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Marcos Bagdhatis and girlfriend Camille
Marcos Bagdhatis and girlfiend Camille

The Australian Open was awesome! The Aussies are friendly and easy-going and the tournament atmosphere was very exciting and personal. Marcos Baghdatis was the star of the show and Mauresmo gets her first Grand Slam title. In the juniors, Kellen had a tough singles match losing in the second round to Nick Lindahl from Australia 6-4, 0-6, 7-5. It was unbelievable… Kellen had more winners and fewer unforced errors in the first set and still lost it 6-4. He just couldn’t convert one of four break chances. In the second set kellen really turned it up a notch and Lindahl seemed to get very impatient and looked very sluggish. After the set he called for a trainer and you could tell something was wrong with him. It took quite awhile for the trainer to show up and it may have affected what was to happen. Kellen went up 3-0 in the third set and started to cramp. At this point Kellen then called the trainer and once again the trainer came on the court and this time treated Kellen. With Kellen serving underhand and unable to move and Lindahl barely standing on the court, the third set was a battle to stay alive. And it was Lindahl that came haead 7-5 in the third. It was the most bizarre match I have ever witnessed with both players being wheeled off the court.

Kellen Damico and Nick Lindahl
Kellen Damico (wheelchair) and Nick Lindahl (flat on the court)

After seeing the medical doctor, drinking lots of fluid, resting and receiving treatment from the trainer every day Kellen went on to reach the doubles final with Nate Schnugg. It was quite an accomplishment considering the situation and the hot and humid conditions in Melbourne. Play was suspended for two day due to the heat rule and the last two days it rained quite a bit. Kellen and Nate had a tremendous semi-final match defeating Nishikori and Polansky 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (4). What really bugged me was the fact that bfore this match the tournament desk told me that the finals would be played the next day but when Kellen and Nate finished the match the tournament director changed his mind and made the boys play their final that evening at 9:00 PM. This was outrageous and completely unfair since the boys had a much tougher match then their opponents and there was no one watching the match that late. Why not have the doubles final the next day with a nice crowd of fans watching good tennis on Margaret Court Arena giving junior tennis some more exposure and creating more interest in the up and coming players? There were plenty of courts available and plenty of time to make this happen but for some reason they decided to discard the importance of both the boys and girls doubles final. Anyway, what’s done is done and congratulations to Kellen and Nate for reaching the doubles final of the Junior Australian Open 2006!

Kellen Damico and Nate Schnugg - Australian Open Doubles Finalists
Kellen Damico and Nate Schnugg - Australian Open Junior Doubles Finalists)

It was great to run into lots of old friends like Peter Hruncak, coach of top junior Dominka Chibulkova who lost in the quarterfinals to the eventual winner of the Girls Open, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova as well as David Egdes, my college teammate who is now the vice president of World Team Tennis. And it was quite a surprise when I met Wade McGuire who is now a USTA national coach. We competed in national tournaments together in the 12 & unders! And of course it was a treat while walking in the Garden Square to hear my name called out and to see Manuel, one of my former students from Germany.

Rich Benvin and Peter Hruncak - Tennis Coaches
Rich Benvin and Peter Hruncak

I was very impressed with Martina Hingis when I watched her practice on the Vodafone Arena court. She really hits the ball cleanly and effortlessly. It was also a blast when I got to hit on the Vodafone Arena court. I watched a lot of matches and saw the likes of Federer, Nalbandian, Bagdhatis, Grosjean, Mauresmo, Sharapova and many others.

It was nice meeting Colette Lewis of ZooTennis. Be sure to visit her site and read tons of great articles and view awesome pictures from the Australian Open and junior tennis. Here are some more pictures and be sure to visit my photo gallery for the rest of the pictures from Australia! Click here for official draws from the Australian Open website.

Australian Open Garden Square
Australian Open Garden Square

Sebastian Grosjean
Sebastian Grosjean

Kellen Damico
Practicing at the Australian Open

Wade McGuire and John Roddick
Wade McGuire and John Roddick

Tennis Fans
Tennis Fans - Joe and Dominic

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