My new alarm clock: 15,000 cheering Aussies

Posted by Bess: I first must admit that I wimped out a bit when it came to watching tennis last night. Because ESPN2 coverage didn't begin until 10 p.m. my time (by which time Nadal was already through in straight sets) I was tired from the jump.

But I left it on all night and woke up occasionally to catch some of the action, including:

• A bit of Federer's tight three-set win over Carlovic





• Clijsters's fairly straightforward win over Hantuchova





• And a stretch of time during what seemed to be a highly competitive and entertaining glimpse at the future of tennis: Tomic v. Dolgopolov

But sleep mostly prevailed. However, I awoke this morning, just before my alarm was supposed to go off, to the roar of the 15,000 or so fans in Rod Laver Arena cheering for the home team... Tomic had defeated Dolgopolov in five sets.

Not a bad way to wake up, I must say.

And Tomic's post-match, on-court interview contained at least one entertaining moment. Interviewer Jim Courier said Tomic and Dolgopolov have similar styles of play and so, in some respects, it must be like looking in the mirror for Tomic.

Tomic sort of guffawed and walked off for a minute... seemingly to collect himself.

My take on his response is that the two players LOOK extremely different from one another and Tomic found the "looking in the mirror" analogy quite humorous.

Judge for yourselves:

Tomic:




Dolgopolov (hidden in this picture, the impressive ponytail):

(Head shots taken from the Australian Open 2012 site.)

See what I'm getting at?

But back to me. I'm thinking a crowd of 15,000 cheering sports-enthusiasts might be just the kind of alarm I could respond to. Think about that... instead of a BEEP BEEP BEEP or that annoying electronic chirping, you're awakened by a chorus of thrilled people cheering you on to greet the day.

I can dig it. Just as long as there's none of that pesky, "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie! Oi, oi, oi!" business to jar me out of the fantasy that they're really cheering for ME.