Birds, Black Socks and Bad Behavior

So who knew that Rod Laver Arena at the Aussie Open had a seagull problem? They literally swarm the court and at times it has been - sorry, don't know how to put this more delicately - a continual shower of bird poop on the crowd. Apparently they had such a problem next door at the Cricket Grounds, that they brought in a pair of eagles to prey on the seagulls. I say bring 'em over and let them have a go on Laver - before I'm their next target!

Perhaps they should target Thomas Berdych of Germany. He is definitely the bad boy of the tournament so far. He was playing Almagro of Spain in the 4th round the other day, when Almagro hit a ball right at Berdych during a rally. It hit him pretty hard and he went down but there was nothing inherently wrong with the shot. Almagro came to the net to be sure he was OK and apologize but Berdych just turned his back and stalked back to the baseline. Then after the match he refused to shake Almagro's hand. The crowd boo'ed him all the way though the interview. And Berdych even won the match - wow, a sore winner! He plays Rafa next.

As for the tennis, it continues to be great - quit reading here if you haven't seen yesterday's results, but Nishikori from Japan pulled off a stunning 5 set win over Tsonga - giving his country their first quarterfinal appearance in 80 years. It was a great match and afterwards I think he was so stunned he didn't know what to say. Djokovic continues to roll but Hewitt took a set off him - good job! You can imagine the home crowd went wild!

Sorry, not to be tacky, but the Djoker came out last night in all black. I have no problem with the black outfit - my own favorite Federer did it at the US a few years ago and they started calling him "Darth Federer." But what I can't stand are the black socks! Yuck! It just looks juvenile and silly - and i said the same when Fed did it. But Djokovic took it a step further with black socks and red shoes! On the plus side, at least Wozniacki isn't wearing a tutu this time! Probably one of the few fashion comments you'll see me make here, but there it is.

And finally, I just have to comment once again on how nice the Australian people are. The entire weekend I've been sitting next to two lovely ladies at the night sessions, recapping the action and bemoaning tacky crowd members who don't know how to behave during a match! Last night's matches went really late and the trams were no longer running. They actually took me home so I wouldn't have to worry about catching a cab - how kind! See the photo of my new friends Sue and Jenny below. And for those who are always asking - see also the photo of me with court in the background - to prove I was actually here! :)