Makere Bradnam can't wait to get behind the microphone and interview the players at this year's Heineken Open. Photo / Doug Sherring
If you're planning to watch the tennis this summer, your IQ just went up. "Tennis is 95 per cent mental, 5 per cent skill," says Makere Bradnam, who will present the Heineken Open for Sky Sport. Sure, she's probably talking about the players but let's just apply that to the spectators for a second.
It's hard work concentrating on the ball without spilling your beer.
Bradnam knows a thing or two about the demands on the players. A former junior pro who frequently found herself up against World No 77 Marina Erakovich, she reached the top five juniors in New Zealand in her teens and was ranked 300th in the world. She is also an experienced tennis coach. These days her focus is on television even though she still plays and coaches.
Having cut her teeth on the magazine-style teen sports show Random Rugby, the 27-year-old progressed to reporting for The Crowd Goes Wild. This year she will take on a more prominent hosting role on the show, opposite Mark Richardson and Andrew Mulligan.
When she takes on the Heineken Open job, the easy-going presenter will interview players, do live crosses and work on stories for Sky Sport.
"I go pretty much every year and the atmosphere is amazing," says Bradnam, over a coffee in her Grey Lynn neighbourhood. "It's the biggest tournament of its kind in New Zealand so everyone's pretty excited to be there. It's packed out every day and sometimes it gets a bit rowdy, especially when you get keen tennis fans cheering on their favourites."
She is secretly pleased she won't be working the ASB Classic too as it means she can check out her heroes, both former No. 1s, the Dane Caroline Wozniacki and American Venus Williams. Venus, with sister Serena, is someone Bradnam has looked up to since childhood.
"Caroline Wozniacki is a great athlete and she seems awesome. She has been through a lot," she says, referring to the star's high-profile break-up with golfer Rory McIlroy last year. If anything is going to derail your mind state, getting dumped by your fiance after the wedding invitations have gone out is probably it.
"But she has turned herself around and now she's getting back on her game. When you get on court, you've got to try to leave that stuff behind. It's seriously hard."
As for the guys, aside from the drawcard of Spanish world No 5 David Ferrer, Bradnam can't wait to see American John Isner's huge serve and Frenchman Gael Monfils' "ridiculous" shots. She is also hoping to chat to Ernests Gulbis, the Latvian player known for his sense of humour and disdain for interviewers' "boring questions".
"He does these crazy interviews, which is good for The Crowd Goes Wild because he'll be able to do all the stupid stuff."
Photo / Norrie Montgomery.
Bradnam mostly plays interclub matches these days, having recently missed out on making the national finals. A nearly two-hour match the day before we met was a gruelling reminder of the focus and mental stamina required to play at top level. That's what makes tennis so compelling to watch, she says.
"Tennis is a good mix of endurance and strength. But I'd say most players have a love/hate relationship with the game."
The pros are usually independent types, she says, and those who trained from a young age often become intensely self-focused, spending much of the time analysing their game or travelling alone. So spare a thought for the tennis stars who would rather hang out in their hotel rooms than traipse around Auckland doing touristy things in the media's glare.
Actually, scratch that. They get paid heaps.
"At most tournaments, the players don't interact with each other. It's funny because everyone sees this glamorous lifestyle, playing tournaments and travelling amazing places around the world but it's quite hard.
"And most of the time, unless you're in the top 20-50, you're by yourself. You'd go a little bit insane being by yourself all the time, wouldn't you?"
Bradnam is too chatty to fit this category but she is the first to admit she doesn't miss the isolation that comes with playing at a high level. She grew up in Wellington and took up tennis at 5 years old.
By age 8 she had a coach and by 12 she was pursuing it seriously. At 14 she dropped out of school and started home-schooling so she could travel the world playing tournaments.
"I missed out on all the social stuff, although I've got good social skills now so I don't think it affected me.
I was lucky I had a group of guys I was close to.
I was a tomboy, so I missed out on girl time at school. My friends would all be going out drinking. Back then, I hated it but now, I don't care that I missed out."
Far from her early OE being a backpacking dream, the three months she spent in Europe as a 16-year-old were spent mostly on tennis courts, although she does have fond memories of the drive from Austria to Germany. "I travelled through the States and the first place I went was South America. Venezuela was dodgy."
The sport itself has also taught her about life.
"With tennis, you've got to be strong mentally so you can move on to the next thing. It's about constantly fixing things.
"If something's not going right, you figure out what is and work on it. There are lots of life situations that applies to. Plus you're travelling a lot, and training heaps. You learn about sacrifice."
Bradnam's gig with Sky isn't the first time she's been in the non-sporting spotlight. From the age she first picked up a tennis racquet she was also studying every facet of dance, including ballet, tap and modern. After she came out of her "tennis bubble", she got a scholarship to Wellington's Performing Arts Centre, where she gained a diploma in musical theatre. Later she trained as a dancer in Sydney, before returning home to perform in various musicals in Wellington.
Victor Vito, Makere Bradnam and Cory Jane behind the scenes of Random Rugby.
She also became a cheerleader for the Hurricanes. They would rehearse three times a week, their choreography more dance-based than the acrobatic tradition of American cheerleading.
"People talked down on us so much. They'd say we were fat. And useless. Everyone was mean. But we were all good dancers and worked hard. We had fun."
You get the impression it's water off a duck's back for Bradnam - perhaps a result of that mental discipline instilled in her from a young age. Like many top athletes, she trained with a sports psychologist twice a week, visualising her wins and on-court manoeuvres.
But even she couldn't have foreseen a career in front of the camera. Despite a long-held interest in working in TV, she surprised herself when auditioning for the Random Rugby job. "I had fun and I realised maybe I had this secret talent I didn't know about."
She moved from Wellington early last year and started the job in February, with "no training whatsoever". And although she knew a little about rugby, meeting the players and hearing their stories has stoked an interest in learning about other codes. That's come in handy on The Crowd Goes Wild, for which she has covered several sports.
"It makes a difference if you've got a sports background because you can relate to a lot of the players. You know what questions to ask, you know what they're going through."
Having insight into the tough psychological side of the sport is an advantage, but if you've seen the show you'll know it's about the fun side to sport, and not taking yourself too seriously. Even if Bradnam says she once did.
"Back then, I never thought it was good enough," she says. "Now, I think 300th in the world isn't bad. There are so many tennis players out there. I was a bit hard on myself."
Caroline Wozniacki, Sloane Stephens and Venus Williams will compete in the ASB Classic. Photos / AP
The NZ Festival of Tennis is back for 2015, anchored by its two marquee events, the ASB Classic and Heineken Open.
The ASB Classic, from tomorrow until January 10, is the premier women's tennis event in New Zealand.
The big names from the women's circuit include Venus Williams, Caroline Wozniacki and Sloane Stephens.
The Heineken Open, from January 12-17, is the top men's event.
This features David Ferrer, defending champion John Isner and Gael Monfils.
SKY Sport has live coverage of both events on SKY Sport 4.
The Heineken Baseline After Party at the ASB Tennis Arena follows the Heineken Open, featuring musicians Peking Duk, Jupiter Project, Electric Wire Hustle, Chelsea Jade and Dan Aux.
• Tickets are available from Ticketek. For more info, visit festivaloftennis.co.nz
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