Another full-on day with the other half of the first round matches. We went to watch Nico Almagro first at 11am. He was playing American qualifier, Bobby Reynolds. It was a very tough 4 set match, including 2 tie-breaks and Nico played very well, however, in the end, it was Reynolds that prevailed. During the match, I spoke a bit to Tommy Robredo's parents, who were also there for a while and they were very nice. I then went to watch Ferrero's match against Dutch qualifier, van Gemerden. When I got to the court, I realised I should have got there earlier. Being a small court, it was already completely packed out with numerous Dutch fans decked out in orange, as well as the hordes of girls wanting to see Juan Carlos. It really should have been put on a Show Court at least. I ended up sitting on a step (which wasn't that bad, as it was right behind Juan Carlos' chair!), but then my friend found me a seat near Juan Carlos' box, which was even better! Tommy's parents were there and I talked to them again briefly too. The match itself was really good. Ferrero didn't play well in the first set, which he lost 2-6. He was hitting wild shots and the Dutchman was really on fire. I was fearing Juan Carlos was going to be starting off 2005 with the same bad form he'd had in 2004, as he'd also lost first round the previous week in Auckland. However, thankfully, he found his game and fought hard to win in 4. What a relief! It was a really awesome match and the atmosphere had been great. A favourable result in the end made it even better. I then went back to the lounge to cool off as it had been a pretty hot day. We talked a bit to Alberto Martin's coach and I also saw Tommy Robredo, who was sitting at a nearby table. After a while, Juan Carlos came in and I congratulated him on his win too. We then decided to head home, as it was quite late and we were pretty tired.
Wednesday 19 January:
We went to Melbourne Park at 10.30 to say goodbye to Antonio (Nico's coach), who was leaving that afternoon, and after that, we went to Show Court 2 to watch Tommy Robredo's match against Tomas Zib. I said hi to his parents before the match, before finding myself a seat in the shade - it was going to be 35 degrees! It turned out to be a good match, though a bit stressful at times! Thankfully, Tommy was able to win in 4, which made me very happy, as it was the first time he'd ever made it to the 3rd round of the Aus Open. After the match, I met up with his parents again and talked to them for quite a while. They were both very happy and extremely nice. I then had a quick bite to eat, before heading off to watch Juan Carlos' doubles match. He was playing with Santiago Ventura, also from the Valencia province of Spain like Juan Carlos, and they were playing Leach and MacPhie of the USA. I wasn't expecting them to beat the Americans, who are quite an experienced team, however, the Spaniards played really well and were leading 5-3 in the third, about to serve for the match, when the unthinkable happened. Juan Carlos rolled his ankle during a rally and lay on the court grimacing for a long time. Everyone was really worried and I once again found myself thinking why Juanqui always seems to have such bad luck when it comes to injuries. He was forced to pull out of the match, which was a huge shame, considering they were so close to winning. However, it was a wise decision, as he was going to have to play a singles match the following day. My friend and I were quite sad after the match, as we had no idea how bad the injury was and whether Juan Carlos would have to withdraw from the tournament or not. We'd have to wait until tomorrow to find out.
Thursday 20 January:
Got to the tennis at 11.30 and went into Rod Laver Arena to watch a bit of the match between Rafael Nadal and Mikhail Youzhny. It was a long 5 setter, but I didn't stay for the whole match. We walked around a bit to see what else was going on. I saw a bit of Tommy Robredo's practice, then went and had some lunch. We went and watched the end of Mario Ancic's doubles match with Ivan Ljubicic, which they unfortunately lost. Then went to see a bit of Ventura v Nalbandian, before having dinner in the lounge. The twilight match on Margaret Court Arena was between Mariano Zabaleta and Juan Carlos Ferrero. We were all a bit uptight and unsure as to how Juan Carlos would play, if indeed he did play. However, those worries proved to be unfounded, as he appeared sharp and fit, and surprisingly breezed past Zabaleta in 3 easy sets. It was good to see that his ankle injury wasn't as bad as first thought and that he was now safely through to the third round.
Friday 21 January:
Upon arrival at Melbourne Park, we headed straight to Rod Laver Arena to see the third round clash between Marat Safin and Mario Ancic. Marat took the first set, but seemed to have a lapse in the second. We left after the first 2 sets, as it was really hot, and went to have some lunch. We went back to the hotel in the afternoon and then came back for the twilight match on Margaret Court Arena at 7.30pm. It was the 3rd round match between Tommy Robredo and the qualifier from Cyprus, Marcos Baghdatis. He was the number 1 junior last year and most people agree he has a lot of potential. I thought it would be a good match, though was hoping Tommy would still win. The atmosphere was pretty good, as there were a lot of loud Cypriots and Greeks chanting and dancing in the stands. The first set was closely contested and Baghdatis won it in a tie-break. However, from then onwards, I noticed Tommy was not in good shape and this was further apparent when he called the trainer and took a medical time out. He was suffering from a shoulder injury that had been lingering since October and this was severely hampering him, particularly on the serve. He was unable to play at 100% and lost the next 2 sets 4-6 1-6. I was a bit disappointed that he could not play his best, but the Cypriots were over the moon and set off firecrackers in the stands. As the match had finished earlier than expected, we went to Vodafone Arena, where the last of the "day" matches was still taking place, though it was now around 9.30pm. It was between Feliciano Lopez and Joachim Johansson and when we got there it was 6-6 in the fifth set. As there is no tie-break in the final set, it just went on and on. We sat behind Feli's box, in which there were his coach, the Spanish Davis Cup captains, Fernando Verdasco with his girlfriend and family and Albert Costa. They were all cheering madly trying to get Feli over the line, while the Swedes were also typically in full force, so there was a great atmosphere in the arena. Both players were under extreme pressure and it was going to be very hard for whoever ended up losing. In the end, Johansson got the crucial break and won it 13-11 in the fifth! So not a good night for the Spanish players - there was now only Juan Carlos Ferrero and Rafael Nadal left in the draw, both of whom were due to play the next day.
Saturday 22 January:
The first match we went to see was the one between Ferrero and Guillermo Coria on Rod Laver Arena. Today, Ferrero's ankle did seem to be bothering him a bit and Coria was just getting every single ball back. Maria Sharapova came to watch at one stage with her father - she was sitting 2 rows in front of me, but she left after a short while. Ferrero looked a bit out of sorts and Coria won in 3 routine sets. After that, we went and had lunch. I spoke to Tommy's parents again for a while, who were understandably a bit down after last night's loss and Tommy's injury, and then we went back to the hotel to freshen up. We returned to the tennis centre at 7.30pm for the twilight match on Margaret Court Arena between Rafael Nadal and Bobby Reynolds. It was now up to Rafa to keep the Spanish flag flying, though I wasn't sure how he would be after his long 5 set match against Youzhny on Thursday. He seemed to be in fine form though and played superbly to beat the American 6-1 6-1 6-3. That match finished well before we had expected, but we couldn't get into Rod Laver Arena to see the Hewitt v Chela match, so we just sat outside in the garden square and watched the remainder of it on the big screen. Luckily, unlike the last 2 nights, it was very mild and pleasant, so it was nice to sit and watch the match there. Hewitt, of course, ended up winning the match in 4 sets.
