The Big T, Episode 5: Australian Open debrief, Brad Gilbert's acting, Danielle Collins on player privacy

Episode 5 of The Big T, a Tennis Channel podcast, is now available to listen on your favorite streaming platforms—click here for the latest drop.

You can also watch bonus content from all the episodes on the Tennis Channel app—click here and start digging in!

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With an historic Australian Open behind us, Coco Vandeweghe, Brad Gilbert and special guest Danielle Collins sat down for a proper debrief. After any long trip, there’s always a lot to unpack. What did we learn from the season’s first Slam? What’s next for the champions, the runners-up, and the new stars we discovered? And who should be concerned, already, about their performance?

Such wide-ranging questions demand a thorough conversation. The Big T has it covered:

🧳 Does Sabalenka have a finals problem?

Earlier this week on TENNIS.com, Peter Bodo dug into what’s become a troubling trend for Aryna Sabalenka: her record in Grand Slam finals. It fell to 4-4 after her loss to Elena Rybakina. And while Sabalenka’s record in WTA 1000 finals is a strong 9-4, she’s a surprisingly modest 22-20 in all finals played.

“Over the last 16 majors, she has been by far the best player—for the first 11, 12 days,” said Gilbert, former coach of Coco Gauff (who handed Sabalenka one of those major final defeats). “But [in finals], she doesn’t seem to play her best tennis, and she’s lost some leads now.”

All four of Sabalenka’s losses in Slam finals came in three sets. Against Rybakina in Melbourne, she rallied from a set down to force a decider, but would squander a 3-0 lead.

Instead of having four majors, she might have seven or eight. Brad Gilbert on Aryna Sabalenka

“I think she should have that many,” replied Vandeweghe—who then raised a point that Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley proposed: that from the quarterfinals on, both men and women should play best-of-five set matches.

WATCH ON THE TENNIS CHANNEL APP: Behind the Scenes with Craig Tiley

To hear BG’s thoughts on that—and a tweak Vandeweghe proposed—head to the 5-minute mark of the podcast.

Collins was equally passionate in her response:

“I think we gotta do away with the three out of five, we just gotta flush that down the toilet,” said the former Australian Open finalist. “These matches are way too long, Brad!”

Which brings us to our next topic...

😰 We have to talk about those men’s semifinals

As Steve Tignor put it in his review of the men’s semis Down Under, “You can’t say Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic didn’t earn their way through their semifinals. Both of them pulled off minor miracles to make it to Sunday.”

Miraculous play is generally required to defeat Jannik Sinner these days—the Italian went a combined 131-12 in 2024 and 2025. But the 38-year-old Serbian turned back the clock with a performance that left nearly everyone (maybe except Djokovic himself) astonished.

How far back?

I thought he was playing Pete Sampras-like. Brad Gilbert on Novak Djokovic

BG also dropped some surprising Sinner stats—beyond him going 2 for 18 on break points against Djokovic:

• He’s 6-11 in matches that go five sets
• He’s 0-9 in matches that go longer than three hours and 50 minutes

The other semifinal, featuring eventual champion Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev, also went the distance. But there was another takeaway: it featured a suspect medical timeout, granted Alcaraz under the thought that it was to treat an injury. Turns out, it was cramping.

Pickle juice, and controversy, ensued.

READ MORE: “This is bulls---": Zverev fumes about, then accepts, Alcaraz cramp drama at Australian Open

What would your reaction to it be, Collins asked Vandeweghe, if you were playing?

“I have a two-part answer to that,” she said. “One, I would have absolutely taken every ability to get into a Grand Slam final. So I would have done what Carlos did.”

But, “also, for Zverev, I would have absolutely called him out.”

You would have went full Karen on him? Danielle Collins to Coco Vandeweghe

Vandeweghe: “I would have absolutely lost my gosh darn mind.”

Despite Zverev serving for the match, Alcaraz would go on to prevail in the dramatic classic, 6-4, 7-6 (5), 6-7 (3), 6-7 (4), 7-5.

🫖 Spilling the T: Must-see quotes from the pod

• Collins on Gauff being spotted breaking her racquet by behind the scenes cameras: “I think it’s a huge privacy issue. We gotta have some area that we can go to after a match and be able to go through our thoughts, go through our different emotions, and not feel like we’re being watched every second of the day. I don’t see any other sport right now having the access that tennis has, to the behind the scenes, like we have.”
• Vandeweghe on invasive press-room journalists: “There’s enough knuckleheads out there in the press room…they should have credentials revoked, absolutely, and the players should have a say.”

READ MORE: Serena backs Coco’s racquet smash, offers to show her one swipe "Serena style"

🤔 Bank or Shank?

A new game debuted this week: Bank or Shank? If you agree with the statement, you “bank” it, but if you disagree, it’s a miss—a shank, in tennis parlance. Here were this week’s:

• Both Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek will end their careers with double digit Slams
• Novak Djokovic will make another major final
• Iva Jovic or Learner Tien will get inside the Top 10 in 2026
• Elena Rybakina’s serve is Top 2 in WTA history
• Runner-ups at a tournament should not have to make a speech at the trophy presentation

The most interesting topic? Brad Gilbert’s acting in Red Oaks. Watch the pod to see the clip.

BG as Dr. Feinberg: Bank or Shank?

📫 Calling All Questions!

Do you like to play drop shots? Peter, a listener from Alamo, California, certainly does. So he called the show to ask our panel what he need to think about before breaking it out in a match.

Plus: A caller asks Danielle and Coco about their lone encounter in the pros.

👉 Want to see your questions on the show? Email thebigt@tennischannel.com or call 844-678-BIGT

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