I can’t think of a better way of bowing out of Melbourne life, than waving goodbye to Roger Federer at Rod Laver arena at the Australian Open Men’s final. Mr. Wren is now on a flight to Bangkok and I will join him in a couple of weeks.
It was an amazing evening of tennis. My initial disappointment not to be cheering on Andy Murray having seen him lose in two previous finals was soon forgotten. Melbourne knew it had a dream final with Federer and Nadal, and the players did not disappoint.
I was going to say the eyes of the world were on Melbourne, however, I know from the text messages that our friends and family in the UK had to make do with listening to the match live on the radio! Which was absolutely useless when we were saying look out for us in the crowd, our seats are brilliant!
Melbournians, of course, in the self-proclaimed sporting capital of the world assume the whole world is watching and cram into the aptly named Fed Square to watch the match live on the big screen. Federation Square is our city’s central meeting hub. The place where the city enjoys many a night of big events and they don’t get much bigger than a Federer/Nadal final!
At Melbourne Park, home of the Australian Open a larger than usual crowd was drawn to watching Roger win his 18th Grand Slam, for those not able to watch inside Rod Laver they were able to view on the big screens across the site and inside Margaret Court arena. After his momentous win, Roger takes the trophy to the waiting crowds at Margaret Court. He is such a gent! Likeable in every way.
Like Roger, we’re not sure what our next year will bring but we hope to be back!
