Craig Gabriel: Tennis commentator on the Australian Open

Published Jan 12, 2025, 2:47 AM

One of the major highlights on the Tennis calendar is underway in Melbourne - the Australian Open. 

Top seed and defending champion Jannik Sinner is a favourite to win and straight into it tomorrow in the first round.

10 time champion Novak Jokic will also have fans abuzz as he goes for his 25th major. 

Two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka is headlining the opening night of the tournament tonight, as she attempts a three-in-a-row win - a record last set in 1999. 

Tennis commentator Craig Gabriel joins the show. 

LISTEN ABOVE. 

You're listening to the Weekend Sport podcast with Jason Vine from News Talks EDB.

The twenty twenty five Australian Tennis Open starts today.

Three kick kick kick three seven point s sas away. So Janick Center sing the Australian Open. Here's Mayland Major chapins in Melbourne. You will never forget this name.

Janick Center winning in twenty twenty four. He is the top seed and obviously defending champion for twenty twenty five. Craig Gabriel joins us from Melbourne. Craig, before we look at the tournament, you've covered the Australian Open for quite some time. Your first one, as I understand it, nineteen eighty one. Johann Creek and Martina Navratilova were champions that year. You've covered them all since then. Is it your favorite major, the Australian Open.

It's certainly one of the highlights of the year, There's no two ways about it. There's this time of the year, the Australian summer period, and then I guess the other part would be middle of the year when we start with the French Open and finish with Wimbledon. I mean that's also a really thrilling time to be on the tour. Look, there are a lot of highlights right through the season, but those are the two parts that really stand out.

Let's look in my mind, yes, indeed, let's look at the twenty twenty five means singles to start, means top seed, defending champion, Yannick Center, He's in first round action tomorrow. How firm a favorite do you assess him to be.

I think he's certainly as the defending champion, as the world number one, and the incredible run that he had in twenty twenty four would have to make him the leading favorite. Certainly, there's a lot of other players that are in a perfect position to challenge him and challenge him incredibly. Well, you know, it's difficult to exclude somebody like a ten time champion in Novak Djokovic, who is this year trying to also win his twenty fifth major, which would break the record he shares with Margaret Court, and he's I guess he could go with the slogan of twenty five in twenty five near Carlos al Karaz who won two of the four majors along with Sinner last year. And you know, Alexander Zverev trying to make that break through to finally win a major. He's been in the US Open final. It was the COVID year on one occasion. So you know, as far as hard court finals are concerned, So you know, there are a lot of players that are in there in the mix, but certainly Sinna would be the main favorite.

Yeah, he won, as you said last year, the Istridian Open and the US Open. What makes you Anick sin a so effect on hard courts?

Look, I think his power, his reach, his mind and good people around him. I mean I know both his coaches pretty well. Dan Calee has been a long, long time friend and more recently Simoni Vagnozzi, who is a really good guy. And what I think is so impressive with Yannick is that mindset that he's got. There's so much stuff going on around him at the moment, the controversies with water et cetera, which I refer to as what a dysfunctional authority that is, and you know, for him to still have that mental strength to go through and win a US Open with that controversy and the year end championships and tak the Davis Cup will lead its lead to the Davis Cup Championship. That's incredibly impressive.

Tamos El Kris won Wimbledon and the French Open last year but has never got past the quarterfinals in Melbourne. Could he this year? Should he this year?

Absolutely?

Yeah? I mean, look, consider how incredible this young man is. He's twenty one and he's got the chance of claiming a career Grand Slam. This is the only one of the four that he hasn't won the Austrada and Open. But to think that at the by the age of the age of twenty one, he turns twenty to the beginning of May to achieve something like that, that is really phenomenal. And he's such a down to earth, humble individual, just like Yannick is in fact that Yeah, he's he's in with a shot big time, and he's changed his service motion as well, and he's sporting this new haircut which is short back insides. He had his haircut and then he said he thought after three days that had grown a bit, he went and had to cut again. So yeah, some of these guys, seriously, no.

Veg Djocovich least talk about the ten time champion twenty five twenty five, as you say, could be his slogan. He's only the seventh seed. What do you predict for Novak in twenty five, Well.

He said he's got. He's playing more tournaments this year than he did last year. Last year he had one focus. I mean, obviously he'd want to win any major that he was in, but he had one focus and that was to win the Olympic gold medal, which he ended up doing in Paris. So I think he's probably got, you know, the monkey off his back. You know, there's no nothing on his shoulders, and he has to be considered a threat at any one of these He's not Joe Smoe from provo. Let's face it. You know, he's arguably the greatest tennis player that's ever lived, and he has to be in with a chance on any of these majors. And taking on taking Andy Murray on board. I think everybody's curious to see how that pans out. That relationship. They're one weaker part in days, they're at the same age. And you know, he says and he was one of his greatest rivals and knows his game inside out, back to front, upside down, every which way, and you know he's also still played a lot of the younger ones, so he's he's a good, good brain for Novak to add to his own brain.

Just before we move to the women, Nick Krrios, the crowds will turn up to watch. I'm sure John Kine Arena tomorrow night. How deep do you think Nick Krios could go?

Nick is taking on the mantle of the human headline.

He really is.

I mean, I love Nick, but Nick needs to stop with all this stuff regarding Sinner. It's not doing himself any favors. And he's the only one voicing all this stuff, these views and opinions on Sinner, and I think that maybe made the trap something from him. You know, I love Nick. I've known him since he was a kid, and he's incredibly talented. He is thrilling to watch. He's so exciting. He is Forrest Gump's box at Chocolates. You don't know what you're going to get, seriously, so I would expect him to get through. Jacob Fernley of Great Britain, who was saying yesterday that he's excited for these sort of opportunities, and he admitted to being a big fan of Nick Curios's So, look, Nick will get through. I think he's got the ability to get through to the third round at this stage, and then more than likely he'll run into Alexander Sverret.

Arena Sabalinka, two time defending champion in the women's headlining the opening night session on Rod Labor tonight. What chance she makes it three in a row, Well.

Very very few women in the Open era have done that to win Australian Opens in a row. The last one was Martina Hingis in nineteen ninety nine. Yeah, you get the likes of Yvonne Gulagong, Stephie, Martina, It's pretty amazing company to be in. And yes, she's got the ability to do it. I think the draw she's got is not too bad. She's got Sloan Stevens in the first round tonight. And you know, while Sloane Stevens was an amazing player reached won the US Open Championship a few years ago, she's not the player that she once was. So while there maybe a couple of tricky moments in that, I don't expect Staberlenka to lose that match, and I think, you know, looking at her draw, I think it opens up pretty well, should open up pretty well for her, and it would not surprise me if she joined that club and won the championship for a third year in a row.

Although who might challenger third seed Coco Goth second seed IGAs Fiante both play tomorrow? Are they either the main two do you think, Craig, or is there somebody else who might might go quite deep and challenge challenger in.

It Oco is the challenge and they're in the same half of the draw, but they wouldn't meet till the semi finals, and that's really where I think the main challenge would be for work for Saberlenka. And as far as egos Sean Tik is concerned that any time she can meet her would be in the finals. So it's no point Saberlenka even thinking about her at this stage when the first ball hasn't even been struck.

Two intriguing weeks of tennis ahead. Craig, thank you so much for joining us for a preview. Look forward to your coverage across the next fortnight.

Thanks. Jason looks forward to it.

Yeah, we look forward to it. To Craig. Thanks and day Craig. Gabriel there from Melbourne where the Australian Tennis Open is underway, and over the next couple of weeks we'll look forward to the storylines being written in both the men's and women's singles. Lulu Sun incidentally will play tomorrow. She has a few round match in the women's singles tomorrow.

For more from Weekend Sport with Jason Fine, listen live to News Talk Set B weekends from midday, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.