Russell Fuller
speaker
59 appearances
4 recordings
1 series
first heard Jan 2026
last heard 5d ago
Russell Fuller’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
Trend
recordings per month · last 12 monthsRecordings per month over the last 12 months — 4 in all, peaking in Sep 2026 with 2.
Appearances
It's also about trying to put more eyes on this lead-up week to the Australian Open, the week that the qualifying matches take place, to try and make the Australian Open, like the other Grand Slams around the world, effectively three-week events rather than two-week events.
And it's certainly a unique format that has created a lot of interest.
They had some qualifying competitions in the eight Australian states at the end of last year, and there was a state champion in each of those, and they received flights to Melbourne and three nights accommodation and a place in the main draw.
Now, in almost every case, those state champions are very fine tennis players.
They may have considered a professional career.
They may have had a college tennis education in the United States, but they are ultimately amateurs, and so to see them up against the likes of...
Yannick Sinner and Coco Gauff is that extra area of unpredictability.
Well, one million Australian dollars is actually more money than you would make for reaching the quarterfinals of the singles when the Australian Open begins on Sunday.
There's also a brand new car for the last amateur standing.
So I think the money is definitely a factor, although some of the players involved are multi, multi millionaires.
It was a chance for some celebrities to take to the stage, the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne as well.
There was a former Australian jockey called Damian Oliver.
He won the Melbourne Cup three times, who managed to win a round.
And also an Australian breakfast TV presenter, Karl Stefanovic, who also managed to win a round when his opponent served a double fault.
So often in this format, if you elect to put your opponent in, you may need to do absolutely nothing to win the match.
I think when you try something like this, then you are very much trying to bring in audiences that may not sit through the Australian Open itself, or at least will not be watching for hours and hours on end as matches perhaps stretch into a third, fourth or fifth hour.
there's perhaps a hope that it will attract younger audiences to the sport as well.
And if you can get a social media star called Loser Fruit in your draw, which is the case here in Melbourne, then clearly her influence and her social media presence is going to introduce the sport of tennis, perhaps, and certainly this particular event to a very, very wide following indeed.
Loser fruit was a loser in the first round, I'm afraid to say.
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