Doubles Only Tennis Podcast

Aldila Sutjiadi Interview: From Indonesia to Kentucky to the WTA Tour

• Will Boucek • Episode 191

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Aldila Sutjiadi is the 37th-ranked doubles player on the WTA Tour. Born in Indonesia and 2x doubles All-American at Kentucky, Aldila has a fascinating story.

Tennis Tribe writer, Hanlon Walsh and I spoke with her on the grounds at the National Bank Open in Toronto. We discussed her story, how and why she plays with doubles partners with contrasting styles (loved this answer), mixed doubles, and more.

While I love the tactics and strategy, I want to start diving deeper into the stories behind these great doubles players so you can get to know them better and become bigger fans of these under-the-radar tennis stars. Aldila's journey was a great place to start.

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Adila Suchiati

Speaker 1

In this episode you're going to hear an interview from the National Bank Open in Toronto. In this conversation I sit down with Adila Suchiati from Indonesia. She is the number 37 ranked doubles player on the WTA Tour and Hanlon Walsh joins me for this one as well, so you'll hear him ask a few questions, and one of the things I'm trying to do a bit more of, or at least a better job of, with a lot of these interviews is really get to know the stories of some of these players, because a lot of them really have stories that are super fascinating and they are just not being told on a big level and I think that's one of the things that we can do to help kind of get their stories told and make doubles in general more popular and then some of these doubles players more popular. So we chat with Adila for about 20 minutes and we talk about her tennis story where she was born in Indonesia, grew up there playing tennis, she had some brothers and then she ended up in Lexington Kentucky playing college tennis, which to me seems like a huge culture shock. So we talk a lot about that as well as her college tennis career and how that impacted her pro career. She was a two-time All-American in doubles at Kentucky, so obviously a very successful doubles player there as well. And then after that we talk about her pro career.

Speaker 1

So she's still relatively new to the WTA tour. She played her first Grand Slam back in 2022, which actually surprised me a little bit. I thought she had been around a little bit longer than that. But she has started to play with a few different partners and she talks about why and her answer was really fascinating to me in terms of you know, her trying to improve her game and learn how to play with different partners. So we talk a bit about that. And then we talk about mixed doubles a little bit and then changes to the pro doubles tour that she would like to see.

Speaker 1

So this is a really fun conversation with Adila. I think you're going to enjoy it a lot. You're going to really get some kind of insights into her personality and her story and get to know her and maybe even become an Adila Suchiati fan, so you can obviously watch her at any of the WTA tournaments. She actually was headed to Cincinnati the day after this conversation from Toronto, so, without further delay, enjoy this interview with Adila Suchiati. Hey everybody, welcome to the show. Today we are in Toronto at the National Bank Open with Adila Suchiati. Adila, welcome back. It's been a while.

Speaker 2

Yes, thank you for having me.

Speaker 1

So one of the things that I want to start doing kind of a better job of with the podcast is telling the story of y'all as doubles players, so that people can kind of get to know you a little bit better. And if you do just some quick Google research on yourself, you were born in Indonesia and then you play college tennis in Kentucky, which to me, being from the Southeast like seems like such a wild contrast in cultures. Yeah, so tell us your story of like how you got from there to there to where you are now.

Speaker 2

Okay, yeah. So I grew up in Jakarta, indonesia. I started playing tennis when I was five years old and then I played like the under 14, under 16, under 18. Under 16, under 18. And then, uh, when I got into like the top 50 itf juniors, I started getting um email messages from like the university in the us.

Speaker 2

um, they're like offering me scholarships to play for their universities and that time I wasn't even really sure, like if I really want to go there or I don't know so, so I wasn't really taking it seriously. But then, like, my brothers actually went to college. First he went to Chicago State University and then I was looking at the schools. And then I have a friend who also went to college in the US and he actually went to Kentucky and then his best friend was the head coach of women's tennis at that time when I was like this was another indonesian player uh, the head coach no

Speaker 2

the friend, the friend, yeah, yeah, indonesian, okay, he played for kentucky and then his best friend was the woman's tennis coach at that time oh so then he introduced me to like the coach and then I talked with him and then I also talked with, like um, university of washington, lsu.

Speaker 2

There's some school that I was talking with, but not all of them because I wasn't really sure, uh, and then I was um, it was. I was deciding between Kentucky and University of Washington, because at that time there is one Indonesian girl who's playing there One of each. But then I went to, I visited both universities and then I did a chart which one is better for me, and everything.

Speaker 2

And then I ended up picking Kentucky to go it was weird, because when I visited Washington, I was like, oh, I want to go here Seattle, like it's very nice, but then like, okay, I've decided to go to Kentucky, and that's how I ended up in Kentucky that's two very different options Seattle and Lexington, kentucky.

Speaker 1

So had you been to the US before you started visiting colleges, had you been to the US, and specifically like the Southeast, before?

Speaker 2

Yes, I played the Orange Bowl and I think I visited, like my brother when he was in Chicago for like a holiday, yeah. So I came to the US a few times yeah.

Transitioning From College to Professional Tennis

Speaker 1

Okay, yeah. So I came to the US a few times, yeah, ok. And then I wanted to talk a little more about college tennis, so I posted on Twitter earlier to see if anybody had any questions for you, and somebody asked about things that you learned from college tennis. So is there anything specifically that you learned from college that helped you once you did turn?

Speaker 2

pro. It's funny because I didn't know that I was gonna turn pro until end of my junior year okay, when I was in college I wasn't really like thinking like, oh, I'm gonna be a professional tennis player.

Speaker 2

I was just thinking I'm in college and then maybe, like after I graduated, I'm gonna get a job or do something else. And then I started playing better at the end of my junior year and then my coach the college coach he told me like like, you have the ability, you have like the talents to be in the top um doubles player in the world. So I was like at that time I wasn't like thinking about it too much, but then I start playing better, the results getting like it shows me like oh, and then, um, during my senior year I was like, okay, maybe I should try a year or two years and see what's gonna happen with it. So I think that's also like a good reason. Like I feel like college is a good reason, a good transition from like junior to professional.

Speaker 2

If you don't know what you want to do, like after high school, like don't know what you want to do like after high school. Like I feel like college is a good like way and you can think about what you want to do in college, because I feel like right now you don't even have to finish college. You can like, yeah, go like one or two year and then you can go straight into professional and then you can come back and finish your degree. So I feel like there are a lot of things that college don't really fit you in professional and juniors, because it's very different than, like the tour. Like I feel like what I take granted about college is that right now, like in college, you don't have to think about booking your hotel, booking your flights, like getting everything, because they will take care of you. You just basically need to bring your buddy there and play. So I feel like at that time I should have been more grateful of what I have and just more focused on like the tennis part what did you major in in college?

Speaker 1

What was your plan if you didn't go pro in tennis?

Speaker 2

I majored in mathematical economics.

Speaker 1

Okay.

Speaker 2

Because I don't really like to memorize.

Speaker 1

Yeah.

Speaker 2

So I feel like I find it easier to do math.

Speaker 1

Yeah.

Speaker 2

Because once you understand, then you can solve the problem.

Speaker 1

Yeah, that's good. I like that. I majored in math too, so yeah, we've got that in common okay, it was kind of a default option for me. I didn't um, I was similar. It was just like I didn't want to memorize things and, yeah, I was okay at it.

Speaker 2

So we'll stick with that but I also don't want to like just do pure math, I want to do a little bit something else something that's applied, yeah, yeah so, oh, there is this one, then I'll take it.

Speaker 3

So I want to know more about your experience living in Kentucky too, because Will and I both grew up in the South. I live in Alabama, will grew up in Tennessee, so obviously you know the culture in the South is very different than the rest of the country, so I can imagine moving from Indonesia to Kentucky a lot of things to get used to.

Speaker 2

Just talk a little bit about your experience there and maybe what surprised you or what you enjoyed the most about it. I think I'm used to traveling a lot and I'm used to a lot of different cultures, so I don't really have a culture shock when I went to Kentucky, and also maybe because I have an Indonesian friend who played for Kentucky and then I have, like, I met some of the Indonesian people who study there or lives there. So it also helped me to kind of like not being alone in like a foreign country. But to be honest, I kind of like it in Lexington. I mean, it's a lot of grass Really pretty yeah.

Speaker 2

Yeah, a lot of horses bourbon.

Speaker 3

Yeah.

Speaker 2

But it is a small city compared to other big cities in the US. But and also I feel like, because I'm just too busy with tennis and school, that I don't really have a lot of stuff that I need to do and even if I have like days off, sometimes me and my roommate would just stay in the apartment and relax and chill, because we just travel so much and we get tired with all the school and tennis. But I feel like there's nothing that's like making me surprised about, like Kentucky, yeah from traveling so much.

Speaker 2

Yeah, I feel like.

Speaker 1

Did it rub off on you at all Like? Do you like bourbon and horses now?

Speaker 2

I still don't like bourbon. I think no, no, but I like the horses yeah.

Doubles Tennis in the Pro Tour

Speaker 1

So I want to move on to tennis here for a little bit, because I know you've got to run here for practice soon. So this year you've played with Aja Muhammad a good bit and then Miyu Kato, and they both have pretty different I would say styles. Aja's got a pretty big serve, huge overhead, Miyu has good feel, good returns, good volleys. How do you adjust to playing with two different styles of partners like that?

Speaker 2

Yeah. So to be honest, I'm kind of new on the tour, like I haven't played with a lot of different girls, maybe, like in the ITF, I did, but the ITF level and WTA tour level is very different.

Speaker 1

In what way?

Speaker 2

I feel like in just like the, the players, the level of the competition, like um, consistency. Consistency, I mean you can get away with like a few mistakes in itf, but, like in wta, you have to be very consistent at playing a high level tennis, yeah. So that's why it's very difficult, um to stay at the top at the level every time. Um. But yeah, because I started playing like grand slams 2022. The first grand slam was I was trying to open and I played that with a Thai girl and we got in because of a wild card from the Asian I don't know if it's Asian Federation or something like that.

Speaker 2

Yeah, so the first time that I got into Grand Slam with my ranking was in French Open 2022 and it was with Miu. So that's the first time I played with Miu. And then the first match. We just clicked the chemistry and the game style. I feel like it was very easy to play with her, so that's why we started playing more together. And then in 2023,.

Speaker 2

We decided to play the whole tour together, and then I felt like I still have a lot of things to learn from other doubles players, so that's why I kind of want to try another players that I can play with. Yeah and see, like if I play with someone that's like very different than me, you will that work or will that not work?

Speaker 2

and it happens that I found Asia to play with and then seems very different with Miu's style. And it is very interesting to play with Asia also because then I can see, like, what I need to improve and actually what I'm capable, capable of and it kind of like because with me I'll play with this style and then with Asia I would have to change a little bit of my style.

Speaker 2

So I feel like that's kind of like. The reason also why I'm trying a little bit more with other people right now is just to try to see like what kind of game style that like suitable for me and also, what can I improve and what is, like, my biggest strength? Also?

Speaker 1

what's something like a specific example of something you've learned, uh, when you started to play with Asia.

Speaker 2

I feel like with Asia I started doing more like serve and volley coming into the net more often, like we dominate the net game better, like with Miu.

Speaker 1

Sage is tougher to lob, yeah exactly.

Speaker 2

So then if we both at the net, then it's giving them more pressure. But, I feel like with Miu I cannot really do that much, because then they have like the love over her, yeah so it's kind of a different strategy also yeah, interesting.

Speaker 1

Yeah, when I talk with players about playing with different partners, I I'm always hearing things like that and it's fascinating, like for the listeners. Even like club level players, when you play with different partners, you find um different like maybe maybe not weaknesses, but different like things in your game and things about your game that you didn't know before because someone else was covering it up for you.

Speaker 2

Yes, so it's, and now I'm start getting the luck.

Speaker 1

Yeah, they don't want to love asia. That's funny, um. So a couple other questions here about the Pro Tour. This one is from Instagram. Actually, hanlon, do you have one here?

Speaker 3

Yeah, so you mentioned you're fairly new to tour. I know last year you had a really breakout season, breaking into the top 30, won several titles. Talk about the transition between playing on the ITF for several years and then now being an established top 30, top 40 doubles player and the perks that come with that, with ranking points and prize money and bigger tournaments and everything.

Exploring Doubles Tennis on the Tour

Speaker 2

Whenever I say it, I feel like the ITF is like you're flying economy and the WTA is like you're flying first class. Wta is like you're playing first class Because compared to like the facility, the hospitality that they have for the WTA tour are like the top level, especially like you play Grand Slams. They give you like everything basically. So I think maybe that's why sometimes it's difficult, when people was like why are you not playing singles anymore? Why are you like, why don't you try?

Speaker 2

and that means like I have to go back to playing itf and grind on that level where I can play on this level and make more money on like playing, just doubles, like here we've talked to a lot of players about that yeah and several players have talked about just the the challenges of balancing singles and doubles and then committing to full-time doubles and it is very tough because in 2022 I was still playing singles and doubles and then I would have to go back, like itf, wca, and then I wouldn't have any break in between. So then, like it's really tough, and then sometimes the ITF tournaments are not in the big cities, so then you have to travel more and then you have to go back to playing WTA. So that's why in 2023, I was like, okay, let me try to see how far I can go if I just focus on doubles and play the WTA tour. And so far I've been enjoying it very much, so I don't have any regret on that.

Speaker 3

Let's talk about mixed doubles for a second too. I know you've had some success at mixed doubles at the Grand Slam level. What do you enjoy most about mixed doubles and do you like, do you see it being a part of the tour more consistently? Would you like to see it at bigger events and play more regularly?

Speaker 2

Yes, I would love to see that, because I feel like mixed doubles is very fun and I feel like even the crowds are loving to watch mixed doubles events, like they tried it in Indian World, and I felt like there are a lot of people who want to watch the mixed doubles and it's very interesting because the combination of like and it's very interesting because the combination of like men's and women's. You rarely see that. You can only see that in Grand Slam and even though like, maybe it's just like you would say, an exhibition because there's no points, but still people like who play mixed doubles, they play like 100%. It's not like they just play for fun, something like that, and also like it's fun because there's no pressure. I mean, I wouldn't say like no pressure at all, because you still play for the money, but it's just um, it's an interesting game. That's why I like mixed doubles more stress, stress-free and yeah, exactly like side hustle kind of, yeah, yeah um.

Speaker 1

So a couple more questions on just kind of doubles in general. Uh, what changes would you like to see on the doubles tour? So recently, like the atp has been experimenting with some rule changes and the free fan movement, you look like you're not familiar with what I'm saying.

Speaker 2

Yeah, yeah, you know okay, okay, yeah, yeah, I was thinking like what it was in.

Speaker 1

Madrid they did it, and then, I think, last week in DC.

Speaker 2

Yeah, we did that one too.

Speaker 1

They did the microphone thing.

Speaker 2

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, I saw that one.

Speaker 1

Some of Harry Hilly of ours' videos were really popular. What changes popular um? What changes do you want to see on the doubles tour?

Speaker 2

oh no, if we gave you full power and you get to choose? I haven't really thought about this, actually, but I did see some of the changes that they made, even with the, the atp tour, like on in madrid you see the one that they only do one week, yeah, instead of like the full two weeks yeah.

Speaker 2

I think that's kind of also it was like Tuesday to Sunday, it was like, so they played every day because I felt like when we do the two weeks event like, say like Indian Walls or Miami Open, yeah, there's so many days that we have to stay there and then.

Speaker 2

But then if we lost early, then we would have another full like week yeah to do like nothing yeah but then like if we can just make it like a week event for doubles, I think that's a bit better for us. But I know it's difficult, because when you have 1,000, you cannot put a 250 or 500 in the same week, so then you don't really have anywhere to go or any places to practice with.

Speaker 1

I think one of the reasons they did that too was to allow some of the singles players who lose early in the tournament to enter the doubles draw late.

Speaker 1

Because, they tried to set up, I think, 16 of the singles players who lose early in the tournament to enter the doubles draw late. Yeah, because they they tried to set up, I think, 16 of the 32 spots for players entering through their singles ranking and a lot of people complained about that because there were certain doubles teams who would normally qualify for a 1000 and they didn't qualify I know with the men's it's tough because they use the singles ranking for doubles and three and I mean I'm grateful that doubles I mean in WTA they don't do that.

Speaker 2

Because, I feel like it would kind of a little bit ruin the draw Because you'll see probably more like walkover throughout the draw.

Speaker 1

Yeah, what about the free fan movement? Is that something that you like like or does it bother? You like when you're serving and somebody's like moving in the crowd?

Speaker 2

not really. I think that's a good idea, to be honest, the free fan movement as long as they move, like on the sideways, not in front not behind or in front of us. I think that's okay yeah because I feel like that's also help, like people to freely watch doubles and then go somewhere else, and then they can just like it's more like relaxing for them.

Speaker 1

Yeah, so a question from Instagram that I'm not familiar with. This is not tennis related. Somebody asked if you watch badminton and who your favorite player is. I guess badminton is a big sport in indonesia. Yeah, yeah, they named two specific players and I don't know their names and I probably wouldn't even pronounce it correctly I only know the badminton players from indonesia okay um, I'm a good friend with um.

Speaker 2

There is one player who played for.

Speaker 1

Mariska.

Speaker 2

Gregoria.

Speaker 1

I don't know the person. This was on Twitter. Somebody said Mariska and Rahayu.

Speaker 2

Rahayu.

Speaker 1

I don't know. They just gave me one name each.

Speaker 2

Yeah, I think Rahayu played doubles.

Speaker 1

Okay.

Speaker 2

Women's doubles, and Mariska is probably. Gregoria is her first name.

Speaker 1

Okay.

Speaker 2

She played women's singles and she's the one who got a bronze medal in the Olympic this year.

Speaker 1

Okay, got it, so you do watch a little bit of badminton.

Speaker 2

Yeah.

Speaker 1

Yeah.

Speaker 2

Because it's a very big sport in Indonesia and they always have it like on the TV or like Instagram.

Speaker 1

Yeah, did you play.

Speaker 2

No.

Speaker 1

No.

Speaker 2

Because when I was a kid, like you cannot play tennis and badminton, they say like if you play it, messes you up, yeah it messes you up. So then I never touched badminton racket.

Speaker 1

No.

Speaker 2

I just played tennis.

Speaker 1

What about table tennis?

Speaker 2

I do play table tennis, but I don't know if I'm good or not, not you're probably decent.

Speaker 1

I mean, you're a professional doubles player. Um, all right. So last question uh, goals and kind of plans for the rest of the year. Um you, we were talking about before we started recording. You're gonna play with enna shibahara, it sounds like, for the us open um and then um any other goals or partnership plans for For the.

Speaker 2

Asian Swing. I haven't sat with anyone yet. I'm still looking, but there are also some options that I can play with. I just haven't decided yet. My goal is to stay, hopefully, in the top 40, top 30. The top 40, top 30, um, yeah, I guess that's see how it goes. Yeah, I see how it goes because I mean, um, the season is like not almost over, but it's just asian swing left. So I'm looking forward for the asian swings because it's closer to home and then I'm more familiar with everything there.

Speaker 3

Last quick question who are two players that you would love to play with if you got the chance in women's doubles and mixed doubles that you haven't yet played with?

Speaker 2

Women's doubles. I would like to play with Sinjakova. I think everybody would. Then you're going to measure yeah. And then I would like to play with Erin again. It's always fun to play with Erin because I know her since like junior. Oh yeah, a mixed doubles. Um, it's probably not me, but my mom. My mom would like me to play with Joe Salisbury. Okay.

Speaker 1

She has a little crush on Joe.

Speaker 2

Probably. Actually, I've played once with my like, the one that I want to play with. I play with Rohan. That's kind of like because I knew Rohan in 2018 during the Asian Games and I was like Rohan. One day I have to play mixed doubles with you, and we did it last year, so that's already happened. Maybe one more. I don't have anybody, anybody, to be honest.

Speaker 1

Those are good answers. Those are good answers.

Speaker 3

I'm open with anyone we have some partners right there, so hopefully you're with.

Speaker 2

Yes, thank you Awesome.

Speaker 1

Dilla, this was a ton of fun. It's cool kind of just listening to you talk about playing with different partners, going forward and trying to still kind of learn about your own game and try to keep improving. So it'll be fun to uh to follow for me and all the listeners. So thanks a ton for coming on thank you.

Speaker 2

Thanks a lot.