The Australian Open 2007 (Men's Final), VIC

The last couple of weeks we spent our late evenings watching the Australian Open Championship of Tennis (Melbourne). In the desert, we had no television and even stayed up late to watch the tennis in the lobby of the hotel. Rafael Nadal lost his game against Gonzalez. Wow, a men's final of Federer vs. Gonzalez... Well, Chel called already to the ticket office and checked the Internet a dozen of times, but unfortunately there were no tickets left anymore. They were sold out already months before the Australian Open even started. When we arrived in Melbourne, everything in the city was focused on this event. We got totally sucked into the Australian Open. Was there really no chance at all to view the finals now that we were in Melbourne?? We couldn't stand it anymore and went to ask. They told us that it would be highly unlikely, but one could always be lucky, hihi! Tada-tada-tada... you can all guess it!!! There were 2 cancellations, even 2 seats next to eachother! Oh we were so happy and lucky. This was the ultimate birthday present.

The gates were opened at about 3PM and we decided to be there early. We went to view our seats and they were just perfect. We were able to see the tennis court very clearly. At 4PM, the mixed doubles began to play. The stadium was actually not crowded at all and the game was already played in 2 sets. It was actually rather quiet. Hmm, we were wondering how the ambiance would be when 'Roger' would be playing against 'Gonzo'.

7.30 PM Time to go to our seats... The stadium was overly crowded and there was no single seat availabe anymore. People came in, all dressed up in red and white (Federer) or in blue (Gonzalez). The atmosphere was just incredible! We even spotted Serena Williams on the other side of the court.

The moment that the two tennis players walked onto the court was so real and weird. Well, we knew already that we were going to enjoy every minute of this match... and we did! The audience went crazy when a match was won, but on the otherhand it was so quiet when they were playing. Everything in full concentration! Oh, it was just amazing.

Both of them were really good, but in the end Federer won the Australian Open (again!). We stayed a little longer to watch the ceremony and afterwards walked to the hotel... with a BIG smile upon our face (Oh, and as as final "treat", here's some video footage of the winning point)


One of the most exciting tournaments in a long time