Tennis Anyone?

On Tuesday, Joe and I went to the Australian Open Tennis Tournament. The Australian Open is not just a tennis event, it is a festival. In fact, it reminded us of the Jazz and Heritage Festival in New Orleans, except there the main event is music and here the main event is tennis.

There was so much going on at the Open on the grounds. There were areas where people were seated on the grass, on nice chairs, on patio furniture, around tables - all watching the various tennis matches on big screen tvs. There were games for kids to play, and places to run under sprinklers to receive refreshment from the heat. It was a beautiful day, total sunshine, temps in the mid 80s, an occasional breeze, low humidity - an absolutely gorgeous day for tennis. 

Sprinkler refreshment

Of course there were the ubiquitous gift shops with official Australian Open merchandise. Joe and I each bought the mandatory t-shirt, and Joe bought a ball cap, all with the official 2025 Australian Tennis logo. There were many, many volunteers that were working the grounds, and they were all very helpful and, typical of Aussies, very friendly. 

We arrived at the grounds around 11:30. We enjoyed walking around and taking it all in. We went into the Rod Laver Arena, saw the Margaret Court Arena, and just enjoyed walking around and enjoying the atmosphere and tennis-related activities. 

Rod Laver Arena

Margaret Court Arena

After walking around awhile and enjoying the ambiance of the grounds and the festival-like atmosphere, we eventually made our way to the actual tennis courts and took a seat to enjoy some of the early round tennis action. First we watched part of a women's match, then a men's match. We weren't familiar with any of the players as these are early rounds, but to watch these athletes up close and marvel at the unbelievable skill level, the speed of the game, the hard hitting - much of that is lost on you when you watch on tv. When you see it up close and personal, it's an amazing experience. Because we were in a fairly small intimate arena, we weren't very far from the court. The players were practically right in front of us.

As mentioned earlier, we entered the court about halfway through the women's match. Beatriz Haddad Maia, ranked number 15, was playing Julia Riera who was unranked. When we arrived, we had to wait outside until a break in the action when they let us in. But we could see the court and watch them play from where we were waiting. Wouldn't you know, while we were waiting for a break in the action, they ended up playing a game that went to deuce a good dozen times or so. One of them finally won and during the changeover, they let us in and we were finally able to take our seats. 

Waiting for a break in the action

The underdog, Riera, had won the first set. We sat down to watch the favorite, Beatriz, finish off the second set and then assert herself and take the third set to win the match. The players had their cheering sections, whether family and friends, people from their country cheering them on, or spectators who just decided to root for one or the other. In between points, there were rhythmic chants of Bea or shouts for Julia.

Julia

Beatriz

After the women's match completed, two men played the next match on this particular court. A player from Poland named Hubert Hurkacz, ranked number 18, played against an unranked player from The Netherlands named Tallon Griekspoor. Again they had their cheering sections, but it was mostly Hubert who the crowd favored. Very frequently the crowd would break out into chants of Hubi, Hubi, Hubi. And there were many Polish flags being waved. (No terrible towels, though!). Again, the hard hitting, the skill, the technique, it was all so amazing, and taking place right in front of us. Hubi ended up winning in three sets. It was so thoroughly enjoyable to watch. I still couldn't believe I was sitting here watching some tennis at the Australian Open, one of four major tennis tournaments in the world. 

Hubi

At the end of the day, I was thinking that this was definitely the highlight of the trip. But since the only other thing to compare it with so far was 39 hours of grueling travel, that wouldn't really be saying very much. Still, this was definitely an experience that we will remember for a very long time.

On the way back from the Australian Open, we rode along the Yarra River with some nice views of this river that runs through Melbourne with the cityscape in the background.

Ricky isn't really a tennis fan, so he did not join us at the Open. He spent his day walking around the streets of Melbourne, checking out the sights, and spending some time at the Victorian Market. He commented that it's a good thing he didn't have a lot of extra room in his luggage, or he would go broke there. The Victorian Market is definitely a great place for shopping. 

Chinatown entrance, just down the street from our hotel

Typical Melbourne street scene