As I write this, we are watching Nadal play Federer in a great Australian Open final. Last week Beth and I went to Rod Laver Arena in downtown Melbourne and watched Nadal beat G. Simon in a quarterfinal match.
Earlier in the day it had been extremely hot. Serena Williams was playing a day time match and had lost the first set, but it was so hot they had to stop the match and close the roof. With the roof closed, she won the next two sets and took the match.
We arrived after work, around 7pm. The roof was closed and the air conditioning felt great after 40+ degree heat (~100F+). Nadal won in straight sets, but it was a good match and neither of us had ever seen tennis live before. It was a lot of fun.
Afterwords was a men’s doubles match. We watched some of that, then ducked out to catch the last train home.
Since then the heat hasn’t let up much. Melbourne felt 3 straight days of heat reaching 43 or more degrees. This had never happened before since record keeping of temperatures started (sometime in the 1800s). Thursday the temperature hit 45.1C, which was the 2nd highest ever on record (Melbourne).
Here’s another photo from inside the arena. It’s not a great photo, as I didn’t bring my big camera, but you get the idea of what our view was like. This photo was from the beginning of the match. The seats filled up shortly as the people in business suits arrived.
Now back to watching the final on TV. It’s shaping up to be a great one.
These photos are fun! It’s exciting to think that you were in the main stadium this week. And that you saw Nadal. And that he won the tournament. In 4 1/2 hours!!!!! Thanks for sending both photos, especially the one showing us your view. And thanks for describing your time at the tournament. What a fun experience!
So you were watching the final at home on tv, right?
I’m really glad you went! Great experience. And you got to see a quarterfinal with Nadal. Fun! Did it feel kind of high society or more normal sports?
Record hot there, and so very cold here. 1 degree again this morning. I don’t keep records except in my bones, but this is the coldest with no let up that I ever remember in Michigan. Even the Plymouth Ice Show had cold weather.
How awesome that you were ***there***!!! Way to seize the opportunity! Both photos are fun–seeing what you saw. The second one because it’s in the stadium. And the first one because it’s fascinating with all the arrows and the tennis figurine. Great composition, too! Love and appreciate the glimpses. XOXOX
Yeah we watched the final at home, but were there for the quarter final Nadal match. Pretty cool in retrospect that we saw the winner and #1 ranked player in the world. He’s only like 22 years old too.
I wouldn’t say it felt overly high society. Although I got the impression that some of the people there thought it was .
5 Comments »
Comment by josh — February 1, 2009 @ 9:04 pm
As I write this, we are watching Nadal play Federer in a great Australian Open final. Last week Beth and I went to Rod Laver Arena in downtown Melbourne and watched Nadal beat G. Simon in a quarterfinal match.
Earlier in the day it had been extremely hot. Serena Williams was playing a day time match and had lost the first set, but it was so hot they had to stop the match and close the roof. With the roof closed, she won the next two sets and took the match.
We arrived after work, around 7pm. The roof was closed and the air conditioning felt great after 40+ degree heat (~100F+). Nadal won in straight sets, but it was a good match and neither of us had ever seen tennis live before. It was a lot of fun.
Afterwords was a men’s doubles match. We watched some of that, then ducked out to catch the last train home.
Since then the heat hasn’t let up much. Melbourne felt 3 straight days of heat reaching 43 or more degrees. This had never happened before since record keeping of temperatures started (sometime in the 1800s). Thursday the temperature hit 45.1C, which was the 2nd highest ever on record (Melbourne).
Here’s another photo from inside the arena. It’s not a great photo, as I didn’t bring my big camera, but you get the idea of what our view was like. This photo was from the beginning of the match. The seats filled up shortly as the people in business suits arrived.
Now back to watching the final on TV. It’s shaping up to be a great one.
Comment by Clara — February 1, 2009 @ 11:54 pm
These photos are fun! It’s exciting to think that you were in the main stadium this week. And that you saw Nadal. And that he won the tournament. In 4 1/2 hours!!!!! Thanks for sending both photos, especially the one showing us your view. And thanks for describing your time at the tournament. What a fun experience!
Comment by dadman — February 5, 2009 @ 2:12 am
So you were watching the final at home on tv, right?
I’m really glad you went! Great experience. And you got to see a quarterfinal with Nadal. Fun! Did it feel kind of high society or more normal sports?
Record hot there, and so very cold here. 1 degree again this morning. I don’t keep records except in my bones, but this is the coldest with no let up that I ever remember in Michigan. Even the Plymouth Ice Show had cold weather.
Comment by Peg — February 5, 2009 @ 11:08 am
How awesome that you were ***there***!!! Way to seize the opportunity! Both photos are fun–seeing what you saw. The second one because it’s in the stadium. And the first one because it’s fascinating with all the arrows and the tennis figurine. Great composition, too! Love and appreciate the glimpses. XOXOX
Comment by josh — February 6, 2009 @ 9:35 am
Yeah we watched the final at home, but were there for the quarter final Nadal match. Pretty cool in retrospect that we saw the winner and #1 ranked player in the world. He’s only like 22 years old too.
I wouldn’t say it felt overly high society. Although I got the impression that some of the people there thought it was
.
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