Mary Joe Fernandez Previews Australian Open Field for ESPN
Posted by Aaress Lawless on Jan 11, 2007 | Print | Email | Bookmark | Free Subscription
Former WTA Tour player Mary Joe Fernandez will be taking her turn in the broadcast booth for ESPN and ESPN2 over the next two weeks at the Australian Open, alongside of many other familiar faces in tennis broadcasting.
The Australian Open, tennis’ first Grand Slam of the year, will begin Sunday on ESPN2, with daily, exclusive coverage totaling at least 120 hours (79 live) and continuing through the women’s and men’s finals.
On ESPN and ESPN2, Cliff Drysdale, Dick Enberg and on-site host Chris Fowler will call matches, accompanied by analysts Mary Carillo, Patrick McEnroe, Pam Shriver and Fernandez. Luke Jensen will serve as a roving reporter and studio analyst.
For the first week, former Australian star player-turned coach Darren Cahill will appear as an analyst in the studio and as a third voice on select matches.
With the start of the Australian Open only days away, Fernandez believes that because many of tennis’ top players are out of contention, there may be some significant changes on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour in the future.
“This could be the year with big changes at the top of women’s tennis,” said Fernandez.
“Davenport is gone, probably for good, Henin-Hardenne has withdrawn from the Australian Open, and the biggest question in the sport remains the Williams sisters. Are they healthy? Will they be a factor? They hardly played last year and now Venus has pulled out of the Australian Open. Beyond that, was Amelie Mauresmo’s breakthrough year in 2005 her one year, or can she continue playing so well? Will Maria Sharapova’s US Open title translate to winning all the time?”
Based on the shortage of former Grand Slam champions in the main draw, Fernandez believes that Nicole Vaidisova and Ana Ivanovic will be among the talented youngsters to watch over the next two weeks.
“I’m interested to see which young players can step up and fill this void”, said Fernandez, who won her first singles title at the age of nineteen. “I really like Nicole Vaidisova, who finished the year ranked #10, and Ana Ivanovic at #14.”
ESPN has televised the Australian Open exclusively since 1984.
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