Day nine was a big tennis day for me. I made a mistake when buying tickets that resulted in me having tickets for the day and the evening sessions on day nine. What I meant to do was buy evening session tickets for days nine and 10 because most people recommend buying tickets for the quarterfinals if you're going to buy the pricier tickets in the second week of the tournament. Night matches are usually the more premier matches too. There's no guarantee that the top players will make it to the semi-finals or the finals. There are always upsets in a tournament and early exits of elite players. If you hope to see a certain set of players, you have better chances of seeing them in the quarters. It's also not uncommon for better matches to be played between the best players in the world during the quarterfinals and the semifinals. I'm not good at remembering details like this, but I bet it wouldn't be too difficult to come up with a handful of major tournament finals matches that fell short of the drama and competition of the semi-finals matches preceding them. I spoke with several people during the tournament who had been to multiple AO finals who confirmed this thought and said that they've seen good ones and boring ones that felt like letdowns.
When I realized the mistake I made I was bummed out because I was missing out on an evening session of the quarterfinals. That was before I knew who would be playing. Once the schedule was released and I saw the match ups I was pumped about getting to watch the entire day.
Sofia Kenin (14) v. Ons Jabeur
You can see from my pictures that my vantage point was a little different than usual. My seats for the day session were in the very last row, but it worked out where I was able to sit at the very top of the stairs, which gave me a ton of leg room along with a great view.
I took this picture to try to demonstrate my leg room, but what's funny is that it reminds me more of the drama I had trying to walk in with my chai latte. As I mentioned before, the AO lets you bring in pretty much any food items you want as long as they're not in glass bottles or alcohol. There was a coffee shop in the train station that I liked and I got a chai latte several times before coming into the grounds. As the tournament went on and security got more strict they started to ask me to open my liquid containers and they would smell the liquid. On this day the guard kept insisting that there was something funny about my cup. He didn't believe it was a chai latte. He made a big stink about, told me something was funny about my drink, and suggested that I had wine mixed in with my morning beverage. I was absolutely flabbergasted and asserted several times that there was nothing inappropriate about my drink. He called over another guard who smelled my cup, rolled his eyes, declared it was a chai latte, and sent me on my way.
During this match I kept hearing voices and it was a little annoying because you're supposed to be quiet while play is going on. The people around me were also looking around to see who was talking so we could shush them. It turns out there was a broadcast booth behind us. After a little bit I figured out that it was the tennis channel broadcast and Lindsay Davenport was in the booth.
Ash Barty (1) v. Petra Kvitova (7)
I was so excited to see Ash Barty play for several reasons. First, she's the number one player in the world. She's only 23 and I'm sure will be around for years to come, but she's clearly in her prime. It's just a matter of how long her prime will be. Because she's Australian there were huge expectations for her. There was a lot of commentary about how she was the first Australian woman in almost two decades to have a real shot at winning the tournament. There was a whole marketing campaign centered around her in Melbourne and the tournament was referred to as the Barty Party, which worked out really well because she went deep. Unfortunately, she lost to the eventual AO winner in the semi-finals, but because she kept winning it was easy for promoters to keep saying, "Come for the Barty, stay for the party." She had her own little pack of fans who sat together match after match in coordinating Vegemite*-styled t-shirts leading chants and cheers (Ash is an endorser). Barty is a real class act, has an extremely positive reputation, and is easy to get behind. During this match I was definitely #TeamBarty.
* Side note: I tried Vegemite in the Whitsundays. While I stayed overnight at that amazing resort I saw that there was Vegemite by the toaster in the morning. I chatted with another guest about it and she offered me a small corner of her toast with it. I was underwhelmed. She only had a light smear of it so it didn't taste like much.
Tennys Sandgren v. Roger Federer (3)
This match was BONKERS. It was the ticket of the day/ night. It was also one of the best matches I saw the entire AO. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. Tennys Sandgren played his ass off and somehow still lost the match. He actually won one more point than Federer and lost the match. He led is several statistical categories. It was crazy. At one point during the fourth set I turned to the person sitting next to me and said, "Stick a fork in Federer. He's done." And then Federer came back to win the match.
Oh, and did I mention that I got to see Federer play in person before he retires? Legend.
Milos Raonic (32) v. Novak Djokovic (2)
I was flying high all day knowing that I'd get to see my man Djokovic play again. I was also pretty psyched to see Raonic play. I've always liked watching him on television. The Sandgren/ Federer match was so energetic. I was ready for some more.
Let me tell you, this match SUCKED. It was super slow. The first set took about an hour, which is not completely unheard of, but it felt painful. I was bored out of my mind. Raonic and Djokovic took forever to serve and there was practically no rhythm to the play with neither player getting into a groove. It was such a let down for me. Plus, my seats were in a different spot than earlier in the day and I sat next to a man who literally called every ball. In. Out. Out. Out. In. In. And he was right only about 50% of the time.
At the end of the first set I knew I needed to try to relocate. It wasn't as easy to pop a squat in an empty seat so I had to be strategic. I got a chicken sandwich and a Skyy vodka lime soda drink and snuck my way into the lower level when they ushers weren't looking. I thought I'd be busted when the ushers busted several other people, but I guess one person is easier to look over than a group of friends. I stayed for another few games, but I ended up doing something I never imagined myself doing. I left the match early. I left my favorite player.
In the end it was the right decision for me and I don't regret it. I made it on the train before everyone else, didn't have to deal with 1,000 other people, and right as I walked into my apartment door I got the score update that said Djokovic won.
Being frustrated with the tennis didn't make it any less gorgeous of a night.
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