Viewers of the Australian Open will notice a difference in the commentary booth for the season-opening grand slam in 2023.
Seven-time Grand Slam champion and former World No. 1 John McEnroe will not be heard by Australian fans this season after his employer, ESPN did not bring him to Australia, according to Newscorp.
McEnroe, known for his outbursts on the court, has been a fixture in the commentary booth and a facilitator of on-court interviews. However, he will not be seen on Australian television.
However, his thoughts will be heard when he watches the action on the court, having predicted that Novak Djokovic will go on a tear throughout the event via Eurosport.
“I believe he will be happy at first, but there will be a little of bitterness, and he needs to get over that,” McEnroe told Eurosport’s Reem Abulleil.
“I think he can get over it, he’s demonstrated that he has gone through some extraordinarily difficult challenges, none more so than the previous 12 months of his career.
“The fact that he was still able to go out and win Wimbledon and go out and play these smaller events in the fall to get his ranking high enough so that he can go and win the event in Turin and the year-end event, and embrace playing and competing, was just incredible because it would have been very easy to be frustrated and angry.
“I can only imagine how he felt when he was deported from Australia and had to cope with that.
“I don’t think he was right until Wimbledon, but he found it, and it is something that very few players will ever be able to achieve.”
McEnroe isn’t the only one who won’t be returning to Nine’s commentary team; former Australian star Sam Groth was elected as the Member for Nepean in Victoria’s state election in November.
Jim Courier, a two-time Australian Open champion, will return.
In the commentary booth, he will be joined by Todd Woodbridge, Lleyton Hewitt, Jelena Dokic, Dylan Alcott, Casey Dellacqua, Sam Smith, Alicia Molik, Mark Philippoussis, Darren Cahill, and Peter Psaltis.
AFL legend Matthew Pavlich will join the off-court reporting crew, while Andy Lee’s Guess Who? section seems to be substituted for a special edition of The Hundred as part of a network cross-promotion.
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