10SBALLS SENDS A ROOKIE TO COVER THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN TENNIS

Written by: Staff on 16th January 2016

10SBALLS SENDS A ROOKIE TO COVER THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN TENNIS |

Photo by @perugia8 via Instagram.

Woke up to sunshine, managed the trains from suburbia and into the City without looking too much like a tourist. Kids Day was going on (we did resist the urge to join Dora The Explorer in Dancing Like We Had Ants In Our Pants)…

Here’s our take on the best to come on Monday when the Happy Slam kicks off – and what a start in store.

Rod Laver boasts wall-to-wall Slam champions. Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova kicks things off, followed by one tricky encounter for Serena Williams in feisty Camila Giorgi.

Now we all know on paper Serena should chomp through the early rounds, and despite asserting in her press conference that she was a-ok and the problems with her knee had rescinded, this is one opener a lot of people would want to avoid.

They have met twice before with Williams coming out on top but their last meeting at the Fed Cup Play-offs saw the American pushed in their first set. With concern still swirling around her inflamed (or not) knee, she had this to say on Saturday.

“I’m at 120, 130 percent right now. This week, the weeks leading up, has been a lot of work. I actually wanted to have an easy day today. But to me in my mind ‘easy’ is just two hours of really intense working out.”

“I’ve had a really good preparation. I mean, I didn’t have the match play that I’ve wanted to have. But after playing for so many years on tour, I should be able to, you know, focus on that and the fact that I have played a lot of matches. So that’s what I’m trying to focus on now.”

Another fast riser in the world of the ATP heads up the charge against World No. 1 and five-time champion Novak Djokovic. Hyeon Chung has leapt up the rankings in just his second professional year, climbing over 120 places to end up tantalizingly outside the Top 50, and earning the ATP Most Improved Player award. Let’s see what he can do against the World No. 1.

We will be stocking up on carbs (and we just might give the Cadbury’s Freddos for now… it’s a long two weeks). Why? Because the night session in the iconic Rod Laver Arena starts with Roger Federer, against a largely unknown opponent for him.

He said, in pre-tournament press: ” I don’t know my opponent very well. I almost played him at Wimbledon, I remember. So we’ll see how that goes. More focused on my own game right now. My health is good now, so that’s crucial, especially now that I play on Monday. I’ll get some feedback from Ivan and Severin, see what they can find out about him.”

Margaret Court Arena also boasts a great line-up, starting with Maria Sharapova. Having had to withdraw from Brisbane, she admitted that her preparation had at least started earlier here in Melbourne, but there was more important things to discuss… like what happens when stray undies appear in your laundry.

Sharapova offered her insight: “I actually just returned a pair of underwear that wasn’t mine, like 45 minutes ago. Funny you ask that. I don’t know if you were like checking out the laundry room situation, but it really happened (laughter). It was a female pair of underwear, not male. It was leopard (laughter). I’m like, That’s not mine.”

“It happens a lot. I’ve lost some great things in the laundry. I lost a great T-shirt in Brisbane 10 days ago. I ordered another one. Thankfully Nike provided me another one. It was one of my favorite long-sleeved shirts. Lost that. It’s okay. I don’t get attached to things, so I guess that’s good when you lose laundry. Hopefully the individual wasn’t attached to their underwear (laughter). And I gave it back, so hopefully they’ll get it.”

So we’re finally at the first Slam of the year. We have had withdrawals, both dodgy and heartbreaking (we hope Jack Sock recovers in time for his campaign to start after retiring with a stomach illness in the Auckland final). He is going to have a tough match against AMERICAN qualifier Taylor Fritz. We see Taylor taking that match.

There is no time for messing about now. The Happy Slam, the heat, slip-slop-slap (Slip on a shirt, Slop on the 30+ sunscreen, Slap on a hat) beckons as we strap in for a rollercoaster ride to the first of the Slam of 2016.

Topics: 10sballs.com, 2016 Australian Open, Atp World Tour, Sports, Tennis News, Wta