The one where I watched tennis

If you like the game, tennis can be one of the greatest sports to see live. Now, the atmosphere is very different than that at, say, a Steelers game, where you're surrounded by tens of thousands of screaming fans. But the ability to get close to the action in an intimate setting, the breadth of the offerings, and the value for your money are all incredible.

Melbourne Park, the site of the Australian Open, includes
- the Rod Laver Arena, the primary show court with 15,000 seats
- the Vodafone Arena (10,000 seats), a secondary show court (and general arena venue the rest of the year)
- A couple of smaller show courts (Margaret Court Arena (6000), which should really be called the Court Court, and Show Court 2 and 3 (3000 each))
- about 20 more outlying courts, with seating for anywhere from 50 to maybe 500 people

To get into the Rod Laver Arena, you need a ticket for matches in the Rod Laver Arena. The Vodafone Arena has a reserved seating section, for which you can buy seats, and a general seating area, which is first-come, first-serve (no pun intended) for anyone with a grounds pass. All other courts are first-come, first-serve. And, especially at any of the smaller courts, you're right there with the players. If you speak in a conversational tone, they hear you. And what makes a tournament such a great spectator experience is that (especially in the first coupla days of the tournament) there are just way too many matches going on to play more than a small fraction in the primary courts, so you're guaranteed to have quality players playing on the smaller courts. Especially.

On day 4, for example, for a $29 all day pass (~$24US) you could have seen Martina Hingis (the 6 seed), Andy Murray (15), Maria Sharapova (1), and Nikolay Davydenko (3) play singles matches in the Vodafone Arena, or you could watch other top seeds like David Nalbandian (8) or Dinara Safina (9) from the first row on a smaller court. And you can go back and forth between these, popping in to see a coupla games on one court, a couple more somewhere else, then grab a beer and sit on the grass in the central courtyard and watch the featured match on a large screen.

And the $29 is negotiable...

sg (asking about a featured match): "What would that cost?"
ts: "Well, the student price would be $94."
sg: "I don't have my id with me."
ts: "That's alright, mate, I believe you."
sg: "I think I'll just go with the grounds pass."
ts: "That'll be $19."

I wound up buying grounds passes on 4 or 5 different days. I saw some singles early, and then lotsa doubles later on when there were fewer singles matches going on so most of them could be on the primary courts. For example, I watched the men's doubles semis with the Bryans vs Knowles and Nestor. If you watched it on tv the close-ups you saw is what I saw, as I was sitting next to the camera in the first row. I was rooting on the Bryans, not catcally or anything but enough that Bob turned and nodded to me as he left the court, and smiled at me when he came back a bit later for the mixed doubles quarters (in which he and Lisa Raymond were awful).

For most matches, I took notes. TY wants details, so here're some examples. If you're not a tennis fan, you probably don't need to read the rest of this post...:

from Richard Gasquet vs Gael Monfils (GM upset Baghdatis in rd 2--I saw the end on tv and he was beating his chest a lot, so I thought it would be fun):

"RG whooped him but good in the 1st, and I really started to like his game so I started rooting for him right away (though GM is the big crowd fave). He anticipates and moves pretty well, while GM hits a lot of lazy shots--if he's on his winners are great, but he has no patience and will never have a chance if he's not on
[...]
why does RG return from that far back?..."

from Ashley Harkleroad vs Daniela Hantuchova:

"15-40 at 5-6, AH wins out w/ some great down the line inside-out forehands. Up 5-2 in the tiebreaker, down 6-5, gets lucky on a return, then has 2 great points to win 8-6. But DH is moving her well around the court--she's not overly quick, and isn't getting the depth that DH is. Up a set, but needs to pick up her game...she did, up 4-0. But, serving at 5-3, she lost at love. And again at 5-5. 16 of the last 17 pts in the set..."

About Vince Spadea during his doubles match against the Bryans:

"looks like a chump in the park. shorts longer than everyone else's, shirt just kind of draped, trucker cap, black shoes, long, shaggy hair w/highlights. Maybe a touch of a belly, etc...
...Played like one, too. Bryans, 6-1, 6-2. 45 minutes. No sweating involved."

from women's doubles semis, Chan/Chuang vs Yan/Zheng:

"packed a good lunch, camera dude gave me an Evian.
The short one on the cute team w/ matching yellow/green outfits (YZ) looks like Lucy Liu, if LL had Boris Becker's quads and hamstrings
tennis: uninspired. At 4-1, I've seen maybe 2 good shots.
LZ game: lobs, like 10 yr olds. But CC always has, well, C back, so they just switch sides and wait for YZ to hand them an easy one or mess up. And C crosses at the net, opening the court, and YZ hit a lob so the other C can just walk over, instead of hitting it up the line for an easy point. CC, 6-3.
Next game--first time they hit a lob with C and C at the net, and first time they went up line w/ C crossing.
--taller YZ needs to be _much_ more active @ net.
Alas, 6-3, 6-4. CC in finals."

Some general comments:
- Roger Federer is a god.
- I like it when the doubles teams wear the same outfits
- Lisa Raymond is really short
- Victoria Azarenka is really tall
- the Adidas players, men and women, wore (really ugly) shirts that looked like either sports bras or the harnesses worn by kids on leashes
- If she ever gets some focus, Na Li will win a major
- I can't wait to go to the other majors

Anyway, seeing the Australian Open was an awesome experience. To see my tennis pictures, click here.

ta,
sg