AO Day 11 - Fierce final guaranteed; Pro Russia demonstrations dominate headlines

Get ready for power in the women's final on Saturday after Elena Rybakina and Aryna Sabalenka set up what promises to be a fearsome showdown on Saturday. How did Rybakina win the first set against Victoria Azarenka despite her first serve going missing? Just how impressive was Sabalenka to overcome her Grand Slam semi-final scar tissue? And how will they match up against each other in the final? Elsewhere, with tennis crossing over into geopolitics in the last 24 hours, after Novak Djokovic's father was filmed posing for photos with Vladimir Putin supporters, Simon Briggs joins Catherine, David and Matt to talk about what Djokovic's response might be and whether players have a responsibility to denounce those scenes. Finally, there's good news for the Australian sensations in doubles, we look ahead to Friday's men's semi-finals, and we celebrate the Original 9 after they were honoured on Thursday. *WIN A 3-NIGHT STAY AT THE MIAMI OPEN!*On Location, our Australian Open sponsor, has given us one of Steve Furgal’s International Tennis Tours packages to the Miami Open presented by Itau, in March to give away to one lucky Tennis Podcast Newsletter subscriber! For full details, go to tours4tennis.com/podcastBecome a Friend of the Tennis Podcast to help us to produce the show year-round, and receive exclusive access to bonus podcasts throughout 2023, including Tennis Re-Lived, listener questions pods, and Grand Slam review shows.Sign up to receive our Newsletter (daily at Slams and weekly the rest of the year, featuring Matt’s Stat, mascot photos, predictions, and more)Follow us on TwitterFollow us on Instagram (@thetennispodcast)Check out our ShopRead our New York Times profile Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.