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 UpdatesChris: Tattoo?Age: Back to School to prove to dada im not a foolAO Recap 🏆 2026 Australian Open ChampionsMen’s Singles Winner: Carlos Alcaraz (ESP)Runner-Up: Novak Djokovic (SRB)Score: 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, 7-5The 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 FinalWhere 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 meetZverev will be gone by Round 2 in 5 setsMedvedev 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. FinalsAlex De Minaur will make at least a semi-finalRiding Bublik HighSwiantek wont make the quarter finalsAndreeva going deep - maybe a final Adam Mens Winner: Jannik Sinner Womens Winner: Belinda Bencic Tournaments for This WeekMontpellier 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...
