Seven's summer of tennis - Seven West Media

A SIZZLING
SUMMER OF
TENNIS
THE STAGE IS SET FOR SEVEN TO SERVE UP YET ANOTHER
SENSATIONAL SUMMER OF TENNIS, CULMINATING IN THE
AUSTRALIAN OPEN 2010.
Held from January 18 to January 31, the Grand Slam comes
off the back of an exciting year that has seen a lot of change
on the international tennis landscape.
“[Juan Martin] Del Potro’s win in New York has blown the
men’s event wide open and [Kim] Clijsters’ effort, combined
with [Justine] Henin’s comeback, has had a similar effect on
the women’s,” says Australian Open Tournament Director
Craig Tiley.
“We can expect some amazing tennis and absorbing drama.
Can Rafa [Nadal] defend? Will Roger [Federer] go one better
than last year? What influence will Juan Martin, Novak
[Djokovic], Jo-Wilfried [Tsonga], Fernando [Verdasco] and the
Andys [Murray and Roddick] have? Not to mention Lleyton
[Hewitt] who will come in with some good form, a seeding and
a full season under his belt.
“Of course Serena [Williams] has won here four times and
again stands tall at Melbourne Park in the women’s draw,
but Kim is obviously back, Justine is the ultimate competitor
so expect her to be ready, Maria [Sharapova] was so good
last time she was here and what about our own comeback
stories? Sam has not only come back she has surpassed
everything she ever did before, and Alicia [Molik] and Casey
[Dellacqua] have shown what they can do in front of a home
crowd.”
Seven will commence its primetime coverage at 7pm in
week one, and 7.30pm in week two. Prime time finals for the
men’s and women’s singles return, which in 2009 nationally
attracted 2.25 million and 1.67 million viewers respectively.
As well as the Grand Slam of Asia/Pacific, Seven will cover
lead-in tournaments on the road to the Australian Open.
These will include the Brisbane International, the Medibank
International Sydney and the AAMI Kooyong Classic in
Melbourne.
Seven’s summer of tennis will be headed by BRUCE
MCAVANEY, JOHANNA GRIGGS and MATTHEW WHITE with
expert commentary once again at the Australian Open from
four-time Grand Slam champion JIM COURIER and former
world No.1 TRACY AUSTIN.
Joining these personalities in the Seven commentary box for
the Open as well as the lead-in tournaments will be the most
successful doubles player in men’s tennis history and Davis
Cup coach TODD WOODBRIDGE, Gael Monfils coach ROGER
RASHEED, former professional player and Fed Cup coach
NICOLE BRADTKE, Britain’s former No.1 ladies tennis player
SAM SMITH, SANDY ROBERTS, JOHN ALEXANDER, JOHN
FITZGERALD, CHRIS DITTMAR, ALLAN STONE and KERRYN
PRATT.