Australian Open ~ Yellow Shirted

So, when I booked the tix for the AO, we had no idea that the heat storm was to descend. Thank goodness elite athletes have such a level of fitness that playing tennis is not OOTQ... out of the question. But the subsequent discussions of the last few days about clarity around the heat rules is necessary. To play a game of tennis under such conditions would seem impossible for mere mortals.

On Tuesday Centre Court Rod Laver Arena (RLA) was an awesome schedule of play. The day commenced with Azarenka, was followed by Federer and finished with Hewitt. It's the luck of the draw.

With Azarenka playing, I snuck down to a court side for  three games before the  yellow shirted security dudes decided that anyone not in their proper seat was a security risk. Such an anti-Aussie approach if ever one existed. With many vacant seats, the approach or perhaps policy seemed unnecessary and surprising.  The holders of the tix for any of the vacant seats were not  standing by bewildered nor stamping their feet waiting to sit down and whilst I was happy to move back to the upper deck, I thought it was a disappointing attitude. So I just shot from the semi-Gods (Row KK) Here is FedXpress in full flight. Stick that in your miserly attitude to Joe Public sitting in the upper deck who isn't an accredited  photographer nor carrying a whopping lens.

Actually the first surprise of the day was the fact that there is a 200mm limit on the camera lenses one can bring into the AO. Not sure where that is stated in the T & Cs of ticket purchase, but the yellow shirted young man on security duty at the entrance informed me that I "just made it" inside the limit otherwise I couldn't take it in. (What was I to do turn around and go home, throw a 200mm+ lens in the bin..?) It just makes this cracker snap of Federer (above) all the more pleasing.

Colombiana Duque-Marino serves up to Aussie Ragowska in conditions that made standing inside  a hot oven seem a cooler proposition. Of course, the kids found obvious solutions... until the fun police in yellow shirts stopped it all. Really, go figure. 

Tuesday was hot, hot hot but no moment less so that catching the tram down Bridge Rd. It gave new meaning to the word sauna. The collective sweat fest on a non air-conditioned tram (#75 trams rarely have A/C whilst the Balwyn bound #48 consistentlyhas the new trams with A/C)  meant that the humidity in the tram just high, high, high. Is there a discriminating hierarchy of allocation of tram. You betcha. As someone who catched the No1 Tram to Coburg with some regularity, I can guarantee that the oldest of the modern stock is what runs on that route.