The American tennis legend Pam Shriver will no longer be part of the “ESPN” team of experts and moderators from the upcoming Australian Open in Melbourne. Her well-known neighbor was also rationalized away by the US broadcaster. The end comes as a surprise to Shriver.
Shortly before the start of the Australian Open in Melbourne, the US broadcaster “ESPN” announced its changed team of experts for the first Grand Slam tournament of the year. There are many prominent names there. However, those of Pam Shriver and Brad Gilbert are missing.
“Thank you for more than 35 exciting years. I remember working for ‘ESPN’ for the first time at the Australian Open in 1990 after an early defeat. I was ready for more, but I was told it was time to rationalize,” the early world number one reacted quite surprisingly to her exclusion.
In addition to Shriver, Gilbert was also removed from the prominent “ESPN” roster. He wrote succinctly on social media: “I’ve had a good 23-year run.”
Numerous ex-tennis stars in the expert team
Although the two well-known faces are no longer on the team, the largest sports broadcaster in the USA is sending numerous prominent figures down under. These include ex-professionals John McEnroe, Chris Evert, Caroline Wozniacki, Mary Joe Fernandez, James Blake, Sam Querrey, Chris Eubanks and CoCo Vandeweghe.
The first Grand Slam tournament of the year begins on January 12th. The game will be played until February 1st. A new record prize money will also be distributed this year. As the organizers announced this week, the total amount will increase by 16 percent compared to the previous year, bringing it to 111.5 million Australian dollars (around 64 million euros).
The winner of the individual competition alone will receive a check for 2.58 million euros.
:focal(182x72:184x70)/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2026/04/16/image-d59f3aac-2886-45f1-8185-903bf898a07f-85-2560-1440.jpeg "Alexander Zverev Wears FC Bayern Munich Jersey at BMW Open in Munich")