- Fox is a Nine commentator at the Australian Open
- Also worked on the Today show after Paris Olympics
Triple Olympic gold medallist and flagbearer Jess Fox has turned heads with a memorable entrance to the Australian Open, arriving in style, via kayak.
Fox, renowned for her dominance in canoe slalom events, posted a clip to social media of herself on the Yarra River outside Melbourne Park this week.
‘How do you get to the Aus Open?’ she says in the clip.
‘I just paddle here.’
Fox then used the caption: ‘On my way to play some padel?’
Padel is a cross between tennis and squash played on small, indoor courts with softer balls where you serve underhand and can use the walls to richochet the ball back onto the playing surface.
The sport is being showcased at the Australian Open alongside pickleball.
Fox has no experience covering tennis, but the Aussie champion, alongside swimmer Ariarne Titmus, has been selected to be part of the Nine network’s coverage.
‘I have always been a tennis fan and having the chance to be at the Australian Open in this capacity is very exciting,’ Titmus told News Corp.
‘The AO encompasses Australian culture and our love for sport as a nation. It will be a new and challenging experience being on the other end of the mic, but one I am very grateful for.
‘I’m [also] looking forward to working alongside a great team and broadening my skills outside of the pool.’
Titmus, who won gold in the women’s 400m freestyle and the 4x200m freestyle relay at the Paris Games, won’t have to look far when it comes to priceless tips behind the camera.
Her father Steve is a sports presenter for Seven News in Brisbane.
Nine has also lured back ‘Super Brat’ John McEnroe, at a venue where he was infamously disqualified for unsportsmanlike behaviour as a player in the 1990 tournament.
McEnroe will join fellow American Jim Courier plus Aussies Todd Woodbridge and Jelena Dokic as the key figures of Nine’s coverage.
Other confirmed commentators include home grown tennis identities such as Lleyton Hewitt, Sam Stosur, Dylan Alcott, John Millman, Casey Dellacqua and Alicia Molik.
