Doubles Only Tennis Podcast

Aldila Sutjiadi Interview: Wimbledon Prep, Partner Conversations, Indonesia Tennis, & Her Medical Scare

• Will Boucek • Episode 291

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0:00 | 27:07

Aldila Sutjiadi is the #36 WTA doubles player coming off a grass court title in Bad Homburg alongside Vera Zvonareva. I spoke with Aldila a few days before Wimbledon, so we discussed her preparation, recent title, and more.

We talk through recovery choices, what actually creates doubles chemistry, and her health scare from a few years ago.

  • Managing Wimbledon prep with smart on-site time and planned practice blocks
  • Handling recovery day to day, including physio for specific pain
  • Unpacking the French Open cramp and the role of heat and hydration
  • What clicked with Vera Zvonareva in Bad Homburg
  • Zvonareva's communications style (I loved this part)
  • Grass-court doubles fundamentals, including staying low, first volleys, and serve-plus-one patterns
  • Adjusting quickly across many partners by leaning on a hybrid baseline and net game
  • Returning from a wrist injury and a sudden hearing-loss episode with vertigo and hospitalization
  • Growing Instagram through wins, highlights, and connecting with Indonesian tennis fans

Aldila reached the second round in women's doubles and the quarterfinals in mixed doubles at Wimbledon. Follow Aldila on Instagram below and watch her throughout the 2026 season!

Learn more about Aldila & follow:

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Setting The Stage With Aldila

SPEAKER_00

You're about to hear a short conversation with Aldila Suciati. Aldila has been on the podcast several times now. She is number thirty-six in the world currently in doubles, and she is coming off a grass court title in Bad Humburg alongside Vera Zvanareva. Uh I caught up with Eldila before Wimbledon, several days before, uh, as she prepared for the third major of the year. Um, at Wimbledon, she is playing with Janice Chin, who is also from Indonesia, and uh they've teamed up several times this year and had some good success, and they actually won their first round match earlier today as I'm recording this. Uh, during this conversation, we talked about her preparation for Wimbledon, uh, the title in Bad Hamburg, uh, what it was like to play with Vera Zvana Reva, who she has played with a couple of times this year, maybe making a final um earlier in the year as well, um, and how she adjusts to playing with different partners. She's played with over five different partners this year, uh, and she obviously has to make adjustments um from one partner to the next. Uh, we also discussed some of her injuries. She had some cramping issues at the French Open, uh, and then she actually had a bit of a health scare a couple of years back, and she was generous enough to open up about um that story, which was kind of wild, and we're very thankful to have Aldila um back uh healthy and playing on tour again because she is a joy to watch. Uh, and then at the end, I asked her how she's been able to increase her Instagram following so um significantly. I think last time I talked to her, she had around 40 or 50,000 followers, and now she's up near 100,000 on Instagram. So um she is a great follow. You should follow her as well, and then of course watch her um as she continues her Wimbledon run. So this is a very short conversation. Adila's always fun to have on the show. Uh, and I hope you enjoy this one with Eldila Succiati. Hey everyone, welcome to the show. Today we have Eldilla Suciati on. Eldila, welcome back.

SPEAKER_01

Bye.

SPEAKER_00

Thanks for uh thanks for coming back on. Um, I know it's late there in London as you uh prepare for Wimbledon. Um, I wanted to start with Wimbledon prep. How do you prepare going into uh a grand slam? And also um talk specifically about today. What did you do today? I think we're three days before the start of the women's doubles draw. Um what did you do today to prepare? What does that look like?

SPEAKER_01

Um so actually today is quite um easy day on a tennis court because I just arrived yesterday from Bad Homburg. So I arrived quite late uh night yesterday. So today we had an hour of tennis, and then I had an hour of gym, and um that's all for like my tennis and fitness, and then I had like recovery, and then I tried to um get a short day at the site because sometimes like we don't realize that when we're spending too much time on site, it's actually taking up a lot of our energy too. So I'm trying to make it like just as quick as I can to be

Wimbledon Prep And Energy Management

SPEAKER_01

on site, and then I leave after.

SPEAKER_00

Okay, so that was you wanted a short day on site today, and it will that apply to tomorrow as well, or will you slowly kind of progress that?

SPEAKER_01

No, I kind of uh tomorrow will be uh two sessions of tennis. I have one hitting and one uh uh practice points, and then I'll have another gym tomorrow. So it's a longer day tomorrow.

SPEAKER_00

Okay. And are you you said recovery too? Obviously, winning last week in Bad Humburg um means you're playing a lot of tennis last week. Uh the for the recovery aspect, um, what does that look like? Are there specific things like small injuries that you're kind of managing, or is it just kind of general massage and maintenance, or what does that look like?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, it kind of depends on the day. Sometimes when I feel like there's something going on with my body, like a specific stuff, that's right now I'm kind of having a bit of pain like behind my knee, like above the calf muscles, and that's what I'm kind of like today. I feel it more during practice. So I was doing a recovery, I went to the physio for that. But sometimes if I feel more like a massage just to like relax the body and get ready for the next day.

SPEAKER_00

Okay, I see. Is that does that have um I was gonna ask about some of the injuries you've dealt with a little bit later, but uh the rolling garrison injury, what what did that turn into? Was that um something that obviously healed pretty quickly?

SPEAKER_01

It wasn't uh it wasn't an injury, it was a cramp towards uh the end of the point at the end of the match, right?

SPEAKER_00

At the end of the match, yeah. I remember while I was watching the match live and I saw you go down, and I was like, oh no.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, okay, that was just a cramp. Yeah, that one uh because I I didn't really feel that until that last point when I reached um the drop volley, and then I was like, oh, like I couldn't like I couldn't like um stop it, you know. It was just like like that. That's why I fell down.

SPEAKER_00

Oh well, yeah. I've only had cramps once before, and I have never had them since because it was it was just bad enough to where I'm like I try to be so so diligent with hydration. I'm sure y'all are too, but y'all play tennis at a lot more intense level than I do.

SPEAKER_01

So I think the cramping can be uh, you know, it's always a it was it was very hot in Paris that day, too, and I didn't realize it was very humid, also. So I I sweat a lot, I tend to sweat a lot, so I think that's probably why.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Um, so I want to talk about the title in Germany um with Vera Zavanareva. What what worked so well for you last week? I think it was your first title on grass. Um so what worked so well and talk a little bit about playing with Vera. Um, what how does that kind of partnership work so well?

SPEAKER_01

That that is actually our second time playing together. The first time we play was in Robot, the week before French Open. We got to the final, but we lost in the final. And then I think from Robat, I kind of know like how to play with her because uh we have good chemistry like on the court, like even like from the first match, like ah, okay. You you kind of feel it sometimes when you play with someone new, like you don't know like how it is gonna be on the court, like when you're playing, because practicing with them is different. But when you're like on the court, like playing a match, that's when you kind of know, ah, okay, so this is like um her characteristic on the court, what she likes, what she doesn't like. And in Robot, I feel like we were kind of more like um like like kind of trial and error, like you kind of like starting to know, like you know, like the first date. You kind of know like, oh, what she likes, okay, what she doesn't like. And then like in in Bad Homburg, uh, me and my coach,

Chemistry Behind A Grass Title

SPEAKER_01

like we kind of like know how Vera is, and we kind of we were able to work together as a team, and I think that's why like we did well, we did better in Bad Homburg. Like we uh we played uh good from like the first match, and it's just getting better at every match as like we played more together, and I feel that very important, like because in doubles, like although you have two good players, you still have to be a team. Like it doesn't mean like two good players will win the match or will win the tournament, but as long as you can work as a team and work at uh work strategies as a team, that helps a lot, and I think that's what like uh we did very well in Bad Homburg. Like we know what strategy we need to play, and then I'm very grateful to play with Vera because she's a very experienced player. I learned a lot of things from her, like she knows what to do, like she tells me, and then we and she also um allows herself uh for my opinion. Like it's always two-ways conversation, it's not just like she's telling me this, this, this, no, it's always like she's asking, also, what do you think? Or like, okay, maybe we should do this, we should do that. Like, I think that's uh communication also key for that.

SPEAKER_00

Hmm, that's really interesting. Yeah, I like that a lot. Um, I wanna I want to ask about that, but before you mentioned when you're playing with a new partner, with Vera, for example, you said that uh the energy was good and and you felt like y'all were a good team kind of from the get-go, it sounds like. Is that um let's say like in the past you don't have to name names, but if you've played with somebody who didn't have that same energy or something was off tactically, do you feel like it's usually a chemistry thing in terms of like on court demeanor and personality and kind of set those intangibles, or is it something like oh tactically, like or strategically, we just aren't a fit?

SPEAKER_01

Um, I think it's more like the on court kind of like feeling that you have. And like for me, I'm quite like an energetic player, so like I can help someone like to like bring their energy up. Especially like um, but with Vera, it was quite natural, it was easy for us to like the chemistry on the court, and then like because uh she's a very stable player, like she doesn't go emotionally high, emotionally low, like she's always there, like we would go like a little bit low, but then like it's just always there. So that's like for me, that's like very easy to play with because like I'm kind of more like a neutral positive, like I would go like above neutral, so that's why like even though like sometimes like okay, I don't do well, but Vera were able to like kind of help bring me up, and then when Vera doesn't do well, then I'll help her to bring her up. So that's kind of like um like give and take kind of thing.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, that makes sense. So um, can you share an example of a match either from last week or from uh Rabat where maybe y'all worked through something together? Um, you said she'll not only just tell you what to do, but also will say what do you think here, or just ask you questions to get your opinion. Do you have a specific match uh or points maybe where that happened?

SPEAKER_01

I think we kind of do it like almost every match there in Bad Homburg. Like we were uh I practiced with Vera two times before like the first match, but we was just like practice points, like we're playing points with other teams, and then after the first match, uh we have one day off. That's when like me and Vera were able to work more things towards um our game style. So we were uh just me and Vera like hitting uh with each other, and then with my coach also. So we do like a double drills, three of us. And I feel like with um Vera like um like we will ask like what she wants to do, and then like after that, I will tell her like what I want to do, so then we kind of like combine our practices together. And it's just like from I think like from the first match, we were able to play our game, like this the game that we want to play, like which is like we want to play like aggressive and like which is on grass, that helps a lot, and then we were able to execute it better every day, so that's why like I think we were playing uh better and better until the finals.

SPEAKER_00

What what else changes on grass? You said playing aggressive helps on grass. Um how else do you make adjustments during the grass court season?

SPEAKER_01

I think it's very important to just like stay low and it actually um you have less time to think on grass, and it's more like so. We do a lot of like repetition on like um service partner because that's quite important on grass. Like it is very hard to return on grass because the ball is just faster. So if we can like um benefiting from like the service partner, like finishing the point from there, um that's like um a very good tactics, and also we work on like um like for me, I was working more on like the positioning of my service partner and the receiver's partner. So like with some players, I would like uh switch a different position, like on mostly on the receiver's partner, because like say like my partner is not feeling great with the return, then I would move a little back, but once he's returning well, then I will move forward. So that's kind of like the positioning

Grass Court Tactics That Matter

SPEAKER_01

that I've been working on. Of course, like um the first wallies. We've been working a lot on first walleyes, like because on gross you would like to come to the net as quick as possible and then be um aggressive at the net and try to like dominate from the net.

SPEAKER_00

You mentioned um you'll adjust your position as the returner's partner based on how your partner is returning. You've played with like five, six, seven different partners this year. Um I started to count but stopped counting after like five. Um how do you adjust from one partner to the next? And talk also a little bit about Janice, who you've played with a lot.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Um like for me, it's not hard to play with different partners because I'm more like a hybrid players. Like I can play from the back, I can play from the net, like I'm comfortable both. So like I can adjust with who I'm playing with. Like, say um when I'm playing with Ingrid Neal, like we both are trying to be at the net because uh we control the points better when we both at the net. Um and then like say when I play with like Janice or Vera, who's like um consistent from the back, then like we would have a different strategy on that. I would be like, um sometimes even like they can be on uh like say like I was returning and then we both can be on the baseline, and then maybe I'll try to come at the net after my return, and then one will stay back, or we

Adapting Fast With New Partners

SPEAKER_01

both come at the net. So it's just that um it's not very like significant change between each partner, but because like um I'm quite easy with changing partner, so for me it's not very hard to adjust.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah, you're like um yeah, because you have like the baseline and the net game, you can play with different playing styles versus some players who have like one playing style kind of need a particular type of player to complement them. Um talk a little bit about uh some of your injuries that you've had over the last year or two. I know you had like a was it a hearing problem um that you were kind of going through. How's that going? Um, and then also talk about for people who may not know um what happened.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, so in 2000 October 2024, I was having uh a wrist injury, so I partially tear my TFCC. Um so I had to like uh withdrew from uh uh some tournaments in the Asian swings at the end of the seasons, so I didn't play, I think, the last two tournaments um because I had to rest and then I had to do rehab. So then I um I was doing my rehab, I was trying to come back again like around like November, December. I just started to play again after like five weeks off. And then um I was doing fitness. I still remember it was December 5th, 2024. I was doing fitness and then suddenly like I couldn't really hear properly on my right um

Wrist Rehab And Sudden Hearing Loss

SPEAKER_01

ear. Uh but that time I didn't realize what it what what it was. I was still like doing fitness for like two hours and then but it became worse like every hour. And then I uh when I went back home, um I like my right ear was completely blocked. I couldn't hear anything from my right. And then uh on the way home, I called my mom, like, hey, like I think there's something wrong with my ear. Like I couldn't really hear anything. So then we booked an uh appointment. Uh luckily it was easy to go to like um the doctor back home. So then we got an appointment at like 6:30 p.m. And I got home like around 4.30, so I still have time. So I was just like relaxing at home waiting for the appointment. And then suddenly I was like, I went to the bathroom and then I had this Fertigo. I never had Fertigo before. I was like, oh, this is weird, and then I started vomiting like every three to five minutes because I suddenly I lost my balance because of the hearing. So I was like, yeah, I was back and forth going to the bathroom until like I just like I couldn't stand anymore. So I just like literally like stay in the bathroom because I know I'm gonna throw up if I walk again. So then like I had to like put like a plastic bag, but like I have to bring a plastic bag with me and carry it because like I know like I'm gonna vomit like within five to ten minutes. And then finally, like I was able to like relax a little bit, and then we went to the doctor. Um, and then when I went to the doctor, they checked like my ear, and he said, like, there's nothing wrong like with your ear. It was like completely fine. And then he was like, I think you have a sudden hearing loss, and then like we didn't know what that was, and then uh I did the audio audiometry or like audiogram, like the one that you have to wear like a headphones, and then you um it's like audio tests, so like you hear like different uh different sounds, and from that test, like the result. Like I I think I lost my right hearing like about 90%. And then um the doctor told me, like, yeah, you have sudden hearing loss, and then we need to give you steroids because that's like um the first treatment for this. Like everybody everyone used the same treatments, and then uh, but since I couldn't take it in my mouth because I was vomiting, so I had to be hospitalized, and they put the steroid from the IV. So I was hospitalized for like about I think maybe 10 to 12 days. Wow, and yeah, but um for uh between those two weeks because they have they call it a golden period, which like you have to be treated in that period, otherwise, like you will miss the um the healing period. So I got I I was doing all the right thing, like the treatment, but the doctor did say that like you know, like we had um this cases that like 30 of them got like completely healed, 100%, 30% is like um better, but not 100%, and 30% is just like stay the same. So mine is like I got better, but not like 100%. It went up to like maybe like 30, 40 percent. So maybe now I I lost like about 60% of my right hearing.

SPEAKER_00

Wow, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

So I can't uh I only um can hear from my left for now.

SPEAKER_00

Wow. So your balance is okay now.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, the balance came back maybe around three months.

SPEAKER_00

And do they and did they diagnose it? Like is there a name for this? No.

SPEAKER_01

It's just um they they they couldn't find the the reason behind it, like why it happened, like what's going on because I did an MRI, I did a city scan, I did like ultrasound, I did everything, and they couldn't find it because like the nerve is very small that like they cannot see.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, yeah. So it's only it's been stay it's been stable since then for like a year or more.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, the balance has been stable, like the balance has been like after like three, four months, um, I got my balance back. But it's just like sometimes like there is like some days um I kind of like still have like a bit of um unbalance, but it's not like not very bad.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Wow, well I'm glad it it healed at least part of the way. I mean that's that's sounds really scary, and glad you're able to play again. Um well, thank you for sharing that. Uh I know you have to run because it's late there. So, last question for you. Um, I think last time I had you on, we chatted in person in Toronto, I believe.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, yeah, I remember that.

SPEAKER_00

At the time, I think you had maybe 40 or 50,000 Instagram followers, and now you're at like 90 almost to 100. What is that something you've made a conscious effort to uh grow? Or is that like do you have an agent that's working with you on it? Because I one of the thing, and the reason I asked this is one of the things that we can do and and that y'all can do as players to make doubles more popular is to get more social media followers and be more active on social media. So, what have you done to do that?

SPEAKER_01

Um I think last year I had like an agent that helped me uh to post like some of my uh highlight matches. And then like um that helps me to like post my social media, like some photos or videos, and I think that kind of helps. But I feel like the one that helps most is actually when you win a tournament or like when I play like that C games, Asian games, that kind of like helps me

Instagram Growth And Growing Doubles

SPEAKER_01

to grow more my social media followers.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, is is I imagine a lot of the growth is from Indonesia, right? Like Indonesian tennis fans who want to follow your career and watch you.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I believe so. I mean, we have like around 300 million people back home. So it's a big country. Yeah, it is a very big country, and um and they're very active on social media, so that's why like I'm trying to be like active um on Instagram to like promote tennis back home and also like to let people know oh, like this is actually how like a professional tennis athlete's lives are.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, that's great. I think that's awesome that you're doing that. All right, Eldila, I will let you go. Um, thanks a ton for hopping on and best of luck at Wimbledon.

SPEAKER_01

Thank you, Will. Thanks for having me.