- Australian Open stars attempted their best Aussie accent
- Emma Raducanu fared the best, but Carlos Alcaraz struggled
- The pair begin their campaign on Tuesday
Carlos Alcaraz and Emma Raducanu took part in the inescapable rite of passage for any star visiting Australia this week, with the tennis players asked to give their best Aussie accents.
Of the handful of stars that took part in the challenge hosted by The Tennis Channel, former US Open champion Raducanu fared the best, giving a solid ‘G’day mate’ and ‘Crikey’ when put on the spot.
The same can’t be said for Wimbledon champion Alcaraz, who was baffled when attempting to say ‘G’day mate’ and ‘Fair dinkum’.
In fact, the unique phrase that means ‘true’ or ‘really’ also had the likes of Aryna Sabalenka, Naomi Osaka and Stefanos Tsitsipas stumped.
Alcaraz and Raducanu begin their Australian Open journeys on Tuesday, with the pair eager to make their mark after watching Novak Djokovic and Sabalenka win the men’s and women’s singles titles respectively last year.
Emma Raducanu gave her best Australian impression ahead of the first grand slam of the year
Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz struggled to pronounce the famous Aussie sayings
‘I’m an ambitious guy and I always want to play against the best players in the world to see what is my level,’ the Spaniard said ahead of the tournament.
‘Obviously it’s a good test, playing against him in the places or in the tournament that he’s almost unbeaten.
‘I’m looking to hopefully playing a final against him – it would be great obviously but yes, knowing those stats, it’s an extra motivation, for sure.’
A run to the final may be a tad ambitious for Raducanu, who struggled with a wrist issue which required surgery last year.
The former US Open champion is grateful to be at the Australian Open, having revealed the full extent of the struggle which took place after Wimbledon.
‘I was just worried. I started hitting in August and after that, I’d say, the first eight, nine days, I was feeling pain and then it just didn’t go away,’ she recounted, ahead of her first-round match against American Shelby Rogers.
‘And then I didn’t start hitting again with the yellow ball until pretty much the last week of November,’ she added. ‘I didn’t play for a good few months after (the first setbacks) and then only started picking it up recently, at the back end of November.
‘So I guess to be in the position I am now, only really having had six weeks of training with yellow balls, I’m pretty proud of myself and the team for getting me here.
‘I was always going to feel pain in my wrist but credit to the surgeon, he did a great job.’
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