Everyone was still abuzz about the Agassi-Sampras match the night before. Pete had played a less than enthusiastic first set, much to the disgust of a couple of people watching. The excitement brought on by this match was heightened by a slip-up by Qantas Airlines, in which 500 people had booked tickets for the night match, but someone had made a mistake, and only gotten the day ticket for the package customers. Imagine their outrage when they flew all the way from wherever each of them came from, and didn't have tickets for a match worthy of being a Grand Slam final. After a big uproar, Qantas offered them a $1000 compensation each, but still upset, the customers threatened to go in for the day session and remain in their seats until the night session. When told that security would drag them out, one irate "victim" remarked, "Well, that's their problem." Well said.

Finally, Qantas was encouraged to give up their corporate seats, and with the cooperation of some other people (they gave away some other corporate seats, media seats, etc.), about 220 people were given tickets while the others would have to make do with $1000 and a free show on the large screen at the Old Scotch Oval.

The match had been all that everyone hoped for, with Sampras playing a better game and looking almost invincible against Agassi. Everyone sympathized with Agassi's seemingly thankless task, working hard for his points only to have them neutralized by an unplayable ace. With tension and drama saturating the atmosphere around everyone watching the match, the fifth set must surely have been an anticlimax. I was thankful that Stef-- I mean, Andre, took the match after working so hard and overcoming the emotional and mental draining that surely must have plagued him throughout the match, but disappointed that the fifth set had to end with Sampras' poor performance. While it was obvious that there was an injury involved, I question whether he had the heart to carry fighting so hard after Andre pulled through in the fourth set tie-breaker. And apparently, so did Agassi after the match. Well, lousy fifth set or not, I suppose Andre winning is a good thing, especially now that I have enough money lining my pocket to get home.

With a legends doubles match scheduled for the Rod Laver Arena, I decided that this was the opportune moment for me to see how the next generation of tennis superstars are coming along. The boys were having a short break, and the first few matches would see the girls in quarterfinal action. The top seed, Aniko Kapros of Hungary, would play Australian hopeful Jaslyn Hewitt, sister of Lleyton Hewitt. Jaslyn had already taken out the 7th and 10th seeds, not that seeding matters too much in the junior competition, and the crowds were there to see how she was doing.

The minute I got to the court, I regretted my decision. The match was amazingly painful to watch, even by junior standards. Both players were basically just pushing the ball back, waiting for the other to make the mistake. And not many shots went by before one of them did. Disappointed doesn't begin to describe how I feel, if a match featuring a top seed could showcase such poor tennis. I managed to stay awake for 4 games, or 2 changeovers, and then headed out of there. Maybe the legends doubles would be on my list after all.

I soon changed my mind, though, and decided to give the rest of the field a chance. I headed to Show Court 2, right next to Show Court 1, to see the second seed in action. Maria Jose Martinez of Spain would face her first seeded opponent of the tournament, Yulia Beygelzimer of the Ukraine (the 6th seed). Now this match was worth sitting at. Both players displayed better hitting, and were even showing some variety in their game, not just going for flat winners all the time. Maria Jose had started the match serving, and Yulia was doing well to keep close behind.

Having totally lost touch with the junior scene after last year, I have a lot of catching up to do. I hope I'll be able to get a clear idea of the situation in junior tennis soon enough. It's good to see the juniors employing a little more variety and intelligence in their games nowadays, instead of just trying to get the ball back consistently. Of course, the boys will feature a lot more exciting tennis than the girls.

The second seed was a little too strong for the Ukrainian, though, and after having a close first set which she took 7-5, she had a better second set, and took the match 7-5 6-3. Yulia walked off the court, looking a little disappointed at first, but she soon had an amused smile on her face when the crowd gave her a round of applause. The second seed was still busy signing towels and programs for some people hoping that she'll be a top player in a couple of years. Time to take a quick break while watching the start of the match between Enev and Roddick before catching the women's doubles final -- Lisa Raymond/Rennae Stubbs vs. Martina Hingis/Mary Pierce -- which promised to be a good one.

While it has been Lisa who had been having the slow starts, this time Rennae had nothing to complain about. Well, she wasn't in a position to complain, anyway. She could hardly keep the ball in court in the first couple of games. Whatever chance Lisa gave them to get the immediate break on Martina's serve was immediately demolished by puzzling unforced errors from Stubbsy.

Mary was also playing well, getting in a good topspin lob over Rennae's head in the second game. For once, Lisa and Mary were leading the way in their respective teams. After the first couple of games, though, Martina and Rennae soon got in the swing of things, and the doubles final promised to be a non-stop ride of spills and thrills. I had no idea how literal that statement would be until the end of the match.

Martina continued to make an unusual number of unforced errors, perhaps trying a bit too hard to cover Mary, and lost her second service game to go down 2-3. A low first serve percentage from Lisa gave Mary and Martina an advantage, though, and they soon got the beak back.

The level of play slowed down gradually as the first set went along. Martina had gone back to playing 60-40 doubles instead of 80-20 as she had before, but the unforced errors were still on her tail. With two good net players on the other side of the net, and Mary a little awkward at net despite her good effort, Martina's serve was in trouble, and she was broken again. This time, though, Rennae, playing on the ad side, had little trouble consolidating the break.

Martina got a little more frustrated than she usually gets, in contrast to Rennae who had toned down her on-court outbursts considerably. Good thing for Martina that her team would serve to open the second set, though, and logically, Mary started serving for her team. Lisa and Rennae would have to continue playing catch-up.

Mary must have realized that she was the single one of four players with whom Martina might fail to take the Aussie Open doubles title with, though, and started doing a better job of moving around the net, covering a lot more court and putting the pressure on her opponents. This seemed to work, as Martina managed to hold serve for just the second time in the match.

She lost the chance for her team to get the crucial break, though, when she missed an easy overhead that landed in her own court before hitting the net. Determined not to let her partner down, though, she did what she does best, and absolutely creamed a service return winner down the line. A slight miscommunication between Lisa and Rennae at the net finally gave them the break. Strong serving gave Mary her service game without too much trouble, consolidating the break and taking her team to a 4-1 lead.

Lisa managed to hold serve with a little difficulty at first, and now would be crunch time. With Martina up to serve, this would be their last big chance to break back in the second set. To add to Martina's woes, she managed to get a double-fault in. Good volleying from Mary saved the game, luckily for her.

Lisa also double-faulted in her service game, but got a rare second serve ace against Martina. She managed to hold serve, but looked like they were going to lose the second set anyway. Mary had so far had strong service games naturally, since she has the best serve among the four, and had a good volleyer up at net. Playing hard to save themselves from losing their 1 set lead, though, not only did Lisa and Rennae break back on Mary's serve, but good serving gave Rennae her service game at love. From a seemingly hopeless situation at 2-5 down, Lisa and Rennae had evened the second set at 5-all.

For once, Martina had an easy time on her serve. She went up 40-15 when a good return from Lisa threatened to bring it to deuce. As the Aussie's say, though, "No worries!"; Rennae totally whiffed a service return to give her opponents the lead. Lisa lost serve in a hurry, with good returning from both Mary and Martina, and Martina found her fourth doubles title within reach again.

Games went on serve, with Mary opening the set serving again, and at 2-all, Rennae started to come apart a little. She was totally out of sorts as she played horrible doubles, getting some terrible service returns that nearly got the both of them killed. She was definitely going to be in trouble on her service game if she continued to play that way.

Finally getting around to her routine kick to the cooler on the way back to the chair, Rennae sat, and she thought. She thought long and hard about what she was doing on court, and snapped out of the daze she was in. She came on court a new player, and played absolutely spectacular tennis to run away with her service game. She carried the momentum with her, going up 40-15 on Martina's serve. Lisa blocked a service return high into the air, which gave Martina an easy overhead on the next point, but it was too little too late, and Lisa and Rennae got the crucial break.

Lisa went up 40-15 on her serve, looking to consolidate the break, but a good return from Mary took the first chance away. They also lost the next point, bringing it to deuce. A service return that landed out wide gave Lisa game opportunity, but what happened on the next point was absolutely tragic. Rennae, with her quick hands and remarkable reflexes, had just managed to survive a full-on blast from Mary, which she blocked back. Martina and Mary soon got a little confused and were all over the court, when Martina blocked a return high into the air. The point was Stubbsy's for the taking, but she totally blew it, hitting the overhead about 4 feet long. Totally p**sed about her miss, she quickly poached on the return on the next point, killing the ball. A good serve out wide by Lisa set up an easy volley for Rennae, and all of a sudden, they were up 5-2 in the final set.

Luckily for Martina and Mary, though, that Mary was up to serve. Mary managed to get some good serves in, despite having all the pressure on her, but smacked her fifth swinging volley into the net. Her game soon went to 30-all, but an over-ambitious cross-court service return from Lisa landed just wide. The next point saw incredible reflexes and hand-eye co-ordination from Martina. She was up at net when a shot from Rennae hit the tape and bounced up. Martina actually managed to adjust her racquet in time to get the ball back, but good poaching from Lisa gave her team the point.

Lisa and Rennae continued to put as much pressure on their opponents as possible, and both readily came to net. Sending back every red-hot shot Mary sent their way, they finally got the forehand into the net from Mary. Championship point #1. Mary's first serve landed in the net. Talk about pressure. She got a decent second serve in, but Rennae chipped and charged her way to net. Mary hit the ball, hoping to pass, but her shot clipped the net. The crowd gasped as the ball was deflected past the top seeds waiting at net, and landed in. Mary had single-handedly saved championship point #1.

She wasn't so lucky on the next point, though, and in an almost exact same situation, with Lisa, Rennae and Martina up at net, Mary tried to get the passing shots, but her third forehand landed in the net. Championship point #2. And it couldn't have been harder for Mary. She started out on the baseline, but every shot she hit drew her forward, when finally she was standing just behind the service line. The ball was floating towards her, and there was no way that it was going to land before it reached her. Taking her racquet back, she took a big swing at it, and she got the winner, sending Rennae sprawling across the floor. The crowd had grown to love the combustible Aussie by now, and she got a long round of applause.

Having not even touched the ball at all in this game, Martina poached on the return, and got the point. For the first time, Mary got the advantage in her service game. Rennae fought for it, though, and got a volley winner. Two good serves in a row forced the errors from Lisa and Rennae, and Mary quite nearly single-handedly saved the match for Martina.

Now came Rennae's turn to serve for the trophy. Keeping to their aggressive play, Rennae continued to join her partner up at net, and for once, they both kept a relentless attack on Mary. A forehand from Mary landed wide, giving Rennae 15-0. A beautiful inside-out forehand return winner from Martina evened it at 15-all. Following suit, Mary blasted a service return winner down the line, bringing it to 15-30. Going back to what worked, Martina tried to repeat the inside-out forehand trick, but the ball landed a foot wide, evening it up at 30-all. Rennae and Lisa got the next point on a forehand that landed just wide, and for the third time, held championship point. In a fit of insanity, Martina threw it all away, swatting carelessly at the return, and the ball didn't even come close to landing in the court.

Rennae's reactions simply cannot be described. Amid thunderous applause, what must be the Australian's dreams came through. She had won a Grand Slam doubles title against one of the best doubles teams in the world, on home ground, with her best friend. Martina just looked sulky as she sat with Mary at her chair, and the Canadian-born Frenchwoman tried to cheer her up. While I was overjoyed for Lisa and Rennae, I couldn't help but feel sorry for Mary. It certainly wasn't her fault that they had lost the match, and Martina, later in her press conference, said that she wasn't feeling too good on court, but I'm sure Mary couldn't help but feel bad about it.

The trophy ceremony went on, and Martina opted to skip the speech, saying that she'd make her speech the following day, leaving Mary to thank everyone. Mary was very sweet in her speech, congratulating Rennae and Lisa, and also wished everyone a good time watching the final the following day. Then came the champions, Rennae and Lisa. After receiving the trophy and posing for a few photographs, Lisa and Rennae had a small discussion, as if deciding what tactic to use on the next point. Lisa nodded, and walked to the microphone to start her speech, while Rennae hugged the trophy tightly, much to the amusement of the crowd. Lisa had a good thank-you speech, mentioning that Martina and Mary had played a great match, thanking her coach, her partner, etc. When she was done, she headed back to where Rennae was standing, so that Rennae could have a turn at the mike. In a lighthearted moment, Rennae quickly swung the trophy away from Lisa, as if she didn't want to give it up. Probably totally stressed out after such a tense match, Lisa couldn't manage a smile, and gingerly placed it back on the trophy table while Rennae went to make her speech.

Rennae managed to start out fine, and credited her opponents for thrilling the crowd with a fantastic match. She soon started to let the emotion wash over her, though, as she mentioned that her parents had traveled all last night to be at the arena today, and did all she could to hold back her tears of joy. The crowd totally understood where she was coming from, and she got a standing ovation when she was done thanking everyone, including Lisa's coach, and most importantly, her doubles partner and best friend, Lisa Raymond. The two posed with the trophy while Martina trudged off, Mary in hot pursuit. Martina would later put on a better show during her press conference, with most of the questions being directed at her, while Mary basically just sat there looking a little bored. If I'm not mistaken, only one question was directed at her for the whole conference.

I headed off the catch a little lunch, and managed to catch a bit of Magnus Norman against Yevgeny Kafelnikov, as well as two very entertaining mixed doubles matches, the first with Natasha Zvereva and Mark Woodforde against Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario and Todd Woodbridge, where Arantxa and Woody II managed to take the win after losing the first set to Tash and Woody I. So Natasha is out of the tournament, a final 6-4 5-7 1-6 scoreline in the quarterfinals of the mixed doubles event. The second match was extremely entertaining, especially with the Swedish fans coming out in full force. They had a new addition to their arsenal of chants and jingles, and were singing "Guantanamera," substituting it with Anna Kournikova. Rennae Stubbs was having too good a day, though, and was actually doing a much better job on court than her partner, Jared Palmer. Anna and Jonas Bjorkman had the lead in the first set, but were broken back, and finally lost 7-5 3-6 6-3.

Tomorrow will hopefully see a great match in the women's final. Fingers crossed that Lindsay's retirement from the doubles was purely precautionary and Martina's "funk" in the doubles final is only temporary.