Home Articles Australian Open Djokovic’s Dance Antics, Venus’s fashion sense and Australia Day celebrations: Ten things I have learnt from Australian Open 2011
Djokovic’s Dance Antics, Venus’s fashion sense and Australia Day celebrations: Ten things I have learnt from Australian Open 2011
Friday, 28 January 2011 11:26

by Kelvin Goodchild

SM_DJOKOVIC_KYM_JOHNSON_AO2011_D5_0171. Being a professional tennis player doesn’t mean you can’t moonlight as a reality TV show personality. Novak Djokovic did just that when he danced a Sassy number with Dancing with the Stars celebrity, Kym Johnson, after his match with countryman Victor Troicki finished early on Day five.
2. The gap between the top two (Nadal and Federer) and the pretenders (Djokovic and Murray) and the rest is not as big as we might think. That’s what Rafa thinks anyway. For me there are much more than six or seven on the tour that can beat everybody.


3. Fireworks, 21-gun salutes and a fly-pass by a squadron of jet fighters cannot distract a FM_AMBIANCE_AO2011_D10_001professional tennis player where mild crowd noise during a point can.

Clijsters, Zvonareva and Nadal all shrugged off nearby Australia Day celebrations on January whereas Andy Murray went ballistic after an extra long and mundane rally between himself and Alexander Dolgopolov created murmurings and hurry-up whistles from the centre court crowd.


4. Women’s tennis is – and I realise this is a sweeping generalisation – incredibly boring. When the top three players in the world (Wozniacki, Clijsters, Zvonareva) incline heavily to a defensive game played from the baseline and will only mix their game up when absolutely necessary (and that’s not often,) you can hardly make a claim to the contrary.

5. The best way to get an official Australian Open towel is to grab a centre court seat directly behind where the players are sitting and wait for the winner to throw you one after the match.


6. There is no need to play a let on the first or second serves if the ball clips the net. Most of the time the receiver’s chances of getting the ball back is unaffected by the ball touching the net on the way through from the server. Sometimes it will mean an easy point for the receiver, but all in all it just means the game will flow better.

FM_HAWKEYE_AO2011_D9_0027. Hawke-eye is fantastic. Here are just a few reasons why:

1. Gives the players and fans an understanding of just how good those line judges are

2. Gets the fans involved in the match on a deeper level with the instant video playback

3. Adds an extra gamesmanship factor to a match with players being able to catch a breather or disrupt the momentum of their opposition

4. Tests the tactical nous of the players, as a maximum of three unsuccessful challenges a set means they must choose when to use Hawke-eye carefully.
SM_VENUS_AO2011_D3_001
8. It is possible to slide on a hardcourt – Gael Monfils and David Ferrer are big examples of that – but I wouldn’t try it too often if you want to stay injury free.

9. Want to beat Rafael Nadal and having trouble doing so? Earn your way to the quarter-finals of the Australian open and you may just get your wish. The Spaniard’s injury woes have resulted in two consecutive exits at the quarter-final stage in 2010 and 2011.

10. Venus Williams’ fashion sense hasn’t got any better. The flesh coloured underwear will never be a winner and the canary-yellow, beehive inspired top she wore in her second round match against Sandra Zhalavova was straight out of a Lady Gaga music video.

 
 

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