so much we can do about it. We just wish that there was a certain rhyme or reason as why we’re using certain balls in certain swings versus it simply being up to the tournaments and whatever ball sponsorship they have. That’s the biggest complaint with players — 

McENROE: Yeah, it’s just about the money that the tournaments can get for the balls. Players are playing longer now, which overall to me is great. I think the longevity of players is better because they train better. They’re smarter. They know how to recover better. 

Whether it’s balls, whether — the speed of the game has obviously increased exponentially over the last 10 to 15 years, and the players continue to adjust. I give them credit and their teams — that’s why you see more physios and more recovery stuff because the players can recover. 

In the same way, I think of course they’re going to complain about something. That’s what professionals do, tennis players, and in other sports — you see in the NBA these guys are taking nights off. They’re not playing, and people complain about it, but they still show up and go to the games, and the teams still pay them big money to play, and they say, okay I’ll play 60 games instead of 82 or whatever it is. 

Similar things happen in tennis, but people keep showing up to the tournaments. Tournaments are successful, and the players I think for the most part are doing better than they ever have financially. 

Q. I wanted to get back on the court and talk about the Australian Open and two American women. I’m curious to hear your takes. Our defending champion Madison Keys, does she have what it takes to run it back this year? What’s it going to take for her to do so? What does her form look like to you coming into it? Coco Gauff, how dangerous can she be at this tournament? Can she have her breakthrough this year, why or why not? And is there one player you’d put above the other? Who would be the more likely to pull it off?

McENROE: Well, let me start real quick because I know Chris knows Coco quite well. I think Coco has got a better shot to win it. Madison was an amazing run last year, but a lot of things broke right for her. She won some incredible matches. I’d be surprised to see her win it again. She’s played a little bit down there so far. 

I think she took quite a break at the end of the year. Obviously it was a lot for her last year, having finally won one. She’s got a shot, but I wouldn’t put her as a favorite. Coco, I think despite her continued serving difficulties, is an unbelievable competitor and definitely will be in the mix. 

I like Anisimova to win a major this year. Maybe not in Australia, but I just loved the way she handled herself after losing that Wimbledon final with the double bagel and then comes back and beats Iga at the Open, gets to the final. I like her chances this year. 

Pegula, she’s always knocking on the door, and the American women overall are doing well, very well. But it’s hard to think of Sabalenka not being the favorite on the women’s side. But Coco is definitely going to be in the mix to me in every major she plays. 

EUBANKS: Agreed, Patrick, on your take on Coco having a better chance over Madi. Again, I loved Madi’s run last year. She went through the gauntlet in order to do it, beating Rybakina, Iga, Sabalenka. She put together some really, really big time wins. 

I think that time after the Open she took an extended bit of time off. I think one of the big things for Madi is going to be health. She already had a bit of a groin injury or something first week of the year, but still able to win the match against Diana Shnaider, crazy 7-6 in the third, and then played Sabalenka next, and she kind of made some reference to she wants to hopefully be healthy. 

That’s not a very good sign going into defending your first major, so that’s going to be the big thing I look for Madi, how healthy she is. But also a lot of things that will have to break right again, to Patrick’s point about last year. 

Curious to see the draw, and I think because there’s a few more question marks around Madi, I would put the X next to Coco for comparing those two. Coco played obviously a surprising match against Bouzas Maneiro in United Cup. She followed it up beating Iga, which I thought was an incredible match. She played pretty smart tactically. 

I think Coco is going to be a really tough player to beat in a Grand Slam. I don’t think too much about that match against Bouzas Maneiro. She’s coming in, obviously the serve has been a talking point. She’s still with her team. She’s still trying to put in the work to figure it out. 

Personally, I think we’ll get a good sense on where she is serving-wise once the tournament starts. For me, it’s something that happens in matches. I don’t think it’s a practice issue. This is a match issue. If she can get some confidence under her belt, serve smart in the first few rounds in Australia, I think we can hopefully see those serving woes subside, but yeah, I definitely she better chance. Even if her serve isn’t going well, she’s still got the legs to be the best athlete in the women’s game. 

She’s got a lot of tools if something isn’t firing, she can figure out a way to compete, figure out a way to stay close, and a lot of times figure out a way to win when she’s not playing well. 

I think that bodes well for her. She’s going to be one we have to see the draw, as well, but I think she’s got a better shot. 

Q. We see Carlos and Jannik win the last eight Slams. They played the last three Slam finals. Is it inevitable they’ll be in the final, and if not, who would you choose as party crasher for a final, like a Medvedev, a Ben Shelton, a Zverev, any of those guys? I’d like to hear your thoughts on them.

McENROE: You know, it’s a great question. To me they’ve distanced themselves even more so than the big three did just in the last two years, and that’s saying something because those guys dominated, but there was Murray, there was Wawrinka, there was Delpo, Cilic, there was guys that got into the mix. 

But at the moment, it’s hard to imagine anyone else getting into the mix even someone like Ben Shelton, who’s getting closer. He played a great match with Carlos at the French on his least favorite surface. He’s trying his butt off to get better. He’ll be the highest ranked American. He’s one spot ahead of Fritz at the moment who I’m a little concerned about this year because he’s mentioned his knee is bothering him, and I think that doesn’t bode well for him, so I’d be surprised if he’s able to maintain what he’s done the last few years. 

Medvedev had a win, which was good for him and his confidence on a hard court again. Maybe he’s one of the guys that can get back into the mix. 

I don’t see it for Tsitsipas. I don’t see it for Rublev, for example, that was knocking on the door. Zverev is a huge question mark. You would think he would be the guy. But the way he fell apart in the final last year against Sinner was to me remarkable because I thought he was playing well enough that he could have made it a match, but he just looked like he didn’t think he had a shot, and I guess he didn’t. 

The guy I think, the X-factor is someone younger like Fonseca who looks like he’s put a lot of work in in the off season, so he looks like maybe physically he’s going to be a lot stronger because certainly from a ball-striking standpoint, he’s probably the one guy of the young guys coming up that you think this guy could actually play with the big two at the moment. So, we’ll see. 

But I think it’s amazing what these two guys are doing, but it’s also slightly problematic for the men’s game moving forward that it’s just these two guys, and the chasm right now is as wide as I’ve ever seen it for just two guys. It’s unbelievable. 

EUBANKS: Agreed. Again, I think my dark horse, if I had to call it that, would have to be Novak. I think his extended time off is going to hopefully allow his body to heal and be 100 percent healthy going into Australia. Last year, we can’t forget, he beat Carlos in the quarters, and he straight-up beat him. I think he played very smart tactically, got Carlos out of his rhythm. He was going for big second serves, ultra aggressive second serve returns and just kind of took the flow out of the match for Carlos. 

I think Novak is a good enough ball striker that in the matchup with Carlos, I could see him finding a way to kind of disrupt that rhythm again because Carlos gives him a little bit of time to play, gives him variety, and that allows Novak to get into it. 

If he goes up against Sinner — somehow Novak has to avoid Sinner. Someone needs to upset Sinner and then leave the door open for Novak and Carlos to battle it out. I just don’t know if anyone is going to get through Sinner on these courts. He’s won two in a row. Obviously Carlos won the last matchup in the final of a Slam on hard court. I think Sinner, they’ve done a good job of kind of playing a nice chess match in their rivalry of you win two, I win two; you win one, I win two; you win one, I win one. 

I think Sinner will be able to find some solutions to the way that Carlos played tactically in that US Open, and I think the conditions in Australia suit Sinner’s game a lot more. 

I think out of the other guys who you’re kind of looking at is who could be a disruptor, we’re still going back to the old Novak Djokovic, the greatest of all time. I think there’s some other guys in there in the right conditions that I think could cause some problems. I think Ben in the right conditions, if it’s hot, if the ball is jumping, if his serve is popping, he can do a little bit of what Novak did and take the rhythm out and not allow guys to feel comfortable. 

Fritz would have been one of my picks, but obviously coming into it, as Patrick said, he’s been complaining about his knee for a while now, so that doesn’t sound overly confident just based at this point in time based on his physical ability. 

I think we’re looking at those three, and then Zverev and Medvedev I would put in that next tier, and then after that it’s kind of open season. 

Q. What excites you most about telling the AO story this year? What excites you about going to Melbourne? Also, what makes AO different in terms of player mindset compared to the other majors?

McENROE: Well, I’m ready to thaw out. It was a cold Christmas break. 

To me, it’s the most fun event. It’s very fan friendly. It’s easy to get back and forth to the site from the hotel and downtown. As Roger called it, the “Happy Slam.” I think all the players are happy to not only get back to it, whether it’s leave Europe, leave here, go to summertime. To me it’s really a unique event in that way. Families come out; 20 year olds are out there. There’s bars all over the place on the grounds, and it’s like an outdoor party. It’s an event. 

For the tennis, it’s great to just get back into it, start the year off with a major. Obviously the time change makes it a little challenging with our viewers at home, but a lot of people that I know kind of go to bed with us and then they wake up in the morning when they get ready to go to work. 

With football going on, it’s obviously hard to get into the lexicon of the average sports fan with the AO, but to me it’s the most fun event, and I think the players — Chris would know this, having just played there recently, players really get excited about going back and starting the year off down under. 

EUBANKS: Yeah, certainly it’s the most hospitable of all the Slams, which is so funny because it’s the most out of the way, and I think they know that, and because players are coming from so far and it’s a long distance from everywhere, they do a really good job in making the players feel welcome, making them feel at home. 

It’s so nice being able to just — if you want to walk back to your hotel, you can just walk right back from the courts. But you’re still in a big city. Those are certain things we don’t really get that often on tour. So that’s one thing is you enjoy the energy down there. 

For me covering it, the AO is a very almost like nostalgic for me because I can remember being a kid and waking up at 4:00 or 5:00 a.m. if Fed was playing a quarterfinal. I can remember being in college and waking up and watching Fed and Novak playing I think it was the Australian Open quarterfinals there. And just the fact that I woke up at 2:30 a.m., I set an alarm so I could watch Australian Open coverage, it was really cool. 

For me, it just feels good being down there. I think in terms of what players feel, it’s the first Slam of the year, so I think after a lot of rest, players are very optimistic about their outlook on their new year. Everyone feels coming into Australia, okay, I put in a great off season, let’s show what we did the work for. Let’s show how much we’ve improved. So everyone is kind of up in spirits, whereas as the year progresses, you start to get beat down a little bit by results. You may be coming into Roland Garros on a bit of a losing streak so your confidence isn’t high, so mentally you’re not all there. Wimbledon, certain players just prefer to not play on grass. 

So you’re coming into it with a little bit of the baggage of what’s happened already in the season, whereas AO does not allow for that. You come in fresh and about as good as you’re going to be mentally all year hopefully. 

I think from a playing standpoint, that’s what players feel is so different about AO. 

Q. This split between Carlos and Ferrero I think caught us all off guard. There was sort of a general feeling that it was such a good match. Obviously he had been very successful when it came to winning trophies. I wondered if you guys might react to that. I’m wondering if you think there will be any reverberations. He’s still such a young guy. Just talk about that split a little bit.

EUBANKS: Yeah, you know, I think this is one of the times where being in media, I’m being pulled in two different directions. As a player, I know players and I know player-coach relationships and I know results aren’t everything. I know players who fire coaches after having some of the best results they’ve had. 

This one obviously I think was a surprise because of how long they’ve been together and how Ferrero kind of at 15 brought Carlos into the professional ranks, so I think we all naturally assumed, well, they’re going to be together forever, ignoring the business part that at certain times, business can get contentious for whatever reason, whether it’s from Carlos’s team or Carlos himself. 

We already knew there was some differing on opinions on what hard work meant for Ferrero versus Alcaraz, so we knew that there was already something there. When you’re spending so much time around the same people week in and week out, sometimes you just need a break, and sometimes it’s just good to have a split. So that’s the other side of me understanding as a player, sometimes players and coaches just need a split. 

Half of me is like, why is everyone making such a big deal about it, the guy stopped working with his coach, and the other side is like, no this is a little bit of a bigger — this isn’t your normal coach-player split. 

One thing that I’m, I would say, apprehensive of is what I don’t want is every time Carlos has a bad outing, we don’t just bring up Ferrero and say this has to be a Ferrero thing because Carlos in the past hasn’t played his best in Australia. This is historically the worst Slam that he’s played. He can also have these weird wonder matches where he just kind of goes off the rails and loses. Obviously we haven’t seen it at a Slam. I think all eyes are going to be tuned to that. 

But in the coming months it’s going to be if Carlos has a bad set, would Ferrero have changed that, and that’s the conversation that we’re going to have to get into it a little bit, but I’m going to be very cautious about how we talk about it because if the X’s and O’s of the tennis part is there and say the opponent just plays too well, we’ve got to give credit and say, maybe this guy just played too well. But if Carlos is maybe tactically not doing some things, sure, let’s bring up Ferrero and let’s talk about it. 

It’s going to be fun to talk about it because history is on the line for Carlos and for Sinner. It’s going to be something we have to take a closer look at, but I’m not thinking too much about it. It’s not like he’s bringing in a whole new team, like Ferrero is out, Samuel Lopez remains. I’d be little bit more concerned if he was bringing on a whole new team to support him now. 

Now it’s a little bit shaky but he’s got a familiarity. I think Carlos is going to be fine, but I know that we’re going to be looking very closely to everything. If Carlos is agitated on the court, is that a Ferrero thing. 

It’s going to be fun. Gives us a lot to talk about for sure. 

McENROE: Quite frankly, I wasn’t that surprised. I guess I’m an outlier because it seemed like most people were like, wow, I can’t believe they’ve broke up. 

Most great players don’t stay with their coach that they started with as a teenager. Even Sinner, by the way, he left his coach a couple years ago who had taken him from the juniors to the beginning of his pro career. You’re Carlos Alcaraz, you’re 15, 16, and Ferrero is a pretty strict kind of guy and Carlos is not that kind of guy. Now he’s 22. He wants to have a good time, and he’s like, I’ve won — I’m winning majors left and right. 

I think it’s more up to the coach to adapt than it is for the player, and I don’t think that Ferrero — I don’t know the details, but it didn’t look to me like maybe he was willing to adapt enough because the player has got to take over, and when you’re that good, whether you’re Roger Federer or Novak Djokovic and you come into your prime, you’re making the calls. The coach isn’t telling you what to do anymore. 

I think that was the nature of their relationship because he was 15, but the nature has to change when now you’re Carlos Alcaraz and you’ve got the entourage, making more money than you ever dreamed of. That’s part of it. I think all those things to me made it like, I’m not surprised at all that he moved on because he’s got — Carlos has got to run the show and tell his people around him — okay, he needs people to support him, obviously, but I wasn’t that surprised, and I don’t think it’s going to affect him at all, to be honest. 

Q. What are your thoughts on Venus’s chances of her advancing with her wild card?

McENROE: Well, if she could win a match, that would be great. Obviously the fact that she’s playing is amazing. She just got married, so congrats to her on that. She played pretty well at the Open. She won, I think, a match or two in doubles. She played a competitive match down against Linette in her tournament down there. But to think she’s going to make a run is likely not going to happen. 

But I would love to see her win a round or two. I think to me that would be what she would hope for. She’s not going to say that, obviously, but the fact that she’s out there playing and still can compete is pretty amazing at 45. Pretty amazing. 

EUBANKS: I’ve got nothing to add. You shared my thoughts exactly. If she can get through a round or two, I think that’s about as — that’s a pretty incredible feat, and I think it’s something that should be celebrated. The fact that she’s playing in it at all is something pretty remarkable and something to be celebrated. 

Looking forward to seeing her get out there that raw. Going to have to see with her draw what comes out, too. But I look forward to at least being able to watch her play another time. 

Q. I wanted to ask you guys before you step in the booth to do a big match at the Australian Open or any Slam, what’s the most important part of your preparation just to prepare as commentators? Secondly, to follow up on what you said before about Coco, you could argue she won both Slams playing a counterpunching defensive style. At the same time, you watch her play doubles or mixed, she’s fantastic at the front, great overhand, can volley. What style of play do you expect her to play in Melbourne, and ideally how should she play?

McENROE: Well, first of all, the preparation is very important, obviously, doing your homework, knowing the players. We have the luxury of once you get to a big match you’ve seen the players pretty much play that whole tournament. 

I always try to go in with an open mind and react to what you see. I try to go into a big match kind of laying out early and just kind of seeing what the players are going to do. 

I like to try to at least maybe react to what I see as much as possible to what I’m seeing on the court, what they’re doing tactically, knowing their history, obviously, going in. 

As far as Coco is concerned, it’s interesting because she can do it all, right? She can serve big but that can get her into trouble with her serve, and that’s why I said last year during the French, I was like, just put the serve in. Don’t try to serve big. So she’s got to deal with that, which is hard, because then she can counterpunch and then she can also come forward. 

It’s kind of like finding that right balance. Depending on who she’s playing, also, I think factors into that. She’s got a good problem. She’s got so many weapons in her game both defensively and offensively, so it’s really about finding that mix that she needs. 

But I think that when she plays, gives herself a little more space and a little more time, she’s really tough to beat because she can cover the court so well. So if I were in her camp, I would be like — I actually had told her to be a little more conservative at times. I know she wants to be aggressive. She wants to serve big. But I’m not sure tactically that’s the best way for her to play. 

But she’s got a lot of tools in the toolbox, and that’s a pretty good thing to have. That’s why she won two majors already. 

EUBANKS: Starting with Coco, how I think she should play, to your point, she can do a little bit of everything. She’s so good at competing and figuring out how she needs to play on the day in order to win a match. 

But I really like the way she played against Iga. She made a high percentage of first serves. She used a lot of variety, used some slow cutters, and then occasionally would pop one, so it kept Iga off balance, and it also kept her first serve percentage high, so she didn’t have to hit a lot of second serves, so I loved that. 

From the ground she was doing a good job of managing her forehand, elevating it up out of the strike zone and then being aggressive on her backhand. So it’s like a little bit of — she gave you one look on the forehand side, totally different look on the backhand side, and then once you get her moving, she’s the best mover in the women’s game she defends so well. So she noticed that she has that to her bag, as well. 

I love her being aggressive on the backhand when it’s there. If it’s inside the court and she wants to lean into it, she hardly misses it. I think she should go after that backhand as much as possible, manage the forehand if you’re playing someone who wants to try to play it, which most players are going to play it to her forehand more often than not. Manage it, get some elevation on it, and then just get one out of the strike zone and look for your opportunities to be aggressive. 

I don’t think she needs to force her way to be aggressive. I think she’ll get the balls if she uses, kind of like Patrick says, patience, uses her legs, plays a little bit of variety, and then when the ball is there to be aggressive, go ahead and be aggressive. 

That’s the way that I would like to see her play. That’s the way she played against Iga and the way she beat her, and I thought it was a textbook match as to how she should play. 

In terms of how I like to prep, the bigger matches and Slams usually features players who have played before, so I like to go back and watch a lot of their previous matchups to see, especially the most recent one, who won, what were they doing tactically, because most times whatever you do to win the match, when you play that same opponent, you’re going to come out and say, I need to do a little bit of that same thing. 

The opponent, on the other hand, is going to have to find ways to neutralize and to adjust. So I like to watch their previous matchup, what patterns did we see. Okay, now coming into the new matchup, painting the picture what do I think this player is going to try to do to this player. Player A is going to want to do this, player B is going to want to do that. Then we look for it throughout. 

Then when the match gets going you kind of set the stage. I’m just like Patrick; I just like to take in tennis that’s happening. Maybe I have an outline of what I think player A is going to do, and he does nothing like that. All right, now we’ve just got to figure it out. We’ve got to see what are we are seeing now, why is he serving there or going here, and then it gets fun because it gets very conversational. You can get data and analytics from whoever is providing that. 

It gets to be real fun. But I like to look at previous matchups first to kind of know — have some lens of what I’m looking for when I’m going into the new matchup. 

THE MODERATOR: Chris and Patrick, any final thoughts?

McENROE: Thanks, everyone, for being on the call. Looking forward to having Chris with us full-time and a few other relatively new faces. We’re going to miss some of the people that have been with us for many, many years, both in front of the camera and behind the camera. I’d like to add, as well, so change happens, and we want to thank all of them that did so much for ESPN tennis. Looking forward to starting the year down under with Chris and with the rest of our team. So super pumped to get on the plane tomorrow. 

EUBANKS: Yeah, same. My flight is tomorrow, as well. Looking forward to getting down there. One of my favorite places to travel and to be traveling down there now in a different capacity, a capacity where I can enjoy the tennis at large and not just focus on my own tennis is pretty nice. 

I’m looking forward to it, got a lot of good matchups. I’ve been following qualifiers like crazy, seeing the results there. So super excited to be down there. P-Mac, can’t wait to join you, and hopefully look forward to a good couple weeks of coverage. 

THE MODERATOR: Thank you all for joining us. Thank you, Chris. Thank you, Patrick. Looking forward to a great event. Thank you, everybody.