Australian Open tennis 2020

[23 YIPPEE!!!]

hi does anyone get into this the ao tennis. I am planing on going to ao either day 1 or 2 day time. Does anyone go to the ao or has been.

[Pies4shaw]

Used to have to go to this and sit in catered corporate seats for work. Hated it. At the end of the day, whichever way you look at it, they just play tennis at the AO. On the whole, I’d rather watch the test pattern than live tennis. Food was good, though.

[luvdids]

Been many times, working for a Kia dealership has to have perks

I tend to get excited to go, then once I'm there it's a bit ho-hum, usually leave soon after arriving. And there's way too many people there for my liking, queues for everything

[KenH]

Will be going on the 2nd day, we get seats in Margaret Court to use as our home base but wander around all the outside courts to see what we want to see. My wife loves it far more than me so I tag along to whatever she court she wants. It is usually a long day but we do enjoy it.

[23 YIPPEE!!!]

very expensive too

[23 YIPPEE!!!]

Who is everyone going for in the ao to win the mens and womens singles.

Mens either:

Nadal
Novak
Rodger for old times sake would be nice to see

Womens:

any eastern European
barty
and anyone but serina williams

[K]

Smoke is going to be an issue.

Right now AQI in Melbourne CBD is 208. There's already been one casualty in qualifying:

"A player has been forced to retire from the Australian Open qualifiers at Melbourne Park due to a coughing fit, as bushfire smoke continues to blanket Melbourne.

Serbian Dalila Jakupovic had a coughing fit on court and was seen struggling on her knees and receiving medical attention in the second set of her match with Stefanie Vogele.

Canadian Eugenie Bouchard also needed medical attention after complaining of a sore chest after the second set of her qualifying match against You Xiaodi.

Bouchard was attended to by doctors and then took a medical time out before eventually returning to begin the third set."

(The Age)

[Jezza]

Been going to the AO for years. Always enjoyed it.

Djokovic and Halep are my predicted winners of the tournament.

[23 YIPPEE!!!]

what are everyone elses tips for the ao 2020

[K]

Tennis Australia suddenly on the wrong side of history

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/tennis/tennis-australia-suddenly-on-the-wrong-side-of-history-20200115-p53rkd.html

[K]

Qualifying in smoke:

"There was no option to move play to the venue's eight indoor courts, excluding the main air-conditioned arenas such as Rod Laver Arena, as there are permanent open vents.
...

Tennis Australia said they had consulted with their medical team, led by Dr Carolyn Broderick, the Bureau of Meteorology and the EPA, as well as using on-court monitoring devices, before deciding to press ahead."



[Don't know what they think "monitoring devices" will do. We know without these devices that this is simply hazardous for the players.]

[K]

https://twitter.com/Liambroady/status/1217590486631882752

"... it boils my blood."

"Citizens of Melbourne were warned to keep their animals indoors the day I played qualifying, and yet we were expected to go outside for high intensity physical competition?"

"What do we have to do to create a players union?"

[K]

Alex de Minaur is out of the AO injured.

[K]

EDITORIAL

An open and shut case for Tennis Australia to clear the air

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/tennis/an-open-and-shut-case-for-tennis-australia-to-clear-the-air-20200115-p53rr2.html

"Tennis Australia made the wrong move in allowing qualifying rounds for the Australian Open to proceed in Melbourne this week.
...

Tennis Australia said its decision to proceed with play was made after consultation with the Women’s Tennis Association and the Association of Tennis Professionals ... It said both organisations were content for play to go ahead.

If so, all three organisations need to get real. They need to recognise the serious health implications that can develop even for elite athletes when oxygen levels are insufficient and toxic particles are inhaled.
...

It is extraordinary, though, that Tennis Australia’s risk-assessment teams and its board have not produced a policy to guide what should occur if air quality falls to very poor or hazardous levels.
...

The world has already been watching Australia’s response to the bushfires. It would be a national embarrassment if the world were now to witness a top-level tournament that required players, court-side staff and assistants to endure excruciating, but entirely avoidable, conditions."

[K]

"Tiley on Thursday night said organisers had determined that play would only stop if the PM2.5 concentrate air quality measurement exceeded 200 micrograms per cubic metre of air."