Thursday, January 30, 2014
The Finals at Melbourne Park
The Finals of the tournament are played at Melbourne Park. The players who made the finals are picked up by a car and taken over to the park. Kia is the official car sponsor of the Australia Open.
The matches began at 12, but we decided to go over early. Our credentials got us in and since there weren’t many people around AND we were early, it seemed to me to be the perfect time to sneak on a court and hit a little!!! Yes, we can all say we have officially hit on courts at the Australian Open! These weren’t the practice courts, but the real deal. Not only did we play, but a few of us climbed up in the chair and did some officiating. A special thrill for Don, was being made an honorary ball boy. I didn’t know this was a dream of his when he was young and played competitive tennis. Let’s call this picture, “One of these things is not like the other.”
As I watched all the final matches being played, I kept wishing everyone could see this level of tennis. Adaptive players with 80mph serves and the ability to take on any 5.0 player and most likely win is out there and I am seeing it first hand. How does the USA look? We are good, but now we have a starting point. We need to train our higher level players all year long to be able to compete in the world wide tournaments. This tournament is a template. Over the next few years, work will to have all the Grand Slams include an Adaptive section. This is an exciting time to be a part of tennis!
Friday, January 24, 2014
Australian Open Day 4 and 5
In an effort to get caught up, I thought it would be best to combine a couple of days. Both days consisted of a lot of tournament play and I mean a lot! Each match was one set, but they were playing 3 and sometimes 4 matches each day. We were at the courts about 8 hours each day. It seems none of us can even figure out what day it is much less what time it is "in America"
Team USA was privileged to receive a visit from the US Consulate General, Mary Warlick and her staff. They are tennis fans and when they heard the USA had a delegation, they came right over. Photos were taken and they stayed for quite a while, visiting and watching our group play. So exciting for all of us and very special for Team USA.
On this day, which would be Thursday, Team USA did very well. Everyone moved on to the next round in both singles and double. The nerves had settled and they were feeling right at home. If you looked around the park you could see a lot of new friendships. Katherine's FB page is going to get another international boost!
Our uniforms have been a huge hit! I hear how great they look at least 4 or 5 times a day and this is everywhere we go. We are a colorful, sharp looking group!
Besides the interview and photo with 774 ABC Melbourne radio, the Australian Open radio station came over to the courts to interview Barry Holman and Katherine and Ben. This will air on Saturday. They will be sending us the link after it airs.
Friday we attended a Sponsor's breakfast. Tennis great, Wally Masur spoke about the importance of having more players from all over the world compete in this section of the Australian Open. He also said having the USA participation shows The Open the commitment to growth in the Adaptive section.
Wayne Bird, President of Ausrapid said, " Indeed 2014 is an historic year..... There are 2 players entered from Japan and in a first, we have a team of 4 players joining us from the United States. This is a significant step forward for the event.
Steve Healy, Pres. Tennis Australia said, " this long standing tournament continues to attract talented local, interstate and an increasing number of international players to Melbourne to compete during the world's best Grand Slam tournament, The Australian Open."
The Lord's Taverners Australia and Tennis Australia are presenting sponsors and have been committed to this event.
All matches were pushed back until 1:30. Some of Team USA visited with another tennis great, John Alexander, who was staying in the hotel. I have know idea what they talked about, but I hope Katherine didn't try to help him with his strokes! She said he was very nice and asked a lot of questions about their team.
And like magic, the sky cleared up and we were on the courts. Katherine had 4 matches. She won her singles, but didn't make the finals in the end. I haven't talked much about the competition, but I will in a later email. We arrived not knowing what we would up against. The competition is wonderful and is certainly a new level for us. I will say we are not at the bottom, but if I had to guess, would put USA around #4 or 5. Rankings will be out later and we will see.
In doubles, the girls came in third. They did very well against the #1 team in the World, which was very impressive considering they have only played together once.
When the day was over, Team USA did not have anyone in the finals. We are not discouraged, although it is hard to be so close and not able to play in Melbourne Park. A lot of new friendships have been made and our hosts for everything we did have been amazing. An amazing experience and we are so fortunate to have been able to be a part of it all.
The finals are this morning, at Melbourne Park. This evening we leave for Benella. More tennis and celebrations. It is Australia Day on the 26th and Team USA will take part in all the celebrations. Still 3 more days of events for us!
Friday we attended a Sponsor's breakfast. Tennis great, Wally Masur spoke about the importance of having more players from all over the world compete in this section of the Australian Open. He also said having the USA participation shows The Open the commitment to growth in the Adaptive section.
Wayne Bird, President of Ausrapid said, " Indeed 2014 is an historic year..... There are 2 players entered from Japan and in a first, we have a team of 4 players joining us from the United States. This is a significant step forward for the event.
Steve Healy, Pres. Tennis Australia said, " this long standing tournament continues to attract talented local, interstate and an increasing number of international players to Melbourne to compete during the world's best Grand Slam tournament, The Australian Open."
The Lord's Taverners Australia and Tennis Australia are presenting sponsors and have been committed to this event.
All matches were pushed back until 1:30. Some of Team USA visited with another tennis great, John Alexander, who was staying in the hotel. I have know idea what they talked about, but I hope Katherine didn't try to help him with his strokes! She said he was very nice and asked a lot of questions about their team.
And like magic, the sky cleared up and we were on the courts. Katherine had 4 matches. She won her singles, but didn't make the finals in the end. I haven't talked much about the competition, but I will in a later email. We arrived not knowing what we would up against. The competition is wonderful and is certainly a new level for us. I will say we are not at the bottom, but if I had to guess, would put USA around #4 or 5. Rankings will be out later and we will see.
In doubles, the girls came in third. They did very well against the #1 team in the World, which was very impressive considering they have only played together once.
When the day was over, Team USA did not have anyone in the finals. We are not discouraged, although it is hard to be so close and not able to play in Melbourne Park. A lot of new friendships have been made and our hosts for everything we did have been amazing. An amazing experience and we are so fortunate to have been able to be a part of it all.
The finals are this morning, at Melbourne Park. This evening we leave for Benella. More tennis and celebrations. It is Australia Day on the 26th and Team USA will take part in all the celebrations. Still 3 more days of events for us!
Thursday, January 23, 2014
Australian Open Day 3
Today is the first day of the tournament. It takes place in Albert Reserve Park. All play will take place here until the finals, which will be played in Melbourne Park.
A little history on the tournament. Tennis Australia is the organization that oversees sporting events in Australia. This includes the Australian Open. Within the Open there are several tournaments. The Grand Slam event, the juniors, wheelchair and Australian Championships. The latter is what our team is in. The tournament began small and has steadily grown with more international players each year. The top or elite players (their words) play a round robin format with the finals being played in Melbourne Park. As former tennis great Wally Masur said, "It is only a matter of time before you will be playing your entire tournament in Melbourne Park." Albert Reserve was the starting point for wheelchair tennis for the AO.
Team USA looked great and we were ready to play!
Singles were played first, then doubles. This round everyone plays 1 set with a 7 point tie break at 6 all. Katherine played the #1 seed first. Kelly Wren has won this tournament since it's inception in 1998!! She is a wonderful player and Katherine did manage to get one game off her.
Then Katherine's second match was the #3 seed........4/6. Both were tough opponents to have on the first day, but as everyone began to settle down the afternoon was much better for Team USA. Katherine and Brittany won their doubles and so did the boys.
Our new favorite place to eat is right across the street. It has really good food and the owner is very nice and seems thrilled to have us there. It was the place to be after the first day of competition. If you are wondering if we tried Kangaroo, we did. No it doesn't taste like chicken. It taste a lot like beef cooked medium rare. We sat with a group of Aussie's and they wanted to know all about jerky. They don't have it here and they are just dying to try it. Luckily, I brought some!
Singles were played first, then doubles. This round everyone plays 1 set with a 7 point tie break at 6 all. Katherine played the #1 seed first. Kelly Wren has won this tournament since it's inception in 1998!! She is a wonderful player and Katherine did manage to get one game off her.
Then Katherine's second match was the #3 seed........4/6. Both were tough opponents to have on the first day, but as everyone began to settle down the afternoon was much better for Team USA. Katherine and Brittany won their doubles and so did the boys.
Our new favorite place to eat is right across the street. It has really good food and the owner is very nice and seems thrilled to have us there. It was the place to be after the first day of competition. If you are wondering if we tried Kangaroo, we did. No it doesn't taste like chicken. It taste a lot like beef cooked medium rare. We sat with a group of Aussie's and they wanted to know all about jerky. They don't have it here and they are just dying to try it. Luckily, I brought some!
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
Australian Open Day 2 1/21/14
After a good night's sleep and a fantastic breakfast at our host hotel, Team USA boarded our bus for some sightseeing. Our Australia host, Robin, has arranged a private tour of the MCG, a multi use stadium and the National Sports Museum. This is also the home of the Melbourne Cricket Club, the oldest cricket club in the world. Everyone is excited, but Don is beyond thrilled because this is a very impressive stadium which seats 100,000 people. I hope he can stay with the group and not wander off or up to the top!
Peta Phillips is our guide. She is with The Lord's Taverners Australia Branch, a sponsor of the tournament. They have raised over 10 million since their inception in 1982
The museum is amazing and beautiful. Every exhibit has such detail about the history of the specific sport in Australia. There is an interactive section and booklet with questions to answer as you go through the museum. Katherine completed the booklet and really enjoyed the hunt! Her gift, a rugby bank.
The museum is inside the MCG, so out we went and down to the field. It's hard to believe you could fit up to 100,000 in here. That has only happened once....when Billy Graham came.
Don examined as much as he could and our host will be sending him more information about the structure. Do I see some future work here?
Our next stop, to spend the afternoon at The Open! Barry Holman, Founder and Pres of Athletes without Limits and Ben Hadden, our player from Ohio, joined us. The weather is perfect with beautiful blue skies. At this point, I think pictures tell the story better. Our highlights of the day: It took Katherine and Ben 4.5 minutes to get their first interview for a radio station, the Legend's match was awesome and Djokovic looks good warming up. Enjoy the photos!
Peta Phillips is our guide. She is with The Lord's Taverners Australia Branch, a sponsor of the tournament. They have raised over 10 million since their inception in 1982
The museum is amazing and beautiful. Every exhibit has such detail about the history of the specific sport in Australia. There is an interactive section and booklet with questions to answer as you go through the museum. Katherine completed the booklet and really enjoyed the hunt! Her gift, a rugby bank.
The museum is inside the MCG, so out we went and down to the field. It's hard to believe you could fit up to 100,000 in here. That has only happened once....when Billy Graham came.
Don examined as much as he could and our host will be sending him more information about the structure. Do I see some future work here?
Our next stop, to spend the afternoon at The Open! Barry Holman, Founder and Pres of Athletes without Limits and Ben Hadden, our player from Ohio, joined us. The weather is perfect with beautiful blue skies. At this point, I think pictures tell the story better. Our highlights of the day: It took Katherine and Ben 4.5 minutes to get their first interview for a radio station, the Legend's match was awesome and Djokovic looks good warming up. Enjoy the photos!
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
We've made it to the Australian Open!!! Day 1 1/20/14
We arrived in Melbourne at 7:00 am on Monday morning. Customs was a breeze and we headed up to meet our host for the week. I love the way your enter Australia. After a long walk up a path, you stand in front of a frosted, glass door. Picture "what's behind door #3". Then it opens and you are being stared at by 50 or so people waiting for someone. They are all looking at you so be sure you look your best. You only have one chance to make a first impression, my mother once told me!
Robyn Smith, CEO of Ausrapid, along with Michael Thompson, met us at the airport. Our bus for the next few days had the appropriate and impressive signage for players in The Open. Thank goodness because we wouldn't want to get it mixed up with Nadal's bus!
Construction in Melbourne is everywhere. A lot of cranes can be seen throughout the city. There is growing revitalization along the waterway or port called the docklands on Victoria harbor. There is a very tall building with gold windows along the top. Aprox 88 stories, you can go to the top and step out onto a see through floor and look down. Katherine is all about this one!!! There is also the Melbourne Star which was designed by the same company that did the London Eye. It looks just the same and we plan to do that as well. Traffic similar to Houston, but not as much honking. I would call it respectful driving.
Our hotel is called Melbourne Parkview and is located across the street from the practice courts. Perfect walking distance. Since our room wasn't ready, we decided to go for a walk and see what is located around us.
Map in hand, we walked about two miles to the Shrine of Remembrance. This is a park setting which has several memorials of the role Australians played in war and peacekeeping. The largest and first building is dedicated to WWI. The photo doesn't do it justice. Katherine was kind enough to befriend a gentleman who gave us a private look at the building and a great history lesson. In the end, he gave her a poppy and told her to do her best in the tournament and enjoy Australia.
At 12:00 we head back to the hotel and meet up with the rest of the team.
Before anyone can play you need your CREDENTIALS!!!! Our bus took us in a back entrance, you know, the kind for PLAYERS ONLY! We checked in and got some pre-credentials and walked through another entrance and into Melbourne Park. That was when it finally became real. we were at the Australian Open. All you could hear from our group was "wow" and "look at that" and "wow". When you finally get to there and you are standing in the middle of it, it is hard to find the right words to describe it.
Robyn Smith, CEO of Ausrapid, along with Michael Thompson, met us at the airport. Our bus for the next few days had the appropriate and impressive signage for players in The Open. Thank goodness because we wouldn't want to get it mixed up with Nadal's bus!
Construction in Melbourne is everywhere. A lot of cranes can be seen throughout the city. There is growing revitalization along the waterway or port called the docklands on Victoria harbor. There is a very tall building with gold windows along the top. Aprox 88 stories, you can go to the top and step out onto a see through floor and look down. Katherine is all about this one!!! There is also the Melbourne Star which was designed by the same company that did the London Eye. It looks just the same and we plan to do that as well. Traffic similar to Houston, but not as much honking. I would call it respectful driving.
Our hotel is called Melbourne Parkview and is located across the street from the practice courts. Perfect walking distance. Since our room wasn't ready, we decided to go for a walk and see what is located around us.
Map in hand, we walked about two miles to the Shrine of Remembrance. This is a park setting which has several memorials of the role Australians played in war and peacekeeping. The largest and first building is dedicated to WWI. The photo doesn't do it justice. Katherine was kind enough to befriend a gentleman who gave us a private look at the building and a great history lesson. In the end, he gave her a poppy and told her to do her best in the tournament and enjoy Australia.
At 12:00 we head back to the hotel and meet up with the rest of the team.
Before anyone can play you need your CREDENTIALS!!!! Our bus took us in a back entrance, you know, the kind for PLAYERS ONLY! We checked in and got some pre-credentials and walked through another entrance and into Melbourne Park. That was when it finally became real. we were at the Australian Open. All you could hear from our group was "wow" and "look at that" and "wow". When you finally get to there and you are standing in the middle of it, it is hard to find the right words to describe it.
No matter what level you play, everyone checks in at the same place to get your credentials. There is some paperwork that tells you what you can and can't do with them. So, no Ebay folks, but why would you want to.
Don't they look great and ready to hit the courts.
Albert Reserve Park serves as practice courts until our matches begin. Our coaches worked on basics and loosening up after the long plane ride. Don and I hated sitting on the side!
By 5:00pm people were fading. Katherine and I went back to the room to unpack. Don was in charge of getting dinner and bringing it back to the room. There is a wonderful place right across the street. Poor Katherine was so tired, she ate her entire meal with her eyes closed. It was hard not to laugh.
I thought I would be able to write these blogs each day at a certain time. Well, there is a lot going on here, but I will do my best to get one out each day.
Until tomorrow
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