I have always enjoyed watching live broadcasts of tennis and tend to get glued to the TV during the semifinals and finals of the four grand-slam championships. Tennis, like other individual sports, is the epitome of technique, stamina and sheer grit. The top players climb the champions’ ladder because they just don’t give up. And this attitude is brazenly at display at a major championship.
I had never found an opportunity to attend a grand-slam event in my life. Therefore, now that circumstances brought me to Melbourne in January this year during the Australian Open season, I resolved to attend it for at least one day.
My daughter, who resides here, bought tickets for Tuesday the 28th of January for me and her young daughter. My granddaughter has been playing tennis once a week for the last many years. She is fairly good but, contrary to my wife’s hopes, she will probably not be good enough to play a grand-slam event!
There are several classes of tickets to the championship. The ‘ground pass ticket’ allows one to witness all matches except the ones in Rod Laver or Margaret Court, where the major matches are played. To my delight, my daughter bought tickets that allowed us entry to Rod Laver as well, and we were able to watch three quarter-final matches there. This multi-purpose arena with a retractable roof is named after the great Australian Tennis player Rodney Laver from the 1960s, who won the inaugural Australian Open men’s singles title in 1969.
The Open is held at the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Precinct on Olympics Boulevard. It is really a sports city, comprising three parks, that was the site of the 1956 summer Olympics. It would merit a dedicated article to describe its sports venues – a description that would suffice to make us in Pakistan envious.
The Australian Open is held in Melbourne Park complex that houses food outlets, a media centre, public bathrooms, open lawns, sponsors’ stalls and live screening areas. There are three main arenas with retractable roofs and they are Rod Laver, Melbourne and Margaret Court – with seating capacities of 15,000, 10,500 and 7,500 respectively. There are also two show grounds with capacity of 3,000 each. Then there are another 35 courts with a standing capacity for 1,500 each.
We took a 30-minute train ride to the Open from Glen Waverley station, an eastern Melbourne suburb, to Richmond station in the city, and took a five-minute walk to the Park. As we neared the courts, it was evident that spectators were already swarming the area and the pathways were crowded.
Modern sporting events are like popular village fairs where people throng in festive mood. There were men and women of all ages and plenty of children. There were Muslims girls in headscarves, Jewish men with skullcaps, Sikhs in their colourful turbans and others with all styles and colours of hats and caps. While some young women showed plenty of skin and got sunburned in the process, the traditional Western men wore tie and jacket. Multiplicity of dresses highlights the multiracial reality of Australian society and the open nature of the tennis contest bringing in players and their supporters from all over the world.
On entering the Park, we passed by a row of practice tennis courts on our left. Each court had alphanumeric electronic displays that announced the number and schedule of practice sessions. I noticed that Rafael Nadal was due to appear at 12.30 at court #25. I made a mental note so that I could go back there to see one of the three current tennis greats in play. Of the other two, I would see Roger Federer play and win that evening in a quarterfinal against Tennys Sundgren and the third great, Novak Djokovic, would go on to win the final later on Sunday against my favourite Dominick Thiem in a four-hour five-set thriller.
As I walked along one of the tennis courts, I was struck by the sight of two wheelchairs maneuvering at lightning speed around the court. Two paraplegic tennis players were playing in their specially designed manual wheel chairs. A racket in their one hand and the chair-wheel in the other, it was amazing to see these players hit hard serves, execute sizzling shots, place delicate drop shots and defend in all corners. They are the embodiment of human spirit and grace. They were here to participate in a wheelchair championship for paraplegics with the final played in the main Rod Laver Arena.
We walked to the Rod Laver Arena. The first match was between the 21-year-old Russian-born US citizen Kenin and the 25-year-old Tunisian Jabeur. The latter is the highest ranking Arab tennis player with world ranking of 51. Kenin would go on to win this tournament a few days later and become famous as the youngest American lady to win a grand slam since Serena Williams. It promised to be a good match.
The ticket counter displayed a ‘sold out’ sign on all its three windows. I pulled out our tickets. All entrants to the Arena have their seat numbers marked on the tickets along with the serial number of the gate to use. Having watched the paraplegic players for some time, we reached a little late for the match. As I neared my designated gate, I saw people in a line, calmly waiting to get in. After a few minutes, the gate opened and we walked in. Spectators are not allowed to enter or exit a court when the play is in progress, so as to avoid distraction for the players.
We settled in the middle of a row of seats in the second enclosure behind the referee (after a series of apologies to the already seated persons). It was a nice perch that gave a good view of the arena and a clear vision of players.
After the first match, we walked out to see Nadal practicing. A huge crowd had gathered as he walked in, followed by officials and security. Everyone cheered. It was like putting the king of world tennis on display. We watched him play for ten minutes before going back to the Rod Laver.
The next match was between Ash Barty of Australia, ranked first in the world and the reigning French Open champion, against Kavitova of Czechoslovakia, ranked 11th but having the top rank for left-handed players. Kavitova has won 27 career singles titles, two of which are Grand Slam titles at the Wimbledon Championships in 2011 and in 2014. Ash Barty, playing at the home ground, was clearly the overwhelming favourite of the crowd, and her victory in straight sets delighted the crowd.
The most awaited match for the day was between Roger Federer and Tennys Sandgren. Federer had undergone a groin injury and knee surgery. He was not fully fit, yet he played in a remarkably determined manner, justifying his inclusion among the three current greats. Luckily for him, Sandgren didn’t have the killer instinct, failing to cash even one of the seven match points that he created for himself. The five-set match lasted 3.5 hours and was a great contest to watch, with tennis played at its best.
No matter how much one follows a sport on live television, it doesn’t match up to the live event. TV can only offer limited coverage. The overall view, ground ambience, player reactions, crowd euphoria, fan disappointments, cheers, catcalls, the turning heads during a rally, to-and-froing ball, the sun angle, the wind direction and a hundred other things can only be appreciated with actual presence.
One of the most remarkable sights in tennis is the serve. With the ball thrown high in the air, the high leap and full-strength striking of the ball is a sight to behold. The top male players send their first serves at around 200 km/hr while the second, more careful serves, go at over 160 km/hr. For women, these speeds are over 170 and 150 km/hr respectively. The fastest men’s service has been recorded at an incredible 263 km/hr and that of women at 220 km/hr.
It was amazing to see the activity at the court. Before the players arrived and during the breaks, there were several security personnel who stood facing the spectators all around the play area. There were scores of other security staff, men and women at the gates and within the enclosures. The one assigned to our enclosure was a middle-aged, ponytailed, roughshod man who seemed to have his full-time job as a bouncer at some unsavoury establishment.
The referee sat opposite on her high canopied chair next to the net. Besides them, there were six ball boys (two behind each player and two on the net) and nine linesmen, one for each active line. That makes a total of 16 court officials.
The game is played in pin drop silence. In between the play, there is plenty of clapping, singing and talking but a polite call of ‘Thank you’ from the referee before the serve brings on an immediate silence. I didn’t hear any cell phone ringing.
The final match finished at about 19.30 and we left for home after a wonderful day.
After the tournament, we learned that total attendance for the 14 days of the Open was a little over 800,000. With ticket price ranging from A$ 125 to A$ 1,595 for various categories of seat and days, the gate money alone would exceed A$ 100 million, which is in addition to the sponsorships and telecast rights. That’s quite an income for Tennis Australia.
For me, it was a memorable experience being at one of the premier tournaments of a great sport.
Parvez Mahmood retired as a Group Captain from PAF and is now a software engineer. He lives in Islamabad and writes on social and historical issues. He can be reached at parvezmahmood53@gmail.com
I had never found an opportunity to attend a grand-slam event in my life. Therefore, now that circumstances brought me to Melbourne in January this year during the Australian Open season, I resolved to attend it for at least one day.
My daughter, who resides here, bought tickets for Tuesday the 28th of January for me and her young daughter. My granddaughter has been playing tennis once a week for the last many years. She is fairly good but, contrary to my wife’s hopes, she will probably not be good enough to play a grand-slam event!
There are several classes of tickets to the championship. The ‘ground pass ticket’ allows one to witness all matches except the ones in Rod Laver or Margaret Court, where the major matches are played. To my delight, my daughter bought tickets that allowed us entry to Rod Laver as well, and we were able to watch three quarter-final matches there. This multi-purpose arena with a retractable roof is named after the great Australian Tennis player Rodney Laver from the 1960s, who won the inaugural Australian Open men’s singles title in 1969.
The Open is held at the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Precinct on Olympics Boulevard. It is really a sports city, comprising three parks, that was the site of the 1956 summer Olympics. It would merit a dedicated article to describe its sports venues – a description that would suffice to make us in Pakistan envious.
The Australian Open is held in Melbourne Park complex that houses food outlets, a media centre, public bathrooms, open lawns, sponsors’ stalls and live screening areas. There are three main arenas with retractable roofs and they are Rod Laver, Melbourne and Margaret Court – with seating capacities of 15,000, 10,500 and 7,500 respectively. There are also two show grounds with capacity of 3,000 each. Then there are another 35 courts with a standing capacity for 1,500 each.
We took a 30-minute train ride to the Open from Glen Waverley station, an eastern Melbourne suburb, to Richmond station in the city, and took a five-minute walk to the Park. As we neared the courts, it was evident that spectators were already swarming the area and the pathways were crowded.
Modern sporting events are like popular village fairs where people throng in festive mood. There were men and women of all ages and plenty of children. There were Muslims girls in headscarves, Jewish men with skullcaps, Sikhs in their colourful turbans and others with all styles and colours of hats and caps. While some young women showed plenty of skin and got sunburned in the process, the traditional Western men wore tie and jacket. Multiplicity of dresses highlights the multiracial reality of Australian society and the open nature of the tennis contest bringing in players and their supporters from all over the world.
On entering the Park, we passed by a row of practice tennis courts on our left. Each court had alphanumeric electronic displays that announced the number and schedule of practice sessions. I noticed that Rafael Nadal was due to appear at 12.30 at court #25. I made a mental note so that I could go back there to see one of the three current tennis greats in play. Of the other two, I would see Roger Federer play and win that evening in a quarterfinal against Tennys Sundgren and the third great, Novak Djokovic, would go on to win the final later on Sunday against my favourite Dominick Thiem in a four-hour five-set thriller.
As I walked along one of the tennis courts, I was struck by the sight of two wheelchairs maneuvering at lightning speed around the court. Two paraplegic tennis players were playing in their specially designed manual wheel chairs. A racket in their one hand and the chair-wheel in the other, it was amazing to see these players hit hard serves, execute sizzling shots, place delicate drop shots and defend in all corners. They are the embodiment of human spirit and grace. They were here to participate in a wheelchair championship for paraplegics with the final played in the main Rod Laver Arena.
We walked to the Rod Laver Arena. The first match was between the 21-year-old Russian-born US citizen Kenin and the 25-year-old Tunisian Jabeur. The latter is the highest ranking Arab tennis player with world ranking of 51. Kenin would go on to win this tournament a few days later and become famous as the youngest American lady to win a grand slam since Serena Williams. It promised to be a good match.
The ticket counter displayed a ‘sold out’ sign on all its three windows. I pulled out our tickets. All entrants to the Arena have their seat numbers marked on the tickets along with the serial number of the gate to use. Having watched the paraplegic players for some time, we reached a little late for the match. As I neared my designated gate, I saw people in a line, calmly waiting to get in. After a few minutes, the gate opened and we walked in. Spectators are not allowed to enter or exit a court when the play is in progress, so as to avoid distraction for the players.
We settled in the middle of a row of seats in the second enclosure behind the referee (after a series of apologies to the already seated persons). It was a nice perch that gave a good view of the arena and a clear vision of players.
After the first match, we walked out to see Nadal practicing. A huge crowd had gathered as he walked in, followed by officials and security. Everyone cheered. It was like putting the king of world tennis on display. We watched him play for ten minutes before going back to the Rod Laver.
The next match was between Ash Barty of Australia, ranked first in the world and the reigning French Open champion, against Kavitova of Czechoslovakia, ranked 11th but having the top rank for left-handed players. Kavitova has won 27 career singles titles, two of which are Grand Slam titles at the Wimbledon Championships in 2011 and in 2014. Ash Barty, playing at the home ground, was clearly the overwhelming favourite of the crowd, and her victory in straight sets delighted the crowd.
The most awaited match for the day was between Roger Federer and Tennys Sandgren. Federer had undergone a groin injury and knee surgery. He was not fully fit, yet he played in a remarkably determined manner, justifying his inclusion among the three current greats. Luckily for him, Sandgren didn’t have the killer instinct, failing to cash even one of the seven match points that he created for himself. The five-set match lasted 3.5 hours and was a great contest to watch, with tennis played at its best.
No matter how much one follows a sport on live television, it doesn’t match up to the live event. TV can only offer limited coverage. The overall view, ground ambience, player reactions, crowd euphoria, fan disappointments, cheers, catcalls, the turning heads during a rally, to-and-froing ball, the sun angle, the wind direction and a hundred other things can only be appreciated with actual presence.
One of the most remarkable sights in tennis is the serve. With the ball thrown high in the air, the high leap and full-strength striking of the ball is a sight to behold. The top male players send their first serves at around 200 km/hr while the second, more careful serves, go at over 160 km/hr. For women, these speeds are over 170 and 150 km/hr respectively. The fastest men’s service has been recorded at an incredible 263 km/hr and that of women at 220 km/hr.
It was amazing to see the activity at the court. Before the players arrived and during the breaks, there were several security personnel who stood facing the spectators all around the play area. There were scores of other security staff, men and women at the gates and within the enclosures. The one assigned to our enclosure was a middle-aged, ponytailed, roughshod man who seemed to have his full-time job as a bouncer at some unsavoury establishment.
The referee sat opposite on her high canopied chair next to the net. Besides them, there were six ball boys (two behind each player and two on the net) and nine linesmen, one for each active line. That makes a total of 16 court officials.
The game is played in pin drop silence. In between the play, there is plenty of clapping, singing and talking but a polite call of ‘Thank you’ from the referee before the serve brings on an immediate silence. I didn’t hear any cell phone ringing.
The final match finished at about 19.30 and we left for home after a wonderful day.
After the tournament, we learned that total attendance for the 14 days of the Open was a little over 800,000. With ticket price ranging from A$ 125 to A$ 1,595 for various categories of seat and days, the gate money alone would exceed A$ 100 million, which is in addition to the sponsorships and telecast rights. That’s quite an income for Tennis Australia.
For me, it was a memorable experience being at one of the premier tournaments of a great sport.
Parvez Mahmood retired as a Group Captain from PAF and is now a software engineer. He lives in Islamabad and writes on social and historical issues. He can be reached at parvezmahmood53@gmail.com