Perth Lord Mayor hits back after being falsely accused of belittling Australian Open women’s final

Kevin Palmer
Perth Lord Mayor Basil Zempilas
Perth Lord Mayor Basil Zempilas

Perth Lord Mayor Basil Zempilas was plunged into a sexism story after he made comments that appeared to have been reported incorrectly.

Zempilas – who was a broadcaster for Channel Seven before he took on his current role – was reported to have belittled the women’s singles final between Aryna Sabalenka and Zheng Qinwen.

Sabalenka lifted her first Grand Slam trophy at Melbourne Park 12 months ago and has been untouchable this fortnight as the women’s championship at the Australian Open reached a conclusion.

Yet Zempilas was reported to have questioned the significance of the women’s final as he was caught in a ‘hot mic’ exchange prior to an on-camera interview.

“Tennis is on tonight, isn’t it?” Zempilas can be heard asking in the clip posted to social media.

A colleague replies, “Ah, yeah, the female final”, before Zampilas responds by saying: “It’s a reserves game, then.”

That last comment was viewed as a swipe at women’s tennis, which traditionally struggles to get the kind of audiences men’s matches attract.

Yet Zempilas was quick to take to X to clarify his comments, as he pointed out he was suggesting the evening news report would struggle to get a big audience in Australia on Saturday evening as there would be so much interest in the Sabalenka vs Qinwen match.

“I need to make absolutely clear the conversation I had with @9NewsPerth reporter @GenoveseMichael today is being reported totally incorrectly,” Zempilas wrote on X.

READ MORE: Former world No 1 predicts how many Grand Slam titles Aryna Sabalenka will win

“Before today’s press conference Michael and I were talking about how presenting the news when a big sporting event is on at the same time means a small audience will watch the news.

“I then say to Michael words to the effect ‘are you reading the news tonight?’. He says ‘yes’ and I say ‘the tennis is on tonight isn’t it?’. He then says ‘the women’s final’. And I then say referring to reading the news against that broadcast ‘it’s like the reserves then’.

“Reading the news against the tennis was what I was referring to as ‘being the reserves’. Not the tennis. I can not make that any clearer or be any more emphatic.

“It is totally disingenuous and flat out wrong to suggest otherwise and I will not be accused of having said something I did not say. I am certain Michael will verify this.”

The clarification from Zempilas should exonerate him from any suggestion that he was disrespecting women’s tennis, as the former newsreader appreciates it is hard to get an audience for an evening bulletin when there is a big sporting event on.

The comments from Zempilas are backed up by the impressive viewing figures that have been posted for the final matches at this year’s Australian Open.

Novak Djokovic’s semi-final clash with Jannik Sinner on Friday set a new record by drawing the largest TV audience for a men’s last four match since 2014, with 79% more spectators turning into ESPN’s stream and broadcast of a match that saw the defending champion well beaten.

Additionally, 29% more people watched the highly anticipated match than the most viewed Australian Open semi-final in 2022.

The semi-final round on the US sports cable network saw the most views since 2021, in part because of the rematch between Coco Gauff and Sabalenka showdown in Melbourne.

There was a big drop in Australian TV viewing figures for their home Grand Slam last year, with a 40 per-cent dip on 2022 figures.

Yet that was primarily because local hero Ashleigh Barty brought Australia to a standstill when she won the title in Melbourne, while Rafael Nadal’s incredible win in 2022 was another must-watch TV event.d

That year’s Australian Open also featured the Aussie doubles duo of Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis winning the Australian Open doubles title, with their success drawing huge crowds to the stadiums in Melbourne and to TV screens around the world.

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