Hasn’t January been action packed with the Australian Summer of Tennis?
Wherever I have been during the holidays people talk to me about the tennis and it creates such excitement within the public arena.
From the Hopman Cup in Perth through Brisbane, Sydney, Hobart, Adelaide, Kooyong and finally to Melbourne, the Australian public has surely enjoyed some of the world’s best athletes on display.
The heightened awareness of Bernard Tomic’s talent and the spirited effort of Lleyton Hewitt in his twilight years against Djokovic made for enthusiastic conversation on all fronts by ‘experts’ young and old.
And who could do anything but marvel at Roger Federer’s finesse? I’m sure at times his racquet could be more likened to Harry Potter’s magic wand as his mastery shone against Tomic then Del Potro.
One has to feel for Sam Stosur though.
The pressure of her home crowd really amplified her somewhat fragile mind.
She so badly wanted to perform for those who have continued to support her and she must’ve been so disappointed not to be able to deliver.
The fluctuations in the women’s matches have been quite intriguing.
Next time you’re leading 4 or 5 to 1 in a match and serving and then start to falter you can think of Li Na, Kim Clijsters or Agneiska Radwanska to mention just a few and understand what they must be thinking .
It’s always great to get to the APIA International in Sydney which is the last lead-in to the Australian Open and see some of the best players in action.
With nine of the top 10 women competing, there was plenty to witness including the ‘sounds of the game’ in which I’m referring to the female exertion, grunt, screech; call it what you like, it’s darn well annoying.
I’m very surprised more of the players do not complain, especially where Maria Sharapova is concerned.
If you think it’s bad on TV then it’s excruciating live and unfortunately no mute button courtside. Thankfully she didn’t play at the APIA.
There are plenty of Parkes tennis enthusiasts who travel to Sydney to the Apia each year and none more so than John and Polly Dean and Beth Whittington.
Deano, Polly and Beth have enjoyed playing tennis locally for many years and love watching the tennis live.
Deano was pretty excited when i talked to him at the APIA as he scored a photo with the gorgeous Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova - a name Deano will never forget.
He has been a big fan of Cibulkova and says she has a great attitude and he has thoroughly enjoyed watching all of her matches during the last three years at the APIA.
Also at the tennis were former Parkes residents Paul and Annette Tierney enjoying some centre court entertainment.
Paul and Annette now live on the Central Coast and enjoyed catching up (and checking up) on the wellbeing of some of their friends back in Parkes.
Di Scott, Hedley and Pauline Nicholson and I represented Parkes Tennis Club in the Presidents Reserve on the Tuesday along with John Chew and Greg Magill and we all thoroughly enjoyed the hospitality of Tennis NSW on ‘country’ day.
This is a nice gesture from TennisNSW to host invited delegates from throughout Country NSW to acknowledge their efforts from the previous year.
On to Melbourne for me and to the exhilaration of the first Grand Slam of 2012, the Australian Open.
Anyone who has travelled south to the tennis throughout the two weeks of competition will have witnessed the ‘buzz’ of the city at this time of year.
I arrived in Melbourne early to attend the three-day coaches conference where tennis coaches and sporting experts in their field from throughout the world gather and listen intently to guest speakers and muster as much knowledge as possible to take back to their courts.
From the Belgium footwork extraordinaire, the Yankee strength and conditioning guy to a non-English speaking Spanish coach; they all have their own methodologies of self renowned brilliance.
I enjoyed listening to Rafa Nadal’s coach, ‘Uncle’ Tony, Andy Murray’s mum, Judy and Sam Stosur’s phychologist (who’s working overtime right now) as they gave us a great insight into the lives of their charges with open Q&A sessions.
While we were at Melbourne Park there were literally thousands of workers getting everything ready for The Open.
From the many barriers to protect the players from prying public eyes to the pot plants being strategically placed to create the right ambience.
It’s a huge event and Melbourne certainly knows how to get it right.
Every year they improve on their facilities and the off court entertainment they provide continues to offer the public an abundance of recreation if patrons feel they need a moment of respite from the on court action.
Monday came and Melbourne city was super busy.
We headed to the tennis and there was no better way to start the tournament than have Bernard Tomic come back from two sets and a service break down to defeat Fernando Verdasco in the opening round.
The noise in the stadium was thundering and irritating to Verdasco, similar to a Davis Cup tie but once again creating an electric atmosphere all around Melbourne Park as crowds sitting in Garden Square cheered every time Tomic won a point in the fourth and fifth sets.
Well-known Parkes residents Jenny McNaughton and sister Wendy relished in their close to the action seats and I caught up with them as they were heading straight to the refreshment marquee at the conclusion of the match to quench their thirst from all their exhaustive cheering.
I also managed to watch young Aussies Greg Jones and Matt Reid from Sydney.
Greg led Alex Dolgopolov two sets to love before cramping and losing his way to go down in five sets, while Matt lost in the second round of qualifying.
Interestingly both these boys played doubles with our very own former talent Shane Hodges some 10 years ago.
It was great to see these boys have continued with their ambitions.
When I wrote this article, Azarenka had beaten Klijsters and Sharapova had defeated Kvitova in a close match so the final would be a battle of the screechers with the winner to claim the world’s number one ranking at the end of the month.
My pick - index finger on the mute button and Sharapova to show her experience.
Rafa Nadal v the winner of Djokovic and Murray. Go the Spanish warrior.
Anyone who has ventured to Melbourne Park for the Australian Open has always brought back great stories.
It is one of the highlights of the Australian sporting calendar, and probably more so as it’s in our summer holidays so people are more relaxed and enjoy the whole experience.
Thoroughly recommend a trip to any one of the lead-in events throughout Australia or definitely the Open itself.
Put it on your ‘Bucket List’ today.
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