Tickets for the finals cost about £250 each so with neither of us having been to a tennis match before we thought we would play safe and buy tickets for the Hisense Arena (equivalent of Wimbledon Court One) for the middle weekend of the tournament.
The day started well with Breakfast Quesadilla at the World Café bar followed by a riverboat taxi down to the tennis centre.
Play started at 11am with a mens doubles match between the Bryan Brothers from America and Becker (not Boris) and Kohlmann of Germany. At that point our seats were in the shade and it was a pleasant introduction to tennis with the Bryan's winning comfortably in straight sets.
Next up was Djokovic against Almagro and as the match was about to start the sun had moved across far enough so that we were now sitting directly in it and the temperature rose accordingly. We managed to stick it out for a set and a half before having to get some shade and to top up our water which we were getting through very quickly. As one of the pictures above will show - I had developed some attractive sweat patches. Anyway after cooling down a bit we returned in to see Djokovic wrap it up, also in straight sets.
Match 3 in the Hisense arena was a women's singles but we decided to wander around the grounds rather than stay and watch it. Had we stayed we would have been there about 4 hours as the match finished 14-12 in the final set.
Leaving the Hisense we wandered round some of the outside courts and saw Andy Murray having a practice session - he was basically just hitting the ball back and forward down the middle of the court with his practice partner but it still drew quite a crowd.
After that we decided to try our luck on the Margaret Court Arena and saw the last two sets as Berdych beat Verdasco. After a quick pit-stop for some noodles and curry and rice it was back onto the Margaret Court Court for a mixed doubles match which included Bernard Tomic, Australias next big hope, which was accompanied by many shouts of Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi.
By now it was early evening and our final stop was showcourt 3 for a seniors men's doubles match. Not that interesting on face value but when the seniors involved are the Woodies (Woodforde and Woodbridge) against Pioline and Bahrami then there were high hopes for entertainment. It did not let us down and those who have seen Bahrami on TV will know what I mean - playing shots whilst on the phone, eating a banana or sitting on a chair, ridiculous volleys and smashes, being able to hold 5 tennis balls in one hand and then serve them one at a time etc etc etc.
It was a great way to wrap up a full day of tennins and I think we will definitely be back next year.