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by Craig Thomas The couple of days before a tournament begins often provide a great opportunity to see not only young up and coming players as they battle their way through qualifying, but also to watch some of the big names on the practice courts. Often top ranked players will hit with each other, exchange jokes and clown around, showing a side of themselves which is rarely seen on the court in the tournament proper or in front of the world's media. This year's Australian Open was not an exception to this rule. Both the Saturday and Sunday before this year's Open were hot, with temperatures comfortably over 30 degrees centigrade (86 degrees Fahrenheit). This seemed, on the Saturday at least, to prove to be some irritation to Marat Safin during his practice session with Nicolas Kiefer. Several times he cried out, complaining about the heat, and also asking why it is always so hot in Australia! Finally a combination of the heat and his erratic form got the better of him and he vented his frustration on a racquet, smashing it into the ground about five times till he got the desired result -- he rendered it unusable! But his outburst had a positive side for a young fan who was the glad recipient of the wrecked racquet, which Marat was kind enough to sign for him at the end of the training session. Perhaps there was also something else behind Marat's annoyance -- he was complaining about losing $300 at the Casino the previous night! Later in the day, way out on Court 15, in the furthest corner of the Tennis Centre, the two Belgians Sabine Applemans and Kim Clijsters arrived for a practice session. There was much laughing and joking prior to them starting. Sabine trained for about 30 minutes, while Kim worked for another half hour with a couple of hitting partners. While they were both still on court Elena Dementieva and Daja Bedanova arrived on the court next door. When Elena realized there was no water available on the court, she wandered over to Court 15, gave Sabine and Kim each a friendly smile and a wave, and asked them if there was any on their court! Told no, she headed back to join Daja in a warm up exercise which involved them throwing an American gridiron football back and forth to each other the full length of the court! And Elena has a pretty good arm! Also training together on the Saturday were Todd Martin and Nicolas Lapentti. They played a set, with several of Nicolas' family members calling the lines from the photographer's pit! After a couple of close calls which went Nicolas' way, Todd looked closely at the impromptu linespeople, frowned, and said "Yeah, I guess they look trustworthy", causing everyone to break into laughter. On the Sunday, while there were even more of them out training together, players seemed far more serious. With a Grand Slam tournament starting the following day it's probably not surprising that the players begin to focus much more intently. However, there was still some fun and games taking place. Patty Schnyder was training with Chanda Rubin when they decided to start playing points. Patty played the points very seriously, running Chanda wide, making her rush forward to reach drop shots, and really making her work very hard in the heat. After about the fourth point like this Chanda cried out, "No, Patty, no, why are you so mean?", causing Patty and her coach to laugh, during which Chanda's coach replied, "No Patty, you keep making her work!". In the afternoon the hottest player on the tour at the moment, Justine Henin, the winner of the lead up events on the Gold Coast and in Canberra, did a publicity shoot in the grounds of the Tennis Centre. This seemed to mainly involve cuddling her boyfriend and sipping champagne. Such is the price of success! |