Miller & Dovi on court ahead of Phillip Island MotoGP

Ahead of the Michelin Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix, Andrea Dovizioso and Jack Miller headed for Rod Laver Arena, meeting up with former World No.1 tennis ace Lleyton Hewitt and star coach François Vogelsberger for a match with a few differences. 

Lleyton Hewitt, Andrea Dovizioso, Jack Miller, François Vogelsberger

Heading out on court, after an initial Warm Up and some friendly words at the net it was down to business – with Miller and Dovi teaming up vs the pros. Unfair odds? Some would say, and despite a few choice shots that just about had Hewitt’s team outfoxed, the MotoGP riders found themselves broken – in a serve sense of course – and it was time to try and level the playing field a little.

Time out taken and ready to kick it up a gear, the gloves then came off for Dovizioso and Miller as Hewitt put them on. Donning one of Miller’s, the former Wimbledon and US Open champion now had to try it with a bit more of a handicap – but still, it was to no avail as the pros came out swinging once again. Next up? Even more of a challenge…

Lleyton Hewitt, Andrea Dovizioso, Jack Miller, François Vogelsberger

Although it was harder to hold the racket in the glove, it took another level up with the addition of Miller’s helmet. Pulling it on and getting used to the extra weight, Hewitt was then facing two different challenges as he tried to serve accurately looking through the visor – and stay nimble enough to return. The riders geared themselves up to give it their best shot and finally, finally managed to slice one past the pros.

Jack Miller and Lleyton Hewitt on court in Melbourne, with Hewitt wearing Miller’s MotoGP helmet to even the odds

So that’s it for Melbourne and now it’s time to head south through the state of Victoria as Phillip Island beckons for another spectacular battle. Thursday welcomes the riders to the pre-event Press Conference as well as a couple more Aussie-themed events before practice begins on Friday, and the lights go out for the race at 16:00 local time on Sunday (GMT+11).

Andrea Dovizioso, Jack Miller

Jack Miller saying of the day, “It’s really nice, especially to come here and play – although I don’t know if you could call it playing, I think I was more watching Lleyton play! But it was incredible, it’s great to be back here in Australia, and I’m looking forward to another weekend in front of the home fans. I think we can do a really good job and hopefully improve on last time out. It’s a really cool pre-event! Lleyton is going to come down and watch the Grand Prix so I hope I can put on a show for him and the rest of the home fans.”

Jack Miller

Don’t forget Jack Miller will be attending the AGV Helmets Australia display this Saturday at 1.30 PM for a short signing session with Aussie fans, thanks to Link International, so if you’re keen to meet this Aussie legend or grab an autograph, don’t miss out!

Andrea Dovizioso adding, “We were lucky, it’s nice to meet a champion. I love to speak to champions from different sports because I’m interested in understanding all the details. It’s a good event, we had a good match and we lost every time – or almost! And it was funny to see him playing with the helmet, that was strange! But it’s nice to have had this event in this nice city. We have two or three days after each weekend before the next one, I love Japan and I stayed there a day and then I flew to Melbourne. I love Australia and it’s nice to spend some time here before we go to Phillip Island tomorrow.”

Andrea Dovizioso

And about that race weekend ahead? ‘DesmoDovi’ is eager to get going: “I’m happy to have this race now because it’ll be the perfect test to see where we are now. For sure we’ve improved since last year and we’re very interested to analyse it and understand it, to be ready for next year…”