We had intended to get up at 07:00 so I could have a swim, and Dave a run. Unfortunately, I made a mess of the alarm and we didn't rise until half an hour later. Still, I got to the pool quickly and was delighted to find no-one there. Hit the jackpot again! I thought perhaps I'd do a shortened stint, but it was so good that I completed the standard 600 metres.
Breakfast was at a nearby cafe that we'd sussed out yesterday, and my 'smashed avocado' set me up beautifully for the day.
Off to the tennis on the number 3 tram, which conveniently runs into the city from a stop close by our hotel. A quick change on to the free shuttle at Flinders Station and I was at the tennis a good half hour early. There was time to check out the shop and buy a couple of souvenirs.
If you're not interested in the tennis, stop reading here!
My seat was in a great position, in the lower section, behind the umpire's chair, row J. Super view.
First match was Venus Williams against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. I'm not a big Venus supporter, but prefer her greatly to her sister. The match started fairly evenly and service games definitely didn't dominate, with five breaks in the first set alone. I think that set swung on an unfortunate incident in the eighth game when Pavlyuchenkova was looking dangerous, but a ball boy dropped a ball in the course of a rally and the umpire called 'let'. She lost the point and then the game before Venus won the set 6-4.
Second set had another four breaks before Venus took the tie break.
Venus had a real problem with her ball toss in her younger days, but I thought she conquered it. Not so today. She found serving difficult but there was a breeze, so maybe she'd put it down to that.
I went in as a Garbene Muguruza fan, having liked her since she burst on to the scene a couple of years ago, but I've become a Coco Vandeweghe fan after seeing her today. I'd only viewed her on tv a couple of times, but knew she was a hard hitter, and 'wow', she showed that today. After a fairly even first set, she motored through the second, and slaughtered an apparently demoralised Muguruza 6-1.
All of the ladies were big hitters, but a men's singles match followed, with even bigger hitting from Jo Wilfried Tsonga and Stan Wawrinka. The first two sets were fairly even, with Stan coming out winner in both as there were too many errors from JW. The third never really looked like changing anything, although there were some good rallies and some scintillating shots - not enough from JW though.
Possibly the biggest feature was the Fan of Stan the Man who was sitting behind me. I don't mind the extended applause. the 'woo woo woo' or the 'Stan you Can', but I am British and am not used to 'Allez, allez, allez, allez, allez, allez Stan, allez' being chanted loudly & slowly to the tune of 'Amazing Grace' when JW was waiting to serve. I gave him my school ma'am look! He did it again, but only when the players were sitting down at change of ends!
During the first session, the stands were by no means full - three quarters at best.
The afternoon was hot and I was hot and sweaty. It reminded me of my Mum who, when you said you were sweaty was wont to say, 'In polite circles in days gone by, it was claimed that pigs sweat, men perspire and ladies glow'. Think I was more than glowing this afternoon!
I had tickets to the evening session so wandered around outside before the doors opened and glanced in at some of the outside courts and supped a little white wine.
Seated in same area, a few rows further back than the afternoon session and, of course, the lights were on, although the roof was still open.
A clash between crowd favourite Roger Federer and conqueror of Andy Murray, Mischa Zverev, was the first match.
Roger raced through the first set in sublime fashion with passes and pace. 6-1.
Second set much closer until the end, 7-5.
Third set, Zverev was broken early on so an upset never looked likely.
I had Mr Know-it-all/Repetition/Full-of-Platitudes beside me, but still managed to enjoy the tennis! Must be getting intolerant in my advancing years!
Last on court was a ladies doubles match, which the Aussies looked to be winning at a canter as they raced through first set 6-1, although they eventually lost in three to the number one seeds.
