Seats worth getting arrested for
Wednesday night we went to the tennis. THE tennis. The tennis where we saw Maria Sharipova and David Nalbandian, $12 strawberries and cream, and small children scurrying across courts.The Australian Open was very cool.
To answer your first questions, yes, Sharipova's screams (outbursts of ravishment?) are even funnier in person. The harder she hit the ball, the higher pitched and longer lasting the grunts got. Like she was on a roller coaster or in bed with someone great. Even a well-behaved tennis crowd couldn't help giggling while the points were being played. Of course between points/games, the crowd got rowdy (and only moreso as the evening/beer went on).
She played an American woman, Ashley Harkleroad, who gave her a bit of a match. The crowd loves an underdog (and a longer-lasting match) and the American had major support from the crowd. You'd hear, "Go Ashley!" and then "Go, Masha*!" and back and forth until the serve began. But, of course, Sharipova won. She was powerful and tough in her short aqua tennis dress (with matching visor). The Russian women have been mentioned as the best-dressed of the tournament. Terribly important, you know.
David Nalbandian played a Swiss guy with a Polish name and everyone started making up pronounciations of it. Aussies like to shorten everything, so you can imagine the variations. 'Stan Wawrinka' became Rinky, Wa-ro...but usually it ended at Stan. The crowd was louder now and started shouting whatever... There was a "Go Leyton!" and an "Aussie!Aussie!Aussie! Oi!Oi!Oi!" Even though there were no Aussies playing. Seriously. The umpire dejectedly pleaded with the crowd "Please! Please! Please!" I think he realized the chant would just have to finish...
The weirdest moment was when the women's game started. I have never experienced 15,000 people shutting up all at the same time. From a roar to a pin drop. I could hear the players moving their feet on the court. Perhaps we could bring the phenomena to concerts, where all the people around you start singing along like they're in the shower and all anyone can hear is the asshole next to her. Unless you are at a John Tesh show. Then, by all means, encourage the singing.
Both Sharipova and Nalbandian are the #4 seed in the world now. "Tall Poppy Syndrome" prevents the Aussies from letting anyone get too big for their britches. You can rest assured the underdogs were well cheered for in each and every match. The weirdest one was a guy at the end yelling, "Finish him!" It was never clear who he was talking to.
Kim and I were sitting on one side of the stadium and the other four were opposite us. We were behind the baseline and off to the side a little, up on the upper deck. As it was got later and people were leaving, Kim and I moved down. We had made it to the top of the corporate seats (with small sign identifying the company) when the other group found us. Christine, Sarah, and Ali stayed there (and left soon after, around 11-ish), but Kim and I made a break for it, down to the front, and Eric soon followed. ("You guys just booked it! I didn't notice until you were already sitting! I had to wait.") Our method was waiting until there was a break in the game and people were moving in all directions. I was inclined to do the move down front in two jumps, but Kim just kept going. We made it to the sixth row from the court. Later, I came back from the bathroom and the two were a few rows closer.
Before a lot of people were moving, Kim and I were careful to lean forward so no one could see that we didn't have the passes worn to show we were supposed to be in those seats. We were generally nicely dressed so we didn't stick out terribly. We acted like we belonged there (rattling our jewelry) and no one bothered us, though I noticed the ushers giving funny looks to some people around us, later. "Why yes, these are our seats! We are valued employees of Asian Accountants International!"
We ended the night in row four. If the space between the players and our seats were a house, we'd have been sharing tea in the sitting room. Tennis tea. Also known as beer. We could see the little ball handlers smiling to each other when they made a successful dash to one side or another, the plush set-ups of the very rich, and beads of sweat on the faces of the players. Row four, baby.
*Because she's such good friends with the 15,000 of us there that we can call her 'Masha'. 'Maria' is just what she gets called by people in the other stadium. And yes, 15,000. It looks huge on tv, but even all the way in the back in the stadium doesn't seem that far.
(The pics are posted. Click on My Photos.)
posted by Halley @ 8:09 PM
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