GAME,SET, MATCH

When Jim Courier won the 1992

Australian Open, the tennis player jumped straight into the Yarra River afterwards. Courier admits it was

“not particularly pleasant”, but didn’t stop him from repeating the victorious dip. “We ended up doing it again when I won the next year as well,” he says. As the world’s number 1 male tennis player at the time, he had a lot to celebrate.

Today, he continues his longrunning link with the Australian

Open: this is the 15th year he’ll be commentating the event. Although the American grew up in Florida, his connections to Australia started early: he was mentored by the Sydney-born Harry Hopman. “I was lucky to spend many weekends as a 12-year-old at the Hopman Academy in Largo, Florida.”

He currently counts Melbourne’s France-Soir as one of his favourite restaurants around the world (the steak au poivre is his go-to order) and he loves the local drops. “I like red wine and have Aussie friends who have driven me down Penfolds lane many a night. It’s quite a pleasant ride, I must admit.” His commentating diet, though, is pretty strict. “I always need water nearby – and if we go late into the night, there is often some espresso involved as well. It’s also best not to overeat, lest you fall asleep in the booth in a food coma,” he says.

Interviewing Roger Federer on court has been a highlight over the years; so has being in Melbourne for the first Grand Slam on the calendar. “Australia in January is the best way to start a year, every year.” The Australian Open screens on Nine from 20 January, 9now.com.au