The main event on the Australian tennis calendar, the Australian Open, begins on Monday, January 17th and runs until January 30th. The 2022 Open promises to be another blockbuster, with tennis fans looking out for what the opening Grand Slam of the year always delivers: 14 days filled with big names, thrilling matches and great stories.
Fans will be able to watch every match of the AO live and free on Channel Nine, 9Gem, and streamed on 9Now.
Nine’s team of commentators and hosts will take viewers through all the action.
COMMENTATORS
Dylan Alcott, Casey Dellacqua, Sam Groth, Sam Smith, Lleyton Hewitt, Jelena Dokic, Jim Courier, Alicia Molik, Todd Woodbridge, Tom Rehn
DARREN CAHILL
Darren Cahill is a highly regarded former tennis player and coach, and an international tennis commentator. Although he has a reputation as a mild and well-mannered man, he was nicknamed a “killer” during his playing days. After retiring from the professional ranks, Cahill was in demand as a coach, guiding Lleyton Hewitt to his first major title, the 2001 US Open. From 2002 to 2006 Cahill coached Andre Agassi, helping him to regain the world No. 1 ranking, and in 2017-18 he coached Simona Halep to become No.1 on the WTA Tour and win the 2018 French Open. Cahill is a tennis analyst and commentator with the ESPN sports network.
JIM COURIER
The youngest man to reach the final of all four Grand Slam singles tournaments, at the age of 22, Jim Courier went on to win four of these supreme titles – Australian Open (twice) and French Open (twice) – as well as five Masters 1000 series titles. Courier reached the No. 1 world ranking and was a member of two winning Davis Cup teams for the USA. Since 2005, he has worked as a tennis commentator and broadcast host, and is known for his informative on-court, post-match interviews.
SAM SMITH
Former British women’s No. 1 from 1996 to 1999, Sam Smith is one of the world’s leading tennis commentators, regarded for her knowledge and understanding of the sport. Smith won both the junior and senior UK National Championships and has carved out a career as a commentator on television and radio. She is currently engaged by media organisations throughout Europe, the UK, USA and Asia, covering the big tournaments.
TODD WOODBRIDGE
Todd Woodbridge won a record 83 doubles titles with compatriot Mark Woodforde and peaked at world No. 19 in singles in 1997. The pair formed the most successful doubles combination in history with 11 Grand Slam titles and an Olympic gold medal at Atlanta in 1996. In 2010, Woodbridge was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, and he has been immortalised in bronze at Melbourne Park. His broadcasting career began in 2006 and he has since hosted the Olympics, the Commonwealth Games, tennis, cricket, and golf tournaments. In 2021, Woodbridge joined Postcards, Channel Nine’s Victorian travel program, as a presenter.
JELENA DOKIC
At the age of 16, Jelena Dokic caused one of the biggest upsets in tennis history, beating world No. 1 Martina Hingis at Wimbledon and reaching the quarter-finals. Dokic penned the best-selling autobiography Unbreakable, which details her life and career. In the book she details the struggles of being a refugee, dealing with poverty, racism, bullying and discrimination, and talks about the physical and emotional abuse she suffered for over 20 years at the hands of her father, which started when she was six.
SAM GROTH
Sam Groth holds the world record for the fastest ever serve, registering 263 km/h at the 2012 ATP Challenger event in Busan, South Korea. In 2015, he received the Newcombe Medal at the Australian Tennis Awards. Groth retired from professional tennis in 2018 and rates his career highlights as playing Roger Federer on centre court at Wimbledon and Rafael Nadal on centre court at Roland Garros. He now covers tennis as a commentator, writes a sports column, and makes regular radio and television appearances as a sports pundit. In 2019, Groth joined Postcards as a presenter.
LLEYTON HEWITT
Famous for his fist pumps and screams of “Come on!”, Lleyton Hewitt is the youngest male player to earn the No. 1 world ranking and the last Australian to win a men’s singles Grand Slam title. Hewitt was part of Australia’s winning Davis Cup teams in 1999 and 2003 and is Australia’s current ATP Cup and Davis Cup team captain. In 2021, he joined the commentary team for the Australian Open.
ALICIA MOLIK
Alicia Molik made the top 10 world rankings in 2005 following her first Grand Slam quarter-final singles appearance at the Australian Open. She competed at three Olympic Games, taking home a bronze medal for Australia from Athens in 2004. She also won two Grand Slam doubles titles, the 2005 Australian Open and 2007 French Open. Molik is the current captain of Australia’s Billie Jean King Cup team.
CASEY DELLACQUA
Debuting at the Australian Open at the age of 17 in 2003, Casey Dellacqua went on to win seven WTA doubles titles, 23 ITF doubles titles, one Grand Slam mixed doubles title, and reached a career-high world singles ranking of No. 26 and a doubles ranking of No. 3. After retiring from professional tennis in 2018 this popular player, passionate about promoting the game through mentoring and coaching, has become part of the Channel 9 commentary team.
DYLAN ALCOTT
Dylan Alcott is the only man to complete the calendar-year Grand Slam in quad doubles, winning all four major titles in 2019. Alcott has also won 14 Grand Slam singles titles and received recognition for his outstanding achievements, including the 2016 Australian Paralympian of the Year Award, the Newcombe Medal and the Graham Kennedy Award for Most Popular New Talent in 2019, to name just a few. Alcott is a back-to-back Paralympic champion after winning gold at the Tokyo Paralympics in 2021. Alongside a stellar sporting career, he is also a commentator for the Australian Open and has been a host on weekend radio. In 2021, Alcott announced his retirement, making the 2022 AO his final tournament.
TOM REHN
Tom Rehn is a sports reporter for 9News in Adelaide and an AFL football commentator and radio presenter. Rehn has reported from a host of major sporting events, including the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and won the Clinton Rising Star Medal in 2009. He is known for his passion and dedication to his job and breaking big sports stories in Adelaide.
HOSTS
CHANNEL 9
James Bracey, Roz Kelly, Tony Jones
TONY JONES
9News sports presenter Tony Jones joined Nine Melbourne in 1986. Over the past 35 years he has covered countless major sporting events at home and abroad, including the Winter Olympics in Vancouver (2010) and PyeongChang (2018). In 2010, Jones became co-presenter of the Radio Sport National breakfast program and has had weekly sport segments on 3AW and Gold 104. In 2017, he took over the hosting role on The Sunday Footy Show, which he previously hosted from 2006 to 2008.
ROZ KELLY
Roz Kelly is a sports journalist and presenter with a media career spanning 15 years. Originally a reporter for Fox Sports, she has covered many of the world’s biggest events, including the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games, Formula One Australian Grand Prix, Melbourne Cup Carnival, Bathurst 1000 and Australian Open. After a stint at Network 10, Kelly joined Nine and Stan to work on Super Rugby and Wide World of Sports.
JAMES BRACEY
Ultra-versatile James Bracey is the host of Nine’s National Rugby League coverage, the Sports Sunday program and 100% Footy. He has covered three Summer Olympics (Beijing 2008, London 2012, Rio de Janeiro 2016), two Winter Olympics (Vancouver 2010, Sochi 2014), the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, as well as the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand. Bracey also hosts the annual State of Origin series and Nine’s NRL Grand Final coverage.
9GEM
SAM McCLURE
Award-winning sports journalist Sam McClure began his media career as a news reporter at 3AW. In 2017, McClure joined 116 SEN Breakfast as a reporter, also becoming a regular football reporter on the Seven Network. In 2018 he won the AFL Media Association’s Most Outstanding News reporter award and in 2020 he rejoined Nine. In 2021, McClure also won a Quill Award in the sports news category for his investigative report into the Adelaide Football Club’s infamous 2018 pre-season training camp. McClure is currently a presenter on Footy Classified, a journalist for The Age, and co-hosts Sports Today on 3AW alongside Gerard Healy.
SEB COSTELLO
Young gun Seb Costello has built a career covering international news and sport since joining 9News as a reporter in 2012. His 2017 posting to London as the Nine Network’s European Correspondent saw Costello cover a swag of major stories, including the Royal Wedding of Prince Harry to Meghan Markle. He has covered the Rio Olympics and reported courtside on the NBA finals, and ringside on the richest prize fight ever (Floyd Mayweather v Manny Pacquiao). In 2018, he rejoined Triple M in Melbourne as the news presenter for the Hot Breakfast radio program. Costello currently works as a reporter for A Current Affair.
NICK McARDLE
Nick McCardle’s career spans more than 30 years in radio and television. Starting out in radio, McArdle moved to TV as a journalist at Channel Seven before joining Fox Sports, where he hosted the Australian rugby coverage for over 10 years. In 2020, he joined Nine and Stan Sport to cover Super Rugby and work with the Wide World of Sports team. He is also the director of his own company, McArdle Media Group.