Port of call Sydney

I am very fortunate to have gotten the opportunity to travel to Australia for a few weeks starting last week, to see the Medibank International tennis tournament at Sydney, and then the Australian Open in Melbourne starting next week. As this is my first time in Australia.
I thought I would add a bit of tourist flavour to the my dispatches from here. Having arrived in Sydney Monday afternoon after an energy sapping 17-hour journey from Lahore via Bangkok, I was incapable of doing anything constructive, So, I opted to turn in at the tournament hotel, The Westin, located in the heart of the city.
There is much to see in Sydney, a city as beautiful as it is clean. Darling Harbour, set in the city centre near fashionable George Street, offers entertainment in the form of the Moscow Circus setting up at neighbouring Darling Park, a huge IMAX cinema, the Sydney Aquarium, Sydney Wildlife World, the Australian National Maritime Museum and a host of hotels and restaurants along the multiple wharfs.
Eager to delve into what I considered the most Australian things, I had a kangaroo steak that night. Its value was in novelty and no taste, not a bad choice overall though. The Wildlife World is also a must visit for anyone eager to find out about the vast variety of animals and insects that inhabit the length and breadth of Australia.
One interesting fact is that Australia is the only continent/country where the species of venomous snakes outnumber the non-venomous, the ratio being 65-35.
It was at the Wildlife World that I also got to see a kangaroo in flesh for the first time, having already met part of one grilled on a platter some days earlier.
At the other end of George Street is Sydney’s Circular Quay, which hosts the wonderful Opera House, the Harbour Bridge, and a variety of buskers and street performers. One of the more interesting ones was a pair of Aborigines playing music of the Araki tribe of New Zealand, mixing it with techno/dance music. Also placed around the area are small golden discs that mark the position of the shoreline from 1788. Judging from these, the shoreline has been pushed back considerably in the intervening time.
The tournament in Sydney is one of only a handful all year round that is graced by both the ATP and the WTA. This means a lot of matches through the week, thus the Sunday start instead of the usual Monday.
The women’s singles saw a huge upset: the world no.1 Caroline Wozniacki beaten in the second round. The Dane became world No1 without winning a Grand Slam last year. A testament to her consistency, though to be rated a true champion, she must win one of the big four. The evergreen Kim Clijsters showed abundant grit and calm to reach the final, and so did China’s Li Na, who has established a firm presence at the top of the women’s game, along with compatriot Zhang Xie.
Clijsters has hardly given any signs that she may have lost the appetite for success exhibited before her break from the game, which was intended to be permanent before it was revoked. And she is always a contender for the big prizes.
Aisam’s intended partner for the mixed doubles, Kveta Peschke, with whom he reached the US Open final, showed good form by making it to the end of the tournament with her partner Katarina Srebotnik.
The first upset of the men’s doubles was caused by Frenchmen Gasquet and Benneteau, who dispatched the No2 seeds Nestor and Mirnyi. The latter have only just gotten together as a pair this year, so it is probably going to be a while before they click. Both are experienced practitioners however, and Nestor even holds the record for being the only men’s doubles player to have won at least once every Grand Slam, every ATP Tour 1000 level event and the year-end Championship. It is most definitely a monumental feat for someone who I believe is underrated by the media.
As for Mirnyi, at a practice session with Aisam and Rohan, I learnt he is commonly addressed by his nickname ‘The Beast’, for his size and menacing presence on the court. Gasquet and Benneteau are both primarily singles players, and gave a walkover in their next round when Gasquet, who was progressing in the singles draw, was abandoned by Benneteau after the latter’s loss to Italy’s Starace, opting to excuse himself from doubles and heading to Melbourne to train for the next week. Unfortunately, this is a habit fairly common at the start of the year, where players are eager to get some matches under their belt after the December break.
Aisam and Rohan lost out in the semi-finals to Dlouhy and Hanley, who got on the title winners board this year with a win at Brisbane. Hanley is gunning for a third consecutive title at this tournament and the Bryan brothers will surely give the duo a good run for the trophy here.
Over in the men’s draw, all eyes were on Del Potro, who was given a wild card to facilitate the former US Open champion’s return from a year out due to injury. The Argentine seemed a little rusty coming through the first round, and that was the only match he won here, losing to Mayer in the second round. The semi-finalists were Simon, Gulbis, Mayer and Troicki. Troicki was especially impressive in his win over Gasquet earlier and Simon as always presents with steady nerves and ready ground strokes.
It was a bit of a damper though that some of the bigger names of men’s tennis, such as Verdasco, Hewitt, Tsonga and Davydenko, preferred to play at the invitational Kooyong Classic near Melbourne rather than an ATP event here in Sydney. Their presence would have made for a better draw here, where there are some actual ranking points at stake, unlike at the Kooyong Classic where appearance money is the main consideration.
Exhibition matches were also being played at the World Tennis Challenge in Adelaide, where John McEnroe and Ryan Harrison ensured the trophy went the way of the USA. Other participants included Nishikori, Pat Cash, Henri Leconte, Michael Llodra, Ivan Ljubicic and the evergreen entertainer Masood Behrami.
These eight were up to some truly amusing antics on the final night of the event which gave all those attending their money’s worth and more. There came a point where all eight players rummaged around in each others’ kit bags, and took to a single court wearing all sorts of bizarre combinations ranging from swimming goggles to other players’ boxer shorts and shirts. Leconte even had a knee brace on his head. Everyone was having a good laugh before the invading players returned to their own court.