Australian Open, Melbourne Park
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
January 17 - 30, 2022
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| Melbourne - tucked way into corner of this vast beautiful country |
Welcome to Down Under and the Happy? Slam. At the time of this writing, I insist that it WILL be a happy slam as the final? curtain has dropped on the saga of Novak Djokovic. Regardless, come Monday the collective sentiment will be LET'S PLAY BALL!! Some might say it less enthusiastically than others, but personally I am really, really ready to hear the thwack of that yellow ball flying across the net at the AO.
Who will hold up those trophies? I am open and betting on whomever wins.😉😲
Ha Lowie how do you like that prediction?
Congratulations to this past week's winners:
Thiansi Kokkinakis - Adelaide ATP 250
Aslan Karastev - Sydney ATP 250
Wesley Koolhof / Neal Skupski - Adelaide ATP 250 Doubles
John Peers / Filip Polasek - Sydney ATP 250 Doubles
Paula Badosa - Sydney WTA 500
Madison Keys - Adelaide WTA 250
Eri Hozumi / Makoto Ninomiya - Adelaide WTA 250 Doubles
But first did you know?.....I found this fascinating bit of info
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| Captain Cook's Cottage, Melbourne, Australia |
Captain Cook who is lauded as as the ‘discoverer’ of the vast island continent in 1770, is a hugely important figure in the country’s more modern history. Many may know that the intrepid explorer grew up in the picturesque North Yorkshire village of Great Ayton. In 1755, ten years after Cook had left home, his father built himself a new house. And while Captain James Cook never actually lived there (although he did likely visit his parents), this tenuous link was strong enough to prompt Sir Russell Grimwade to purchase the property and transport it to Melbourne.
The cottage was originally put up for sale in 1933 with the condition that it remain in England. However, this later changed to the “Empire” after Grimwade put in a bid of £800, topping the next highest local bid by £500. What happened next was rather extraordinary. Every single brick in the house was numbered as it was deconstructed and painstakingly packed into 253 cases and 40 barrels for shipping. The cottage then set sail from Hull aboard the Port Dunedin to Victoria. On arrival, it was rebuilt brick by brick in Melbourne’s Fitzroy Gardens in 1934.
Click on the links to learn more...
The Tourney
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| Rod Laver Stadium at Sunset |
Surface: hard outdoor
Draw: Singles-128, Doubles-64
First held in 1905 this is the 110th edition of the tournament because it was not held in several years during the world wars. The Australian Open was designated as a major championship in 1927.It is a large tourney with men’s and women’s singles and doubles, mixed doubles, six wheelchair events and boys’ and girls’ singles and doubles.
The Women
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| City Skyline Melbourne, Victoria |
Top 20 seeds (out of total of 32): Ashleigh Barty, Aryna Sabalenka, Garbine Muguruza, Barbora Krejcikova, Maria Sakkari, Anett Kontaveit, Iga Swiatek, Paula Badosa, Ons Jabeur, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Sofia Kenin, Elena Rybakina, Naomi Osaka, Simona Halep, Elina Svitolina, Angelique Kerber, Emma Raducanu, Coco Gauff, Elise Mertens, Petra Kvitova.
Wildcards: Aussies Patricia Hon, Maddison Inglis, Storm Sanders, Daria Saville, Samantha Stosur, plus Robin Anderson, Diane Parry, Wang Xiyu.
Withdrawals: Jennifer Brady, Karolina Muchova, Karolina Pliskova.
This will be the last singles tourney for Aussie Sam Stosur although she will continue playing doubles. It is the first time since 1997 that neither Serena Williams nor Venus Williams will take part in the AO.
The Men
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| Fitzroy Gardens, Melbourne, Australia |
Top 20 seeds (out of total of 32): Daniil Medvedev, Alexander Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Andrey Rublev, Rafael Nadal, Matteo Berrettini, Casper Ruud, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Hubert Hurcacz, Jannik Sinner, Cameron Norrie, Diego Schwartzman, Denis Shapovalov, Roberto Bautista Agut, Cristian Garin, Gael Monfils, Pablo Carreno Busta, Taylor Fritz, Nikoloz Basilashvili.
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| Great Ocean Road - a major tourist attraction |
Some Austratlian slang -
"Fair go, mate. Fair suck of the sauce bottle. Fair crack of the whip"
Meaning - "Fair suck" was coined by struggling Australian families who shared droppings of tomato sauce to flavor their meat. Such was the hard life that all they wanted was an equitable suck. In the fields, they needed a "fair crack of the whip." Fair go, mate.
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