The Tennis Swing of Things

Put that leftover turkey down and slap on some sunscreen – the Summer of Tennis is here.

The Summer of Tennis is here in Australia as most of us eagerly await the first bounce at Rod Laver Arena for the 2009 Australian Open.

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, finalizing maps to the whereabouts of the drink fountains and distributing uniforms to the hundreds of temporary tournament staff.

The Australian Open has new sponsors this year and plenty to look forward to – Vodafone Arena is now known as the Hisense Arena, the blue courts are yesterday’s news, a vast array of live entertainment (including in-house concerts) and Spiegelworld – a giant fun park-like setting for those who visit Melbourne Park and are not so tennis-savvy.

Many of the big guns are slowly arriving in Melbourne, 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, playing alongside brother Marat at the Hopman Cup. The pair is drawing in numbers at the Burswood Dome, with many hoping to see the duo in action. Dinara helped Russia reach the final and will be keen to prove that her Top 5 ranking is no fluke once she heads to Melbourne. She could do some damage come the second week of the Grand Slam.

Prodigal daughter Jelena Dokic is eager for on court success now that she is back playing for Australia. Having qualified for a wildcard into the women’s main draw, she showed some good form against former Grand Slam winner Amelie Mauresmo in Brisbane earlier this week. Dokic was unlucky not to win, however 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 Serbian looked unsettled and nervous at times and almost ‘did a Novak Djokovic’ via an early exit from the tournament, but she regained her composure and drew on her experience to close out the match. She was knocked out convincingly by Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo, who after two previous nail biter matches, breezed through Ivanovic like a strong tail wind.

German youngster Sabine Lisicki has been impressive in the West this week, with some hard-fought victories over Meghann Shaughnessy and Casey Dellacqua. It will be interesting to see how she fares in the main draw in Melbourne.

Best of luck to all the players come January 19. Play hard!

Tania Tchea is a tennis enthusiast and aspiring sports writer / presenter from Melbourne, Australia. She has experience working at the Commonwealth Games, FINA World Swimming Championships and other National Football Clubs, however her passion is tennis.

She has often been described as a Human Almanac of Tennis due to her strong knowledge of the game at a national and international level. Tania has previously worked for the Australian Open and Tennis Australia.