Congratulations to Roger Federer!

After last years disappointing loss to Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer redeemed himself by winning the 2010 Australian Open, beating Andy Murray 6-3 6-4 7-6 (11-9). More about the game later.

Before a ball getting smashed

I’ve always enjoy The Australian Open and every year will try make it a day outing. I started the day by coming in early. As you enter through pass the gates, you already feel the excitement. You can see fans getting dressed up, getting their face painted, banners being waived, songs getting sung with gusto and cheering squads all practicing their war cries.

The sponsors section/tent is always a highlight, promoting their brand and giving away freebies.

My routine is to quickly grab a drink and then spend a few hours walking around. On the way to the Public Entertainment Area, I saw that the ANZ bank is heavily promoting their goods, giving away freebies while collecting your information.

Followed by Optus, whose penguins were pulling off some cool break dancing moves. The weather was really hot but no one seemed too bothered. As I approached the Public Entertainment area, I saw lots of sponsor tents. I started going from tent to tent to check out what they had to offer.

I played Nintendo wii followed by tennis board soccer. I stopped by the KIA tent to cool down a little bit as it was fully air conditioned :). The last tent was the best - Cussons rooftop relaxation bar. You enter the tent by climbing up to the roof top where they lined up fake grass and deck chairs. I decided to sit on one and was offered cucumber pieces to be put on my eyes and they sprayed me with cucumber mist. I closed my eyes for a good 5 minutes then went down to get a foot spa. As you leave the tent, they give you a free moisturizing shower gel. Divine :)!

Continuing on, I went to the Australian Open shop. The best thing about going to the men’s final other than the final itself is that you get bargains on all Australian Open merchandises! Since it was the last day, everything was heavily discounted.

After giving my credit card a dose of exercise, I entered the ground to watch the mixed double final. Straight after the mixed double final, while the court was being cleaned up, I got a bite to eat while walking around for a little bit more. As the crowd started filling in the ground, we were pumped for the Men’s Final :).

Celebrity Spottings

As is always the case with the Australian Open Finals, celebrities were out in force. Last year I saw Eric Bana, Danni Minogue, Daniel MacPherson, Adam Scott, James Hird. For this year’s Celebrity Spotting section I saw Lara Bingle (Bloody Hell girl, fiancée of Cricketer Michael Clark), Megan Gale & Andy Lee, Libby Trickett.

The Australian Open 2010 Men’s Final

After sitting through over 3 hours of the 2009 Australian Open Final only to see Roger Federer defeated in 5 heart breaking sets, this year’s final was extra special!

The build up to the final was enormous, especially for Andy Murray, no British player has won a grand slam major title since Fred Perry did it in 1936, that’s 74 years ago, or according to Roger Federer, 150,000 years ago

After the Jersey Boys did an opening song, the crucial match began. Here are the highlights :)!

Although Federer won the match in 3 sets, it really did seem a lot closer than that. In the first set Federer was under intense pressure to hold serve. I really thought if Andy Murray was to win this match it was crucial that he won the first set. However, it really did seem his nerves were getting to him.

In the second set, Roger managed to break Murray early and held on to his own serve to win it 6-4. At this stage I was feeling comfortable that it was going to be an early night

Unlike the first two set, the third heated up, the crowd was really getting into it! Murray was playing riskier tennis; he was serving faster and hitting his forehands harder. It paid off as at 5-3, Murray was serving for that 3rd set! My heart was pumping, what if Murray wins the 3rd and somehow manage to win the match in 5? That would be DEVASTING!!!It’d be worst than last year, 10 fold!

As it turned out Federer and Murray played a pulsating 3rd set tie break with Federer winning 13-11 !!! What a champion

I do agree with Federer though, Murray is a great player and it’s only a matter of time before he starts winning Majors. He has the game to trouble any player and I believe he will be the next player to take the crown off Federer when the time comes.

Mixed Double Final

The mixed double final was won by Cara Black(Zim)/Leander Paes(Ind) against Ekaterina Makarova (Rus)/Jaroslav Levinsky(Cze). It was an exciting match but the pocket rocket of Black and the super reflexes of Paes were just too strong.

The Cherry On Top

After the match, there’s another routine that I follow - As everyone makes a mad dash to go home I venture to the secret hiding spot, patiently waiting for a last glimpse of the champion Around 20 minutes after the ceronomy the winner is always invited to the media room. Here if you are lucky, and I was you will get a close up on the winner! and if you are really lucky you even get have a quick chat. 

So I didnt get my chat but I did get the close up! Woooooo

Can’t wait for next year - please do check out more photos from the event below

Related posts:

1. Australian Open Grandslam Men’s Final 2009
2. Congratulations to Roger Federer - 2009 French Open Champion
3. Congrats ROGER!! You’re The BEST! - Federer Wins Wimbledon 2009
4. Roger Federer is expecting a baby - Mini Roger Federer :)
5. Celebrity Spotting at the 2009 Australian Open Final

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