Put that leftover turkey down and slap on some sunscreen, the Summer of Tennis is here as we eagerly await the first bounce at Rod Laver Arena for the Australian Open 2009.
There is an aura of calm at the moment as the food and merchandise tents, stadium displays and scoreboards are being set up. Staff are working tirelessly behind the scenes, plugging in cabling for television feeds, finalising maps to the whereabouts of the drink fountains, and distributing uniforms to the hundreds of temporary tournament staff.
We have new sponsors this year round and plenty more to look forward to: Vodafone Arena is now known as the Hisense Arena, the blue courts are yesterday’s news, the vast array of live entertainment to enjoy, and Spiegelworld – a giant fun park-like setting for those who visit Melbourne Park.
Many of the big guns have yet to arrive in Melbourne, such as the Williams sisters and Maria Sharapova.
However, based on the many matches we have seen Down Under to date, the women’s line up is intriguing.
Here are some observations from this week.
Dinara Safina has been enjoying the warm weather in Perth this week, playing alongside brother Marat at the Hopman Cup. The pair are drawing in the numbers at the Burswood Dome, with many keen to see the duo in action. Dinara will do some damage come the second week of the grand slam.
Prodigal daughter, Jelena Dokic, will be keen for some on-court success now that she’s back playing for Australia. Having qualified for a wildcard to the main women’s draw, she shown some good form against former grand slam winner Amelie Mauresmo in Brisbane earlier this week.
Dokic was unlucky not to win.
However, she should be relatively satisfied with her form leading into the all-important major. There have been no signs of Damir as yet, so that might be a good omen.
Less than impressive, Ana Ivanovic needed three sets to knock off Italian Roberta Vinci the other night. The Serbian looked unsettled and nervous at times and almost ‘did a Novak Djokovic’ via an early exit to the tournament. But she regained her composure and drew on her experience to close out the match.
She meets Frenchwoman Mauresmo next, after Amelie won a nail biter against compatriot Julie Coin. Coin, like Dokic, was unlucky not to win.
German youngster Sabine Lisicki has been impressive in Perth this week, with some hard-fought victories over Meghann Shaughnessy and Casey Dellacqua.
It will be interesting to see how she fairs in the main draw in Melbourne.
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