Better Than I Imagined (Day 11)

Three months later and it's finally time to write about Day 11 of the Australian Open. This feels very "me".  LOL

Something really cool about the Australian Open is that they have a sunscreen sponsor.  I can't remember what this brand was, and I can't read it in the picture.  They had practical, useful sponsorship activation that included brand employees walking around giving away sunscreen.  I don't remember seeing sunscreen in the shops, but it wasn't difficult to find a representative giving it away any day of the tournament.  In addition to giving away these boxes, there were easy to find employees who had larger bottles so that they could just squeeze it into your hands.  I went to get some for my face on a day I didn't have my trusty hat. When I asked for a little more so I could put some on my shoulders and chest they were happy to give me as much as I wanted.  It was clutch.  I couldn't help but be a sport management professor and think about what an asset this sponsorship was to the tournament in terms of customer service, hospitality, and risk management.  I'm not sure how much the brand benefitted because I can't recall what it is, but I would definitely recognize it on the shelf if I were at a Chemist Warehouse (an Australian pharmacy with everything you could ever want at discount prices!). I'm fairly certain it was an Australian brand so I'm sure I would have remembered if I stayed in Australia longer.  Something I noticed in the Whitsundays and continued to see in Melbourne was that it was really difficult to find any sunscreen under SPF 50.  I'm not sure if you can see in this picture, but it was SPF 50. They take sun protection pretty seriously. 

Simona Halep (4) v. Garbine Muguruza

I have a few very clear memories about the Halep / Muguruza match, but none of them are really about the play on the court.  First, it was HOT.  The day before was the first in the string of peak temperatures, but it was on this day that I could feel it getting warmer and warmer and I walked down the steps to Muguruza's box.  I was conscious of how hot the court must have been.  This to me felt like the Australian Open.  Each year on tv you can see all of the fans sweating through their clothes, fanning themselves, and looking a little deflated by the heat. I was expecting to feel that way the entire time and only got a few days of it.  It turns out most of my time abroad would be atypical, so I guess in hindsight I'd call the weather pattern fitting. Anyway, I was happy I was watching, not playing any sort of sport in 100 degrees. 

The second thing I remember most was thinking how tiny Simona Halep seemed.  I have heard commentators talk about how she's small. According to the internet she's 5'6", which isn't ridiculously tiny, but at the time she seemed so much smaller. It helps that Garbine was across the court a full 6 inches taller. Halep may be short in stature, but she was impressive. I would definitely call her small, but mighty.  

I was nervous about this match because while I knew Garbine was capable of beating her, I've seen enough of Halep's play to know that she could take control of the match and shut down Muguruza early. Muguruza won in straight sets, but it wasn't an easy win.  She won the first set in the tie break, and the second seemed to come easier, but it wasn't something she breezed through.  Muguruza worked for it all, no doubt. Looking back at the stats, Halep had a better first serve percentage and fewer unforced errors.  Muguruza won only three more points than Halep did.  How I saw any of the match I don't know because I was holding my breath through most of the first set in particular.  Paired with the heat, it's a wonder I didn't pass out.  

Third, this has nothing to do with anything, but I hated the Nike outfit that Halep wore.  The color scheme was weird to me - pink, purple, yellow, and white. Vomit.  I saw several players in variations of this kit. I hated the dress less than the skirt, but all of it missed the mark in my opinion. I thought it looked cheap and unfinished, particularly because the skirt was able to be pinned up and the underside of the fabric looked unprinted (known in sewing as the "wrong side" of the fabric).  The contrast in the photo isn't great, but you might be able to see what I mean in this first photo of Halep.  If you go back to my Day 6 post you can see that Svitolina had her skirt up like this too, but instead of wearing a white tank she was wearing a yellow body suit, I think. At first I thought she just tucked it up, which would explain why Nike didn't make it look like the "right side" on both sides. Then I saw Halep with her's like this too. If it wasn't meant to be lifted like this, which might explain why it shows the "wrong side", then it tells me that Nike didn't design a skirt that was functional for their female athletes and they were making it fit better for their movements. Either way, this kit and the skirt in particular disappointed me. 

Of course I had to take at least a couple of Muguruza. 

Roger Federer (3) v. Novak Djokovic (2)

As was with all of the Muguruza matches, I was gifted the experience of sitting with the box in the afternoon.  Luck/ fate/ whatever gifted me a Federer / Djokovic match during the evening.  You know, I bought tickets for time slots and didn't really know who would be playing at what time and on what court until the night before.  Night 11 was one of the hottest tickets of the entire tournament. I got to see two absolute legends play.  Everyone knows that Federer's days are numbered.  It's something he has admitted himself.  I think there's a chance that he plays another seasons or two, but no one would be surprised if Federer announced his retirement at any moment.  I think we all collectively hold our breaths a bit and wish it's not today each time he's in a presser. Hopefully Djokovic has several years to come, but who knows?  He's a bit younger, but he's still in his 30s. (Side note: I've had a sneaking suspicious that he was battling injury at the end of 2019 and the beginning of 2020, but I have no real facts to support that.  I was wondering if he was going to withdraw at a few points.) How many more matches will these two play against each other in the majors? Each one is a gift to the tennis world that fans do not take lightly.  I was so happy to be at the match. I don't know how to put sufficient words to it, but I felt like I was hyper aware of how lucky I was to be seeing each of these men play live, and how special it was to see them competing against each other. 

We all know Federer wasn't at his best, as evidenced by his seeking medical attention a couple of times. We also know that being at less than his best doesn't mean he can't win. We saw him pull through in the match against Sandgren, despite Federer clearly hurting and Tennys playing excellent tennis while winning more of the points. Federer knows how to dig in to find the win.  Djokovic didn't underestimate him or let up, even though there were times I was quite nervous.  Knowing Fed's remaining matches are limited it's hard to see him eliminated, but I was PUMPED Djokovic advanced.  

You can tell I bought these tickets because the view changed slightly. BAHAHAH!

This was my view after I departed the train that took me back to my little neighborhood.  I took this picture because I thought the perspective was cool, but also because in this moment I recognized how spent I felt and like I could see that in everyone else. I have no idea if these people were tired from a long day at work or something else, but I was spent because all of my emotional energy has been poured out that day. It had been pouring out for almost two weeks and my tank was getting empty. I was still excited to be there, but I knew my days in Melbourne were coming to an end.  The finals were around the corner and I had all this excitement for it, but I started to get sad that I was set to leave.