[Atunah]

Its this time of year again where I am going sleepless. 17 hour time difference really messes up everything with this Grand Slam.
Coverage starts today at 5:30 pm eastern time on ESPN 2 in the US. And also on ESPN Go. I had to set the dolphin browser up on my Fire HD so I can watch the other courts.

So matches start at 6pm for morning matches and 2 am  for the evening matches. Yikes.

I remember one match, I think it was Hewitt or Bagdatis. I fell asleep in the middle of the night and they were still playing when I woke up.  . I think they played until 4 am local time.

I used to watch tennis in Germany with my mother all the time. I don't know what was worst, starting the morning matches at 6 pm in the US and having the evening matches then in the middle of the night, or as in Germany the morning matches started at 1 am and then we could watch the evening matches in the morning. I think that was better as many of the real interesting matches happen in the evening.

The older I get, the harder it is for me to stay up.

Am I the only Tennis freak here on Kindleboards? 

 

[NogDog]

I'm certainly not a tennis freak, but I'll probably tune in from time to time. I can enjoy watching tennis in modest amounts, but not hour after hour.

 

[Atunah]

I am the hour after hour, day after day type.  . But then its the only sport I watch and like, outside of the various stuff at the Olympics.

 

[Ann in Arlington]

I like watching tennis -- but the Australian open is at an ungodly hour!   We used to have a receptionist who was a real tennis freak. . .she was always kind of droopy during these two weeks because she'd stay or get up to watch the matches!

 

[JB Rowley]

I'm a tennis freak and, thank goodness, the Australian Open is on at a very convenient time for me. Oh Yeah! Wimbledon, on the other hand is on when I need to sleep.

However, today is the first day and I am trying to stay away from the television because once I 'get sucked in' the next two weeks will be lost and I will get nothing else done.

I am hoping Sam Stosur will do well and excited about Bernard Tomic and his chances. Hewitt won in Sydney and he might do well here in Melbourne too. Na LI from China is another player I would like to see do well. I love watching Djokovic, Baghdatis and Federer play.

 

[Linjeakel]

I'm definitely a tennis fan, but this Slam is the opposite side of the world to me so they're always playing when I'm in bed. 

If I didn't have to work and only had myself to please I'd probably watch a fair bit of it - as it is I'll see some bits at the weekend and luckily I can usually see the finals - or at least record and watch them before I hear the results!

 

[William Meikle]

As a Scotsman I'll be shouting Andy Murray on. I only get into a quandary if both him and Federer reach the semis, as I've always been a Federer fan too.

 

[Sean Sweeney]

I used to watch it religiously, but my schedule now doesn't allow it. I'm in bed by 9 p.m. ET, and I work in a TV-less office--which is my choice.

 

[Atunah]

I don't know if I am going to last 2 weeks on this little sleep.  . But its really the first week where everything is hectic because so many more matches to try to catch.
I suffered 2 more losses last night. Tommy Hass and Dolgopolov. Haas because he is the old guy still doing it. He is 34. If he hadn't had all those crazy injuries during his career, who knows what would have happened with his talent. His one handed backhand is a thing of beauty. Dolgopolov I like because he just is so unpredictable. But he is also not consistent. But he was stuck playing Monfils in the first round, that was a tough one. But so very entertaining.

Haas played Nieminen, another old guy.  . They slugged it out for 5 sets. Love those kind of matches and players.

Federer is my favorite and I am already worrying about when he retires as I am not a big fan of some of this new-ish type of play.

I always get exited when something unexpected happens. Like Date-Krumm getting past the first round. She is a 42 year old mom.  

 

[JB Rowley]

What happened to Sam Stosur last night!!! She should have won that match. Djokovic, on the hand, definitely lived up to expectations - and some.

 

[Atunah]

Goodness that was hard to watch with Stosur. Oh that was painful. Total and complete collapse. She always has so much pressure when she plays the AO and just doesn't do well here. Plus she did just have surgery on her ankle in November I think and hasn't really played much. But oh boy, she had it in the bag. She was 2 breaks up in that last set. Wow.
Gotta give it to the opponent though, she just dug right in when she noticed her opponent falling apart. She just kept at it.

I don't like watching Djokovic much, not a fan of him or his play, but he is on top right now, deservingly so. But his matches just don't get me going.

And I felt really bad for Baker too. That is the guy that had illness after illness and couldn't play for like 6-7 years and finally comes back and gets really good and then gets a strange injury after being up a set. Felt so bad. They said some something is torn that might take 4 months to work out.

So much drama already in the first few days. That is what I love about Tennis though, always have.

 

[JB Rowley]

Gotta give it to the opponent though, she just dug right in when she noticed her opponent falling apart. She just kept at it.

Yes, I agree. Zheng fought hard, played excellent tennis and deserved her win.