Sports presenter Georgina Chang probably has every tennis fan's dream job.

As host of cable channel ESPN Star Sports' weekly tennis show Ace, she flies around the world to rub shoulders with stars such as men's world No. 1 Rafael Nadal and glamour queen Maria Sharapova at top tournaments like the ongoing Australian Open in Melbourne.

Less enviable are the butterflies in her stomach, which nearly caused her to mess up her job.

The first time she interviewed Switzerland's Roger Federer, whom many experts say could be the best player of all time, she stumbled over her questions.

'I was trembling with anticipation before the interview and when it started, I asked my first question wrongly so I had to stop and ask it again. I nearly died of embarrassment,' she says of the incident three years ago.

'I was horrified. How could I do a take two with Roger Federer?'

Thankfully, the star did not seem too bothered, taking it all in his stride, and the rest of the interview went smoothly.

Chang, who is single and says she is in her 30s, started hosting Ace in 2006. But it has been a long ride for the television veteran who has almost 20 years of media experience under her belt.

In 1988, she started out as a radio DJ on Perfect 10, now called 987FM.

A different career path beckoned in 1994, when she relocated to Hong Kong for three years to be a music news presenter for Channel V. It was while she was there that she ventured into sports, doing part- time work on ESPN Star Sports.

When she returned here to take up the job of programme director at Perfect 10, she continued to juggle sports broadcasting before finally going fulltime with ESPN Star Sports in 2006.

'It was a natural progression to move from the younger audience of music and the latest trends, to presenting to a larger base of mature audience,' she says, explaining her change in career direction.

Now a mainstay on the channel, she covers a wide range of major sporting events including the World Pool Championships and the KIA X Games in Asia.

1 Are you good at any sport?

The only sport I do now is reach across the table to compete for the last chocolate brownie. I do yoga once in a while since I work up a good sweat without having to run.

2 How does covering sports differ from covering entertainment?

For music and entertainment these days, there is plenty of leeway for presenters who are not interested in the content to be successful.

As long as they look presentable and project a fun personality, they can still be very popular with the audience.

Sports operates on a different level. If the presenter doesn't know his stuff, viewers can spot it and are quick to criticise. Credibility seems to be more important in sports than in entertainment coverage.

3 Have you been criticised for your sports coverage?

The fans usually complain about how jealous they are of my job. I understand it's a dream for many to meet the players, and I fully appreciate this responsibility.

I've spent the last five years developing a relationship of trust and rapport with the players. I take pride in how I draw answers out from them and would love any constructive criticism and feedback. I haven't received any negative comments, though.

4 What do you consider to be some of the perks of your job?

I used to play tennis for leisure, but to get up close to the action in professional tournaments is an incredible experience.

To prepare for my job, I started watching more matches apart from the Grand Slams, paying attention to terminology and talking to people who are passionate about the game.

Also, I love food and Australia has a nice range of restaurants from Vietnamese to Indian food.

5 What are some of the tennis superstars like away from the camera?

Federer is the consummate gentleman and he always puts me at ease with his easygoing nature. He will talk about anything and make humorous comments.

I enjoy the off-camera conversations more. He is exactly like he is in front of the camera - very personable.

Nadal is a polite young man, but he's hampered by his lack of English proficiency. So he's quite shy and often looks to his manager for translations.

He is more serious when the camera rolls, because he's concentrating on the English questions and trying to answer them with substance. But I still can't understand what he's saying sometimes, bless his heart.

Maria Sharapova is my least favourite.

Once, during an interview, she just stood there and glared at me while we were waiting for the cameraman to frame the shot.

I couldn't understand why she was angry at me. All I had said to her was 'Hi, Maria!' But she ignored me. However, she was suddenly all smiles and girly when the camera rolled.

6 With all the travelling and meeting people of various nationalities, have you learnt any new languages?

I tend to be very good at picking up phrases in languages such as Russian and Swiss. Then of course I forget them when I don't use them for months.

7 Are you looking into any other things besides presenting?

I've been doing a lot of sports, travel and column writing for various magazines and newspapers over the last 10 years. I'm planning to start on my book later this year. It's going to be non-fiction, inspirational and personal.

8 Complete this sentence: If I could live my life over again, I would...

Put more effort into mastering Mandarin in secondary school.

This article was first published in The Straits Times on Jan 26, 2009.