Tennis

Baghdatis in the doubles

We were given tickets for an evening session at the Australian Open.  Warm, but a great way to spend an evening!    We took advantage of the fact that evening admission is allowed from 5 pm, so we were in time to snatch a view of the final games of a doubles match in which Baghdatis was playing.   

Centre court

The Centre Court matches were then Federer v Davydenko (a great display of skill by both players, with Federer inevitably prevailing) and then Laura Robson v Petra Kvitova. 
 
Robson is an up-and-coming player and Kvitova was 8th seed.  The match started with numerous errors from both players, and although Kvitova won the first set, Robson eventually won.    We left (so as to catch the train) when Robson was down 3-0 in the final set, but when we got home the match was still in progress!    So we were able to watch the final games on TV and see Robson eventually win the 3rd set 11-9 (see report here).

It's a couple of years since I've been to Melbourne Park.  It has certainly expanded.  The atmosphere now reminds me of the Show years ago (although I haven't been there for years),  with lots of activities for the crowd to take in around the grounds.  Of course, there aren't any side-shows, unless some of the activity on the outside courts counts towards this!

Crowd scene