Never been so happy to be wrong!

The other day when I said I'd never be so close, I was wrong! Last night and tonight, for the Nadal and Djokovic matches, I've been on the second row!!! Oh if it only could have been Fed! Then again, in that case I probably wouldn't have been able to concentrate on the match :) Turns out, here at the Aussie Open, tickets are the same price for any given session, regardless of where you sit. It's first come, first served! Will never happen in NY! So all of you who may have laughed at me for getting up and logging on the moment tickets went on sale -- laugh no more! See a few photos below taken from my seats - and look for me on TV. :)

So if you haven't seen them, I highly recommend you watch the Nadal and Djokovic quarter-final matches. I won't give anything away, but let me just say that match time in Nadal-Berdych was 2:47 at 2-2 in the 3rd! I'm watching Djokovic-Ferrer right now and it's looking like it's going to be similar. Don't get me wrong, Federer's match was a thing of beauty, but let's just say a little more straightforward.

There are going to be some really good semi's over the next two days - both men's and women's. I'm bummed tonight is my last ticket to watch live. Looking forward to seeing some of the area - but the tennis is going to be so good!

A few other items of interest for you tennis fans. As I said, the locals are just the nicest people. And they love to talk to tourists. So here are a few tidbits I've picked up.

1) The Aussie "FAN-atics" crew you may have heard singing and chanting for Hewitt, Tomic, etc. apparently doesn't confine itself to cheering for Aussies. Sometimes they just pick a player, show up and go at it. Last night they picked Berdych - called themselves the Berdych Army. My personal favorite was "Ace, ace, Berdych" to the tune of "Ice, ice baby"

2) The locals say there is more to Berdych-Almagro story from the other day, when Berdych wouldn't shake Almagro's had at the end. Apparently Almagro has a history of being something of a jerk on tour. So much that some think Berdych was likely right that Almagro hit him on purpose. Interesting. Either way, I don't think Berdych did himself any favors by refusing the handshake. This sport has a certain etiquette - part of why I love it - so regardless of what happens, you've got to shake your opponent's hand.

3) And finally, I ended up sitting at dinner tonight with 2 nice ladies from Sydney. They also had great seats and were right behind the players box for the Federer - DelPo match yesterday. They reported that Mirka (Roger's wife) was very nice and gracious to everyone around them. Roger is always so gracious, why shouldn't she be, but it's still nice to hear.