Our favorite moments from AO2015

As a parting gift to our legions of readers, we've been keeping a running list of our favorite moments from the 2015 Australian Open. Here they are, in no particular order. 

Please do enjoy...

DAVE'S FAVORITE MOMENTS:

I'll start with snark. My favorite moment of the Australian Open? The last time I had to see the Forever Melbourne ad. You know, the one that goes, "Like (inaudible) leads into another world, like an oyster holds a secret, holds a pearl..." How many hundreds of times did this same spot air in a two-week span? Seriously?! If ever there was a reason to produce a SERIES of ads, rather than a standalone spot, this was it. Take note, advertisers.

On to tennis. Unfortunately, Google has failed me. I've searched several dozen variations of the following phrase, to no avail:

"serena williams getting knocked over by madison keys forehand" 

Not the moment, but same expression.

If you missed the moment, toward the end of the Keys-Serena semifinal, Madison hit a forehand directly at Serena, which knocked the champion backward and nearly to the ground. My joy in this moment was more about Madison generating such incredible power, not Serena getting embarrassed. It's just fun to see another woman hit as hard -- or even harder -- than Serena. Amazing stuff to watch.

Absolutely loved Sharapova's gracious concession speech, following her loss in the women's final. Read my post, and watch the video here.

Hingis is a Grand Slam champion once again, winning the mixed doubles title with Leander Paes. Didn't get to see any of the action, which is annoying. But, I'm happy for both of them.

This is silly, I suppose, but I loved Wawrinka's photo shoot with the puppies -- puppies! -- of Guide Dogs Victoria. (This was right before his semifinal loss to Djokovic.) Stan seems like such an affable guy. I just wish I found his brand of tennis as charming. Maybe his game will grow on me?

Honestly, I have very little to say about the men's draw, and certainly few, if any moments, that stand out as spectacular. I honestly found most of the matches to be incredibly dull and uninspiring. And, of course, my heart sank when Nadal and Federer both lost early. I'm not sure what the men's game needs. But, at least for me, I'm currently bored by the ATP.  

Drying the court with towels? What?!

My absolute favorite moment of the Australian Open? There's just no doubt about this one. How about the army of ball kids drying the court with towels? Right?! If you missed this moment during the women's final, you missed a classic. The whole absurdity and antiquity of this situation still makes me laugh. Invest in some drying equipment, already!

Let's see what Bess found to be memorable...



BESS'S FAVORITE MOMENTS: 

That pre-tournament interview with Hewitt/Federer, after a Fast4 exhibition match. The whole thing is pretty entertaining, but it's 14+ minutes long. For the highlight, FF to the 9:52 mark and hear Roger pause as he's asked to think of a loss that really hurt him. Love how Lleyton interjects, "You couldn't come up with one! That is a real problem! That's what happens if you have 1,000 wins!" Great fun.

Tim Smyczek's sportsmanship, and Rafa's reaction. I blogged about it here, but this brief video shows what went down...

The crowd and Rafa laughing during his match against Kevin Anderson as the ball kid is instructed to pick up Rafa's toppled water bottle. Everyone knows how finicky Rafa is about the placement of the water bottles. I love how careful the ballkid is... and the crowd's reaction... and Rafa's genuine smile and laugh--rare to see on court!: 

 
The clip of Chris Evert looking askance at something one of her co-commentators said. This is me half the time when I read Dave's blog posts.  ;-) Kidding, D!

Hat tip to Courtney Nguyen who linked to this hilarious Vine video featuring Maria Sharapova. Painful!

One of my favorite writers, Anne Lamott, frequently tweets about grand slam tennis. While her Aussie Open tweets were too few and far between this year, they still make me laugh. And I just like knowing she and I share this common interest:

I get that there are different dynamics in the Serena/Keys relationship compared to the Maria/Bouchard relationship (especially because Serena and Keys are both Americans and therefore likely more familiar with one another) but... this image contrasting the warm Serena/Keys hug at net and the icy Sharapova/Bouchard barely-a-handshake at net was striking. After all, Keys and Bouchard are up-and-comers who were both playing (and losing to) their former idols. Sheesh. Lighten up, Genie!

(As I was Googling for the Sharapova/Bouchard image below, I came across this short piece on the topic.)

After being caught on camera cursing during the Murray/Berdych match (and subsequently Gif'd and Vine'd to death--see Dave's post on the matter), Murray's fiancee Kim Sears showed up to the men's final wearing this shirt. Sears for the win!

We could go on, but... it's time to wrap this up. Admittedly, we see a fraction of the coverage, so likely have missed some key highlights!

TENNIS FANS: Are some of our favorite moments also yours? What did we miss that stands out for you?

Ready for the men's final!

POSTED BY DAVE: Let's be honest. It was definitely sad to see Nadal and Federer exit so early. On the other hand, though, the premature departure of those two great champions kept the men's draw at least semi-fresh. So, let's keep looking forward, not back. (Are you with me, Bess?)


Photo: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

Good for Murray, I say. He took out Berdych to make it to his fourth Australian Open final -- and his first Slam final since winning Wimbledon two years ago. Murray is looking fit and confident, much like that historic run back in 2013. 

I don't think he'll win the final, but please don't tell his girlfriend, Kim Sears, that. (If you missed the news, Kim trended on Twitter after being caught using multiple expletives to describe Berdych. Me-ow. To be fair, Murray cussed his fair share, too.)

The likely men's champ. I hope. (Photo: abc.net.au)

Murray meets Djokovic in the final. A formidable challenge, to say the least. Yes, Djok needed a full five sets to take out Wawrinka, but he won going away, taking the final set without losing a game.

My prediction for the men's final? Disregard what Bess says below. Djok will win. 

BESS REPLIES: I'm trying to look forward, Dave, but I'm still a bit bummed about Fed and Rafa. Since I haven't discussed Rafa's loss on the blog, allow me just a moment...

For all the superstitious fans of Rafa who say he should never wear pink again (after losing early at the French(?) while also wearing pink)... I say, I'm not sure it was the pink. I think it was the fact that Nadal's metallic-pink-striped shorts were described... by Nadal... as his "party pants." What? Just, what? 

Party pants, defined

I don't think you win tennis matches wearing party pants. I think you win fans at the bar wearing party pants, but tennis matches? At any rate, I'm bummed about that loss in particular, especially because I really don't like Berdych.

Speaking of which, it sounds like that Berdych/Murray match was a doozie of a drama-fest. In the words of SNL's Stefon:

Despite that last, very funny Tweet, this was my favorite Tweet related to that match:

Twitter perfection

I'm not sure I understand Berdych, and I'm not sure I care to. So I was thrilled that Murray won. He is looking really unstoppable this tournament. I feel like he has the edge on whomever he plays in the final. Especially since, as I type this, Djokovic is leading Wawrinka, but hasn't looked up to his usual quality. 

TENNIS FANS: Who's your pick to win it all on the men's side? And what should Dave and Bess wager on the final? Weigh in now...

It all comes back to Playstation

Posted by BESS: I know it's the women's day, but I have to start off with a quick aside about the Nadal/Murray "war of words" over their Playstation rivalry.

Evidently the two are friends and play Playstation together quite a bit when staying in the same hotels. (Side note to this aside: Andy Murray's girlfriend Kim Sears reportedly broke up with him once because he plays too much Playstation. So you know these cats take it seriously. Also, yikes.)

In their post-match interviews yesterday, and in preparation for their semi-final match tomorrow, both were asked about the Playstation rivalry, and both responded with funny, friendly trash-talking. I can't find a link to the video (which is fun to see) but here's an article that summarizes some of their comments.

Fun to see these glimpses into such completely ordinary aspects of their lives.

Now, back to the women!