What a day! I'm officially the reddest person in Melbourne after a 12pm - 9.30pm shift on Brit watch. It started off with Bally’s duel in the midday sun with Kateryna Bondarenko and it was great to see her play with such controlled aggression to stuff the 30th seed 6-3, 7-5.
She's got a crack at (Dinara) Safina now which is bound to be on a show court. I can't wait. Its not often players ranked around 80 get the chance to take on the top ten players so it will be a good test for Bally to see how her game shapes up against the world no.2.
One of the drawbacks of a big win of course is the increased media attention. Some of them even gatecrash your lunch!
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So then it was over to court 14 to watch Rossco (Ross Hutchins) and Aussie partner Jordan Kerr vs. Mariusz Fyrsteberg and Marcin Matkowski. Not much seating at this court out in the very furthest corner of the arena but it attracted a healthy crowd including about 30 noisy Poles and a supporting British coaching team watching on. Two hours and several layers of sun block later, Rossco and JK went down 7-6 in the 3rd.
I couldn't wait to get back inside and out of the sun. I managed an hour (and a melting moment ha ha) before heading to court 5 for Flemski vs. Yen-Hsun Lu and Janko Tipsarevic. It was soooooo good to see them get their first Slam win 7-5 6-4. They played with such great energy and teamwork - a credit to the amazing Louis Cayer.
That led into Katie O'Brien’s clash with (Jelena) Jankovic on court 2. She followed Deliciano Lopez (no, that's not a typo!) who has ditched his long hair and bearded look from the Autumn) for a short wavy look. Lovely. I digress.
Big match for Katie and she took advantage of the chance to play a ‘top 5er’. She may have lost 6-2 6-2 but she will have learned loads and gained massive confidence from her best ever Slam performances.
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And it still wasn't over. Andy was called to Margaret Court Arena at 7pm and arrived at a packed stadium where there was an unbelievable atmosphere. He got through in three sets against the nippy Frenchman Marc Gicquel, a quarter-finalist here two years ago. Right now he's showering and having food (pasta) before facing the British press. There should be some great coverage tomorrow after Bally’s win.
I'm in the player area. It’s still pretty busy. Everyone glued to Del Boy Potro vs. Blake and Henin vs. Dementieva. The schedules out for tomorrow and there's doubles action for Sarah Borwell, Bally and Laura Robson.
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I grabbed a quick chat with Roger Rasheed who is the coach of Gael Monfils and also commentating for channel 7. He's got the flashiest pair of shoes on with his chinos so he got a bit of grief for that. Del Potro and Henin just won so I'm off after a long day.
More to come tomorrow.
Judy will be keeping us posted on the latest goings on throughout the event in Melbourne. Read the latest in Judy's Blog area.
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