Austin Joins Tennis Channel Australian Open Team

Written by: Staff on 12th January 2012

Austin Joins Tennis Channel Australian Open Team |

Two-time US Open winner Tracy Austin will join Tennis Channel’s coverage of the Australian Open. Austin, who was up until recently the lead women’s commentator for Australia’s Channel 7 and wrote a daily column for The Australian newspaper during the event, joins Martina Navratilova and veteran sportscaster Bill Macatee.

“I’m excited to join Martina, Bill and the rest of the Tennis Channel team in Melbourne this year,” said Austin. “As we go into the 2012 season, I look forward to seeing if a dominant No. 1 can emerge on the women’s side again. It’s been fun watching new faces and first-time winners break through at the majors the past few years, but I’d like to see if anyone can step up, win Slams and play sustained, excellent tennis throughout the year.”

Analyst Justin Gimelstob will also be back, and play-by-play announcer Brett Haber is another new addition to the Australian Open team. Sports Illustrated’s Jon Wertheim will also be onboard. Veteran tennis reporters Joel Drucker (@joeldrucker) and Matt Cronin (@TennisReporters) will write columns on the network’s Web site. Cronin will appear as an analyst on Australian Open radio during the event.

In all, Tennis Channel will devote approximately 175 hours of programming to the Australian Open this year, with 30 hours of live play, 85 hours of its morning show “Australian Open Today” and more than 60 hours of encore-match coverage. New for the network’s Australian Open coverage in 2012 are 10 consecutive nights of prime-time matches, beginning at 7 p.m. ET which will take place from the first Monday through the second Wednesday.

Topics: Australian Open