SYDNEY, Australia—I’ve been told that New Yorkers are fit because they walk everywhere. Those of us who travel and follow tennis get additional exercise. Tournaments are often located outside city centers, which means a train ride followed by a stroll—or hike—to the tennis center.
Getting to the Medibank International in Sydney is no different. The tournament is located at Sydney Olympic Park (site of the 2000 Olympic Games), about a half-hour train ride outside the city and then a 15-minute walk to the front gate. Once you arrive, you’re greeted with heavy, concrete architecture. I’ve been to a few Olympic sites and I always have the feeling I’m strolling around the land of the lost; it’s a bit melancholy. But it’s all offset, somewhat, by the flora and fauna that lead you to the site. Screeching Australian Magpies hover around the grounds (I’ve heard that the males attack humans) and often perch above the stadium, disrupting play with their chatter. There are also a lot of White Ibis and other stork-like birds around Sydney. Combined with the tall, deep green trees, it feels a little like Jurassic Park around here.
The stadium inside resembles Wimbledon’s Centre Court in construction and looks substantially larger than Pat Rafter Arena in Brisbane. Thankfully, it also lacks Rafter’s Star Trek feel. The grounds are small (Court 1 is almost an afterthought) and very easy to navigate, with a few grassy knolls adjacent to some of the courts where fans can hang out.
The big news this week has been the decimation of the women’s draw. After the dark horse brigade in Brisbane, wasn’t Sydney supposed to spotlight the top women? But yet again, we’re having a “is she worthy of number one?” debate, following top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki’s upset loss to Dominika Cibulkova. Are the women just a bunch of “Carol Annes” from Poltergeist? Don’t go into the light! You’ll never play well again!