Better Than I Imagined (Day 7)

The seventh day of the tournament was the only day I didn't see a single tennis ball served.  I bought tickets to nine of the 14 days of the Australian Open and was gifted tickets to four more days.  The seventh day was the only day I didn't have a ticket.  I could have bought a grounds pass, but I was seeing so much tennis that I didn't think it was necessary. What I would have really been interested in seeing were ticketed matches anyway.  I was a little disappointed that I wasn't going the tennis because it was Australia Day and I had this vision of being in a match with an Aussie playing like Ash Barty or Nick Kyrgios and people in the crowd with face paint and waving flags. Basically I superimposed a picture I have of American Independence Day onto the Australian Open crowd and Melbourne in general. I wanted to be a part of that experience, feel that energy. I didn't want to see it on television and look back and wish that I was there.  Australia Day in reality didn't quite align with my imagined version and in the end I didn't feel like I missed anything super special, except for some good tennis.

Australia Day was much more low key than I thought it would be.  I expected to see bunting draped everywhere and hear backyard BBQs in my neighborhood. I thought I'd see people wearing clothes made up of the Australian flag.  I think I heard a few get togethers, but the day didn't seem markedly different than any other day I was there.  While I don't know for sure, I suspect this has something to do with the recent conversations about Australian aboriginal history.  As I referenced in my post about my walking tour in Sydney, there is definitely an on-going conversation about the aboriginal population being reduced and subsequently ignored for most of modern Australia's history. To say that Australia Day is heavily criticized by aboriginals and aboriginal supporters is quite an understatement. January 26 is a day not to be celebrated, but to be mourned because it was the day the English arrived and began to destroy an indigenous population.  My sense was that Australia hasn't figured out how to celebrate its history yet - the good and the bad. They're not as far along as Canada has been with their reconciliation with native peoples, but they have engaged in the hard conversation more intentionally than the US has with its native population. 

Even though the celebrations were more muted than I expected, I went to the parade in Melbourne. There was less of the overwhelming blur of Australian flags and more a celebration of individual cultural groups established in Australia.  The parade marchers were waving Australian flags, but marching to their own music. In the US our parades are dominated by high school bands, civic groups, politicians, youth groups, and pageant queens.  This parade was made up mostly of cultural groups.  I don't have any comparison points of other parades in Australia and even though were some cool things to see it kind of felt like a compensation for not recognizing the history of "others" outside of the British/ colonial Australians.  I didn't see the very beginning of the parade, so maybe they were there, but I didn't see aboriginal anything as part of the parade. Ironic, huh? Again, maybe I missed it, but I don't think I did.  So, I saw the parade, waved a flag, and then went back to my apartment. I don't remember doing much of anything else with my day, but I remember feeling happy to chill and relax. 

  

  

As I was entering the train station to go back home I saw that there was a protest on the steps to the station.  I stopped to check it out and then heard a voice in my head of all the recommendations of safe travel - "avoid political gatherings and public protests".  I decided to leave even though the protest seemed to be fairly benign.  I asked one of the policemen present if he could tell me a little bit about what was going on.  It was obvious that it was a protest in favor of the aboriginal people, but I wondered if there were more to it than that. The cop told me that he wasn't permitted to discuss the protest. I understood so I said thanks and caught my train home. 

Better Than I Imagined (Day 6)

On my way in to the first match of the day I spotted this guy, who was gracious when I asked to take a picture with him.  I 110% knew I would see at least one person with some sort of Buffalo Bills gear on at some point during the tournament.  I was on the look out for it, but mostly when I saw Jessie Pegula play.  When I was packing I debated long and hard about whether to bring any Sabres gear and I decided against it just because I had to cut some things and what I own isn't as easy to mix and match and some other items I brought.  I've already forgotten this guy's name, but I remember that he was European (Irish maybe?) and had relatives who lived back in Orchard Park.  He and his girlfriend were really nice in the few minutes we chatted.  What's funniest about this is that when I posted this picture to Instagram I received several messages from people asking if anything romantic was going on with this guy.  Apparently this guy and I look like we could be a couple. 

Elina Svitolina (5) v. Garbine Muguruza

I like watching Garbine receive the ball because she has a pattern that she makes with her feet so that she's not flat footed when she attempts to return the serve.  With each foot she sort of drags her toes back. It reminds me of the motion you first learn when learning how to tap dance. I was taught to make a "fa-lap" with your feet. You sort of drag your toes and then smack them down on to the surface.  After Garbine does that she bounces back and forth on her toes.  That part kind of reminds me when a dog "dances" and has happy feet. You can see in the picture below that she just finished this motion and is in the air jumping to put herself in position to successfully return the ball. 

Daniil Medvedev (4) v. Alexei Popyrin

Better Than I Imagined (Day 5)

A few days before this when Jim and I had brunch he referenced a "milk bar" in conversation.  He explained to me that it was basically a bodega, but that most of them had closed down because of the presence of gas stations, modern mini marts, and grocery store chains.  I found the remnants of one on my way to the train station on day 5.

Alison Riske (18) v. Julia Goerges

I was interested in seeing Alison Riske play again and was happy to see that she was playing Julie Goerges.  I'm not a huge Goerges fan, but I will keep one of her matches on if I'm watching one of the majors at home and they're covering her.  I was also interested in scoping out this match because I suspected that show court seating would fill up pretty fast for the next match between Tennys Sandgren and Sam Querrey. 

I originally sat in one of the corners in the very first row. It was a perfect seat for me ... perfect until there were a few small groups of Americans from various locations within the SEC that were asked about their political preferences by a European.  After the man sitting directly next to me expressed his deep love of Trump, I knew I was going to need to leave.  It immediately got awkward between the non-American and the Trump supporter.  The tension was palpable.  It wasn't that I am so intolerant of others that I couldn't sit next to a Trump fan, but I was on vacation and just didn't want to any of that to be in the forefront of my mind. I wanted to watch tennis, enjoy the sunshine, and have incredibly-disconnected-from-the-real-world fun. I knew I wouldn't be able to resist eavesdropping on the conversation and I didn't want any of that in mind.

A few games into the first set I decided to get up, get something to eat and drink, and move seats.  Little did I know, I accidentally sat directly next to Julia Goerges' player's box... cheering for Ali Riske.  In my head I was cheering loud and proud, but I decided to keep it outwardly quiet and respectful. I clapped for good tennis. LOL

This video is from my first seat.

Tennys Sandgren v. Sam Querrey

After Ali Riske won I stayed in my seat and watched Tennys Sandgren absolutely dominate Sam Querrey.  I sat next to Sandgren's box, which was pretty cool because his team was definitely there to keep him hyped and that was fun to be around.  I went into the match excited to see Querrey, but he was flat and frankly disappointing.  He didn't even seem like he was trying. He didn't seem like he wanted to be there.  Tennys Sandgren was energetic, dynamic, and really exciting to watch.  I came out of that match a Sandgren fan for sure. Not only did I follow him throughout the tourney, but I will continue to follow him.  I felt like this tournament was his coming out party and we're going to see him advance and really carve out a spot for himself among the top players. 

I have never seen someone hit a ball like Sandgren.  I've seen powerful hitters - Federer, Djokovic, Wawrinka, etc. - but when Sandgren hits the ball he flicks his wrist and snaps the racquet. It's fascinating.  Other players do it when they go for the big hit, but he does it consistently. To witness it in person was awesome. I don't know if it looks the same on tv, but I was in awe of it.  I kept expecting that power to diminish as the match went on, but it didn't.  

Plus, like Michael Mmoh, he's very photograph-able because he is super strong through his legs and often strikes the ball after he's already off the ground.  Too bad I didn't actually get any good photos. His quads and butt are super strong.  I know I probably shouldn't comment on this, but the dude's ass is phenomenal. I mean, it makes sense - if his power is coming from his legs he's going to have a muscly ass too. I couldn't stop staring. That booty is legit.

Match point:

After this match ended I decided to go home, but on the way to the train station I heard chants coming from the stadium across the street. I made the false assumption that the local professional teams would schedule away competition during the Australian Open.  That way public transportation and parking wouldn't be over crowded.  But, I was wrong!  One day I was on the train going to the tennis and there were people on the same train going to a soccer match and a cricket match.  There could have been other things going on too, but that's all I knew about.  Three professional sport events going on in the same area and they all seemed to be successful.  It made that area of Melbourne feel so vibrant. 

So, anyway, I decided to check out the match. While waiting to cross the street I asked a few people who were clearly going to the game what was going on. They told me that it was a soccer match between the Melbourne Victory and Sydney FC.  I was told that while the soccer wasn't that great, this match was important because Melbourne and Sydney are rivals and fuck Sydney. They assured me that despite the fact that they were late to arrive at the game, there was still enough to see. So, I went over to the box office to see how much of the match had already happened and how much money the cheapest ticket would cost. If there was enough time left in the match for it to be worth it and if I could see it rather cheaply I'd go.  While I was waiting in line one of the guys I was talking to before I crossed the street came over to offer me a ticket.  It turns out the group had season passes in the supporters section and I could sneak in with a pass that wasn't be used.  

It was great! I mean, it was awful soccer and I only stayed for about 30 minutes, but it was fun.  Initially I thought everyone in the group was all the same age, but I learned that they ranged from older teenagers to middle aged parents with some cousins and friends in the mix.  The guy that I spoke with for most of the time was from Chile and I feel bad because I can't remember his name now.  Experiences like this one are part of what I like most about traveling - the random experience with total strangers that you never know you're going to get. 

Oh, and I also learned that in Australia soccer is soccer, not football. You might hear it called footy, but in some parts of the country footy is rugby. It can be really confusing when talking with people from different regions of the country. 

 

And then I went home... 

Better Than I Imagined (Day 4)

Garbine Muguruza v. Ajla Tomljanovic

By day four I realized that all of my pictures were probably looking the same. I had the immense privilege of sitting in generally the same spot for most of the matches I attended, which meant that my vantage point was pretty much the same each time.  I also watched a lot of the same players play, which was cool, but didn't make for a lot of variety in pictures. I kept clicking away during the matches and then afterward when I got home I decided if they were good to look at or not.  It turns out I only took one decent photo during this match.  You can tell that I still had a killer seat, but to the left of the player's box because of the glass right in front of me. 

Daniil Medvedev (4) v. Pedro Martinez

I'd be lying if I told you I remembered anything about this match. 

D. Krawczyk/J.  Pegula v. I. Begu/ Kr. Pliskova

This was the first doubles match I watched.  I didn't take in as much doubles as I expected. The schedule wasn't always in my favor. When there were players I wanted to see I tended to be at other matches and when I had free time some of the matches were suspended due to weather.  Plus, I had already seen so much tennis. It's hard to keep your focus on matches you aren't that invested in. I did, however, make a point to go see Jessie Pegula play. I wanted to see her singles play, but wasn't able to.  

I remember being really tired at the end of this day, but also not wanting to go home.  I tried to find a cool place to eat dinner that was somewhat near my Airbnb. I knew that as I relaxed and really sank into how tired I was during dinner I would dread having a long haul home after I finished.  I failed in that most places near where I was staying were closed. Things ended up working out well for me though.

I landed upon this charcoal chicken place and planned to stay to eat in a little seating area they had outside, but there was some miscommunication between me and the owners of the shop. When I received my food it was already in a take away wrapper, so I just went with it. It worked out for the best because it was quite breezy and cooling down.  I took it home and ate.  Anyway, I ordered this sandwich - chopped chicken, tabouli, and french fries on a bun.  It sounds weird, and it kind of was, but it was also delicious. I remember devouring it on my couch while watching Nick Kyrgios play on tv. 

Better Than I Imagined (Day 3)

Day three was a little light on the tennis, but it was also one of the best days!

The highlight of the first match I went to was that I tried the official drink of the Australian Open which is an Aperol Spritz. I honestly don't remember anything else about this match at all.  From the photo I can tell it was a doubles match, but that's about it.  My take on the drink? It's just ok. 

Tatsuma Ito v. Novak Djokovic (2) 

The real excitement of the day came when Olli scored me a ticket for the Djokovic match.  I was on cloud nine because Djokovic is my favorite men's player and because I had no idea how far he'd go in the tournament, which meant that I didn't know if I'd get to see him play again.  I was lucky enough to get to see him play a total of FOUR times throughout the two weeks. Even saying it now I get butterflies in my stomach. The seats for this match were the best I had to watch him by far. These first two videos are a little repetitive because they were the same sentiment, but I sent them to different people. I included them both because you can see how excited and appreciative I was to be there. 

During the match I sat next to a really nice couple who were personal guests of Djokovic and his team. They told me about how they used to own a Greek restaurant that was a favorite spot of players during the tournament because they were accommodating to the players and restricted access to them while they were there.  The woman and I chatted a lot during the match and she was super sweet. She was the person who gave me the recommendation to check out the pedestrian mall with all the Greek restaurants and shops that I mentioned before.  

Match point:

In summary...