When the Cheshire emerges...

I can't believe I missed a large part of Wimbledon this year, particularly with 7Two's earlier coverage. I feel like a bit of a failure... I didn't see Andy Roddick or Rafael Nadal, and only first watched a full game at semi-final time (I watched all the mens and womens semis and the finals in the end though so I slightly redeemed myself).

In my defence, Australia had a terrible run. It was so great to see Lleyton Hewitt get to the second round after continuing to strengthen his game after his injuries, but when a weakened Hewitt can get further than Sam Stosur AND Bernard Tomic there is something seriously strange going on. As such, I wasn't as tempted to tune in every night.

But the mens final though... wow.

For me it was a 10.30pm (coverage) start time. So the game itself started later. Unfortunately I had not been given a late shift so work began at 8.30am today. You can imagine I'm a bit wrecked after having watched most of it (save a few instances of brief zonk-outs on the couch).

I was awake for the tail-end of that 20 minute game. That was phenomenal. Now, I've never raced to watch either of these guys because they've always seemed a bit boring to me, but in their older age I'm appreciating the Federers and Nadals of the tennis world. Roger was just a machine. It was honestly three-and-a-half hours or so of being able to forget Nadal and Djokovic were even in the picture. And Murray brought it to him, he played superb for the most part. I don't blame him for showing emotion during play, I'd be the same.

But it was his tears after that still managed to surprise me. He had what would've felt like the world's expectation on his shoulders... and I (wrongly) had him in my head as unemotional. Although for a change I was happy to see either win, the whole Murray losing thing broke my heart a little.

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Although I've actually avoided late-night/early-morning bouts of sports watching since the final of Euro2012 I feel like I'm still recovering from not having a normal sleeping pattern. So my idea of sporting insomnia is really not holding out all that well (I blame the extreme cold). But wasn't Euro2012 a great tournament in hindsight?


Greece did extremely well to get to the quarter-finals, while the final was everything it should have been. Perhaps except for Germany being in there. Either way, Spain is totally claiming world domination, and rightly so.

Back on track and now that the tennis is over there's the Tour de France to set my sights on - I haven't watched any of that yet. And... wow. The Olympics. My mother knows a woman who takes the two weeks off every year so she can sit at home, watch it and do nothing else. If I don't actually go to Rio in 2016 I'd definitely consider doing that. Totally spewing I didn't think of it for this year. Or going to London like some people I know. But that's a plan further down my pipeline.

Like 2.3 million other Australians plus a lot more people worldwide, I watched last night's Australian Open mens final.  My lowdown concerns a number of factors encompassing the game, players and personal experience.

1. The hype

The Australian Open seriously delivered in 2012. Sam Stosur failed to live up to expectation as a top 10 player, but Bernard Tomic and Lleyton Hewitt tried their absolute hardest for the Aussies. And our number one seed in the boys juniors took out the title which is promising.

Hewitt's set off Djokovic had Australia on the edge of their seats. I've never really been a Hewitt hater, so I was happy to see him do so well before ultimately bowing out. I really felt for him on seeing the emotion on his face. And then since, I really enjoyed his commentary, he speaks well.

2. The WAGs

See my previous blog on the WAGs of the Australian Open. 'Nuff said.

3. The grunting

I managed to watch the womens final after my mind had decided that the tennis balls sound like that on impact. More opinion on that here. But in the mens final(s) I noticed that they are just as bad but on a lower octave (if that's the correct term).

4. The finals

The top four men made the semi's. That's something to say for the strength of The Untouchables isn't it? The skill shown by all four was incredible... the Sydney Morning Herald was succinct in saying Roger Federer can't get up to Novak Djokovic or Rafael Nadal, while Andy Murray can't get there yet - but Federer's still got the brilliance. And this is from someone who has never really gone out of their way to watch him play.

5. Changing tastes

And here's where my personal view comes into it. I went into this Open obviously hoping the Aussies would do well, and looked forward to seeing the Roddicks and Baghdatis's of the circuit. The exciting personalities. But both of those exited early, and then after my WAG discovery, the last remaining Djoker started to get on my nerves a bit. I found myself going for Murray in the semi, while also going for Federer against Nadal.

And then in the final I found myself going for Nadal. Which has never happened before.

And so to...

6. THE FINAL.

I'll try and be brief. As we all know, it was AMAZING. The tennis was incredible from the outset, and some of the rallies five-and-a-half hours in were just miraculous. Being about 1am I was starting to doze off before they came back with those to blow me away and wanting more when Djokovic finally dropped to the ground victorious.

But there WERE things that irritated me. I've turned a bit on Djokovic yes, and last night didn't help his case. Now, I'm Orthodox too and respect the whole religion thing, but bringing the prayers onto the court is so unnecessary.

Then there was the Hulk moment. Sure, I get it. But really, it was like watching the cringy moment in Star Wars Episode III when Hayden Christensen's Darth Vader cries 'nooooooo' at finding out Luke's his son. Painful to watch.

To be fair, he IS the world's best. Either would have been worthy winners. But I was cheering for Nadal, and really sad at seeing his disappointment. Like, really sad. Looking forward to jumping on his bandwagon in 2012 to see if he can crack Djokovic. It was a game for the ages, fitting for the 100th anniversary of the mens final. So fitting.

7. Twitter

My viewing was accompanied by fierce Tweeting throughout, and managing to be mentioned by @AustralianOpen twice as well as making a solid Twitter BFF from Portland, Oregon, USA, it was a definite highlight alongside the wonderful play unfolding. Twitter on events like this is amazing. My new motto is #sleepisfortheweak, I am inspired by the people of the world.

8. Over for another year

Came home tonight to see TBA on the TV guide... how depressing. Over for another year already. This year has told me more than ever that I need to go, so I WILL be at Melbourne Park in 2013.

Watching the Australian Open each year has become more and more of a challenge as I've found myself working heavier in retail, and then now becoming accustomed to full-time routine work in my professional field. However, I'm a girl and very much appreciate seeing some particular men going at it on the court so am still watching when I can. A recent preference is some of the Serbian kind, not least because of the Orthodox link (hello convenience).
Yes that sounds stupid (I'm not overly religious for one thing), but thinking about it, if I had the chance I've always been more interested in meeting a tennis man than someone from any other sport. I mean, AFL players are just bloody stupid. That aside, I was shocked to meet Jelena at the first viewing of Novak Djokovic for this year.

Jelena Ristic is apparently the long-term girlfriend of Djokovic (since 2005). I swear I've never seen her in his box at the Open before, and truly feel I have clearly missed this the whole time. I always thought he was a free-wheelin' kinda guy (as a match to his personality), and now I discover he's been in a relationship the whole time. You think you know a guy... a tad devastated, I have really lost a little bit of the love. They're cute, but that's so boring. Just marry her already. Next.

The next two I don't think were at this year's tournament although I could be wrong. My other total surprise came from Biljana Tipsarevic. Since Janko's rise into the top 10 I've seen a bit more of him and become intrigued. Then I find out he's married to a (former?) TV presenter. Of course he is.

HOW DID I MISS THIS??
Le sigh.

I can't be angry, these girls are gorgeous and close to home for the boys. Buuuuut not as impressed by this one.
Brooklyn Decker, aka Mrs Roddick. Now, I DID know about her. And she just comes across as a bit more... meh. Like she knows she's awesome because she looks hot in a bikini and gets paid for it. And that she pipped Mandy Moore at the post. Although a friend put it well when she said it's okay they're married when Andy has his new mohawk as he does. WTF IS that by the way?

To the Australians... Bec Hewitt gets a mention as a yummy mummy because she's looking pretty good these days, but Bernard Tomic's other half is adorable.

Donay Meijer, like all the other, presents well in the box. But she seems casual and unassuming (not that I can really say the others aren't) and I LOVE that she's focused on her studies (and her man) when she could be modelling. Refreshing.