I stayed up too late yesterday and was so tired this morning. Got to the venue at the time I was told, before the gates were open. Stood around waiting in our designated area, which is right near the players locker room and I just watched as tournament cars pulled up and players hopped out. The first car I saw was Stefi and her coach. Perfect timing. Then Caro arrived and Delpo soon after, also saw Lopez get out with a nice red iphone in hand. The players stay in the locker room for about 20 minutes and soon they walk out to the practice courts. From my position I had a perfect view of when they leave the rooms and which direction they were headed. So obviously, when I had a chance to go for a wander before play began I headed to the court that Stefi was at. She was practicing with Lucic and while they were speaking to each other I had a few words with her coach. He asked me if I was coming to Melbourne. I really wish I was now but it is a trade off I have made. I don't even want to think about being at work next week. Larriere asked me the same question yesterday and in response to my response she says everybody has to work some time. That is true. Next year I definitely want to go to AO again. If I had it my way I never want to work during January.
The first match I went to was Dulgheru vs Arvidsson. While there I could see Stefi's coach having a long chat with Tony Roche. I wonder what they were talking about. I was doing to radar which is basically pressing the button to indicate where the serve lands and then BH and FH to count the rallies. During one of the change of ends a fellow stat person checked Alizé and Stefi's scores for me and they were both losing. So I thought that was the end. I'm stuck on Court one while my faves are going to lose just 100m away from where I was. Long story short, I managed to go see Stefi's match against Jovanovski towards the end of the second set which she had won. In the third I saw a bit of the beginning and then the end of the match. It was so satisfying to see the winning moment. The stands were full in stark contrast to her two previous matches. I'm so proud of the way she played today.
Tomorrow she has Azarenka in the first round of the main draw. Unfortunately it's a centre court match so I have to get in some how. I suppose it is a good opportunity for a lot of people to see her tennis. It will be on national tv and there will be a lot of people in the stands. Azarenka isn't the most easy to like player for spectators because they get annoyed at her antics. I'm sure Stefi will gain a lot of fans tomorrow if she can play her best. I don't think she'll be overwhelmed by the occasion since she has played Serena on Centre court at RG before. I really hope she wins. If she can get a lot of points and make it into RG main draw this year that would be amazing.
Beside's Stefi's win it was a pretty ordinary day. Only 3 WTA matches on Centre and the rest were qualies. I watched a bit of Parmentier's practice. I use to like her but I don't really anymore. Unfortunately my too good to be true 2 day streak of both Stefi and Alizé didn't continue as Alizé lost her final qualifying match. I barely saw much of her 3 matches here since it was always clashing with Stefi's. That is the biggest disappointment for me thus far.
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