Everyone is aware there are a myriad of considerations that go into scheduling at a major event like the Australian Open – giving exposure to the host country's players, requests from international and domestic television, the desire to give a variety of players matches on the main show court (i.e. Rod Laver Arena), a pre-determined order of who plays day and night, players involvement in doubles and the preferences of the ticket-purchasing public. All those considered, Australian Open officials still dropped the ball on Thursday by putting Ana Ivanovic and Gisela Dulko, two very attractive women, on only the third largest show court, Margaret Court Arena.
Last year at Wimbledon, the second-round match between the good-looking Maria Kirilenko and the good-looking Caroline Wozniacki was put on Centre Court at Wimbledon to many people's surprise. So, even the staid schedulers at the All England Club could appreciate the fan interest in that one.
On Thursday, Aussie Open officials preferred to have home-nation players Samantha Stosur and Casey Dellacqua play basically no-name opponents on Rod Laver in place of Ivanovic – Dulko.
Not only is Ivanovic popular, but she has received a lot of attention lately because she is currently dating Australian pro golfer Adam Scott. As much as it may be a crassly commercial move, for the good of tennis and its exposure around the world – Ivanovic and Dulko had to be given the national and international spotlight of being on Rod Laver.
This is a new era in sports, with tennis fighting a diversified landscape of sports for space in the media, what better way to get it than putting Ivanovic, a former No. 1 player, and Dulko on the biggest stage possible.
On top of everything, the match was terrifically entertaining, with the added human interest of Ivanovic fighting horrendous service toss problems that led to 11 doubles faults and a painful-to-watch experience every time she threw up the ball. Dulko won the match 6-7(6), 7-5, 6-4 but not before Ivanovic fought off five match points and rallied from 5-1 down in the final set. Not only were the two players beautiful, but Dulko's bold forehand, an outright service return winner on the sixth match point was also a thing of beauty.
The media in Australia have been all over Andy Roddick for his haranguing of umpire Fergus Murphy, briefly a former resident of Ottawa, over whether he should have been granted a replay of a point that was challenged on Hawk Eye and ended up being called a winner for his opponent Thomas Belucci of Brazil.
It was a very close call in the match on Wednesday. Roddick seemed to stop as he ran after the ball on the sideline, but was it because he improperly judged that the ball was out? Or was it because he heard the call of “out” and stopped? In the former instance, he had no case. In the latter, he deserved to have the point replayed. Murphy ruled no replay.
It occurred one point before the ultimate match point. Roddick had a little dispute with Murphy at the time and then carried on for an extended period when the match ended on the next point. He also threw in the f-word then, but in a fairly innocuous way.
The Australian media, possibly used to slightly more demure conduct toward officials in cricket and Aussie Rules Football, have been royally roasting him for his behaviour, with one paper claiming he is a “potty mouth.”
But Roddick's frequent carrying on with umpires is always good entertainment value. He rides umpires the way baseball managers ride umpires, and coaches in football, hockey and basketball get on referees to try to get an edge.
With many people pining for the old days of “personalities” in tennis such as Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe, Roddick should be welcomed – he speaks his mind and shows his emotions but with little of the nastiness, vulgarity and vindictiveness of his loathsome American predecessors, Connors and McEnroe.
And to Roddick's credit, he was man enough to admit after seeing the video of the incident of the match against Bellucci, “I thought I was going to be 100-per-cent right. It's definitely closer than I felt it was while I was on court.”
