A Grand Slam Experience

After all these years finally got to see live professional tennis in action and that too in a Grand Slam. It definitely was an experience right from booking the tickets to choosing a game to watch. 

The tickets had to be booked online and it was a very overwhelming process to choose the best seats. I truly hope they make it better for customers to know exactly where they would be in the stadium. I eventually ended up sitting in the last row in the stadium - which is definitely not the most comfortable seats to be in nor the view. I suppose it helps to book in advance as well. 

I booked the evening tickets on Rod Laver arena which was supposed to play premium matches. The best part being with these tickets we could watch every other match except in the Hi-Sense arena a stadium across the street. Got to see Azarenka Vs Zahlavova Strycova (that's just the last name BTW), a bit of Murray Vs Millot and then moved on to another stadium (Margaret Court) to watch the dramatic Paire Vs Kyrgios battle.

I suppose it is a matter of luck to get to enjoy a great game in the Rod Laver arena. While the Azarenka match had a bit of excitement towards the end, Murray's match was not great entertainment. Obviously Murray was great but the opponent couldn't do much and he was cleaned out in straight sets. Kyrgios' match was paisa vasool (value for money). Kyrgios being Aussie had great supporting crowd and the energy inside was something to feel. Being a smaller stadium got to get the match a little closer. Luckily it was not completely packed and I could get a great seat right behind the umpire. There was a Paire supporter probably a French girl who kept banging on the metal wall every time Paire won a point. Now that must've really hurt as the last 3 sets was completely in Paire's favour. It was sad to see Kyrgios getting a cramp towards the end and for some reason he did nothing about it - no medical time out - no assistance requested. It was quite awful to see 3 aces fly by because he could not simply move. Right after that game Kyrgios came out first after the change over trying to demonstrate his energy. End of the day his body gave up and Paire became lucky. Paire throwed 3 of his used t-shirts to those groups who were supporting Kyrgios. Not sure what he was trying to accomplish there. :-)

And yes, I managed to "appear" on TV as well. One of my friends spotted me at the end of the match when I was able to get down up to to the barrier. (Cheers Niven!!) One should plan to spend the whole day at the Open. This way one would get to enjoy many other off-court entertainment as well. Overall a great experience. Hope to repeat it next year.

C