Media personality and comedian Joel Creasey shares his favourite tennis memories in our Celebrity Match series.
Melbourne, Australia, 10 October 2023 | Leigh Rogers
Joel Creasey is an Australian comedian and media personality.
He is a co-host on Nova FM’s award-winning national drive radio show, Ricki-Lee, Tim and Joel, and recently co-hosted New Leash on Life, an ABC television program.
He is also a published author, actor and long-running host of Australia’s Eurovision Song Contest coverage on SBS.
In our Celebrity Match series, Creasey reveals he is a life-long tennis fan and was once a ballkid for the world’s top players …
Tell us about your tennis experience. Have you played before?
You’ll be shocked to learn I’m not a particularly sporty person. However, tennis has always been the exception to that very cliché rule. I love it and still regularly catch up with friends for a “hit”. Okay, that second part was a lie but I just wanted to show that I do know the tennis lingo. I maybe play once or twice a year at most, but I never miss a Grand Slam!
When you do play, what is your best shot and why?
Backhand down the line! I grew up in a time of Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin. The Belgian backhand queens!
What is your earliest tennis memory?
Playing tennis at the ratty, mouldy tennis courts on Rottnest Island with racquets hired from the local general store with my parents.
Do you have a favourite tennis memory?
Oh gosh, too many to mention! Kim Clijsters and Serena Williams are my heroes and queens, so any time I’ve had the privilege of watching them flex their craft for an audience has been a treat. Come back Serena! You can do it! Snatch that record from Margaret Court!
What is the most memorable story from your Hopman Cup ballkid days?
Well, you perhaps won’t be surprised to learn that I was quite a chatty ballkid, so I was usually assigned to taking care of the player’s drinks. On court, of course. I wasn’t mixing them martinis after hours (I wish!). I remember getting to hand Kim Clijsters her water (which is a sentence that sounds kind of ridiculous when you think about it). But her reaction and what she said to me has stayed with me and inspired me for life.
Do you remember the first professional match you saw live? Who played?
I do! It was the Hopman Cup and it was … you guessed it, Belgium versus … well, someone else. I remember Kim Clijsters was ranked around the 30s at the…
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