Melbourne, Australia, home of the Australian Open, is 16 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time. That means we spent the last two weeks staying up late and/or checking scores before sunrise. And today, when we woke up at 5:48 a.m. and checked ESPN Mobile, we were thrilled to see that Roger Federer had a two set-lead over Andy Murray. We put on the telly to watch Fed win the match and decided a rah-rah tennis article was in order. (Read: Shameless excuse to celebrate the Swiss star's win).
In our view, the Top 4 Moments of the Australian Open:
1. A pair of 28-year-olds grab the singles titles. Roger Federer's 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (11) victory over Andy Murray (whose runner-up speech was quite moving) was awesome for three reasons. First, we heart Federer (see our Bio above). Second, this is Grand Slam number Sweet Sixteen, further extending Fed's record. Third, the world No. 1 is 28 years old--an age often deemed "past prime" in the tennis world.
Kudos to Serena Williams as well. Although Justine Henin is our fave female player, 28-year-old Williams gets a nod for proving she still has the goods, too. The 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 win was her 12th Slam title and ties her with Billie Jean King for major singles titles.
2. Andy Roddick added to his list of quotable quotes. Roddick has a razor-sharp wit and is King of Tennis Sound Bytes. During his first-round match, Roddick tripped over a line judge's foot. He explained it in the post-game presser as such:
“I ran into one of those immovable objects called a referee. … Normally they see a player running full speed, they decide to at least move or catch the player. You know, I felt like he was trying out for WWE or something, just letting me go.”
3. Venus Williams auditions for What Not to Wear. Serena's big sis wore some flesh-colored undergarments that caused double-, triple-, and possibly even-quadruple takes by the legions of people wondering for a sec if she'd gone commando.
4. A ballboy had his 15 minutes of fame and peed on the court. Actually, it was more like a half hour, because that's how long the clean-up delay took.
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