Let me take you back to March 2008. I was surfing the net looking at various sport sites. I came across the Australian Open website which looked like it hadn’t been updated since a day after the tournament ended. However there was one new story on the list. It read “Australian Open Ballkid Applications Now [Read more]
Know your tennis crowd
Melbourne is abuzz with the excitement of The Australian Open. Well. Sort of. Channel 7 tells us it is, and Channel 7 is abuzz with tennis, and hilariously funny gaffs which allow Todd Woodbridge to liken himself to S.K. Warne (Todd Woodbridge is like S.K. Warne the way Maggie Thatcher is like Juliet Binoche). Yes, [Read more]
Federer Fever
For most of the class of 2010, the week leading up to the Australian Open was pretty stressful. Monday 17th of January meant two things. It was the day university offers came out and it was also the start of the 2011 Australian Open. Monday came and I didn’t watch any tennis, I got home [Read more]
Open Day at Flinders Park
by Rod Oaten One of my favourite days of the sporting calendar is day one of the Australian Open. No-one’s been beaten, and from the the player with the lowest ranking, who dreams of a major upset, to one of the top dogs, everyone is in with a chance. Unlike last year, when the weather was [Read more]
Federer the Fantastic
by Danni Eid I’ve noticed how cricket is suddenly taking over the main page of the website and it kinda kills me. I just can’t handle cricket, I find it boring- please don’t kill me!!!- Meh you know what, I’ve seen a premiership so go ahead, Lol. What I’m saying is I love cricket as [Read more]
Tennis: The more things change…
by Andrew Gigacz It’s just over four months since Sam Stosur bowed out of the Australian Open. You might remember Stosur’s brave but ultimately unsuccessful effort against Serena Williams. But you could hardly be blamed for not being able to recall it. Why? Because as that exciting match was unfolding, the Seven Network, in their [Read more]
Tennis: The Garden and the Brat
My first visit inside the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club’s iconic centre court was indeed memorable. Instead of paying close attention to the action, I found myself reminiscing over famous Wimbledon centre court battles of yore. A catalyst for this was the presence in the BBC commentary box of a certain brash New [Read more]
Tennis: It’s a great day watching the battlers on the outside courts
By Rod Oaten I really enjoy the Australian Open, not to see the antics of the of the top stars as they strutt their stuff, but to watch and admire the battlers. There are 512 players on Day 1 of The Open, we all know the top dozen men and women, but what about the [Read more]
Tennis: Still awaiting the Aussie charge
by Dan O’Sullivan As another Australian Open winds up and the great Roger Federer flies back to Switzerland to collect yet another cow to go with his 16th Slam (are the Swiss still doing that?), the inevitable question will be asked, where was the Aussie charge? The predictable poor showing by the locals can probably [Read more]
Tennis: Seven’s deadly sin
by Andrew Gigacz The events of Day 8 at the Australian Open cannot be allowed to pass without comment. Not about the departure of Australia’s last two representatives, Stosur and Hewitt; with both coming up against the top seeds, their losses were unsurprising, if not inevitable. Not about Jo-Wilfried Tsonga’s five set marathon win, as [Read more]
Tennis: My big day out at the Open
To anybody who saw Dan Silkstone’s ‘Around Melbourne Park in Six Hours’ report in Saturday’s Age my effort might seem like a pretty feeble imitation, but here goes: My day at the Open on Friday kicked off with Peter Luczak and an Oz of Indian background called Rameez Junaid play German Phillip Marx and Slovak [Read more]
Tennis: My lowdown on the Open so far
By Domenic Favata Well, we’re just about to start the round of 16 and things are starting to heat up. There will be mouth-watering battles coming up, none better than the Hewitt v Baghdatis tonight. The pair will meet for the second time in a month, the last time being in Sydney, where Baghdatis won [Read more]
Tennis: Things to look for at the Australian Open
By John Butler * Numerous folk called Bruce, Baz or Cheryl suddenly discovering long lost Swedish or Spanish heritage and a love of foreign flags and group chanting. * Maria Sharapova’s picture to appear at least daily in the major metropolitan papers. Some of the pictures may even relate to tennis. John ButlerJohn Butler has [Read more]
Tennis: C’mon, give it a go. Tip someone other than Federer
It’s that time of year again: the time when everyone tips Roger Federer to win the Australian Open. Is anyone willing to tip another player in the tournament that starts in Melbourne on Monday? What about Juan Martin del Potro? Or the unlikely-sounding Robin Soderling? As for the women’s title, surely there’s a candidate among [Read more]
Tennis: Federer’s class separates him from the rest
By Domenic Favata Roger Federer, the magician, the king, whatever you want to call him, is back at Melbourne Park and ready to rock. The fifteen-time grand slam winner is back after a loss to Nikolay Davydenko in Qatar. Some may call it a setback, but I call it ‘warming up’. Federer will release his [Read more]
Tennis: Federer says it’s good to be back home
Tennis god Roger Federer has made it to the final of the tournament on his home turf in Basel, Switzerland. The world No. 1 (and my personal favourite) was bound to get this far on a home court advantage. With 15 Grand Slam titles and gold Olympic medal (2008), the brown windswept haired beauty has [Read more]
Top Ten: The best dummy spits in sport
1. Jeff Tarango, 1995 The American hot-head spat the dummy in the ultimate fashion by becoming the first tennis player to walk out on a match at Wimbledon. After losing a point that had been replayed during his third-round match against Alexander Mronz, Tarango told heckling spectators to “shut up”. A subsequent warning for an [Read more]











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