An account of the Davis Cup semifinal against Switzerland by Leanne Ortiz
Davis Cup Dreaming…..
And so it begins….
I rise from the depths of a deep sleep to the sound of my alarm clock telling me it’s
4 AM, time to go… I pull on the trackie, make up the thermos and head down to the
Albury Civic Centre to line up with the other “fanatics” (some might say fools!), for tickets to a Davis Cup Semi-Final Tie… at home in none other than Rod Laver Arena.
Australia Vs Switzerland …. Many thought we’d do it easy, only one thing stood
in our way… “A one cow wonder-boy” by the name of “Roger Federer”….
We chatted as we waited for 4 hours for the box office to open, these people had done it all before and I must admit to wondering at the time “is this really worth it…?”
After a quick interview with the radio DJ I had secured an Avril Lavigne CD for
my little girl so all of a sudden things were looking up …. Perhaps it will be worth the
Effort!
Finally on that sub zero frosty morning it dawned 9am and the box was open…
4th in line I eagerly awaited my turn and was amazed when I secured 4 seats for
myself, Sue, Jenny and Kath in the lower section Row F….a quick count on the
frost bitten fingers equated that to be 6 rows from the front on the bend of the arena…. Pretty impressive! I headed into work with bleary eyes to the tune of
“she’s mad!” or something of that nature…. But I knew I had just achieved something
pretty special, just HOW special was yet to be revealed!
Friday September 19….
Friday September 19 finally dawned and here is where my Davis Cup Dream began to unfold before my eyes…..
We arrived just in time to find our seats amidst the sound of the Australian Anthem and an amazingly colourful crowd….
Our seats were the BEST. We were seated right next to the famous Aussie “Fanatics”, Some may say this was a “hindrance”….. not this little Black Duck….. I was exactly where I belonged, indeed give me one of those wigs and a bongo drum and I’d reckon I was in heaven!
We were welcomed to the Rod Laver Arena, introduced to our Davis Cup duelling teams and left for a few minutes to savour the atmosphere and do some “star spotting” with Sue’s wonderful little binoculars.
To the right of us sat the Fanatics …. The trumpeter, Warren Livingston (Wazza) their fearless leader, the man with the bongo drums, lots of wonderful green and gold paraphernalia, wigs, stubbies, t/shirts …. And a fair amount of the “Amber” hue as well in the form of countless cups of the ever present favourite Aussie fluid….
In the centre of the Fanatics in the front row were Lleyton Hewitt’s support network, his Mum & Dad who never miss a beat, his Sister Jaslyn, a few mates and of course that other little blonde who’s not too bad with the magic tennis wand herself… Miss Kim Clijsters, they all looked happy and ready to cheer their charge who was first up on Rod Laver Arena against an outgunned Michael Kratochvil of Switzerland…..
Nevertheless the Swiss were also in full voice and they had countless large cowbells ready to gee up their boy….
All of a sudden the Fanatics rose and launched into a version of “Waltzing Matilda”, we’d show those Rugby Union officials where they could stick their attitude…. “not part of our culture” indeed….. had these people been living under a rock?? We’ve been waltzing with Matilda since the dawn of time and that Jumbuck will be jumping up all it wants to at the Rugby World Cup this year as it did at Melbourne Park this night!
If Lleyton wasn’t pumped enough already, he was in his element now, smiling up at the fanatics as he walked on to Centre Court to the roar of a crowd who has come to
“expect” this little Aussie champion to win whenever he steps foot inside a tennis arena….
As was expected, and as is so often the case… our boy delivered! We never once looked in doubt of losing the first rubber as Lleyton bounced around the court with his trademark “C’Mons” and fist pumps and appeared to thoroughly enjoy his quick 3 set match, soaking up the atmosphere against a player, who whilst valiant in his efforts, was clearly no match for him tonight.
With the roof of Rod Laver Arena closed on a muggy rain threatening evening, it was laughable the amount of “Eskimo” gear we had dragged to the court …. I was in jeans and a T/Shirt and sweating! Another person who was sweating… somewhat heavily it appeared was young Lleyton and it was with surprise and trepidation that I heard distinct “flu like” tones from his voice as he spoke victorious on centre court to John Alexander….. hmmm a head cold would not be what he would be needing on Sunday up against the one cow wonder boy!
Next up was the “Wimbledon Rematch” between Mark Philippoussis and Roger Federer. “Flip” or the “Scud” as he is affectionately labelled looked like a Greek God on centre court, an incredibly built specimen with shiny black hair and puppy dog eyes, but within those eyes was a nervous heart, desperate to do well in his home town but seemingly over awed by both his worthy opponent and the Davis Cup crowd.
Although the Fanatics and pro-Aussie crowd did their best to lift him, the Poo just didn’t have the goods that evening up against a red hot Federer who appeared to wield his racquet like a wand which produced every shot in the book and thoroughly outclassed the “Aceless” and frustrated Philippoussis.
Nevertheless, although beaten in another 3 set match, Mark received a rousing cheer after his match and a “Bad Luck Mate” from Davis Cup Captain Fitzie as he left the court, he had lifted in the third set but it was all too late and the Swiss had tasted their first successful rubber against Australia.
And so happy and saited we headed back to our Apartments for a few quiet red wines and nibblies to discuss the evening, we all had enjoyed the wonderful Davis Cup atmosphere and the “star spotting” and were only mildly disappointed that the tennis had been one sided on both counts.
And so dawned Saturday September 20th….
A beautiful sunny spring day in Melbourne, the wind had calmed to a breeze and the Melbourne skyline looked spectacular from our Million dollar view…
We headed to Melbourne Park again to catch the short ceremony before the doubles match which honoured some great Davis Cup past players and inducted both Jason Stoltenberg and Richard Fromberg into the Davis Cup Hall of Fame, both who made exceptionally articulate speeches and both who touted Melbourne Park to be their all time favourite venue…. No argument here!
And so began an incredible Davis Cup Doubles rubber…. One of the best ever that we were privileged to witness unfold before our eyes, ears and heartbeats!
Legendary doubles competitor Todd Woodbridge took to the court with the ever reliable Wayne Arthurs against a formidable Swiss doubles combination of Roger Federer and captain/coach Mark Rosset, a huge man with a killer serve and a wealth of experience in Davis Cup doubles matches.
Australia began nervously and lost the first set to the classy Swiss combination whilst the Fanatics, to their credit, continued to cheer loudly to lift the Aussie duo to a victorious second set. Todd Woodbridge looked frustrated as the Swiss attacked his serve but it seemed that nothing would rattle the nerves of Wayne Arthurs this day as he rallied to steady the ship with some amazing volleys and an excellent serving display. Alas the Aussies lost the third set and two sets to one down it looked a long way home to victory….
As the crowd reached fever pitch in the fourth set the Australians dug deep and found something extra to defeat the talented Swiss in the fourth and leave the crowd gasping for breath as they entered an enthralling 5th set.
Wayne Arthurs was certainly the hero in this 5th set, he simply would not give in and kept “reaching” for the “unreachable” volleys and pulling off some amazing shots.
Todd Woodbridge, spurred on by his partners heroics and a crowd screaming for victory lifted his game to also display some brilliant tennis and delight the Fanatics and indeed the entire arena with a win that was gutsy, exciting and deserved.
Breathless from cheering and incredulous that we had witnessed such a fabulous match we headed for the apartment for some celebratory champagne and the ever present nibblies…. I believe the general consensus was …. “How good was that!”.
“A Oncer” we said, how lucky we had been to watch such a match live in an atmosphere that was akin to a red hot cauldron….. lucky indeed, but as fate would have it…. Lady Luck was to shine even brighter on day 3!
Sunday September 21st
And so rolled in Sunday September 21st, it was sadly that we packed up our gear and said goodbye to our lovely penthouse apartment (although a windy evening had almost blown us away and challenged Jen somewhat in the sleeping department!)….
We moved the car to an outside park and headed into the city for a spot of shopping (as you would!). Unsurprisingly, it was soon time to “eat” again, food of course being second string to nothing but Davis Cup tennis!
We polished off a city café lunch, collected our winnings from a “hot tip” that Sue had given us on a horse the day before, and headed back to the car to gather our tennis
Backpacks… we were experts at this by now!
As we reached our seats at Rod Laver the “man from Avenel” who was in the next seat to me and whom had been thoroughly entertained by my cheering efforts throughout the weekend asked “So what do you think is going to happen tonight?”….
“We’re going to win of course” I replied, hoping I had sounded more convincing than I actually felt,… “Hmmm”, said he… “I think Lleyton will lose in 4 and Mark will win in 5”… well I thought, we could be in for a long evening and a late drive home, not that I cared as long as it was a victorious one!
Kim Clijsters was looking very European tonight in a brown beret and had the day before obliged me with an autograph for my daughter for which I was very grateful.
Newk and Roachy did not fill me with confidence with their serious looks as Lleyton took the court….. what was going on… this was their famous “Orange Boy” who had helped them so bravely to victory only a few years ago…. Surely they were confident!
Federer emerged looking fresh as a daisy, seemingly unaffected from his previous two encounters and ready to raise those cow bells to fever pitch as only he can do.
As Lleyton began to hit up he walked to the corner of the court with his back to the Swiss nemesis and alas …. What was this? He let out a few conspicuous coughs, good lord I had been right on Friday when I said he had sounded like he was sporting a head cold…. Not what he needed to face such a clever opposition.
With the Fanatics in full voice for their favourite son the match began with Hewitt looking flushed, sweaty and decidedly uncomfortable, he was being outclassed by this
Magician and was looking extremely worried as he walked off the court defeated in the first set…. His Mum was looking extremely concerned, not for the match but for her son who was coughing much and clearly struggling.
The Fanatics launched into another rousing rendition of Waltzing Matilda trying everything to rally their charge but the second set looked a disaster as Roger Federer wielded his magic racquet at will and totally outclassed the Australian to the delight of the cow bell tolling Swiss army…..
We began, just quietly, to hope he would get this painful loss over in 3 sets so we could quickly get to the next match, hopefully resurrect Philippousis from the dead and be victorious so we could hit the road home….. Lleyton however never fails to back himself and although he looked Fitzy in the eye and said “I CAN’T”, indeed
deep inside he knew he COULD and with this Australian crowd behind him he began to slowly pull himself up from oblivion and reach deep to find that something he seems to reserve for Davis Cup rubbers….
Rocky was on the ropes but he wasn’t on the canvas yet, he still had a few punches to throw!
The third set was close but as Federer served for the match at 5-3 in the third, something happened, he faltered ever so slightly and Hewitt had a small sniff.
A slight hope that awakened the scrapper and brought him charging to the net, hitting
successful and clever overheads and breaking the Swiss serve in the dying moments of the third set, he went on to win it but was now faced with a seemingly impossible task of winning another 2 sets against this man of the moment.
The fourth set was more of the same and the break came fairly deep in the 4th but at the right moment for Lleyton who knew the whirlwind facing him at the other end was finally beginning to wilt (although only slightly), it was all he needed to find the energy that had eluded him in the first 3 sets – suddenly he was jogging to the court between the games ….. hope was alive and well in the hands of this little Aussie battler…. Set point in the 4th was amazing, a scrappy rally with Hewitt pulling off a freak shot that plopped over the net, saw him trip over his own feet and fall to the ground…. But when we saw that little fist pop up from his underbelly we knew we had the Davis Cup semi-final in our grasp….there would be no stopping him now.
The fifth set saw Lleyton tenaciously secure an unbeatable double break, the crowd was to its feet like an erupting volcano with every shot and Federer looked a beaten champion. Lleyton’s “C’Mon” was fuelling every winner and the Fanatics were roaring their charge on to victory…. and what a sweet victory it was, Hewitt took the 5th set 6-1, he was never going to lose it. After the match, looking every bit the hero he was, he leapt into Fitzy’s arms and raised his fist in victory… he’d just lived out his dream match and indeed provided those of us present that evening with memories that will live on forever….
Wake me up….I’m Davis Cup dreaming and it’s just the semi-final…. You wouldn’t be dead for quids would you! “C’MON Aussies” bring on the Spanish Armada cause we’re ready for em in November….. perhaps the Fanatics will be sporting “grass skirts” this time.