For any of you tennis fans out there, you might be aware that there is a small little event going on in Melbourne at the moment called…the Australian Open.  It goes on for two weeks in January and completely fills the city with people from all over the world.  Unfortunately for me, I’ve been trying to find a new place to live in the midst of all this, and it has been proving quite difficult.  

Anyway, my friend Aine had one of her friends coming in from Perth for the games, so she was planning on going to one day and since I’ve never seen a professional tennis game (and what better way to start than the Aussie Open), I decided to tag along.  So Aine and I got ground passes for about $30, which got us in all day and we could go to any of the dozen or so show courts and watch as many games as we wanted.  

This picture is from outside, but you can see multiple courts set up…and that’s not even the half of it.

There was also live entertainment, food stands, giveaways…basically like a big carnival revolving around tennis.  Aine’s friend and her mom got tickets to the indoor courts, which were about $30 more, but they got to see some of the bigger stars.  Since I don’t really know anything about tennis, I didn’t feel like I was missing out on much.  The only drawback to this whole scheme was that the day we decided to go (the first day of the Open), it was pouring…hailing at times…overcast and cold.  Hrumph! That’s Melbourne weather for you! The previous Monday we had temps nearing 120 degrees F, and then it feels like a chilly November.  Oy.  On top of that, tennis and rain don’t mix very well, since the courts have to be completely dry in order for the game to commence.  So maybe the indoor court tickets would have been a good idea…

Oh well, Aine and I stuck it out, under my teeny tiny Taiwanese umbrella (also UV protected from the occasional blaring sum that came out).  Since most of the outdoor games were delayed for a bit at the start, we walked around from sheltered area to sheltered area—found the overpriced souvenir items and a giant tennis ball!

And then proceeded to the game with the most famous player we could find: Fernando Gonzalez.  Well, when I say ‘game’ I mean we found seats and then watched the court dry for about 45 minutes.  I was actually quite entertained watching the water disappear….those tennis courts were made to dry!

Finally the court was deemed worthy to play so out come Fernando Gonzalez (Chile) and his opponent Olivier Rochus (Belgium).  Gonzalez was obviously the favorite and had huge sections of the crowd as marked cheer sections. He also got a standing ovation when he changed his shirt halfway through the game.

Like this section where no only did everyone have their own Chilean flag, but they also worked together to frequently display the much larger one.  They also chanted a catchy little cheer about a million times throughout the game:

Chi chi chi

le le le

Viva Chile!

Aine and I were singing by the second set in.  Poor Olivier had a much weaker collection of fans…but there were two minimally dressed Belgians that never wavered in their support and often tried (tried…never succeeded, but tried) to out cheer the Chileans with a very complex Belgian cheer that no one really followed.  Ah well…bless them.  

So here’s a bit of the game….2 bits actually.  The second clip has a slightly more elongated play time.

My favorite part of the game was fast becoming the ball boys (and one girl).  I don’t think they are supposed to be noticed as much I was noticing them…but I mean come on! They’re in hot pink outfits!! Who could ignore that?? I dare you to try.  But I watched and tried to figure out their rules and signals and obligations.  I think I got a decent hang of it by the end of the 2 hour match.  I think I could even strive to be a ball girl one day.  Hmm….

Well it started raining before the match could finish up.  And Fernando was only 2 games away from winning the final set. But Aine and I were hungry, so it was a good opportunity to leave and explore.  So we wound our way over to the overpriced food stalls and got a couple sandwiches and sat down in front of the big outdoor screen that was broadcasting the indoor games.  This area would have been quite lovely if all the seats weren’t wet, but it was still reasonably pleasant.  The first game was the Maria Sharapova vs.Maria Kirilenko game…a much anticipated event.  I have to admit I’ve heard of Sharapova before.  This was also the game that Aine’s friend (Andrea) was lucky enough to be watching…all  warm and dry inside.  After that match, which lasted about 3 or more hours (!) Andrea’s mom and her mom’s friend (who were also inside with her) were going out for a bite to eat and let Aine and I sit in their seats for the second match.  This auditorium was about 10 times bigger than the first little court we watched.  So I got the best of both worlds! inside and outside at a decent price!  

This match was between Kim Clijsters (rhymes with oysters–she’s from Belgium but unfortunately she didn’t have the two dedicated Belgian fans that  Rochus did) and Valerie Tetreault (Canada).

Now I don’t know if it was just this match, or if it was because we were inside, but it was much calmer and quieter–no cheering fan sections at all.  It was over pretty quickly in comparison–onle about 1 hour.  Poor Valerie was quickly recognized as the underdog, but she held her own reasonably well.  

Look at that action shot!  Go Canada!

Well, she did eventually lose, allowing Clijsters to move on to the next round.

And then it started drizzling again outside, so Aine and I set out to explore the grounds some more.  There was a big Heineken bar/tent set up outside with a few big screens dedicated to the bigger games.  

There was also some live music and all-around chillaxin going on.  The whole thing reminded me of a well organized tailgate party.

So there ya go.  Who knew tennis could be so fun?! Sign me up for US Open 2010!