Inside the AO Booth

Former Grand Slam champion Mats Wilander and his long-time broadcasting colleague Barbara Schett have been prominent figures in TNT Sports coverage of the Australian Open over the last couple of weeks.

Here, they give All Court Tennis Club their views on the big talking points in tennis, with Carlos Alcaraz, Aryna Sabalenka and Novak Djokovic among the players under the spotlight.

Were you surprised to see Carlos Alcaraz part company with his coach Juan Carlos Ferrero prior to the Australian Open?

Barbara Schett: It was a big surprise for everyone in tennis. We don’t really know what happened, but it sounds like there was some money issue. He has been in his corner for so many years. He was like a father to him. A coach, a mentor. Now that person is not there anymore.

All you can say is Carlos has been playing very well at the Australian Open so far, but we are not sure if it will affect him in the long run.

Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have emerged as the shining stars of the men’s game over the last two years. How good are these two champions?

Mats Wilander: They are incredible and I understand why people are saying Carlos and Jannik have taken the game to the next level after the era dominated by Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. Carlos is such a good ambassador for our sport. The smile is just a million dollar smile. It's incredible that we have him after ‘the big three’ - we suddenly get so lucky to have Carlitos Alcaraz as the No.1 in the world.

Do you expect Alcaraz to appoint a new high-profile coach to replace Ferrero?

Mats Wilander: Only Carlos knows the answer to that question. I was surprised to see them split because they worked so well together, it seemed to be the perfect combination, but I always felt Carlos was mature enough to deal with this and he has played some incredible tennis at the Australian Open so far. What I like about Carlos is that he is always adding elements to his game and we have seen that again in the last year.

Can you understand what is still motivating Novak Djokovic to continue playing at the highest level when he is approaching his 39th birthday later this year?

Barbara Schett: He just loves it so much. If he wants to keep going, I love it because it gives us something to talk about. What he achieved last year, reaching the semi-final at every Grand Slam is unbelievable at his age. Can he win another Grand Slam? Never say no with someone who has won 24 times, but the chances are not that good if he has to beat Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner to get there.

What makes world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka so good?

Mats Wilander: You can see some similarities with Serena Williams in her game and that is obviously the ultimate compliment. We talked about the power game of Serena, but Sabalenka has other elements to her game. She has a Plan B. She can do slices, vary pace and she also intimidates here opponents.

Aryna Sabalenka got a lot of criticism prior to the Australian Open when she played Nick Kyrgios in a ‘Battle of the Sexes’ match. What was your take on the event?

Barbara Schett: I’m not sure if she (Sabalenka) necessarily needs that money for an exhibition and I have to admit I didn’t watch it. I didn’t like the idea of it and I will explain why. I’ve been spending the last 30 years telling everyone that men’s tennis and women’s tennis are different. A woman cannot beat a guy because of the physicality. It’s just not possible.

They always complain, why do we get the same amount of prize money. I always tell them we are working hard as well. We might not be playing best of five (sets), but everything we put into tennis and everything we do in training is exactly the same.

Then we see the reaction and they say he (Kyrgios) didn’t even play at 100 per-cent and she has no chance. Women’s tennis is then crucified. Especially men look at women’s tennis and say this is ridiculous. So I don’t know why we needed that match.