“I like Cinema Sessions,” Coco Gauff says as she settles onto our now-famous couch. “But I’m a bit disappointed I hadn’t been asked to be on earlier.”
The eventual quarterfinalist at this year’s Australian Open breaks into a coy smile as she grabs her couch-side popcorn, with vision of her AO debut – against Venus Williams – beaming onto the big screen.
“Honestly, I was confident that I could beat her in this match,” Gauff reflected as the highlights of her 16-year-old self eventually notching a straight-set victory played in front of us. “I had to fight to win it.”
It’s the second year of Cinema Sessions, a concept developed by the Tennis Australia team to not only play back old Australian Open footage of players to watch, but done so in a bespoke “cinema” studio, decked out with the aforementioned plushy couch, big screen projector, low lights and freshly popped popcorn.
Duh, of course there is popcorn.
The popcorn is actually a star in and of itself in what makes Sessions so different. In the hallway of TV studios where players do interviews with the likes of Channel 9, ESPN, Eurosport and others, the salty, buttery, warm waft of freshly popped popcorn piques the interests of some of the greatest tennis stars in the world.
“Ah, I knew it was popcorn!” exclaims Aryna Sabalenka as we pull the Cinema curtain back for the world No.1 and two-time reigning AO champion. “I was right.”
As the likes of Sabalenka, Gauff, Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner, Naomi Osaka, Carlos Alcaraz, Alex De Minaur and other top players take their seat for their personalised Session, we’ve lined up a host of Australian Open footage for them.
It’s often their biggest highlights; quirky on-court moments; light off-court adventures; and perhaps some vintage AO archival clips.
PLAYLIST: Australian Open 2025 Cinema Sessions
The idea is simple: Immerse the players in a cinema-like setting where they, really, are the main characters – both up on the screen and sat on the couch. And see how it unfolds.
“What are we watching?” a tentative Osaka queried as she sat down, unsure of the concept.
