The Sleepy Slam: My Life During the 2012 Australian Open
Known as the “Happy Slam,” the Australian Open is a yearly viewing challenge for tennis fans in the northern hemisphere. Noon on Monday in Melbourne is 8 p.m. on Sunday in the eastern U.S., while 7 p.m. night session matches start at 3 a.m. here. Those of us who persevere are rewarded not just with great live tennis, but also the illicit joy of bright summer days in the wee hours of dark, cold January nights. The following is a timeline of my tennis viewing during the 2012 Australian Open which ran from January 16–29. As a Roger Federer fanatic, I watch every single minute of every Federer match, and as a tennis fan in general, I simple try to watch as much tennis as humanly possible. Every major tennis tournament has seven elimination rounds. At the start of the first round, the women’s and men’s singles draws have 128 players each. As a result, the early days of a tournament are jampacked with dozens of simutaneous matches. Jessica Schafer
My location: Pittsburgh, PA, USA Local sunset: 5:25 p.m. Average daytime temperature: 33째F
Each blue circle represents one match. The size of the circle is relative to the amount of time I spent watching this match. The width of the gold ring indicates my level of excitment for this match.
Day
Night
Sleeping
Tournament location: Melbourne, VIC, Australia Local sunset: 8:40 p.m. Average daytime temperature: 82째F
Midnight Monday January 16
Midnight Tuesday January 17
Noon
First Round 128 singles matches In just the second match on Rod Laver Arena, Bernard Tomic, the young Australian phenom, came back from two sets down to beat Spain’s Fernando Verdasco in a 4 hour 10 minute five set match. Final score: 4-6, 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-2, 7-5. In the first night match of the tournament, Federer had an easy win over a Russian qualifier. Final score: 7-5, 6-2, 6-2.
Milos Raconic, a rising star from Canada, had an easy win to start the tournament. Final score: 6-4, 6-0, 6-2.
Midnight Wednesday January 18
Midnight Thursday January 19
Disco nap – woke to news that Federer recieved a walkover into the third round.
Second Round
64 singles matches
Tall, loping, fast-serving American John Isner took more than 4 and a half hours to beat former great David Nalbandian. A wonky line call in the fading evening light went Isner’s way and helped him earn the critical break in the fifth set. Final score: 4-6, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(5), 10-8.
Two former no.1s, America’s Andy Roddick and Australia’s Lleyton Hewitt battled it out in front of a rowdy night crowd. Unfortunately, Roddick injured himself in the third set and retired at two sets down. Final score: 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Midnight Friday January 20
Midnight Saturday January 21
Watched the Bryan brothers beat Hewitt and another Aussie in a lively doubles match on delay.
Third Round 32 singles matches After a round off, Federer handled Ivo Karlovic, the tricky big-serving Croation, with relative ease after being pushed to a first set tie break. Final score: 7-6(6), 7-5, 6-3.
Frenchman Gael Monfis went down in a blaze of crazy shots to a Kazakh player ranked 92nd. Final score: 6-2, 7-5, 5-7, 1-6, 6-4. Hewitt overcame losing the first set and beat Raonic in a lively late night match. Final score: 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(5), 6-3.
Midnight Sunday January 22
Midnight Monday January 23
Fourth Round 16 singles matches Federer dashed the hopes of the Australian crowd by wiping the floor with Tomic in three crisp sets. Final score: 6-4, 6-2, 6-2.
Kei Nishikori beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in a surprising five-setter. As a result, Nishikori is the first Japanese man to reach the Quaterfinals of the Australian Open. Final score: 2-6, 6-2, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3. Women’s match-ups get interesting: A young Russian woman ranked 56th defeated Serena Williams (6-2, 6-3) just a day after Kim Clijsters beat Na Li (4-6, 7-6(6), 6-4).
Midnight Tuesday January 24
Midnight Wednesday January 25
Quarterfinals 8 singles matches
In a rematch of the 2009 U.S. Open final, Federer beat his toughest opponent yet, Juan Martin Del Potro. Final score: 6-4, 6-3, 6-2.
Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic played solid tennis to beat Nishikori and David Ferrer respectively. As expected, the top four men’s players were the last men standing.
Midnight Thursday January 26
Midnight Friday January 27
After three sets the fact that I had gotten less than seven hours of sleep in the past two days caught up with me. I watched the final two sets after some much-needed rest!
Semifinals 4 singles matches The tournament highlight and heartbreak: Federer v. Nadal. Though Federer won the first set in a tiebreak, he lost the match after losing the third set tiebreak . The match lasted 3 hours 42 minutes, ending just before 7:30 a.m. EST. Final score: 6-7(5), 6-2, 7-6(5), 6-4.
Murray and Djokovic played a very close, tough-fought semifinal that was much better than their meeting in the previous year’s final. Final score: 6-3, 3-6, 6-7(4), 6-1, 7-5.
Midnight Saturday January 28
Midnight Sunday January 29
I watched the finals on delay. Without Federer, the need to watch these last few matches live was not as urgent as my desire to get my sleep patterns back in sync with my own time zone.
Finals 2 singles matches The women’s final was a bust. Sadly unsurprising. Afterwards, the Bryan brothers lost the doubles final in a surprisingly sad two sets.
The Djokovic v. Nadal final did not disappoint. In a hard-fought match the Serbian outlasted Nadal in the longest men’s final ever (just under six hours of continuous play). A fitting end to the tournament even without Federer. Final score: 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7(5), 7-5.
6 5:27 a.m. 4 ½ 3 2 1
matches watched for more than three hours.
average bedtime during tournament.
Federer wins.
days worth of time spent watching tennis (82.5 hours). days left in the tournament when I started watching matches on delay.
happy, if tired, tennis fan.