Australian Open

Went to the Australian Open with mum today to check out some hot tennis. I got mum a membership for the tournament which got her 2 ground passes, a hat and a few fringe benefits. The ground passes aren't as good in the 2nd week though as the singles are done and you get mostly legends and mens and womens doubles on the outside courts .Luckily some family were there and they offered to share their passes into Rod Laver with us, meaning we took turns watching the good matches. Here's my thoughts and diary of the day.

-Started the day by watching some legends doubles. It was Henri LeConte (the funny French guy) and Scud against Mats Wilander and Joakim Nystrom. The LeConte/Philippoussis pairing seemed a little odd (with one being deadly serious and the other preferring to get laughs than hit winners) but they played well and won in a thriller (sorta). LeConte was the best on the court, with deft touch still anywhere around the net. Scud was, well, Scud. Some nice ground strokes but some poor ones too.

-After this went into Rod Laver to watch Serena Williams play Victoria Azarenka (pictured)who I'd never heard of. Sat next to a distant cousin who I met for the first time in this match and we had a good chat and paid out the players, so that was good. Azarenka played the 1st set really well and had Serena stuffed. In the 2nd the match evened up, then Azarenka called the physio out, then took a medical time out. She returned but it become obvious she was struggling. She started to look a bit unsteady on her feet, started grimacing, then started coughing loudly. Shockingly, especially on Australia Day, she quit. The diggers must have been turning over in their grave. Appaling. But seriously, I thought she was going to vomit and then pass out, so fair enough.

-Went from here to another legends match, this time the Woody's against Guy Forget and Fitzy. The Woody's were too good and got home in a close one. For this game we got 2nd row seats, which was good.

-With not much left on with name players, we headed to the "Members Lounge", a perk of mum's membership. Mum flashed the pass around like Wayne and Garth in this scene from "Wayne's World"



Sadly the members lounge wasn't how I pictured. I figured we could go have a martini with Roger Federer or something, but it was just a section of the Lexus Centre with a cafe and bar and a big screen. The big screen seemed to be hooked up with an indoor antenna and the picture was crap. We watched the first set of Nadal/Gonzalez,then went home.

A good day out, especially in Rod Laver. One of the better sporting events as a whole we put on in Australia.