Australia’s Billie Jean King Cup captain Sam Stosur was among the stars to walk the blue carpet at the 2024 Newcombe Medal awards on Monday night.
Melbouirne, 9 December 2024 | Dan Imhoff
Stars of Aussie tennis walked the blue carpet at this year’s 2024 Newcombe Medal awards at Melbourne’s Crown Casino.
Amid posing for photographs and media interviews, they spoke with tennis.com.au. These are among the highlights:
Sam Stosur, former Newcombe Medallist and Billie Jean King Cup captain
Who do you most look forward to catching up with or running into at the awards night: “I think the people you don’t see that much, so you come to something like this and you always run into someone you haven’t seen for a long time, have a great catch-up and I think it’s probably the people you don’t see too much. Having said that, I love seeing my friends and everyone else here as well, but I think it’s one of those bump-in opportunities where ‘Oh I haven’t seen you for a few months’. It’s lovely.”
Matt Ebden, Newcombe Medal nominee and Olympic gold medallist
You’ve had an extraordinary year and you have your Olympic gold medal here with you. What would you love to achieve in 2025? “The Grand Slams are obviously huge, the Masters, but we want to win the Davis Cup for Australia. We haven’t quite achieved that these last few years. We’ve been so close so that’s the biggest one.”
John Peers, Newcombe Medal nominee and Olympic gold medallist
Is there a player or player, past or present, you most look forward to catching up with tonight? “To be fair it’s all the guys I don’t get to see who don’t travel as much anymore. I saw Lucz [Peter Luczak]. I hadn’t seen him since the start of the years a few of the past players – Wayne Arthurs, Frommy [Richard Fromberg], Todd [Woodbridge] if he’s around. A lot of these guys we don’t get to see as much as we used to.”
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Ellen Perez, Aussie tennis star
What’s the most stressful part of the evening – the outfit, getting the socials en pointe or the anticipation around who wins the big award? “For me, this time I’m presenting an award so I’m pretty stressed about being up on stage. I don’t really love public speaking. I think the easy part is getting actually ready, they do it for us so it is pretty cruisy. It is exciting, the anticipation of who’s going to win the Newcombe Medal, it’s nice.”
Maya Joint, Aussie tennis star
It’s your first Newcombe Medal awards night. You got to spend more time with the Aussie girls as the orange girl for the Billie Jean King Cup team. How as that experience? “It was unbelievable. Everyone was so nice and including, and it was so much fun to watch them compete and get them ready for their matches.”
Emerson Jones, junior world No.1
It’s your first Newcombe Medal awards night so what are you most looking forward to about it? “I haven’t been before to this, so it’s pretty exciting. It’s my first time here. All the older girls are here and I get along with them really well, so yeah it’s going to be pretty good.”
Hayden Jones, junior world No.13
You’re up for the junior male athlete of the year. What are you most looking forward to about the night? “I think it’s just awesome to be back around the legends of the game for Australian tennis, meet some older players and just have fun, have a good night.”
Heath Davidson, Australian wheelchair tennis star
What does the Newcombe Medal night mean for you, gathering around your compatriots and fellow players? “It’s awesome. I love being at home. Tonight brings all of us together to celebrate the year we’ve had. I love seeing Peersy and Matty Ebden and all those boys. Also good all our female tennis players get a chance to get all glammed up, instead of just in sportswear, and just enjoy the night.”
John Fitzgerald, Aussie tennis legend
How special is this occasion for the sport and to bring so many of the names from your era back together? “I love seeing the guys I played Davis Cup with under Neale Fraser. At this time, we think of him and talk about him a lot. Darren Cahill, Todd Woodbridge, Wally Masur, who’s not here, and Pat Cash, who’s not here either. They’re the guys I love catching up with the most because we were in Davis Cup teams together.”
Todd Woodbridge, Aussie tennis legend
You have co-hosting duties tonight with Casey Dellacqua. How much workshopping on the gags gets done between you both or is each to their own? “I don’t do a lot of the gags, whatever happens is organic but on a night like tonight it’s really important to keep things moving. My job is to make everybody enjoy it by getting on and getting off and keeping the show on time. We’ll make it work.”
Omar Jasika, Aussie tennis star
How special is it attending the Newcombe Medal night given the impressive few months you’ve had? “It’s an unbelievable night. It’s like the Brownlow [Medal] for tennis, and there’s a lot of people that come to this event. It’s good to see familiar faces and it’s good to see everyone’s achievements throughout the year and catch up with people you haven’t seen throughout the year. This is probably my sixth or seventh year now. I always come back, I love it so much.”
Find your way to play: Visit play.tennis.com.au to get out on court and have some fun!
