AO Is Back

The Australian Open is officially underway and we are fully in our Happy Slam era. In this episode we catch up on the first couple of days in Melbourne and all the reasons the AO feels like the best slam, from the city wide energy to the tournament’s constant innovation. We talk new fan experiences and tech upgrades, the opening ceremony spectacle with Federer, Agassi and Ash Barty, and why the One Point Slam was content gold and genuinely good for tennis.

We also get into the actual tennis so far, including solid starts for Carlos Alcaraz and Aryna Sabalenka, Venus Williams fighting hard at 45, and Emma Raducanu navigating the chaos of late night scheduling. Plus, we cover the moments that already sum up this tournament: bar court drama, players yelling at rowdy crowds, ball kids fainting in the heat, and a few extremely unfortunate stomach issues. We wrap with our Final Call picks: the player we cannot stop watching, the moment that already defines this Australian Open, and the most perfectly chaotic Happy Slam thing to happen so far.

Follow us on Instagram, Tiktok and YouTube @whatsthecallpod