Up and Downs Down Under~~~
©Colette Lewis 2006
There were definitely highs and lows during my first trip to Australia. Here, in no particular order, are some of them.
The lows:
Dropping my camera in the toilet on the second day of the tournament
No U.S. boys or girls to watch in singles in the quarterfinals and beyond
A 90 minute queue to get through customs to enter Australia after 30 hours of travel
Missing the last tram (midnight) from Melbourne Park by a couple of minutes & having to find a way back to the hotel
The prevalence of instant coffee
The sausages—which smelled a lot better than they tasted
Temperatures that went from 109 to 69 in the space of 24 hours
Indoor tennis—whether from heat or rain, it just didn’t seem like tennis to me
The highs:
Australians—they couldn’t be more welcoming, hospitable or friendly
Spending a beautiful summer day on an Australian beach
Lift—a carbonated lemonade
Clean, frequent, air-conditioned trams
Watching Baghdatis vs. Nalbandian live
My husband watching Roddick vs. Baghdatis from Andy’s player box thanks to John Roddick’s generosity
Learning from Pat McEnroe who would be on the Davis Cup team four days before it was announced publicly
Hearing Craig Tiley’s plans for Australian tennis development
The free fresh-squeezed juice if you had an American Express card
The free beer and wine every afternoon if you had media credentials
Dinner with James Blake and Xavier Malisse (well, they were in the same restaurant as we were)
Breakfast with Rod Laver, Fred Stolle, Stan Smith and Jim Courier (well, they were on the same plane to LA as we were)
Getting to know more junior tennis players and their games
Spending a total of five minutes getting through customs in LA
8 comments:
Colette, I know that you are probably still exhausted after your long trip, but aren't the two big European 14's tournaments happening about now: Les Petits; and Teen Tennis?
The reason that I ask is that while they're scheduled for now, I can't find any information or draw that is posted. Also, usually I rely on you to cover it so perhaps you have some insight as to what's happening with those tourneys.
Here are the links to those events: http://www.lespetitsas.com/ (being played now)
and
http://www.lta.org.uk/SeeTheAction/Results/InternationalJunior/060122TeenTennis.htm (finished last week)
Thanks for those links, Colette. Question: isn't it odd that the usual websites (juniortennis.com; collegeandjuniortennis.com; and zootennis.com) have decided not to follow these tournaments this year when last year they all did, if I recall correctly?
I have been following both tournaments, but admittedly not as closely as I did last year because I was in Australia during Teen Tennis and still catching my breath from that now that Les Petits As is underway.
If anyone comes across any news stories in English about either of them, please forward the link--I'll be happy to post it.
Colette,
You said one of the highs during your Australian trip was hearing Craig Tiley's plans. Are you going to write an article on his plans?
Hi,
I was wondering if you were able to save that cameraa that got dunked? Did you have to buy a new one? I once placed my wife's cell phone in her coffee mug (by mistake) in the car. We let it dry out and it still is working.
I actually did write a story about Craig Tiley's plans in the Jan./Feb. issue of Tennis Magazine. This was based on a phone interview I did back in October, so my conversations with him the past two weeks were elaborations on that earlier discussion. He did tell me, however, that he hasn't had an opportunity to address the junior part of Player Development yet, but he will, and there will be significant changes.
As for the camera, it still doesn't work--I tried it again today. We have two, so I haven't bought one yet, but I'm starting to shop.
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